Techreport

The Pi Foundation's Raspberry Pi Zero caused quite a stir when it was unveiled in November 2015. The $5 computer has most of the capabilities of the Foundation's Pi Model A, in a much smaller package and for one-fifth of the asking price. The biggest complaint people have had about the Zero since its launch has been the lack of connectivity options, since it had no built-in networking and a single USB OTG port. The freshly-picked Raspberry Pi Zero Wireless adds 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity, just like the Raspberry Pi 3. ...Read more...

Futuremark, best known for the wildly-popular 3D gaming prowess test 3DMark, is at both the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona and the Game Developers' Conference in San Francisco. The company is showing off is latest demo enhancement to VRMark, dubbed the Cyan Room. Futuremark is also talking up its forthcoming mobile VR test for VRMark, and a new type of benchmark intended for servers called Servermark. ...Read more...

Radeon Technologies Group honcho Raja Koduri says AMD's Capsaicin event at GDC has become a tradition at this point. Holding with tradition, the company announced the name of its Vega-powered Radeons at the event. Those Vega cards will drop the numeric nomenclature of their predecessors and instead be called "Radeon RX Vega." ...Read more...

PC hardware and computing

Greetings, gerbils. As we all know, there's nothing better to add to chili pepper than some really nice cream. At least that's what AMD's telling us, since its Capsaicin & Cream event is kicking off in little over 20 minutes, at 12:30 CT (or 10:30 CT and 18:30 GMT). Although the company doesn't say it out loud, we'd wager we can expect a few tidbits of info, sneak peeks, and maybe some sexy glamour shots of the upcoming Vega graphics cards. You can watch the live-stream here:...Read more...

Porsche Design Computing might have just outdone Microsoft at its own game. The software giant has been on a roll with great hardware lately, but Porsche Design's newly-anounced Book One takes a good idea one step further. ...Read more...

As wonderful as it is to have speedy storage on a desktop computer system, the real need for the fastest drives is in the datacenter. Kingston's DCP-1000 line of PCIe NVMe storage devices is designed specifically for the requirements of that market. The DCP-1000 series drives are available in 800GB, 1.6TB, and 3.2TB capacities, all rated to deliver sequential read speeds up to 6800 MB/s. When it comes to sequential writes, smallest model can write up to 5000 MB/s of important business data per second, while the larger models can do 6000 MB/s. ...Read more...

Not that long ago, smartphone shoppers who wanted an unadulterated Android device looked at Google's Nexus line. However, Google appears to be chasing high-end shoppers with its Pixel phone, leaving a bit of a gap in the market. Upstart smartphone manufacturer HMD thinks there's a neglected community of shoppers who want stock Android, regular updates, and quality manufacturing in an affordable device. Enter the Nokia 6. ...Read more...

It's the day of the buffalo here in the TR labs. AMD's Ryzen review kit has arrived after some logistical hiccups, and instead of ripping off the wrapping and sending all that hardware straight to the test bench, we figure we'll have some fun with it first. ...Read more...

After a round of leaks, Motorola has officially unveiled the Moto G5 and G5 Plus, the fifth generation of the companys bread-and-butter handsets, looking to offer mid-range features at a low-end price. ...Read more...

We're fans of the Microsoft Surface around here, but there's no denying it's a consumer-grade device. Technical-minded folks often prefer a device with some measure of upgradeability and superior durability. If you're one, but you're keen on the whole Surface concept, maybe take a look at the newly-refreshed (and unfortunately-named) HP Pro x2 612 G2. HP is showing this highly-extensible Windows 10 detachable PC at the Mobile World Congress. ...Read more...

Google's Cardboard may have found its way in front of more eyeballs than any other virtual-reality headset on the market, but as it turns out, another player in the industry has reason to be happy about its first year selling VR devices. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Andrew House revealed that the company has sold over 900,000 PlayStation VR units in just four months of sales. ...Read more...

Panasonic's latest Toughbook CF-33 models seem to take after Microsoft's Surface Pro. Both machines have detachable keyboards and similar 12" multi-touch screens with work-friendly 3:2 aspect ratios, though the Surface Pro 4's 2700x1800 resolution is quite a bit sharper than the 2160x1440 pixels offered by the Toughbook. However, the Panasonic machine could best be described as the Surface's leather-faced, muscled cousin. ...Read more...

