CES 2018: Lenovo unveils the Miix 630 2-in-1 Snapdragon 835 powered laptop

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Yesterday Asus unveiled their Snapdragon 835 powered Windows 10 laptop. Now, its Lenovo’s turn to shine under the spotlight with their Miix 630, a 2-in-1 laptop that is also equipped with the Snapdragon 835 processor and is running on Windows 10.

The Miix 630 comes together with a backlit keyboard and a precision touchpad which gives a nice typing feel and tracking when using the laptop. They have also included a digital pen with 1,024 levels of sensitivity, you can easily draw or take notes using Windows Ink supported applications. It is running on Windows 10 S, but users will have the option to upgrade to Windows 10 without any cost if they prefer a full Windows experience. The Miix 630 supports 4G LTE connectivity so you will not need to find a location with WiFi or use your phone as a mobile hotspot. It weighs only 1.33kg and offers battery life of up to 20 hours of local video playback.

The Lenovo Miix 630 will be priced at $799 and will be available on Q2 2018. It will be available in Malaysia eventually with them having a local launch when it comes to our shores.

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CES 2018: Newest Moto Mod is a QWERTY keyboard

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It would seem that there will be a new Moto Mod coming to the Moto Z series of phone. This new mod comes as part of Motorola’s Transform the Smartphone challenge where teams of engineers work together to bring something new to the Moto Mod line up.

The winners are Livermorium, who developed a QWERTY keyboard Moto Mod which actually looks really nice. It has curvy and spacious keys with multiple functions, LED backlighting and directional buttons for navigating Android. There is even a mechanism that will allow you to tilt the phone upwards and away up to 60-degrees to give you a better angle. The company behind the mod originally planned to include a 1,750mAh battery into the mod, but when they unveiled it at CES 2018, they did not mention about the battery which we are assuming will not come with the final product. That would mean that the mod will be drawing power from the phone and we can only hope that it will not consume too much.

Motorola has mentioned that this mod will cost $99 and will be available in Winter 2018. Will you be slapping this mod on your Moto Z phone? Let us know.

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[CES 2018] The Oculus Go standalone VR headset is built by Xiaomi

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While VR isn’t getting as much traction as AR, Oculus has revealed more details on its standalone Go headset, as most VR headsets will require you to slot a phone inside to be able to view VR content, the Oculus Go already has a 2560×1440 display built right in, and its processing power is done by a Snapdragon 821 processor, its not the most powerful chip as of today but sufficient for most available VR applications today. Most importantly, Oculus head Hugo Barra has also revealed in CES 2018 that the Oculus Go is manufactured by none other than his previous employer, Xiaomi.

The news that Xiaomi gets involved in the manufacturing of the headset isn’t a huge surprise, as Oculus works closely with manufacturers in making mobile VR headsets such as the Samsung Gear VR, Barra has also probably been working on such a product before his departure last year and has also remained at Xiaomi as an advisor. The Oculus Go will also be available in China as a Mi product known as the Mi VR Standalone, which the latter will obviously have content tailored for the Chinese market. The Oculus Go is slated for a release early this year for $199.

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CES 2018: Razer unveils their HyperFlux technology for a truly wireless mouse experience

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Razer has another product to show us that we can actually own in the near future. It takes features from Logitech book where they showed off a mouse pad that could charge your wireless mouse without any wires called HyperFlux

Unlike Logitech’s Powerplay system, the HyperFlux compatible mice do not have batteries built-in, the mat simply powers up the mouse when it on the surface. This will allow Razer to develop mice that are lighter and you will not have to worry about your battery levels. The downside to this is that you will need to only use a HyperFlux mouse with a compatible HyperFlux mousepad unless you don’t mind connecting it with a wire to your computer for it to draw power. The current HyperFlux lineup consists of the Razer Mamba HyperFlux mouse and the Firefly HyperFlux mouse pad and it will support Razer’s Chroma RGB lighting.

It is unsure if they will be releasing other mice and mousepads that will support HyperFlux but the Mamba and Firefly HyperFlux set will be available in this quarter and comes with a price tag of $249.

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CES 2018: Razer unveils Project Linda, turns Razer Phone into a desktop experience

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Razer never fails to bring fun and interesting prototypes to CES, just last year they showed of Project Valerie, a gaming laptop with screens that will slide out from the side of the main screen giving you a three display setup on a laptop. In 2018, they showed off Project Linda which looks like it is the best bet to become an actual product that we can get our hands on.

Generally, it is a laptop dock that will extend your smartphone into a desktop experience. However, it only works with the Razer phone, which will be slot into the touchpad area and a Type-C connector will slide out and attach itself to the phone. The phone will then be turned into a touchpad or used to extend information in a game to the phone. The desktop experience will be running on a desktop version of Android which will all be powered by the Razer Phone. The dock will charge the phone at the same time so users will not have to worry about battery drains.

Razer did not indicate the pricing or release date for this dock, and it is still unsure if this product will actually make its way to consumers.

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CES 2018: Samsung’s new smart refrigerator has AKG speakers built-in

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Last year, Samsung celebrated the acquisition of Harman by bundling a pair of AKG earphones with the Galaxy S8 and Note 8. This year, the company is taking this to the next level – by putting AKG speakers on its smart refrigerator, so that you can listen or sing to your favorite tunes without the need to invest a speaker for your kitchen. Apart from that, Samsung is also introducing the new Family Hub to its smart fridge, which offers control for other Samsung SmartThings compatible devices such as light bulbs, thermostats from the fridge itself, there’s also support for Bixby Voice, which can theoretically recognize voice of individuals and shows different results when a command is given.

So why the need for an AKG speaker at the front? Well, apart from hearing Miss Bixby from speaking clearly, you will be able to stream music from Pandora, which is one of the built-in app, and also stream music from your smartphone, you will also be able to have videos playing on the fridge’s display as well. Samsung is also adding two new software to the fridge – a Meal Planner and Deals app, for dietary management and checking bargains on groceries respectively.

Don’t expect this fridge to come cheap, and it probably won’t make its way to major electronic shops here, but if you are seriously considering getting one, then you won’t have to wait for long as it is launching this Spring.

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CES 2018: Vivo will be unveiling the world’s first phone with in-screen fingerprint sensor

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Looks like its official, Vivo will be the first company to show off an in-screen fingerprint sensor phone during CES 2018. If it works as promised, we could be seeing a change in the full body screen phones where the fingerprint sensor can be brought back to the front of the phone again.

This information comes from an image that Vivo release showing a silhouette of a phone with a fingerprint just before the bottom of the phone with the tagline ‘Unlock The Future’. Qualcomm announced last year that they are developing in-screen fingerprint sensors and Vivo immediately announced that they will be using Qualcomm’s tech to build a prototype which was shown in a
leaked video
 that came out last year. It looks like Vivo is ready to show the world how would in-screen fingerprint sensors work which also means that they will be releasing phones with this technology this year.

Stay tuned as we will be covering this topic as it comes out on Wednesday when Vivo shows off the phone with this technology.


CES 2018: WD introduces a wireless SSD storage, portable SSD, and the world’s smallest 256GB USB drive

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WD is at CES and they have shown off some really unique and power storage solutions for consumers. The products that stand out are a wireless SSD, a compact rugged SSD and a high-capacity USB drive.

The WD My Passport Wireless SSD is just like their previous wireless storage drive but they have now included an SD card slot. The device has read speeds of up to 65MB/s and has a one-touch button for easy file transfers from a camera. The contents of the drive can be easily accessible using the built-in wireless 802.11ac WiFi connection. You can edit and save photos and videos directly to the drive through the wireless connection. The drive comes with a 10-hour battery life when used continuously and can even charge other devices connected to it, thanks to its 6,700mAh battery inside.

Next, is the SanDisk Extream Portable SSD which has read speeds up to 550MB/s and comes with storage size ranging from 250GB to 2TB. It also has an IP55 rating which makes it light, rain, dust and splash proof.

Lastly is the SanDisk Ultra Fit which WD claims is the smallest 256GB USB drive and has read speeds up to 130MB/s.

The WD My Passport Wireless SSD comes with a price tag of $230 for the 250GB model and $800 for the 2TB model. The SanDisk Extream Portable SSD is priced at $100 for the 250GB model and $700 for the 2TB model. Finally, the SanDisk Ultra Fit is priced at $22 for the 16GB model and can go up to $150 for the 256GB model.

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CES 2019: Acer’s new Swift 7 comes with Thunderbolt 3

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Every year, there is always a new champ in the slim laptop competition, Acer is taking the next step forward by introducing the all-new Swift 7 laptop, this 14 incher continues to seduce the road warrior with a slim 9.95mm body and 890g weight, and now sports a bezel-less display that gives it up to 92% of screen-to-body ratio.

The Swift 7 is powered by the Intel Core i7-8500Y Amber Lake processor, memory configurations come in either 8GB or 16GB LPDDR3 RAM, along with storage capacities of either 256GB or 512GB PCIe SSD.

Other highlighted features include two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, a push-to-open wide-angle webcam capable of HDR, a fingerprint reader integrated into the power button, and a backlit keyboard with a 1.1mm travel distance.

Acer claims the Swift 7 to have up to 10-hours of battery life and uses USB-C for charigng, a trend that we should continue to see coming in ultra portable laptops this year.

As usual, the Swift 7 is expected to come with a premium for all of its portability and features, Acer has listed it from US$1699 (RM7003) in the US and will ship on May this year, however we should also expect a much affordable SKU when it arrives in the Malaysian market.

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CES 2019: Akervall Technologies unveiled its latest mouthguard that measures impact to the head

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Akervall Technologies has unveiled a new smart mouthguard that measures impact to the head and bring attention to concussion detection.

The mouthguard’s are known as “SISU Sense mouthguard”.

The SISU Sense mouthguard and its accompanying app that delivers impact measurements to mobile devices were first introduced at CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2019.

“We’ve combined the safest mouthguard on the market with a sensor that measures the force of hits to the head. The information provided by the SISU Sense will assist coaches, parents and athletes understand the impact of a hit and decide if an athlete should be taken out of the game,” said Sassa Akervall, Akervall Technologies CEO.

“Analysis of SISU Sense information may result in reducing an athlete’s exposure to dangerous situations in sports and may even change the rules in contact sports for the better,” she added.

The easy-to-use app is included with each mouthguard purchase.

The mouthguard is known to be ultra-thin, slightly thicker than a 50 cent coin. Athletes who uses the SISU Sense mouthguard can custom fit their mouthguard by using hot water to soften the flat sheet of the material, then sucking in air to create a vacuum for a snug, comfortable fit.

