Author: batteryforpc

We just got an email from a reader overseas alerting us to a new model of the Acer Chromebook Spin 13 that we’ve never seen before. The reason? It’s never been officially announced and it is powered by the same 10th Gen Intel Comet Lake processors found in the newly released Samsung Galaxy Chromebook and ASUS Chromebook Flip C436. While it’s no surprise to see Acer launching a new flagship, the timing and method for launching the new Spin 13 seems a bit odd but more on that in a minute.

First, let’s take a look at the new Chromebook that is currently listed on a handful of websites in the UK and Germany. At first glance, you wouldn’t be at fault if you thought the images below were simply the original Spin 13 but there are some subtle differences. For starters, the trackpad is a lot taller. That was one of the minor gripes we had about the first-gen Spin 13. There was all that extra space between the keys and the front of the device and yet, they chose to make the trackpad quite short from front to back. Next, this model has a full-size HDMI port. That seems like a step back from the first Spin but perhaps it’s a regional thing or because it is aimed at the enterprise sector. Who knows?

Another change that’s not so slight if it’s true is the fact that this new model appears to be missing the stowable stylus that was so popular with many users of the first Spin 13. Along with the missing pen, you may notice that this Chromebook is without a fingerprint scanner which seems very peculiar considering Acer was one of the first to equip an enterprise Chromebook with biometrics. At first, I thought this could be a case of bad photo mock-ups but then I found the actual spec sheet for the new Acer Spin 13 and under the Fingerprint Sensor section, there is simply a strikethrough. Again, this could change when the device makes its way to the U.S. but I’m not holding my breath.

Two models of the new Acer Spin 13 are showing up at the moment. One is the same Core i5-10210U found in the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook. It’s matched with a whopping 16GB of RAM and 256GB of PCIe storage. Those specs make the lack of fingerprint sensors even more confusing. It has all the makings of a Project Athena laptop but I was under the impression that biometrics were a must to make that qualification. Then again, I could be wrong. The other model is the Core i3-10110U that powers the $799 version of the ASUS Flip C436. It gets 8GB of RAM and 64GB of storage. The chassis looks nearly identical to the original Spin 13 and it comes with that sweet 3:2, 13.5″ display that I love so much. The price point for the Core i5 is roughly € 969.00 which is a little over $1,000 USD.

We have reached out to our contact at Acer to see if there is an official announcement coming for this new Spin 13. As of late, Acer has held off on outing these premium Chromebooks until they have their annual even in spring. Sadly, given the current state of affairs, I don’t expect Acer to have an on-site event any time soon. Perhaps that’s why this Chromebook is already peeping its head up in Europe. We could be on the cusp of the device coming to the states and Acer is just foregoing the formalities. If you’re in or around Germany or the UK, you can check out the listings and I suppose go ahead and get your hands on a 10th Gen Acer Chromebook Spin 13.

OPPO debuted the Reno Ace in 2019 as a phone that focused on certain premium specs, most notably 65-watt (W) SuperVOOC 2.0 charging and a flagship Qualcomm processor. Now, there is evidence that it is getting a 2nd generation this year. It seems its wired charging rate will stay the same, although it stands to add 40W wireless power this time around.

The “Reno Ace 2” (or OPPO PDHM00) is also associated with a 5G modem for its Snapdragon 865 processor. The latter spec appears to be confirmed in a new leak posted by Digital Chat Station on Weibo. It consists of a set of AnTuTu benchmarks for this device, which is listed as running on the SM8250 – also known as the 865.

Despite this new evidence of the PDHM00’s premium chipset, it seems it’s a good thing it may offer additional high-end specs. It has barely passed 560000 in its apparent new benchmarking score, whereas there are other phones with the same SoC that have comfortably exceeded 600000 in the same test.

Nevertheless, a final product with the same specs could do better in the real world. In addition, the PDHM00 is known to have 8 and 12GB variants, and the alleged AnTuTu results do not specify which one was used in the benchmark.

Some thermal interfaces (the all-important goo between your CPU and heatsink) are easier to apply than others, and liquid metal typically requires careful application by hand. For that reason, it’s not often found in mass assembled laptops, but Asus came up with a way to automate the application of liquid metal, and will be including it in upcoming ROG gaming laptops.

Regardless of the type, thermal compound is designed to fill in the microscopic nooks and crannies in the surfaces of the heatsink and your processor’s integrated heatspreader. It’s also conductive, and makes more efficient work of transferring heat from the CPU to the cooler.

Liquid metal is a favorite among some overclockers, particularly those who ‘delid’ their CPUs—the delicate practice of removing the heatspreader and applying compound directly to the die. Asus is not delidding the mobile CPUs in its ROG gaming laptops, but is using a “proprietary process and machine” that is capable of applying liquid metal at scale.

Will it really make a difference? That remains to be seen, though Asus claims it is seeing a meaningful reduction in temps by switching to liquid metal.

“Liquid metals have low melting points that render them fluid at room temperature. These alloys are highly conductive, so they’re extremely effective at transferring thermal energy between surfaces like a processor die and heatsink. The benefits are well-established in overclocking and DIY circles, and internal testing reinforced the appeal for gaming laptops. Our engineers observed a 10~20C reduction in temperatures depending on the CPU,” Asus explains in a blog post.