Over at the 2017 Mobile World Congress, Lenovo is showing off three new fold-over convertible laptops. The Yoga 720 comes in 13" and 15" varieties, while the Yoga 520 comes in a 14" size. Lenovo says the new laptops were primarily designed around user feedback. Perhaps as a result of that design philosophy, these machines' spec sheets read like a fantasy laptop feature wish list. ...Read more...

Last year, Huawei brought its P9 and P9 Plus dual-camera phones to market. Those phones packed a pair of Leica photosensors—one for colors and one for black-and-white—in order to deliver more detailed photos. The company has now released its updated P10 and P10 Plus handsets with a new in-house Kirin 960 SoC, a higher-resolution black-and-white photosensor, and a repositioned fingerprint reader. ...Read more...

LG is making the rounds at this year's MWC with its flagship G6 smartphone. The South Korean manufacturer dropped the modular design from last year's G5, and is now looking to offer a durable device with an unusual display. ...Read more...

We wrote about Asus' Tinker Board single-board computer (SBC) for the first time a little over a month ago. The Tinker Board is the first entry from a tier-one PC component manufacturer into the market arguably established by the original Raspberry Pi in 2012. In the intervening time, the Raspberry Pi Foundation has released several minor updates and two major revisions of its board to compete against a horde of upstart and Kickstart competitors. ...Read more...

Most people who light up the inside of their cases use a single color that complements the most common shade on their components. If you'd instead prefer to make your computer an amazing Technicolor showcase for RGB LED technology, Corsair has just the thing for you. The company's new Lighting Node Pro kit includes four RGB LED strips and the Node Pro controller itself. This kit's headlining feature is the ability to control each strip individually. ...Read more...

Most people who light up the inside of their cases use a single color that complements the most common shade on their components. If you'd instead prefer to make your computer an amazing Technicolor showcase for RGB LED technology, Corsair has just the thing for you. The company's new Lighting Node Pro kit includes four RGB LED strips and the Node Pro controller itself. This kit's headlining feature is the ability to control each strip individually. ...Read more...

HyperX started as a line of high-performance memory modules all the way back in 2002, and it's blossomed into a gaming company with a full line of peripherals including gaming headsets, mice, and keyboards. We've got one of HyperX's newest clatterboxes, the Alloy FPS mechanical gaming keyboard, in the lab to put through its paces. ...Read more...

Someone over at Team Group must have read some old articles about otherwise-fast SSDs throttling under heavy loads, because the company's Cardea M.2 NVMe storage devices come packing giant, blazing red heatsinks attached with high-conductivity thermal adhesive. The drives are available in 240GB and 480GB capacities. ...Read more...

The Ryzen hype Snowpiercer is moving on fast and Gigabyte's getting on it, right on the heels of Asus and ASRock. The company has announced a total of five Ryzen-ready mobos: two Aorus-branded models based on the X370 chipset, and three Gigabyte-labeled takes on the B350 chipset. ...Read more...

Builders of slim HTPCs with gaming aspirations have never had it better. Low-profile graphics cards built with Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1050 and GTX 1050 Ti chips are already available from Galax, Gigabyte, and MSI. AMD loyalists can pick up a small Radeon RX 460 from MSI, too. Buyers with a little space to exchange for quieter operation can opt for a fanless GeForce GTX 1050 Ti from Palit. Zotac is now joining the dogpile with its GeForce GTX 1050 Low Profile and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Low Profile cards. ...Read more...

TR gerbil krazyredboy's custom-built "case" project has gotten some attention in our forums, but we thought it's just too cool to not shine the spotlight on it. We say "case" because while this aluminum enclosure includes mountings for a full PC, it also has room for a monitor, a chair, a wheel-and-pedals setup, and even some doors. ...Read more...

TR gerbil krazyredboy's custom-built "case" project gotten some attention in the forums, but we thought it's just too cool to not shine the spotlight on it. We say "case" because while this aluminum enclosure includes mountings for a full PC, it also has room for a monitor, a chair, a wheel-and-pedals setup, and even some doors. ...Read more...