It could also be remolded up to 20 times and it can be used for those who use braces.

Akervall’s Hit Sense Technology is a microchip sensor embedded in the left side of the guard by the rear molars, which allows users to talk clearly.

When an impact occurs, the chip provides acceleration measurements for what the head has experienced. This is enabled by the mouthguard’s patented material and design.

The locally produced chip includes a three-axis accelerometer for 3D force detection and a high-performance wireless processor.

The SISU Sense mouthguard comes with a long-lasting battery, with low-power components that could provide one season’s use, approximately six months. On top of that, there’s no charging required.

It is said that the company will roll out its new mouthguard in US and Canada, this January and it will cost under $100.

Although this is a great product that could be used for athletes all around the world, it is unsure if they will release this product globally.

For more information, visit the company’s website
here
.

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CES 2019: Alienware’s Area-51m is the hardcore gamer’s dream desktop replacement

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Gaming laptops have come a long way, or should we rather say, Intel and NVIDIA chips have come a long way to become super efficient components on a laptop, which is why we are now able to see the Alienware Area-51m gaming laptop, the world’s first 17-inch gaming laptop that lets you configure with desktop grade 9th Gen Intel Core CPUs and NVIDIA RTX GPUs – Yes, they can be upgraded too.

One can imagine that this gaming laptop is like a super ugly machine that never leaves your desk, truth to be told it looks darn good and is something that I am willing to transport around and put it down on a table to get started on my work or gameplay, even if it takes to transport its heavy power brick.

Image Credit: CNet

Since this is an entirely customizable gaming laptop, you should be able to choose from every component you would want when it goes on sale, just like how you are able to customise Dell’s laptops a couple of years back. Alienware is making it self-repairable too by giving it standard screws to access the internals with guides, so this should be pretty simple for those familiar with PC building.

Image Credit: The Verge

If you are wondering how the upgradable GPU works, the laptop uses Alienware’s proprietary Dell Graphics Form Factor (DGFF), and that could be a future problem if the company isn’t committed to manufacture newer models, the most powerful GPU being offered in the form factor is the RTX 2080, hence if you want more juice by upgrading to a RTX 2080Ti or TITAN RTX, there’s no guarantee if Alienware is going to produce them.

The Area-51m will be going on sale this January 29th with a starting price of US$2,549 (RM10,489), the base configuration starts with a Core i7 8700, RTX 2070, 1TB hard drive, 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 1080p 60Hz display. We shall check out more on detail when we get to visit Dell’s booth in the next couple of days, so do leave us a comment on what you want to know about it.

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CES 2019: ASUS announced three new additions to the VivoBook series, The VivoBook 14,15 and 17

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ASUS has announced three new additions to the VivoBook family which includes the 14-inch VivoBook 14 (X412), 15.6-inch VivoBook 15 (X512), and 17.3-inch VivoBook
 17 (X712).

The VivoBook 14 and VivoBook 15 features four-sided frameless NanoEdge design that gives both devices bezels that are only 5.7mm thin, with a screen-to-body ratio of up to 87% and 88% respectively.

Whereas the VivoBook 17 features a slim-bezel display with a slightly smaller 85% screen-to-body ratio.

The FHD panels also feature wide-view technology and exceptional colour reproduction for lifelike visuals, even when its viewed from extreme positions.

The NanoEdge displays gives VivoBook a smaller footprint that makes the laptop much more portable without sacrificing screen size.

The VivoBook 14 and VivoBook 15 are powered by 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with NVIDIA GeForce MX130 discrete graphics.

It has dual-storage designs that can be specified with up to 256GB SSD and 2TB HDD.

The VivoBook 14, 15, and 17 also supports Intel Optane memory, which intelligently accelerates hard disk performance, speeds up multitasking, app loading time, reduces boot-up and resume times.

In addition to that, the devices are also equipped with dual-band WiFi 6 (802.11ac) connections which provides speed up to 876Mbps, which is 6 times faster than the 802.11n that results in seamless video-streaming and smooth web surfing.

Other than that, the VivoBook also features Bluetooth 4.2.

The new VivoBook 14 features a new NumberPad, a novel solution to the lack of a dedicated numeric keypad on small laptops.

In normal use, NumberPad is a large glass-covered Windows Precision Touchpad with multi-gesture support. A tap of the NumberPad icon on the touchpad turns it into an LED-illuminated keypad with a familiar layout for easy data entry.

There’s also an optional fingerprint sensor built into the touchpad, that provides one-touch access with Windows Hello, so logging in is much easier and secure.

Other than that, there’s also a full size backlit keyboard that works perfectly when used in dim environments.

It has a sturdy one-piece construction and a 1.4mm key travel (1.3mm for VivoBook 14) for comfortable typing.

The ErgoLife hinge on the new VivoBook series provides more comfort during long typing stints.

Its unique design automatically tilts the keyboard when the laptop is opened, creating the familiar feel of a desktop keyboard.

Comprehensive connectibity is provided by an array of ports including USB Type-C, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 2.0, HDMI output, and a microSD card reader for a hassle-free compatibility with current peripherals, displays, and projectors.

All of the VivoBook models feature a high quality battery with an all-day battery life and a lifespan that’s up to 3 times longer than a standard lithium-ion batteries.

Fast charge technology enables the users to charge a low battery to 60% in just 49 minutes.

Integrated ASUS battery health charging technology also makes for a safer charging experience with measures designed to decrease the battery expansion during charging to ensure the battery stays in good condition.

The VivoBook 14 and VivoBook 15 are available in four colour variant which includes a classic such as Transparent Silver and Slate Grey, Iridescent Peacock Blue which changes colour tone depending on how light strikes the laptop surface, and Coral crush, which is slated to be a big hit in 2019.

For more additional information, visit their website
here
.

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CES 2019: ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 comes with Intel Core processors and 8GB RAM

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ASUS also revealed the new ASUS Chromebook Flip C434 that is a higher-end model compared to the Chromebook Flip C214, and the C434 is the successor to the ASUS Chromebook Flip C302.

The C434 has a 14-inch LED-backlit FHD IPS glossy screen with 5mm-thin bezels to achieve 87% screen-to-body ratio. The top and bottom of the laptop is made with lightweight aluminium, just like the laptop’s lid.

Besides that, the C434 features the same 1.4mm of key travel that was spotted on its predecessors and it comes with multistage backlight. It also has a 360° hinge which allows the Chromebook to be turned into a tablet quickly and easily.

Apart from that, the Chromebook Flip C434 runs on Chrome OS and also equips powerful Intel Core processors in which users can choose from Intel Core M3-8100Y, Intel Core i5-8200Y and Intel Core i7-8500Y processors. The laptop also sports Intel HD Graphics 615, and supports up to 8GB RAM with up to 128GB storage that can be expanded via microSD card for up to 2TB.

The Chromebook Flip C434 has two USB Type-C ports, one USB Type-A port, one microSD card and one audio combo jack. Furthermore, it houses a HD webcam and supports 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0. That aside, the Chromebook Flip C434 comes with a 48Wh lithium-polymer and weighs 1.45kg.

The Chromebook Flip C434 starts at the price of $569 and is scheduled to launch in the coming months.

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CES 2019: ASUS Mothership GZ700 is a desktop-replacement gaming laptop with GeForce RTX 2080 GPU

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A new desktop-replacement gaming laptop was unveiled by ASUS ROG today in CES and it is the ROG Mothership GZ700 that comes with an innovative design.

The Mothership GZ700 sports a 17.3-inch FHD IPS-level display that has 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms GTG response time, in addition to its G-SYNC technology. It also comes with four front-facing speakers that are equipped with smart-amplifier technology that allows better and louder audio.

Not only that, the laptop has decided to go for air cooling instead of liquid cooling to accommodate for thinner chassis, and with the upright posture of the laptop screen, the airflow is increased for better cooling process. However, a downside to the gaming laptop is the fact that it can be quite heavy as it weighs around 4.7kg.

Besides that, the laptop is powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics which is capable of producing more lifelike visuals when it comes to gaming. It is powered by a factory-overclocked Intel Core i9-8950HK processor that can run up to 4.8GHz in Turbo Mode. Furthermore, it comes with up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and three NVMe SSDs.

As a desktop-replacement gaming laptop, the GZ700 has a hinged kickstand that increases airflow and also a detachable keyboard that is also foldable so that it can more space-saving when required. The laptop screen can be adjusted and viewed from multiple angles, and the kickstand automatically pops out when it touches a surface.

Speaking of the keyboard, the Mothership GZ700’s keyboard can be connected through a USB Type-C cable when it is separated from the screen. It is equipped with Overstroke technology and has per-key RGB backlighting.

ROG Mothership GZ700 also comes with a Realtek 2.5G Ethernet controller coupled with Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (802.11ax) that allows bandwidth up to 2.4Gbps under ideal situations, which is much faster than the current 802.11ac version. Other than that, the laptop also supports Bluetooth 5.0.

The GZ700 comes with a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port, a USB-C VirtualLink port, three USB Gen 2 Type-A port and a USB Gen 1 Type-A port. It also has a HDMI 2.0 port, a 3.5mm microphone jack, a 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack, plus a RJ-45 jack. Last but not least, it has a SD card reader and a Kensington lock for anti-theft purposes.

Though the pricing is yet to be revealed, we’re already expecting a rather hefty price to come with this laptop. The GZ700 is expected to ship in the second quarter of 2019, and it is definitely a device to look forward to.

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CES 2019: ASUS reveals ROG Strix, ASUS Dual, and Turbo GeForce RTX 2060 gaming graphics cards

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Yesterday NVIDIA unveiled its new GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 and if you haven’t read about it, you can do so
here
. With the announcement of the new GPU, ASUS has also introduced new gaming graphics card that feature the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.

First and foremost, the company introduced the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2060 that comes with Aura Sync RGB lighting and a triple-fan design. It also comes with Auto-Extreme technology that reduced tension on the PCB (Printed Circuit Board) and FanConnect II headers so the hybrid fan can control both GPU and CPU temperatures to prevent overheating. The ROG Strix GeForce RTX 2060 is definitely for those who are looking for both inner and outer beauty.

Next, ASUS showcased the ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 2060 that prioritises on performance. The current design increase overall surface are of the cooling array by more than 50% thanks to the 2.7-slot footprint that accommodates for a large heatsink. Unlike the ROG Strix graphic card, the ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 2060 only come with two wing-blade fans,

but it also has IP5X dust resistance with a 0dB mode so that the graphic card can be longer lasting and much quieter.

