Author: batteryforpc

We’ve been saying the same thing for months at this point: Google may have stopped making in-house tablets, but plenty of Chrome OS tablets are on the way and in large number. It could be pretty easy to look at the current Chromebook landscape with Google’s grand tablet exit and conclude that Chrome OS is going to simply stick to clamshell and convertible laptops.

If we weren’t tracking multiple devices in the ‘Kukui’ family of Mediatek 8183 powered tablets, detachable ‘Hatch’-based devices, and the small fleet of Snapdragon 845 Chrome OS tablet/detachables, we’d be inclined to think the window for Chrome OS tablets was closed, too. However, there’s far too many new devices late in their development cycle for that sort of conclusion to hold any water. Sure, we thought we’d see some of them before the holidays, but it looks more likely CES will be the beginning of the new wave of Chrome OS devices.

Today, we’re adding a bit more fuel to that fire by way of a Reddit post from a user we’ve seen prior. u/Bottleneckbreaker has posted a survey for Reddit users to participate in, allowing a select few to test a new Chrome OS tablet device. This survey is in the same vein as one he posted about 8 months ago offering users to test a new Google Home device that would eventually become the Lenovo Smart Clock. With this past survey and his official ‘Verified Lenovo Employee’ badge, we’re inclined to believe this is a legit post.

For those of you about to run over and enter, it is already too late. Just like with the Smart Clock, u/Bottleneckbreaker has already removed the survey after getting the requisite number of takers. Sorry about that, but you can still be excited about the fact that this happened with the Smart Clock about a month or two before its official launch, so we can feel confident that some of these new Chrome OS tablets will start hitting shelves some time in January if not before.

With all the devices we have eyes on in the ‘Kukui’ family (9 in total right now), this means we could see a small avalanche of new Chrome OS detachable/tablet units within the next handful of weeks. Sure, we’re a tad bummed they didn’t make it for the holidays, but it really feels like 2020 is going to usher in a new wave of Chrome OS with tons of detachables, tablets, convertibles, and clamshells from nearly every manufacturer. With tons of extended features like fingerprint readers and pen support looking to be the norm for these new devices, it is all very exciting to think about as we approach the end of 2019, so make sure and stay tuned.

AMD’s CPUs are again winning big against Intel, not just in current sales, as we’ve previously seen, but also sentiment in terms of future processor purchases that consumers might make, at least according to a new report.

The survey from the European Hardware Association (EHA) canvassed the opinions of tech enthusiasts across Europe (specifically folks who read EHA publications), and found that they “expressed a distinct preference when asked about the next desktop processor that they would buy, with over 60% choosing AMD”. Obviously that leaves 40% in the Intel camp.

This is a big change from last year, when the picture was reversed, and 60% preferred Intel. It shows the major impact that Ryzen 3000 processors have had in 2019, grabbing a huge slice of the desktop enthusiast CPU pie as we’ve seen in various different stats and reports that have emerged throughout this year.

Another way to look at this is that AMD has gained 50% more supporters in the last year, which is a huge leap, without a doubt.

EHA chairman Koen Crijns noted: “The last three years has seen AMD gain a lot of momentum in the enthusiast segment. With the Ryzen series of CPUs, AMD has eliminated any lingering performance gaps, while offering a great price/performance ratio.”

Of course, Intel has not only had to fight a battle in terms of that price/performance value proposition offered by AMD, but has also been plagued by production and supply issues with its Core family of CPUs.

Talking graphics

The EHA survey also found AMD had gained ground in the GPU arena, too, although as other reports have indicated, the company is still way behind Nvidia.

Almost 23% are in favor of AMD’s graphics cards, which obviously still leaves Nvidia winning big, but AMD is at least making progress, considering that back in May, only 19% of those the EHA surveyed chose AMD over Nvidia.

As ever, we have to be careful about exactly how much we read into just a single report, but it’s no real surprise that tech enthusiasts are starting to more heavily skew towards AMD when it comes to processors.

WHATSAPP has a hidden feature buried deep within its settings menu on Android and iPhone that every user should know about.

Did you know WhatsApp has a menu that lets you see exactly how many text messages, GIFs, stickers and more you’ve sent each and every one of your contacts? Well, you do now. Here’s how to load up this hidden feature.

Eager to see who you spend the most time chatting to? Open up WhatsApp and head to the settings menu – the iPhone app has a tab at the bottom dedicated to settings while Android users will need to press the three small buttons at the top right-hand corner of the chat menu to load it up.

From there, press the tab that reads Data and storage usage then press Storage usage. You’ll then be presented with a page that lists your contacts and has a file size next to them.

The largest files are positioned at the top, this is most likely the person you’ve sent the most texts, photos and videos to, but not always. Certain contacts will be particularly high if you’ve sent them a ton of photos and videos from last night’s house party for instance, even if you’ve never exchanged that many texts with them before.

The list offered by WhatsApp is quite comprehensive – on each individual page you’ll be able to see a swathe of information ranging to text messages to location shares.

Here’s a full list of data you’ll be able to view:

• Text messages

• Contacts (shared)

• Locations (shared)

• Photos

• Stickers

• GIFs

• Videos

• Audio messages

• Documents

Your list will either completely surprise you or meet your exact expectations. It might also make you realise just how much time you’ve spend chatting with friends and family on WhatsApp…

The new feature is not only great for answering WhatsApp trivia, it’s also good for storage management too. Users have the ability to delete individual chats if they’re clogging up too much space on your phone.