Asus says it’s using Conductonaut from Thermal Grizzly, a popular option among overclockers, but chose not to partner with the company to keep the project a secret.

“There are different kinds of liquid metal on the market. We use Conductonaut from Thermal Grizzly because it has a lower concentration of tin, which isn’t as conductive as the gallium and indium that also make up the alloy. Rather than working closely with Thermal Grizzly like we do with other partners, we purchased initial quantities more casually to keep the project a secret. Not even Intel knew of our plans during development,” Asus says.

I feel like Asus is flexing a bit, but it’s an interesting glimpse into the business. I’m mostly intrigued by the actual application process Asus designed. It’s a two-stage method that begins with a mechanized arm wetting its brush in a container of liquid metal, and then gliding it back and forth across the CPU. I’m reminded of Daniel LaRusso painting Mr. Miyagi’s fence, minus the stealth karate lesson. There is even a slight arc to the movement to mimic human motion, with the mechanized arm making precisely 17 passes.

According to Asus, this method is not feasible for AMD processors. Intel CPUs have a restricted area around the the die that is free of capacitors and the sponge “neatly fills this space.” But on “other processors” (eg, AMD Ryzen), surface mounted circuitry can be found in the same space and would short out if liquid metal was applied to it.

Asus says ROG laptops with liquid metal will be available sometime this quarter.

The One UI 2.1 update brings various Galaxy S20 features to the Galaxy Note 10 and the Galaxy S10. Apart from new camera features, the update also brings the April 2020 Android security patch and support for NavStar. The One UI 2.1 update has been released in the US and some other countries.

Galaxy Note 10 and Galaxy S10 users had reported that NavStar wasn’t working on their smartphones after the Android 10 update with One UI 2.0. Later, the March 2020 security patch was released to the phones, bringing support for NavStar 2.0, but some users still complained about the Good Lock module not working on their devices.

Samsung had acknowledged the NavStar compatibility issue last month. With the One UI 2.1 update, NavStar finally seems to be working on compatible smartphones. Users can now customize the UI navigation bar on Galaxy smartphones. The new update also comes with a few bug fixes, but the overlapping issue between show and hide button hasn’t been fixed yet, and the company says that it will be fixed with the upcoming One UI 2.5 update.

NavStar is one of the Good Lock modules, and it can be used to customize the look and feel of the UI navigation bar on Samsung’s Android smartphones. It can be used to change the color of the navigation bar, customize the icons, and add other useful buttons to the navigation bar.

Make sure to update your phone to the latest software version and install the latest version of NavStar (v2.0.00.2), which was released earlier today.

We’ll be dropping our unboxing video for the Samsung Galaxy Chromebook later this afternoon, but before I picked up my device at my local Best Buy drive through setup this morning I was made aware of a fresh-new landing page that Samsung has up for the device right now. This new listing has an updated section on this new Chromebook’s stellar display and there are some details that are quite interesting.

I can tell you from staring at the screen right now that this is hands-down the best display to ever grace a Chromebook. There’s simply no comparison at this point when we consider other Chromebooks; the display is that good. But we knew that going in, didn’t we? I mean, after our time with this thing out in Vegas at CES 2020, it was clear that the panel on offer in the Galaxy Chromebook was a standout feature.

What we didn’t know at that time or up until now is the fact that this display meets some pretty stellar criteria, too. On this new landing page, Samsung claims the 4K AMOLED panel is certified with 100% Adobe RGB and 100% DCI-P3 support, meaning colors are accurate and ready for proper image and video editing. When screens get these sorts of certifications, it simply means they are better suited towards creative tasks that require accurate color representation on screen.

Interestingly enough, Samsung used that language to not just promote the fidelity of the display, but to specifically highlight video editing on it:

A high-definition 4K AMOLED display provides incredible clarity.With 100% Adobe RGB and 100% DCI-P3 support, you can edit videos to a professional standard.

Oh really? What software would you recommend I do that with, Samsung? Sure, there’s WeVideo and Kinemaster, but video editing on Chromebooks is far from ready for most users. WeVideo requires too much cloud-based activity (uploading every raw bit of video is unrealistic for many users) and Kinemaster may allow local editing and way more flexibility, but it still feels like a blown-up phone app.

Could all this be pointing us to a legit arrival of Adobe Premiere Rush on Chrome OS? If not, why would Samsung choose to put that in the front-facing marketing? Why even bother with making sure the display is 100% Adobe RBG and DCI-P3 compliant? Those are nice stats to have, but they are far from necessary on a device that can’t locally edit video very well. On the other hand, if Samsung has been in contact with Adobe regarding the release window for Premiere Rush, it would totally make sense to see Samsung pushing Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 numbers if they knew that Rush would be out around the same time as the Galaxy Chromebook.

We have a few insiders who have claimed that Adobe has Premiere Rush ready and waiting for Chrome OS and they could literally release it right now if they wanted, so perhaps the two big new Chromebooks on the block this week will be enough to finally bring it out into the open and give Chromebook users the tools they have been waiting for. Otherwise, there’s just not much reason to be touting color space stats on a device that doesn’t really posses the tools to truly take advantage of them.