Moving on, there is also the ASUS Turbo GeForce RTX 2060 which is made for systems with multiple GPUs and face more restrictions when it comes to airflow system. The graphic card is designed to offer better airflow and reliability. With an upgraded 80mm IPX5 dual-ball bearing fan and a new shroud design, more air can flow into the cooler even when the graphic card is pressed against another surface hence the reason why the graphic card is described as reliable.

Easily put, those who are looking for a fancy-looking graphic cards should opt for the ASUS ROG Strix graphic card, those who value performance should opt for the ASUS Dual graphic card, and those who are looking for reliability and suitability for multiple GPUs system should consider the ASUS Turbo graphic card.

These graphic cards are all available worldwide on 15 January 2019, though the prices have yet to be revealed.

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CES 2019: ASUS ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti comes with Infinity Loop cooling system

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ASUS has revealed its new flagship ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card and this graphics card comes with a unique cooling system which ASUS calls Infinity Loop.

The ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti includes 4352 NVIDIA CUDA cores and comes with 11GB GDDR6 memory. Its Infinity Loop is a AIO (All-in-One) closed-loop cooling system that is claimed to be able to match the performance of 240mm radiators in keeping the Turing GPU and GDDR6 memory cool. It has three axial-tech fans and supports the 0dB technology, which is why when the card is running below 55°C it will operate passively and more quietly.

This system is then integrated into the card’s 3-slot footprint that goes through binning process so that each Matrix card can accommodate to high boost core clock speed of 1815Mhz while it pushes the memory to GDDR6-14800MHz. The total graphics power of the graphics card is rated 300W, which is higher than the RTX 2080 Ti Founder Edition graphic card that came with 260W.

The ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti comes with a laser-etched design on the front with LEDs running through the accents, and the RGB lighting can be adjusted with Aura Sync RGB software. On its back, the backplate shows a ROG Eye logo that is also laser-etched and illuminated by LEDs.

The graphics card also comes with two HDMI 2.0b, two DisplayPort1.4, one USB Type-C VirtualLink video output and supports two 8-pin PCIe power inputs.

The price of the ROG Matrix GeForce RTX 2080 Ti graphics card is still unknown, but reports suggest that it’ll cost over $1600 which is RM6,588 when converted.

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CES 2019: ASUS ROG unveils gaming laptops with NVIDIA RTX graphics

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The ROG Mothership GZ700 is not the only device that ASUS is introducing in CES 2019 as there are five more gaming laptops that the company is showcasing.

One of the ROG gaming laptops that appeared was the ROG G703, a 17.3-inch FHD IPS-level display with 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms GTG response time. The display also comes with G-SYNC technology and is VR ready. Like the Mothership GZ700, the G703 values performance over portability, which is why the laptop weighs at 4.7kg.

That aside, the ROG G703 can be powered by either 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750G or i9-8950HK processor for those who aim for higher specs. It is also equipped with the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 graphics and has up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM. Similar to the GZ700, this laptop also features HyperDrive Extreme storage that combines three NVMe PCIe SSDs in RAID 0 configuration.

That being said, the G703 still comes with the 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi instead of the newer 802.11ax version, though it supports Bluetooth 5.0.

Besides the ROG G703, there is also the ROG Strix SCAR II that comes with 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch displays. Both displays comes with 144HZ refresh rate and 3ms GTG responses time, in addition to having highlighted WASD keys for better FPS gaming.

Unlike the Mothership GZ700 and the ROG G703, the Strix SCAR II models are equipped with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics that is still significantly powerful and can drive triple-digit frame rates, though gamers can always upgrade to the RTX 2070. Both models also comes with Intel Core i7-8750H processor, though the 15.6-inch model also offers Intel Core i5-8300H processor option. Furthermore, both models support up to 32GB RAM with up to 1TB SSD.

That aside, both models come with two speakers, though the GL704GW (17.3-inch model) comes with two 3.5W speakers whereas the GL504GW(15.6-inch model) comes with two 1W speakers, though the Smart AMP technology equipped on both models.

Now besides that ROG Strix SCAR II series, there’s also the ROG Strix Hero II (GL504GV) that comes with a 15.6-inch Non-glare FHD IPS-level display and just like others, supports 144Hz refresh rates and 3ms response time. It is powered by either Intel Core i5-8300H or Intel Core i7-8750H, and has up to 32GB RAM. It also has three storage options which are the 256GB, 512GB and 1TB SSD storage. Like the GL504GW, it comes with two 1W speakers that supports Smart AMP technology, and sports the Intel 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0.

ASUS also decided to bring in an ultra-slim gaming laptop while they’re at, introducing the ROG Zephyrus S GX531, a 15.6-inch FHD IPS-level display that is PANTONE Validated. It comes with two 2W speakers with Smart AMP technology, has a backlit chiclet keyboard and weighs at 2.1kg.

The Zephyrus S GX531 is powered by Intel Core i7-8750H processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with Max-Q design, not to mention that is supports up to 24GB RAM with 8GB on board memory. It also supports up to 1TB SSD storage, but it does not support HDD storage. Similarly, the laptop comes with Intel 802.11ac Gigabit Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0. The Zephyrus S GX531 is a slimmer package of the ROG Zephyrus GX701, and is aimed at gamers who emphasise more on portability.

Now of course we need to discuss the Zephyrus S GX701 that has extra features compared to the GX 531. The GX701 is a 17.3-inch laptop with FHD IPS-level display that like the GX531 has 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. In addition to that, it comes with G-SYNCE Technology, Optimus technology and is PANTONE Validated, guaranteeing great colour accuracy and uniformity. The GX701 weighs at 2.7kg.

When it comes to the processor, the Zephyrus S GX701 is powered by the 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H processor with peak Turbo clock of 4.1GHz, and it has 24GB DDR4 RAM with 8GB of separate GDDR6 VRAM. It comes with NVMe SSD that has up to 1TB storage and four lanes of PCIe 3.0 bandwidth.

The ROG Zephyrus S GX701 also come with per-key RGB on its backlit chiclet keyboard, and it has two 2.5W speaker with Smart AMP technology. That aside, it supports 802.11ac 2×2 WLAN and Bluetooth 5.0.

What we do know is that these laptops will be officially available in the first quarter of 2019, so we won’t have to wait for long until we get our hands on it!

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CES 2019: ASUS StudioBook S, the ultra-mobile powerhouse for creatives

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ASUS has recently announced the all new StudioBook S (W700), a new workstation made to support the demands of the modern content creator.

Leveraging on the thin-bezel NanoEdge display design, StudioBook S fits a 17-inch, 16:10 ratio display in a 15-inch body.

The bezels on both sides measure just 5.3 mm, resulting in a truly expansive display that feels more like a desktop monitor.

The panel itself covers 97% of the DCI-P3 color space, which is the preferred standard by video and film professionals.

It is much wider than the sRGB color gamut used by typical PCs, so it’s capable of displaying a broader range of colors. It’s PANTONE Validated to ensure the colors seen on the screen are accurate too.

Wide 178 degree viewing angles ensure colors stay vivid and bright, whereas the 180 degree hinge allows for a wider range of positions for the display, including positions such as flat on the table which is very useful when showing work to clients and collaborating on projects with coworkers.

The StudioBook S comes with an Intel Xeon or Intell Core i7 processor, as well as NVIDIA Quadro P3200 graphics.

The Quadro GPU is primed for professional applications and is power efficient, which keeps fan noise to a minimum under heavy load.

The Xeon E-2176M features six cores and 12 threads with a Max Turbo frequency of 4.4GHz.

The slim 18.4mm frame of StudioBook S is packed with the latest performance hardware, and keeping it cool to ensure optimal performance.

The StudioBook S comes with five heat pipes that trace their way across the motherboard, carrying heat away from the CPU, GPU, and VRM toward vents in the sides and rear of the laptop.

The curved shrouds on each of the two fans help to channel more air into the fans themselves. This powerful thermal solution keeps throttling at bay even at full CPU loads and runs silently at just 35dB.

StudioBook S is one of the thinnest compact Quadro GPU laptops measuring at 382 x 286 x 18.4 mm.

Wrapped in a Turquoise Grey aluminum finish StudioBook S is precision engraved at a 45 degree angle to add a textured finish to the lid and palm rests.

These diagonal lines are accented by Rose Gold diamond cut edges that highlight the laptop’s slender body. Rather than rounding the corners, the edges are squared off for a professional look and feels extremely solid.

The StudioBook S weighs in at 2.39kg, which makes it light and easy for users to bring it around when they’re out and about.

It also offers military-grade durability, as it has been MIL-STD-810G tested for vibration as well as environmental extremes like temperature, humidity, and altitude.

The keyboard on StudioBook S features 1.4mm of travel for comfortable typing where the arrow keys are textured, making them easier to find by feel, and the backlight illuminates making it easier to work at night or in dark conference rooms.

Shortcut keys help streamline common interactions that usually require multiple clicks and presses. There’s also a function key dedicated to turning the HD webcam on and off for easy access to video conferencing and privacy protected.

Like the latest ZenBook lineup, StudioBook S features the discreet NumberPad in its touchpad. NumberPad can be turned on or off with a tap in the top right corner and makes light work of inputting numbers or calculations. Even with NumberPad activated, users can control the cursor with the touchpad.

There’s an HDMI 2.0 port and a USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 support for hooking up to external displays.

This iteration of Thunderbolt 3 utilizes Intel’s latest ‘Titan Ridge’ JHL7340 controller, which is compatible with DisplayPort 1.4 and allows outputs to support 8K displays.

Other than that, there’s also three USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type A ports, so there’s plenty of connectivity for thumb drives, external storage, and peripherals without the need for USB hubs.

Pricing and availability will be announced by ASUS through the launching of their products.

For more information, visit their website
here
.

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CES 2019: ASUS TUF Gaming FX505 laptops to come with Ryzen 5 APUs and Radeon RX560X graphics

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We were extremely impressed with ASUS’ TUF Gaming laptops when we reviewed it a little while ago, it had a great display, cooling and gaming performance for just under RM5000.

ASUS has unveiled new specs for its TUF Gaming laptops that run on AMD’s laptop chips, while it looks the same as its Intel models, both the 15-inch FX505DY and 17-inch FX705DY will rock a Ryzen 5 3550H quad-core APU, Radeon RX560X graphics and 1080p displays, with the FX505DY having a much higher display refresh rate at 120Hz.

While all of these sound like a significant downgrade from the Intel models, this would enable ASUS to cut costs and offer low budget gamers a decent entry-level device.

Thankfully, not everything on the AMD variant gaming laptop is stripped away, for instance you still get PCIe SSD storage and a secondary FireCuda SSHD storage, an all-zone RGB lighting keyboard, and the military grade build quality that is built to sustain accidental drops.