There you have it, a neat WhatsApp feature you probably didn’t know existed. Now we’ll leave you to work out who your WhatsApp bestie is…

Intel’s 11th Generation Rocket Lake-S desktop CPU details have started appearing in the online rumor mill. The latest details from the Chinese based PTT PC forums reveal that Rocket Lake-S will feature a couple of changes compared to the 10th Generation Comet Lake-S processors which arrive next year.

Intel Rocket Lake-S 14nm CPUs Reportedly Feature Gen 12 Xe GPUs, Up To 8 Cores at 125W & DDR4-3733 MHz Support

The details are very interesting considering we didn’t have a lot of information for Rocket Lake-S CPUs aside from the fact that they were going to be based on the 14nm process node and will be the last 14nm desktop mainstream family before Intel shifts to 7nm. The Intel Rocket Lake-S CPU family is expected to arrive on the mainstream desktop platform by 2021 and will be the 11th Gen family, replacing the 10th Gen Comet Lake-S lineup which is expected to launch in 2020.

The Intel Rocket Lake-S processors, once again, will feature an enhanced 14nm node. This will be the last and most advanced 14nm process node which we have seen to date and with most of Intel’s processors shifting to sub 14nm in 2021 (Xeon, Notebooks), there will be enough capacity to deliver a timely supply of mainstream desktop processors to consumers.

The 11th Gen family is expected to feature U and S series processors, but we will only be focusing on the S series which is aimed at the mainstream desktop platform. So, for starters, the rumor says that the Rocket Lake-S family will feature up to 8 cores and a TDP of 125W. This is two cores less than the Comet Lake-S family which will offer 10 cores with a TDP of 125W. Rocket Lake-S is also featuring AVX-256 and not AVX-512 like the 10nm Ice Lake or Tiger Lake family. There’s also DDR4 support for up to 3733 MHz (32 GB) and 2933 MHz (128 GB) native speeds.

The most significant detail, however, is that the Rocket Lake-S family is expected to feature the Gen 12 GPU architecture onboard the chip. Intel’s Gen 12 GPUs are based on the Xe GPU architecture which will also be featured on Tiger Lake CPUs. Now Tiger Lake is a 2020 part too aimed at mobility platforms but is based on the 10nm Willow Cove cores while Rocket Lake-S processors are based on a 14nm process node. There are 32 EUs featured on the Rocket Lake-S processors compared to 48 EUs featured on Comet Lake-S processors. The difference is that Comet Lake-S CPUs still get the older Gen 9 GPU architecture while Rocket Lake reportedly gets Gen 12 Xe GPU.

Here’s where the rumor gets interesting. For a while now, there has been a rumor going round that Intel would backport their new CPU architecture (say Sunny Cove or Willow Cove) to 14nm CPUs.

This would explain why there are Gen 12 Xe graphics featured on the 14nm Tiger Lake CPUs. But the same chip also has AVX-256 which Intel has upgraded to AVX-512 on their new cores. So that actually raises two possibilities, either the Rocket Lake-S CPUs indeed feature a 14nm backport of a newer core architecture that Intel has introduced on Ice Lake / Tiger Lake CPUs, but with some features cut-off, or the Rocket Lake CPUs are just based on an existing 14nm architecture, but have Gen 12 GPUs on the same die connected by EMIB which allows them to mix and match various IPs on a single chip rather than off-die.

Also, previous rumors have hinted that Rocket Lake-S CPUs would feature up to 10 cores while the notebook lineup indeed mentioned support for discrete 14nm/10nm graphics (Gen 12). It will be interesting to see what Rocket Lake-S turns out to be but still relying on 14nm in 2021 wouldn’t be a great thing for Intel when their competitor would be offering a highly enhanced Zen 4 core based lineup based on an improved 7nm or even sub-7nm process node.

Since the official announcement, Vivo X30 has been gaining momentum especially since the official launch is nearing. The smartphone is expected to see its official unveiling next month i.e. December 2019. As you might know, the Chinese company has collaborated with Samsung to integrate the Exynos 980 chipset with 5G connectivity. So far, the device has been teased numerous times by the brand itself. It seems like the company is also planning to unveil its all-new UI dubbed JoviOS during the X30 launch event.

VIVO TO LAUNCH NEW SOFTWARE DUBBED JOVIOS NEXT MONTH

As per the recent teaser, the brand might launch its new software called JoviOS along with the Vivo X30 smartphone. It seems like the company is finally leaving behind its 5-year-old FunTouchOS. Ge Yanan, FunTouchOS Project Manager, recently shared the news on its Weibo account. At the time of writing this story, we don’t have much information on the new UI. Since Vivo is rebranding its UI, we should expect some massive redesign along with the addition of new features. We might see more information on the new UI coming forward in the coming days. Here is the design sketch of the logo of JoviOS till then.

Since Vivo will be announcing the new software during the launch of Vivo X30, we’re expecting the device to feature the new JoviOS operating system. If that happens, then the X30 lineup will be the first smartphone to run on the new platform.

In other related news, a new teaser image has appeared on the web which showcases the top of the upcoming Vivo X30 smartphone. The top features the 3.5mm headphone jack along with a microphone. The device will also come with a triple rear camera module along with a periscope sensor. The sensor will offer up to 60x hybrid zoom. Other specifications include AMOLED display, 90Hz refresh rate, Exynos 980 and up to 12GB RAM.