Howdy, partner. I've been working hard all my life, going 'round and about these hills tending to my herd of buffalos. But ever since the stampede this week, I've taken another occupation to make ends meet and let me have some pocket change for another cowboy hat. I now hunt deals, so take a gander at the game here on my stall. I selected the meatiest cuts just for you.That's it for today, folks! If you found any sweet online deals that we ...Read more...

VR has the power to transport us to new worlds, but if designers get even one thing wrong, the whole magic spell disappears and we're in a video game again. Convincingly-realistic sound is part of that illusion. Valve has unveiled a new tool that developers can use to help make the magic happen: the Steam Audio SDK, available for free and usable in both VR and regular games....Read more...

What are hardware enthusiasts supposed to do while we anxiously await Jeff's review of Ryzen? It's going to be a long week until we can get a full look at the new hotness, but in the meantime, we're getting more information about the supporting cast for AMD's upcoming processors. Asus is showing off four of its socket AM4 motherboards.All four motherboards support DDR4 memory that can be overclocked to 3200 MT/s and pack at least one NVMe M.2 slot. There are two models sporting the high-end X370 chipset, and two models with the B350 ...Read more...

Hot on the heels of AMD's big Ryzen announcement yesterday, ASRock is showing off a six-pack of AM4 motherboards. The two most affordable boards use AMD's B350 chipset, and the other four are centered around an X370 chipset. All models sport four DDR4 slots supporting speeds up to 2667 MT/s. Let's take a look at each model in detail. ...Read more...

We've been so busy with PC hardware news lately that we haven't really looked into Samsung's Galaxy S8 handset yet. Since the release of the Galaxy Note 7 ended in catastrophe, there's been a lot of attention focused on Samsung's next move. The Guardian wrote last month about the upcoming Galaxy S8 and revealed that the device is reportedly coming in two sizes. Yesterday afternoon, infamous mobile specifications leaker Evan Blass tweeted a listing of specs for the larger version, supposedly called the Galaxy S8+.Samsung Galaxy S8+ spec sheet. Impress your friends, confound ...Read more...

Although Ryzen CPUs were most definitely the star of the show at AMD's event in San Francisco this week, the company had another tantalizing product hidden in plain sight in its demo room. The company finally did away with the gaffer tape and solid cases and showed off a Vega graphics card in the buff. ...Read more...

Time for a moment of honesty, gerbils. Is there room in your life to discuss more than one upcoming processor? Yes? Good. Samsung just announced the latest version of its Exynos SoC, and it's primed to appear in a variety of devices in the coming year. ...Read more...

PC hardware and computing

The launch of a new CPU socket often arrives with a cavalcade of cooling solutions. For its part, Cooler Master is bringing a pair of all-in-one liquid CPU coolers to the Ryzen pony show. The updated versions of the informatively-named MasterLiquid 120 and MasterLiquid 240 boast easy installation, compatibility with nearly any modern socket, a low-profile dual-chamber pump design, and attractive sleeved coolant lines. ...Read more...

If you're in the market for a CPU upgrade, AMD's Ryzen processors could be just the thing. We say "could be" because Jeff hasn't poked his head out of the lab yet to give us the go-ahead. It seems that some folks aren't keen on waiting for independent reviews, though, because as of this writing the three currently-available-for-pre-order Ryzen CPUs have all found spots in the top six best-selling computer components on Amazon. ...Read more...

EVGA recently introduced its iCX cooler technology aboard a raft of GeForces. iCX graphics cards have a whopping nine temperature sensors scattered across their PCBs, RGB LED status indicators for at-a-glance health checks, and asynchronous fans that can rotate at different speeds depending on the temperatures of the components underneath each one. As a cooling nerd, I've been itching to try this tech out. EVGA has obliged me with this handsome GeForce GTX 1070 SC2 card. Behold: ...Read more...

Back in December, we said the RGB LED mechanical keyboard market was getting crowded. Hardware maker Nanoxia offered something refreshing with its Ncore Retro keyboard. Now, Adesso and Azio are looking to get into the faux-retro game, offering up the Adesso AKB-636UB and the Azio MK Retro.