There hasn’t been a release date from ASUS, but we can expect these solid machines to be priced well below RM3500. Check out our review of the Intel variant
TUF Gaming FX505
 .

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CES 2019: ASUS ZenBook S13 has the world’s thinnest display bezels

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ASUS has announced one of their upcoming products, the ZenBook S13 (UX392).

The ZenBook S13 comes with a 13.9 inch FHD display, surrounded by the four-sided ASUS NanoEdge bezels that delivers the industry’s biggest screen-to-body ratio at 97%, along with a 2.5mm border frame on the sides of the display.

The thicker upper bezel accommodates the HD webcam and serves as a tab for lifting the laptop’s lid.

The tab on the lid has made it easier for users to pull the lid up in one smooth motion rather than searching for a barely-there indent on the front edge.

Despite the larger display, the ZenBook S13 manages to retain a smaller physical footprint at 316 x 195 x 12.9mm compared to most 13-inch laptops.

The ZenBook S13 is equipped with the latest 8th Generation Core i7 CPU paired with 16GB of RAM.

Both the Core i5 and Core i7 configurations benefit from four cores and eight threads for smooth performance, allowing for complex workloads such as video encoding and aggressive multitasking such as processing photos while switching between productivity apps, emails, and web browsing.

Processing performance is paired with upgraded graphics capabilities made possible by the NVIDIA GeForce MX150.

The ZenBook S13 comes with a 1TB PCIe x4 SSD, which makes downloading large media files much more easy and convenient.

To ensure no space goes wasted, the 12.9mm metal chassis is CNC-milled from a block of aluminum, allowing the lid to be carved out, complete with the complex cuts surrounding the keyboard, without creating any unnecessary voids.

Machining allows the walls to remain thinner while still leaving enough material in key areas to avoid sacrificing strength, and shaving thickness in any area means more room for the components.

The ZenBook S13 is made portable, thin and light, allowing users to enjoy great performances without the heavy weight of a normal high performance laptop.

In addition to that, the ZenBook S13 also meets the demanding MIL-STD-810G military standards for durability as it was torture-tested in harsh environments including extremes of altitude, humidity, and temperature.

The ZenBook S13 comes in a trendy colour of Utopia Blue, where the subtle silvery blue makes it stands out while the paler colour shows off the signature concentric Zen ripples on the lid beautifully.

Despite its compact dimensions, nothing about ZenBook S13 feels cramped. The backlit keyboard spans almost the full width of the laptop while the ultraportable keyboards are shallower because of their slim design. The ZenBook S13 also features a slightly longer 1.4mm of travel than its predecessor.

Underneath is a roomy touchpad with an integrated fingerprint sensor that makes for quick and convenient login via Windows Hello.

With no compromises on connections, ZenBook S13 offers the convenience of standard USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port on the side.

Additionally, the ZenBook S13 has two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C ports, with up to 10Gbps of peak interface bandwidth.

On top of that, the ZenBook S13 comes with a 50Wh battery which is enough to provide up to 15 hours of usage, and it has a fast charging support for powering up quickly on the go.

The USB ports are also joined by a 3.5mm audio combo jack allowing utilization of any choice of headset and a MicroSD card slot that is provided for a quick importation of photos and videos from variety of devices.

The ZenBook S13 will be available in the coming months with pricing and regional configurations to be announced at launch.

For more information, visit ASUS’s official website
here
 or watch a video on the ZenBook S13
here
.

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CES 2019: ASUS’s Chromebook Education series features its first Chrome OS tablet

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Apart from the ROG gaming laptops that were introduced, ASUS also introduced the ASUS Chromebook Education series that consists of lightweight and portable devices that are running on Chrome OS.

The series includes two traditional clamshell laptops, a convertible laptop and a tablet. Starting with the clamshell laptops, ASUS introduced two different sizes of the Chromebook, with the smaller-sized Chromebook C204 sporting an 11.6-inch display. The HD display also comes with anti-glare support and has a base that comes with a 180° hinge so that the laptop can be laid completely flat. It also supports touchscreen variant which the C403 does not.

The dark grey C204 is a successor to the Chromebook C202, yet it comes with a thinner body. Despite being thinner, it is still a tough device that is shock-absorbent with a keyboard that is tamper-resistant, allowing it to survive falls up to 120cm when dropped flat and up to 80cm when dropped on its sides.

Under the hood, the laptop is powered by Intel Celeron N4000 processor with Intel HD Graphics 600. In addition, it comes with up to 4GB RAM and has 32GB of storage and needless to say, it’s operating on Chrome OS.

Besides that, the Chromebook C204 comes with two USB Type-C ports, two USB Type-A ports, a microSD card, an audio combo jack and a Kensington lock slot. The Chromebook C204 weighs only 1.2kg, which makes it a rather light laptop to carry around. It is said to be able to last all day long with its 50Wh battery, and it has dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) that supports 2.4GHz and 5GHz frequencies.

Aside from the C204, there is also the Chromebook C403 that is larger because it comes with a 14-inch HD display that has anti-glare feature. Similar to C204, the C403 has a 180° hinge, features up to 4GB RAM and 32GB storage and comes with Chrome OS. However, it has a lower graphics as it is equipped with the Intel HD Graphics 500.

The C403 also sports a two USB Type-C ports, two USB Type-A ports, a microSD card, an audio combo jack and a Kensington lock slot. Its battery is almost just as good as the Chromebook C204, though it comes with a 45Wh battery. The Chromebook C403 is also heavier than the Chromebook C204 as it weighs 1.7kg.

Moving on, ASUS has also introduced the Chromebook Flip C214, a convertible laptop that comes with 11.6-inch HD anti-glare display. Thanks to the convertible design consisting of the 360° hinge, the Chromebook Flip C214 can easily be used as a tablet or a laptop, depending on students’ needs.

Similar to the other two Chromebooks, the C214 has spill-proof keyboard and comes in dark grey. Users can choose to opt for the Intel Celeron N4000 or the N4100 processor and the Chromebook comes with up to 8GB RAM and 64GB storage, in addition to being equipped with the Intel HD Graphics 600. One extra feature that the Chromebook Flip C214 has is the world-facing camera that can either be 5MP or 8MP, in addition to the user-facing HD camera.

The C214 comes with two USB Type-C, and USB Type-A, a microSD card, an audio combo jack and a Kensington lock slot. It sports the same 45Wh battery found in the Chromebook C403 and it weighs 1.2kg like the Chromebook C204.

Apart from the three devices, ASUS also revealed the Chromebook Tablet CT100, the first Chrome OS tablet the company has ever produced. The tablet is designed for younger kids as it serves as an easier introduction to technology, though it is still running on the same version of Chrome OS like the rest of the Chromebooks mentioned. With a 9.7-inch QXGA multi-touch display, the CT100 comes with rubberised chassis and strong tempered glass so that it can sustain drops up to 1 meter.

It’s also powered by a hexa-core OP1 processor that is made especially for Chromebooks, and the processor is coupled with Mali-T864 graphics. The CT100 holds 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage, and houses two cameras; a 2MP HD front camera and a 5MP HD rear camera.

As the Chromebook Tablet CT100 is just a tablet, it only comes with one USB Type-C port, one microSD card and one audio combo jack. It also has less battery life as it uses a 35Wh lithium-polymer battery. Among all the Chromebook devices introduced, the CT100 is the lightest at its weight of 568g.

This series might not be the best for gamers or those who run high-processing tasks like video-rendering, but it definitely suits those who are using it for educational purposes such as taking notes, completing assignments and basic functions such as listening to music and making video calls. The ASUS Chromebook series will be launching in the next few months, and only by then will we know the availability, pricing and configurations.

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CES 2019: Creative has two new speakers and a wireless earbuds to impress this year

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A visit to Creative’s meeting room this morning in CES 2019 was interesting, after having my ears spoilt once again by the company’s Super X-Fi, I was introduced to some interesting products they’ll be releasing this year.

Outlier Air Wireless Earbuds

Creative is expanding its sports headphones portfolio with the Outlier Air Wireless Earbuds, it is a pair of Bluetooth 5.0 earbuds that offers up to 10 hours of listening time on a single charge.

The charging case included with the Outlier Case is made of a high quality aluminium material and it can fully charge the earbuds up to three times. The earbuds will support Qualcomm’s aptX and AAC streaming codec, since it uses the latest version of Bluetooth, it can stay connected with two devices concurrently and answer voice calls from either one without disconnecting.

Like other Outlier siblings, the Air is IPX5 sweat proof so that you can workout without worrying about damaging it with your sweat.

Creative Pebble gets an extra subwoofer

The Pebble is a great sounding pair of 2.0 speakers for under RM80 and this year, the company is introducing a new model that comes with a subwoofer, so that you get to have more oomph out of your music.

Connectivity of the improved Pebble remains unchanged from its predecessor as it offers both USB sound and 3.5mm input.

Creative Nova – Creative’s first Alexa-enabled speaker

The most interesting showcase of all is the Creative Nova, a diffuser inspired design Bluetooth speaker that aims to sit next to your bed or on your living room table.

The Nova is the company’s first Alexa enabled speaker that has already gone on sale in the US for US$150 (RM614), and for that price it has a couple of tricks to impress as a smart speaker – RGB mood lighting, a built-in spa music feature, IP55 splash proof, a 7-hour battery life and supports multi-room connection.

Sound is driven by two 8W far-field speakers and a 15W woofer, which gives it an impressive 30W power to fill the room. The Nova will support WiFi music streaming from popular services such as Spotify and TuneIn Radio, users can pair with their smartphones over Bluetooth or plug in an audio source using the 3.5mm AUX in jack.

While its most likely Creative will not bring the Nova to the Malaysian market, we can expect the Outlier Air and the updated Pebble speaker to arrive in this quarter. Furthermore, Creative has also shared its interest on introducing the new Super-XFi headphones and products shortly after launching in the US and European markets.

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CES 2019: Creative Labs introduces SXFI Air and SXFI Air C headphones

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Last year, I had the chance to check out Creative Labs Super XFI technology at
COMPUTEX
, an impressive audio listening experience that is able to deliver a super realistic soundstage on a pair of standard ear cans, which the company achieved by training an AI system to produce sound based on your facial shape and in-ear canal.

While the SXFI AMP dongle has already been sold in certain markets for $150 (RM618), Creative Labs isn’t stopping just there and has set to unveil two new Super XFI capable headphones in CES 2019, they are the SXFI AIR and SXFI AIR C.

Boasting a battery life of up to 10 hours, the SXFI AIR is a pair of on-ear headphones that sports both Bluetooth, USB-C and Line-In connectivity, it also has a Micro SD card slot that enables users to load up music in a Micro SD card and play them directly in the headphones, supported file formats include WAV, MP3, FLAC and WMA.

For those who are serious about audio quality, connecting the SXFI Air with USB on the PC or Mac will enable low-latency 7.1 audio, which is great for games and movies, and you should also be able to do the same on gaming consoles.

While Creative didn’t market it as a gaming headphone, the SXFI Air’s ear cups feature customizable RGB light rings, allowing users to choose from over 16 million colors that suit them the most.

The ear cups will also support touch control that will enable users to control music playback by doing a swipe gesture. If you require to talk, it comes with detachable NanoBoom microphone for that purpose.

The SXFI Air C takes away the dedicated music player, touch controls and Bluetooth connectivity, USB-C audio connectivity is swapped to MicroUSB and there’s no built-in battery, it however has an adjustable and detachable ClearComms microphone for communication.

Both of these headphones come with a dedicated SXFI button, which users can choose to enable it to experience a cinematic audio experience that eliminates the need to have a multi-speaker setup.

In terms of pricing, the SXFI AIR C is already available at Creative.com for SGD179 (RM543), while the SXFI Air is available for preorder for SGD19 (RM664). Stay tuned on our ears-on session coming right up.

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CES 2019: D-Link introduces new Exo routers protected by McAfee

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D-Link’s new Exo routers are looking good and they are now more secure with protection by McAfee.

A total of seven models have been announced at the CES Unveiled event today and they all support D-Link’s WiFi Mesh technology, which means you can get any of these model and pair them up effortlessly to extend your home WiFi network. As a standard, the new Exo lineup has four Gigabit Ethernet ports with additional USB ports for storage and other devices.

With McAfee’s security suite baked in, it helps to protect connected users with its cloud-based machine learning which adapts to new threats in real-time, parents can also take advantage of its parental control features to prevent kids from malicious websites and harmful content.

One thing that’s unique to the new Exo routers is that it works with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, D-Link’s rep mentioned to me that it will have skills such as scanning for threats on PCs and enabling parental control profiles, which is pretty neat for those who doesn’t want to go fiddle around with the router’s settings.

D-Link will start shipping the new Exo routers in the second quarter this year, pricing are listed as below:

AC3000 Mesh-Enabled Smart Wi-Fi Router, $199.99

AC2600 Mesh-Enabled Smart Wi-Fi Router, $179.99

AC1900 Mesh-Enabled Smart Wi-Fi Router, $159.99

AC1750 Mesh-Enabled Smart Wi-Fi Router, $119.99

AC1300 Mesh-Enabled Smart Wi-Fi Router, $79.99

AC2000 Mesh-Enabled Wi-Fi Extender, $99.99

AC1300 Mesh-Enabled Wi-Fi Extender, $79.99

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CES 2019: Dell refreshes XPS 13 and fixes webcam position

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The Dell XPS 13 is getting updated this year at CES 2019, as Dell has taken the wraps off this new sexy machine with even thinner bezels, however what’s most important in this announcement is that it has fixed the XPS 13’s one major flaw – the webcam, which is now being shifted to the top of the screen like the rest and measures an impressive 2.25mm in size.

With the webcam shifted to the top and the expense of having an ultra slim bezel, the IR sensors that support Windows Hello login has been removed, you will still get an optional fingerprint reader should you want convenience over typing your password.

Powering the 2019 XPS 13 is Intel’s 8th Gen Whiskey Lake processor with Core i3, i5 and i7 processor options, customers can configure the laptop with a 4K resolution touch display.

The XPS 13 uses LPDDR3 2133MHz RAM and there’s no discrete graphics option, which can be a let down when it comes to paper specs as similar devices like the ASUS ZenBook 13 has a GeForce MX150, however you get to have two ThunderBolt 3 ports so that you can add on an eGPU if you really want that extra graphics power.

Dell claims that the XPS 13 will have up to 21 hours of power on a single charge, which is pretty impressive even if you were to consider 70%-80% of that claim, it also supports charging over USB-C so that you can use a USB-PD power bank to charge up the device.

Alongside with the announcement, Dell has also announced the Latitude 14 7400 2-in-1 business laptop, which sports an impressive 24-hour battery life and can be fast charged to 80% under an hour, it also has thin screen bezels which has shared some design cues from the XPS 13, thus weighing at a mere 1.35kg, it is also the first laptop to feature Intel’s Context Sensing technology, which unlocks immediately when it senses you are close to it.

The new XPS 13 is currently already available for preorders in the US from US$899.99 (RM3704) and will ship starting January 30th onwards, there’s three two-tone color options to choose from, including the signature carbon fiber and silver, white with rose gold, and a new all-white color.

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CES 2019: ECOVACS Deebot OZMO 960 can now avoid objects better with AI and a built-in camera

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ECOVACS is one of the leading companies when it comes to robot vacuum cleaners. At CES 2019, the Suzhou based company has showed off the Deebot OZMO 960 robot vacuum cleaner, it sports a camera on the front that helps identify obstacles better and with the help of its AI technology, otherwise known as ECOVACS AIVI, it will be smart enough to avoid foreign objects such as socks and wires, creating an ideal cleaning path without worrying the user.

Apart from that, the DEEBOT Ozmo 960 has also been updated to work with Google Assistant, it will also work with Amazon Alexa like other Deebot robots, you can simply ask it to clean your home with your voice and have it clean your home while you are away by using the app.

The DEEBOT Ozmo 960 will be made available in the market very soon, and we shall be heading over to learn more of what ECOVACS has in store at CES 2019.

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CES 2019: Heatworks introduces a kettle that heats water instantly as you pour it

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Have you ever had a day where you just want to have hot water instantly without the need to wait for it to boil?

Water heaters are nothing new, but a company by the name of “Heatworks”, is trying to take the same technology and miniaturize it for consumer products.

The company has recently displayed two products at CES 2019, but one of the products that caught the attention of many is the “Duo carafe”.

The Duo carafe allows users to get hot water instantly when they pour it out from the product instead of waiting for the entire pitcher to heat up slowly.

The product heats the water instantly with a technology Heatworks calls an “Ohmic array”. “Ohmic” represents “ohm”, which means electrical resistance.

“It uses the water itself as an electrical conductor between graphite electrodes, vibrating the minerals in it,” said CEO, Jerry Calahan.

The result of that means user no longer need to wait for the water to heat up, as it will be heated instantly.

Other than that, as mentioned previously, there’s another product that was displayed by Heatworks which is the “Tetra countertop dishwasher”, which is designed by “Frog design”, who also helped designed the Duo carafe.

The pre-order of Tetra is expected to be available in the next couple of months, starting from $299 (RM1229.64).

Unfortunately, the Duo carafe is still at prototype stage. Heatworks were not able to display the functioning unit at CES, and they don’t have a targeted ship date beyond sometime this year.

However, Calahan did mentioned that he’s hoping for it to happen this summer.

He also added that he’s hoping that the core Ohmic Array technology will convince more establish companies to license his technology to put in other products.

According to Calahan, the Duo carafe is expected to cost less than $200 (RM822.90).

In addition to that, the Duo carafe is able to heat up 32oz of water instantly as you pour it, using battery or plugged in.

With the battery, Calahan expects it’ll expend only work a single tim ebefore you need to recharge it. Inside, it’ll use a small pump to regulate how quickly the water pours.

As it was mentioned previously, the Duo carafe heats the water instantly, so the speed which travels through the pump is what determines the temperature.

As result, the Duo carafe should be able to increase the temperature of the water by as much as 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

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CES 2019: HP brings back OLED laptops with the Spectre x360 15

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Three years back, HP brought OLED panel to its HP Spectre x360 13 but due to the high price of the panel, the laptop didn’t manage to attract much sales. However, HP is reattempting the introduction of the OLED panel by making it an optional display for the HP Spectre x360 15.

The HP Spectre x360 15 is coming with an OLED panel with HDR support so it’ll have a 100,000:1 contrast ratio, better colour accuracy (33% more colours than sRGB) and deeper blacks than an LCD panel, but at the same time it risks burn-in, ghosting and axis colour shifting.

Image credit: The Verge

Apart from the fact that the laptop will get an OLED panel, nothing much have been revealed. We’re still unsure of the resolution of the screen and whether the HDR support is HDR 10 or Dolby Vision, but we are expecting similar bezels size since the laptop will still come with a 15.6-inch screen.

The laptop is otherwise similar to the current HP Spectre x360 15 model’s specs, whereby it sports the 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor and NVIDIA GeForce 940MX graphics. Besides that, it comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB PCIe SSD storage.

Image credit: The Verge

With an OLED panel, the laptop is expected to have better battery life but there hasn’t been any confirmed information on this aspect yet.

The price of the HP Spectre x360 15 with OLED panel has yet to be revealed, but it is expected to start shipping in March 2019.

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CES 2019: HP races to the top with the first AMD powered Chromebook

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All these while, Chromebooks have always been powered by either Intel or ARM based (ie. Mediatek and Qualcomm) processors, this is going to be a different year for Chromebooks as HP has just unveiled the very first AMD powered Chromebook in CES 2019.

The HP Chromebook 14 is powered by an AMD A4 processor, it has 4GB RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage, which is considerably underwhelming if you compare to Windows laptops, as Chrome OS generally doesn’t require high end hardware to run, so it should be sufficient for the average user.

9to5Google
 reports that the Chromebook 14 will come in two display resolutions – either 1366×768 or 1920×1080, a standard USB port and USB-C port is present on each side of the device, the good news is that it supports USB-C charging and you get up to 9-hours of battery life on a single charge.

The HP Chromebook 14 will ship later this month from a starting price of US$269 (RM1108), it will be available in color options of Snow White, Charcoal Gray and Ink Blue.

Expect more AMD powered Chromebook annoucements in CES 2019!

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CES 2019: HP’s first Big Format Gaming Display sells for a cool RM21,000

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Imagine gaming in your living room with a 65-inch display that gives you 4K HDR, 144Hz and G-SYNC, this orgasm is going to cost you a steep US$4,999 (RM20,600) and the first one will ship in February, in the form of the HP Omen X Emperium.

Big Format Gaming Display, otherwise known as BFGD, is NVIDIA’s strategy for introducing the ultimate gaming experience for the living room, all BFGDs are expected to come integrated with the company’s Shield TV experience, which is based on Android TV and will come with Google Assistant support.