LED light strips are pretty awesome. As an older tweaker who used to run a cold-cathode light in his case back in the day, I think the fact that light strips use almost no power and produce virtually no heat is awesome. However, I also think that the uneven illumination they provide isn't quite as pleasing as the smooth, even glow from a fluorescent light. Alphacool has a solution for my conundrum in the form of its new Eislicht LED panels....Read more...

Thermaltake is at it again with the Versa C22 RGB, a windowed ATX PC enclosure with integrated RGB LED lighting and room for multiple water-cooling radiators. When we think about RGB LEDs, we envision millions of available colors, or at least 256. However, the illumination options presented by the C22 RGB case really push the limit of the "RGB" moniker, seeing as there are only seven colors on tap. With that little rant out of the way, let's check out the rest of the chassis. ...Read more...

Greetings, gerbils. The magnitude of Ryzen's hype train Shinkansen means that we don't have to explain too much about what's going on. It's quite simple: Ryzen stuff is up for preorder. For those willing to dare, here are the CPUs and mobos you can reserve right away.Buffalos ...Read more...

The Fantastic Four

A pretty big change to GeForce.com today practically confirms that an offical announcement of the hotly-anticipated GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is coming in less than a week. A countdown clock with a curious emphasis on TIME welcomes visitors, and a quick dig through the page's source code reveals the background image file names that tip off the entire game: ...Read more...

After a bunch of false starts, 2016 was finally the "Year of VR." The first offerings arrived a while before that, in the form of the Google Cardboard "headset" and Samsung's Gear VR. Last year, though, the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Sony PlayStation VR all made it to market. Analyst firm Strategy Analytics looked at the VR market at the end of 2016 to see which company made the most money, and which offering ended up in front of the most eyes. ...Read more...

5G might not be just around the corner, but it's definitely starting to loom over the horizon. Last October, Qualcomm announced its first 5G modem, and now it's Intel's turn. Ahead of next week's Mobile World Congress, Intel has announced the 5G XMM 7560 modem along with a number of industry partnerships designed to accelerate the development of 5G technologies. ...Read more...

AMD's first Ryzen CPUs are finally here. This morning, the company is putting its highest-end chips up for pre-order. The Ryzen 7 1800X, the Ryzen 7 1700X, and the Ryzen 7 1700 will mark AMD's return to the high-performance desktop CPU market, and the company's final internal numbers ahead of launch suggest they'll mark a return to competitiveness, as well. ...Read more...

Even the best available virtual reality headsets could be a lot better. Higher resolutions, higher refresh rates, reduced weight, and lower power consumption would all make VR experiences more immersive and convenient. Massachusetts-based wearable electronics manufacturer Kopin says its Lightning OLED microdisplays could make all of that happen. The company showed off a 2048x2048 1"-diagonal display at the Consumer Electronics Show with 2940 PPI that can operate at refresh rates up to 120Hz with 10-microsecond latency. Kopin says future-generation OLED microdisplays could sport 3000x3000 or higher resolutions, and could fit into VR head-mounted displays with form factors closer to eyeglasses than to existing headsets. ...Read more...

Are you ready for even more Ryzen rumors, gerbils? This time around, we've got an inkling of the cooling hardware that'll purportedly be shipping with some Ryzen CPUs, along with pictures of the retail packaging AMD may be using.

PC hardware and computing

Gamers seeking a curved display will soon have another pair of options to choose from, thanks to the monitor mavens at AOC. The company has announced the AG272FCX monitor in 27" size and the AG322QCX 32" behemoth. Both displays are built around 144-Hz VA panels with 1800R curvature and use a "three-sided frameless" design with thin bezels on the top and sides. The monitors sport headphone hangers and integrated two-port USB 3.0 hubs, and can be controlled with an included RF remote. There's FreeSync support on tap, too, though AOC didn't specify the exact refresh rate ranges. ...Read more...

We've known that Bethesda has experimented with making Fallout 4 playable with VR headsets, but it's been a while since the company offered an update. In an interview with Glixel, Bethesda's executive producer Todd Howard not only confirmed that the project is still happening, but that the entire game will be playable in VR. ...Read more...