HP isn’t the only company manufacturing BFGDs, as we have also seen offerings from Acer’s Predator and ASUS ROG last year. However, HP tries to be different by adding on a matching soundbar with three stereo amps for games and movies on the Omen X Emperium, the display will also have three HDMI 2.0 ports, one DisplayPort, four USB ports which two of them can be used for charging other devices.

While the price may sound really steep for the living room, it is probably more worthy to invest it over a modern flagship TV if gaming is your first priority.

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CES 2019: Intel reveals Ice Lake 10nm processor, previews “Lakefield” and expands 9th Gen Intel Core lineup

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Intel has finally revealed its new 10nm PC processor called Ice Lake which is based on its new Sunny Cove microarchitecture. This architecture is designed to increase performance per clock with new algorithms to reduce latency and offer high throughput.

Ice Lake will be the first to feature the all new-Gen11 integrated graphics architecture that supports Intel Adaptive Sync technology, a technology that enables smoother frame rates and can handle more than 1 TFLOP of performance for enhanced gaming and content creation experience. The new graphics come with 64 enhanced execution units, and will be seen in 10nm processors in the beginning of this year.

Image credit: Intel Corporation

Besides that, Ice Lake processors will also be the first to incorporate Thunderbolt 3, the new Wi-Fi 6 and DL Boost instruction sets that accelerate AI usage. With all this major upgrades, Ice Lake is also offering incredible battery life despite the super-thin and ultra-mobile designs, and the processor was demonstrated by Dell’s Ice Lake-powered XPS laptop that is expected to be available by this year.

That aside, Intel also gave a sneak peek of a new client platform, code-named “Lakefield”. The platform features a new approach to hybrid CPU architecture and packaging technologies, which is made possible with the Foveros 3D packaging technology created by Intel.

With Foveros 3D technology, Intel combines the IPs that are built with separate processes into a single package and also adds a new level of density, resulting in a re-architecture of SoCs. The 3D stacking offers more flexibility for OEMs to produce thin and light form factor designs while still being able to provide high-performance and power efficiency. The company plans to launch a range of products using Foveros in the second half of 2019.

Image credit: Intel Corporation

Apart from that, Intel is also adding more members into the 9th Generation Intel Core desktop CPUs. With six new 9th Gen chips, the company is offering chips ranging from entry-level Core i3 to flagship-level Core i9 chips so that they can offer a broader range of desktop products. These chips are claimed to be shipping later this month, but more will roll out throughout Q2 2019.

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CES 2019: iTunes and AirPlay 2 arrives at Samsung’s 2019 TVs

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Its an interesting move by Apple and it probably proves that the Apple TV is no longer at the forefront, as this year’s Samsung TVs have iTunes Movies and AirPlay 2 baked into them.

For the very first time, you will be able to purchase and rent movies, stream 4K HDR movies from the iTunes Movies store without owning an Apple TV, there is no Siri support for searching your favorite movies, however it is reported to work with Bixby.

Probably the most anticipated feature would be native AirPlay 2 support, which is the only thing you can do with an Apple TV box, an extremely welcoming news for those who depend on it to mirror content from their Mac and iOS device’s screen.

Both features are expected to be a standard across Samsung’s 2019 Smart TV models, Samsung also says that it will be available on updated 2018 models, while continuing to claim that these two features will “debut only” on its products, which means we probably won’t be seeing a similar offering from other Smart TV brands this year.

This isn’t the first time that Apple has debut its services out of its tightly controlled ecosystem, as it first started off by offering Apple Music on Android, then later to Amazon Alexa devices, and with the current move, it would seem that the company is keen on increasing its services revenue to fill up its underwhelming iPhone revenue.

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CES 2019: KeyWe’s Deadbolt GKW-2000D unlocks the door when you are near

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KeyWe may not be the only company showing off smart locks at CES, but the Deadbolt GKW-2000D smart lock has some interesting ways of unlocking your door and keeping your home secure.

First, I have to commend on the minimalistic that the Korean startup has given, it doesn’t look over complicated and intimidating like some smart locks, and it does look futuristic  than some I’ve seen.

Since the Deadbolt GKW-2000D supports the Z-Wave protocol, it can be connected to your home WiFi network and works with Alexa and Google Assistant. KeyWe’s app gives you total control of the lock when you are not around, you can do things such as changing the passcode for each user and setting a temporary access code for your guests.

I was particularly impressed with its ability to unlock itself when it senses you are close to the premises using Bluetooth Low Energy, which makes your smartphone an alternative key and you will require to create a geofence distance for it to work.

If you require some extra security, you can also configure it to only unlock once you touch the capacitive numpad area by enabling its Magic Touch option. As for power, the smart lock uses 4 AA batteries and can last up to one year.

The Deadbolt GKW-2000D smart lock was successfully crowdfunded on
Kickstarter
 last year and has received US$558,833 (RM2.28 million) of funding, it is available in Malaysia via its authorised distributor Eagle Secure Tech Sdn Bhd located at Kota Damansara, customers can head over to www.keywe.com.my to check out KeyWe’s range of products.

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google assistant
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CES 2019: KitchenAid Smart Display supports Google Assistant and is splash-proof

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A smart device can be rather helpful when you can’t cook without referring to recipes, and KitchenAid is here to make things simpler with its new Smart Display.

The KitchenAid Smart Display is a very common-looking smart screen with noticeable bezels, microphone mute switch and speaker grills. It is rather thick and has a very obvious red tag on its side, and best of all, it has IPX-5 rating that indicates that it is water-jet resistant.

Another unique feature of the KitchenAid Smart Display is that it is powered by Yummly, the recipe search engine that was acquired two years back. Users can perform voice and visual meal planning through the Yummly, and they can even watch step-by-step video instructions to guide them in their cooking.

Incorporated with Google Assistant’s functionality, users can

search for recipes, produce a shopping list and even order ingredients that they need from Google Express. Users can also multi-task by listening to music or watching movies while they’re cooking.

Users can also control the smart devices through voice or touch, and the KitchenAid Smart Display also allows user to control other smart devices that is compatible with Google Assistant.

As of now, the Smart Display is only known to be priced between $200 and $300, but the Lenovo’s Smart Display is priced at $250 so it really all depends on the price difference and the features each devices has.

KitchenAid
Smart Display


CES 2019: Kodak reveals the Kodak Smile Instant Print lineup, priced from $100

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Kodak has been in the industry for years, and its latest products are the Kodak Smile Classic Instant Print Digital Camera, the Kodak Smile Instant Print Digital Camera and the Kodak Smile Instant Digital Printer.

Both Kodak Smile Classic and Kodak Smile comes with an in-built printer so that they can function like Instax cameras that allow users to instantly capture and print out their photos. Kodak Smile Classic features a classic Polaroid-like design with a pop-up viewfinder, a 10-second timer, an automatic flash and also a microSD card slot.

That being said, unlike older versions of instant cameras, the Kodak Smile Classic is capable of storing images that you might not want to instantly print. With the microSD slot, you can download images that you want to save for later in the card for future printing. The Kodak Smile Classic prints out pictures with the size of 3.51-inch x 4.25-inch on Kodak Zink sticky-based photo paper, and with the Kodak Instant Print Companion app allows printing from smartphones via Bluetooth.

For those who are not going for the classic design, they can actually check out the Kodak Smile that is a 10MP digital camera. It comes with an LCD viewfinder display, a 10-second timer, an automatic flash and a microSD card slot. The Kodak Smile also supports image-printing like the Kodak Smile Classic.

Kodak also introduced an instant printer so you can opt for the Kodak Smile Instant Digital Printer if you’re looking for something cheap and you don’t mind missing out on the instant camera. The Kodak Smile Instant Digital Printer requires the Instant Print app that is free, and users can just send their photos via Bluetooth to the printer for immediate printing.

In terms of pricing, the Kodak Smile Instant Digital Camera and the Kodak Smile Instant Print Digital Camera will cost you $100 but the Kodak Smile Classic Instant Print Digital Camera will cost you another extra $50 at the price of $150. The official release date has yet to be announced for the product lineup, but hopefully it’ll arrive in Malaysia soon.

kodak
Kodak Smile Classic Instant Print Digital Camera
Kodak Smile Instant Print Digital Camera
Kodak Smile Instant Print Digital Printer


CES 2019: Lenovo Legion desktops welcome the latest NVIDIA Ge Force RTX 2060 GPUs

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Lenovo has revealed upgraded Lenovo Legion T730 and T530 towers and also C730 and C530 cubes during CES, including the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GPUs into the devices.

Let’s begin with the 19 liter gaming PCs; Legion C530 and C730 cubes. Both desktops comes with an attached carry-handle for convenience in portability and comes in the colour Iron Grey.

The Legion C530 offers processor options from 8th Generation Intel Core i3-8100 processor to 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900 processor. In terms of graphics, the device supports NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics but can also be upgraded to GeForce RTX 2070 graphics. It comes with up to 32GB DDR4 RAM paired with 512GB SSD and 2TB HDD storage.

As for the Legion C730, the desktop sports processors from 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8400 processor to 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900K processor. The C730 can be powered by NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, but can also be upgraded to GeForce RTX 2080 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. It offers up to 32GB DDR4 overclocked RAM and also provides up to 512GB SSD with two 2TB HDD storage. Both desktops support Dolby Atmos Audio and Sound Radar, are NVIDIA/Radeon VR Ready, and weighs from 9kg onwards.

Next, let’s move on to the Legion T530 and T730 towers. Both towers offer 28 liter of volume and come with carry handles like the C530 and C730 cubes.

The T530 can be powered by processors from 8th Generation Intel Core i3-8100 processor to 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900 processor, and supports graphics up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 with 8GB of GDDR6 memory. Storage wise, the T530 supports up to 32GB DDR4 RAM coupled with 512GB SSD and 2TB HDD storage. The T530 comes in Raven Black and only supports NVIDIA VR Ready.

On the other hand, the T730 supports processor from 8th Generation Intel Core i5-8400 processor to 9th Generation Intel Core i9-9900K processor, and graphics wise it can be powered by up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with 8GB GDDR6 memory. Like the C730, the T730 supports up to 32GB DDR4 overclocked RAM and has storage up to 512GB SSD and 2TB SATA HDD. The T730 supports NVIDIA and AMD VR Ready, plus it also comes in Raven Black.

Both the T530 and T730 support Dolby Atmos Effect and Sound Radar, and all four desktops have similar front ports consisting of two USB 3.0 ports, one headset port and one microphone-in port.

The pricing and availability of the Lenovo Legion T730, T530, C730 and C530 desktops are yet to be known and will be revealed at a later date.

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CES 2019: Lenovo Legion Y740 and Y540 get NVIDIA’s new RTX GPUs

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Not only did Lenovo bring updates in the ThinkPad series, the company also decided to showcase new products in their gaming-line up, including new Legion laptops.

The Lenovo Legion Y740 and Y540 was shown during CES with better specs than before. Both laptops support Dolby Vision HDR software, though the Y740 has higher brightness with its 500nits display while the Y540 only has around 300 nits. The Lenovo Legion Y740 also offers 144Hz FHD display with optional NVIDIA G-SYNCE technology to avoid screen tears.

Besides that, both laptops also support up to 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processors, and comes with up to 32GB DDR4 RAM and either 512GB SSD storage or 2TB HDD Storage. While the 15-inch model of the Y740 can be upgraded to GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU, the 17-inch model can be upgraded to GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q GPU. As for the Y540,

the laptop can be powered by GeForce RTX 2060 GPU.

That aside, both the Y740 and Y540 comes with Dolby Atmos Speaker System that has Dolby Sound Radar for moving audio to offer a more lifelike experience, and both the laptops have upgraded battery, now claimed to be able to last up to six hours without the need to worry about overheating thanks to the Lenovo Legion Coldfront dual fan thermal layout.

The 17-inch Lenovo Legion Y740 starts from $1979.99 whereas the 15-inch model starts from $1749.99, available from February 2019. On the other hand, the Lenovo Legion Y540 will only be available starting May 2019 with the starting price of $929.99.

Lenovo also offer gaming accessories such as the Lenovo Legion M500 RGB Gaming Mouse that has ergonomic textured grips with 16,000 dpi, 50g 400 IPS tracking precision and OMRON micro switches. There is also the Lenovo Legion J500 RGB Mechanical Keyboard for those who are looking for new gaming keyboard because this keyboard is capable of offering ultra-fast response time with 104-key rollover.

In terms of audio, the company is now introducing the Lenovo Legion H300 Stereo Gaming Headset and H500 Pro 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset. The former comes with an all-metal design with dynamic 50mm drivers and is light so that gamers can feel comfortable wearing it for extensive hours whereas the latter provides driverless 7.1 surround sound for better gaming experience especially when it comes to shooting games.

The accessories will be available from April 2019 and the prices are listed as below:

Lenovo Legion M500 RGB Gaming Mouse: $59.99

Lenovo Legion K500 RGB Mechanical Keyboard: $99.99

Lenovo Legion H300 Stereo Gaming Headset: $59.99

Lenovo Legion H500 Pro 7.1 Surround Sound Gaming Headset: $99.99

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lenovo legion
Y540
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CES 2019: Lenovo Smart Clock is also a smart speaker, priced at $79.99

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Smart home devices are expanding, and Lenovo is not one to be left behind. Last year the company introduced the Lenovo Smart Display and Lenovo Smart Home Essentials, and this year the company is adding Lenovo Smart Clock with Google Assistant to the smart home family.

With 4-inch IPS display, the screen is touch compatible and sports the Mediatek 8167S processor. The Smart Clock has a fabric cover that comes in grey, and on its back, it has a microphone mute toggle paired with a USB 2.0 Type-A port while the volume buttons are placed on top of the Smart Clock’s fabric cover.

According to Lenovo, the Smart Clock is capable of cultivating better sleep habits because the Smart Clock can set up sleep routines by performing tasks like turning off the lights, playing relaxing music and offering alarm suggestions.

That aside, you can also the Smart Clock to set your lights to slowly brighten over time and your alarm to gradually increase in volume so you can wake up feeling refreshed instead of feeling the usual annoyance from sudden bright lights and blaring alarm sounds.

Despite that, the Lenovo Smart Clock can be loud when you want it to thanks to the full-range 6W speaker that is tuned with Dolby’s latest background noise reduction technology. When you’re at home and you feel like listening to music, you can blast them through the Smart Clock and with its multi-room functionality, you can add the Smart Clock to a home speaker group so you can listen to music wherever you go in your house with the different speakers you’ve placed in your house.

With other smart home devices, you can also connect the Lenovo Smart Clock with those devices such as checking the security camera at your front door or automatically turning on the coffee maker in your kitchen.

The Lenovo Smart Clock is available starting spring 2019 and will cost $79.99.

google assistant
Lenovo Smart Clock


CES 2019: Lenovo Yoga A940 is an all-in-one PC priced at $2349.99

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It seems like Lenovo is ready to compete with Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2 as the company has revealed an all-in-one PC, the Lenovo Yoga A940.

The Lenovo Yoga A940 comes with a 27-inch that has either 4K IPS with Dolby Vision or QHD IPS with Dolby Vision. Equipped with a rotating hinge, the display can be tilted to 25° for drafting mode content creators can comfortably draw and edit their projects. With a pen support and the Lenovo Precision Dial, content creators get higher precision and sensitivity when it comes to edits and adjustments.

The PC weighs from 14.6kg, offering up to 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with AMD Radeon RX 560 graphics. Users can opt for up to 32GB RAM, and the PC offers up to 512GB PCIe SSD or 2TB HDD storage.

Aside from Dolby Vision, Yoga A940 also supports Dolby Atmos Speaker System and comes with an optional IR camera, in addition to having the Lenovo Smart Assist.

The Yoga A940 includes four USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, one USB 3.1 port, one Thunderbolt port and one 3-in-1 card reader. It also has a port for LAN and an audio jack.

The best part of this amazing PC is that it costs much less than the Surface Studio 2. This PC that will be available from April 2019 on
www.lenovo.com
 and Best Buy will cost you $2,349.99 onwards whereas the Surface Studio 2 is priced from $3,499.

lenovo
Yoga A940


CES 2019: Lenovo Yoga C730 gets upgraded with an AMOLED display

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It is a rare occasion to find laptops with OLED panels thanks to the expensive pricing, but Lenovo is doing so by bringing OLED panels to its 2 in 1 convertible laptop, the Lenovo Yoga C730.

The C730 comes with a 15.6-inch 4K Samsung AMOLED display that has better colour accuracy and contrast compared to LCD displays. In addition, the display supports the optional Lenovo Active Pen 2 that offers 4096 levels of sensitivity and is Bluetooth-enabled.

The Lenovo Yoga C730 also has up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB PCIe SSD storage. Battery wise, the C730 can last up to 8 hours.

Besides that, the convertible laptop’s ports include one Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, two USB 3.0, one HDMI, one DC-In and one audio jack. It supports fingerprint reader via Windows Hello and comes with the smart convenience of Cortana and Alexa.

That aside, Lenovo also introduced the latest generation Yoga Mouse with Laser Presenter. The Yoga Mouse is portable and pocket-friendly, in addition to it being able to also function as a laser pointer.

The mouse uses an optical sensor and has four buttons with one of it being used for DPI adjustment. With up to 1600 DPI sensor, it mouse is capable of high-precision tracking on almost every surface so you don’t have to worry about carrying a mousepad around with you.

The button life is expected by last up to three million clicks, while the battery life can last up to two months in two hours of charge.

The Lenovo Yoga Mouse with Laser Presenter will be available from June 2019 in
www.lenovo.com
 and cost $69.99 whereas the Lenovo Yoga C730 will be available from March 2019 in selected markets though its price is still a question mark.

lenovo
Lenovo Yoga Mouse with Laser Presenter
Yoga C730


CES 2019: Lenovo Yoga S940 has 4K display with Dolby Vision and costs $1499.99

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Lenovo is marking the history by being the first to produce a laptop that features Contour Glass for display, and this laptop is none other than the Lenovo Yoga S940.

With the Contour Glass wrapped around the bezels, the laptop shows off a streamlined design and reduce the looks of its razor-bezels, resulting in a classier outlook. The S940 comes with a 14-inch display that supports up to 4K IPS HDR with Dolby Vision, in addition to only weighing at 1.2kg.

It can sport up to 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, and offers either 8/16GB RAM with up to 1TB PCIe SSD storage. If users opt for the 4K display, the laptop can last up to 7.5 hours but if users opt for the FHD display, the laptop is said to be able to last twice as long.

The S940 also supports Dolby Almost Speaker System and comes with AI features that can filter ambient noise and blur out the background for well-focused video and voice calls. Besides that, the AI technology in the laptop can detect user’s absence and auto-lock display for privacy and security purposes.

The Lenovo Yoga S940 will be available from May 2019 at the starting price of $1499.99 and it can be purchased via
www.lenovo.com
 and Micro Center.

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CES 2019: Lenovo’s new Legion monitors are ultra-fast and ultra-wide

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Apart from all the laptops, accessories and desktops, Lenovo also decided to unveil new monitors for better gaming visuals. The Legion Y44w Monitor comes with an ultra-wide display whereas the Legion Y27gq Monitor comes with an amazing refresh rate that helps avoid issues such as screen tear and choppy frames.

The Legion Y44w Monitor supports 3840×1200 resolution with peak display brightness of 450 nits. The ultra-wide curved monitor has 144Hz refresh rate and 4ms response time that offers buttery smooth gameplay, and it also has VESA Certified DisplayHDR 400 and AMD Radeon FreeSync 2 technology.

Other than that, the monitor comes with a detachable Harman Kardon certified speaker and users can actually expand the display’s capabilities by connecting two external devices simultaneously with the two USB 3.1 Type-C ports. The monitor also has a HDMI 2.0 port, a DP1.4 port which are all placed at its one push port-hub.

For those who prefer a slightly smaller size monitor, the company produced the Legion Y27gq Monitor that measures at 27 inches. The NearEdgeless QHD display supports 2560×1440 resolution and even though it’s smaller than the Y44w Monitor, the Y27gq Monitor has 240Hz refresh rate with 0.5ms response time, in addition to being integrated with the NVIDIA G-SYNC HDR technology.

Like the Y44w Monitor, this gaming monitor also comes with two USB 3.1 Type-C ports, not to mention it also has the similar detachable Harman Kardon certified speaker.

Both the monitors are expected to be available from April 2019, and the Legion Y44w Monitor will cost from $1199.99 whereas the Legion Y27gq Monitor will cost from $999.99.

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CES 2019: Lenovo’s new Smart Tabs come with Amazon Alexa, priced from $199.99

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Lenovo has just released the Lenovo Smart Tabs in two models and these Smart Tabs are basically 2-in-1 tablets that can function as a smart hub but also a tablet. Moreover, these Smart Tabs supports Amazon Alexa.

The Lenovo Smart Tab differs because it is not just a typical smart hub that stays at one place. While it can become a full-function smart screen when inserted into the complimentary Lenovo Smart Dock, it can also be carried around just like a normal tablet.

One of the Lenovo Smart Tabs is called the M10. The M10 weighs 480g and comes with 10.1-inch FHD IPS display. It is powered by Snapdragon 450 processor, comes with up to 3GB RAM and up to 32GB internal storage that can be expandable via microSD card for up to 256GB.

It comes with one microphone and two front speakers which support Dolby Almos and has a 2MP front camera paired with a 5MP rear camera. With 4850mAh battery, the M10 can basically last about 2 weeks on its standby mode. When the tablet is docked, you can use Alexa to listen to music, control your other smart home devices and watch videos.

Besides that, Lenovo also introduced the Smart Tab P10. The P10 weighs lighter than the M10 at 440g, though it remains the same at the display of 10.1-inch FHD IPS. The M10 is powered by the same Snapdragon 450 processor but comes with higher RAM of up to 4GB and offers up to 64GB internal storage that is also expandable via microSD card up to 256GB.

The P10 is undeniably a model with higher specs as it comes with one microphone and four front speakers with Dolby Atmos, in addition to its 5MP front camera and 8MP rear camera. Despite having 7000mAh battery, the tablet also last around 2 weeks on its standby mode.

Both the M10 and P10 come with a Smart Dock that weighs around 520g, has dual 3W speakers and 3 far-field microphones.

Both Lenovo Smart Tabs can be preordered by this month on
www.amazon.com
 and
www.lenovo.com
 with the M10 priced at $199.99 and the P10 priced at $299.99.

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CES 2019: Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon and Yoga gets thinner, lighter and better

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Lenovo has announced their latest ThinkPad X1 products which includes two laptops; the ThinkPad X1 Carbon 7th Gen and the ThinkPad X1 Yoga 4th Gen.

The X1 Carbon 7th Gen will now come with a visible carbon fibre weave top cover and feature a larger 14-inch display compared to the first ThinkPad X1.

The laptop will also include a new 400 nit FHD display that supports ThinkPad PrivacyGuard which is meant to prevent prying eyes.

The laptop will also offer a Dolby Vision option and feature a Dolby Atmos Speaker System that consists of four speakers for immersive audio. There are also four far-field microphones that can be used to speak to Cortana or Alexa, which will also provide better audio when you’re speaking in a conference call.

Besides that, it is powered by the 8th Generation Intel Core processor with up to 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD storage. The X1 Carbon 7th Gen is only 14.95mm thin and weighs from 1.08kg. It is claimed to be able to last up to 15 hours and is powered by LTE-A Wireless WAN for file transfers.

Lenovo’s first generation ThinkPad X1 Yoga came in 2016, and now the X1 Yoga 4th Gen is going to come in an all-aluminium chassis with narrower bezels. Weighing at 1.35kg, the X1 Yoga 4th Gen is also a 14-inch laptop that offers the new 400nit FHD display.

It also have the same Dolby Almost Speaker System and four far-field microphones, and it’s also powered by 8th Generation Intel Core processor. The X1 Yoga 4th Gen supports up to 16GB RAM and 2TB SSD storage, and it now supports all docking solutions.

Besides the two ThinkPad X1 laptops, Lenovo also introduced the new ThinkVision P44w. The P44w is a 43.4-inch display with dual integrated USB-C ports to enable two video inputs that can transfer data simultaneously. It also has a smart desktop management software for multiple monitor configurations, and come with VESA Certified DisplayHDR 400 with 450nit peak brightness, offering better colour accuracy and colour contrast.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon and ThinkPad X1 Yoga will be available from June 2019, with the former costing from $1709 and the latter costing from $1929. The ThinkVision P44w on the other hand will be available on April 2019 from the price of $1299.

That aside, the company brought in several accessories which are priced as below:

ThinkPad Thunderbolt 3 Dock Gen 2: $319.99

Lenovo pro Stereo USB Headset: Available in June, $149.99

Lenovo VOIP 360 Camera speaker: Available in March, $249.99

Lenovo 700 Ultraportable Bluetooth Speaker: Available in April, $149.99

Lenovo Powered USB-C Hub: Available in January, $79.99

Lenovo Commuter Backpack: Available in January, check
www.lenovo.com
 for pricing.

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CES 2019: LG’s HomeBrew lets you brew your own beer at home

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If you have been using capsules to make your own brewed coffee at home, LG’s HomeBrew is the next appliance that you probably must have at your home as it crafts beer with a capsule-based system.

The HomeBrew will be able to craft five different beers, which LG has worked together with Muntons to produce the capsules, what you simply need to do is to purchase those capsules, insert into the machine and press a button, your beer will be prepared in 5-litres of capacity in a time frame of two weeks, so that requires a little bit of patience. Using the LG HomeBrew app, you can monitor the brewing progress and monitor how long you have already kept your beer in store.

By all means, the HomeBrew isn’t meant for the heavy drinkers as it would be faster to just go out and buy one at the store, but if you are someone who is just lazy to go out and want to have a casual pint at home, who knows this might be a good investment.

Personally, I’ve not tried the brewed beer yet and I’ll update here once I get the chance to taste it.

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CES 2019: LG’s rollable TV is made for the extreme minimalist

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Imagine a cabinet in your living room, then a screen comes out of it when you want it, this is LG’s idea of keeping your living room free of a box with display bezels, in the form of a rollable display.

Yep, what you are seeing on the picture is a fully functional display that is set to go on sale later this year, the LG Signature OLED is a 65-inch 4K TV with zero bezels, and what holds it is a 100W Dolby Atmos sound bar disguised as a TV cabinet.

The TV doesn’t just roll up and down, in fact you can have it raised slightly from its case to make it turn it into a “Line Mode”, which you can see the clock, play music, set light moods, and play a slideshow of your pictures. When it rolls down entirely, users can still play music from the sound bar.

Like the rest of LG’s 2019 line up, this Smart TV will come with the latest version of WebOS that supports both Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, there’s also support for AirPlay 2 and Homekit integration just like
Samsung’s TV
, iTunes is unfortunately left out, which suggests that the latter is indeed having an exclusive debut on its TVs.

No price has been mentioned by LG just yet, but for all we know, you are going to have to pay a fortune for the world’s first rollable 4K TV.

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CES 2019: L’Oréal debuts latest wearable prototype that can measure skin pH levels

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L’Oréal is continuing to invest in tech as they introduce their latest wearable prototype that detects skin pH levels.

According to L’Oréal, varying skin pH levels can cause inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema and dryness.

The company is determined and wants dermatologists to use this new device’s data to create health plans while also empowering users to learn more about their own skin.

To use the device, users would first need to place the device on their inner arm and leave it there for 5 to 15 minutes. Then, they would need to open the “My Skin Track pH” app on their phone and take a picture of it.

The dots on the device could assess sweat biomarkers like pH, glucose, lactate, chloride, sweat loss, and sweat rate.

The app will process what it sees, along with how much a user is sweating and lastly, it will suggest the recommend products that the user should use.

For now, it is still unsure if the sensors are reusable.

L’Oréal says it’s something that will “be determined as we move My Skin Track pH beyond the prototype phase.”

The My Skin Track pH is planned to launch later this year at selected dermatologist offices, with the goal of shipping direct to consumers. However, L’Oréal did not announce the price of the device yet.

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My Skin Track pH


CES 2019: LumiCharge is the desk lamp that I would love to have

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I’m not a desk lamp person and have never thought of wanting one, but after seeing the LumiCharge desk lamp at CES 2019, I think I would just love to own one for the sake of charging convenience.

The LumiCharge offers three different smartphone charging connectors on its base, which you can rotate the dial to switch to either MicroUSB, USB-C and a MFi-certified Lightning connector, it outputs up to 2A of maximum power for your phones, and there’s another two USB ports at the back should you want to power more devices.

If you have a second phone that supports wireless charging, the LumiCharge has a Qi wireless charging base that supports 10W wireless fast charging.

Apart from that, there is a built-in motion sensor to detect your presence and turn on the lamp automatically, you can choose multiple brightness levels in 3 LED colours – white, soft white and soft yellow, all room-friendly lighting temperatures. For added convenience, it also has an LCD display that shows the clock and room temperature.

The LumiCharge desk lamp is now available at US$89 (RM364) over at the company’s
website
 and
Amazon
, the latter does ship over to Malaysia for an additional $26,

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CES 2019: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is now official for $349, more powerful than a GTX 1070Ti

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The first two GeForce RTX 20 series card has had a rough time, launched with sky high price tags and minimal amount of RTX enabled games. However, gamers can now rejoice as NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang has unveiled the much affordable RTX 2060 GPU at CES 2019.

Before the annoucment, Huang demonstrated Battlefield V with RTX enabled to the unsuspecting audiences, the game ran super smooth at 60 fps at 1440p, and he later revealed that the actual demo was running off a RTX 2060.

The RTX 2060 is 60 percent faster than the GTX 1060, and in fact it is even faster than the GTX 1070Ti, it comes equipped with 6GB GDDR5 of video memory, 240 Tensor cores that delivers 52 teraflops of deep learning power, which aims to improve gaming performance through a feature known as Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS).

Priced at US$349 (RM1434), the RTX 2060 is finally a super attractive GPU that does Ray Tracing, it will be available through partners and at NVIDIA starting January 15th. For a limited time, gamers who purchase the RTX 2060 will be able to receive a free copy of Anthem or Battlefield V.

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CES 2019: Patriot introduces new Viper Steel Performance RAM, VPR100 SSD and EVLVR Thunderbolt 3 external SSD

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Patriot isn’t waiting for COMPUTEX to announce new PC components, as the company has expanded the Viper Gaming portfolio with the Viper Steel DDR4 RAM and VPR100 SSD with RGB lighting, it has also introduced its first Thunderbolt 3 external SSD.

The Viper Steel may look just like a typical performance RAM with a gunmetal grey heatsink, however it delivers an impressive XMP frequency of up to 4400MHz and a low 19-19-19-39 timing, it has been tested to work with the latest Intel and AMD systems.

Next, the VPR100 M.2 SSD sports a beautiful RGB heatsink that will soon be made compatible with various motherboard’s RGB sync lighting systems, the SSD uses the Phison 5012 series controller and PCIe Gen 3×4 interface, hence it is able to deliver sequential read speeds of up to 3100MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 3000MB/s, it is being offered with up to 1TB of storage.

To kickstart its support for the Thunderbolt 3 standard, Patriot is introducing the EVLVR Thunderbolt external SSD, it houses a PCIe Gen 3×2 SSD that boasts sequential read speeds of up to 1600MB/s and sequential write speeds of up to 1000MB/s, it is available in storage capacities of 500GB and 1TB and retails from US$200 onwards.

Patriot expects to ship the above products by March this year, and you can expect it to pop up on shelves in your favourite PC retailers around the same time.

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