Author: batteryforpc

Nostalgia is a hell of a drug, and one that multimillion-dollar tech companies take advantage of all the time. From Netflix listings that are stuffed full of remakes to the retro consoles that line store shelves for Christmas, it’s hard not to approach this reboot culture without some cynicism. That is why the unveiling of the new Motorola Razr initially filled us with equal parts glee and trepidation.

As one of the most iconic phones in history (and one we used with pride and joy), it’s impossible not to fall for the hype, without the fear of getting hurt. With a folding screen magically crammed into the classic Razr design, however, the new Razr appears to be everything a gadget fan could wish for and more. Having been lucky enough to get our hands on one in the flesh, we’re happy to report that our ticket for the hype train appears to be very much justified.

Old dog, mind-blowing tricks

When closed, the Razr is essentially a wider version of the original, with the shape, chin and stealth black paint job all present and accounted for. It even sports the same 14mm thickness when closed too.

The most noticeable difference is a large external screen (more on that later), but on the whole, it feels simultaneously both wonderfully familiar and refreshingly novel. Open it up, though, and something truly special happens.

Hidden within the sleek black clamshell is a 6.2-inch plastic OLED display, which inexplicably manages to smoothly unfold and reveal its full glory when the Razr is flipped open. Motorola invested an incredible amount of research into the new Razr’s hinge, which is the secret sauce behind the display’s contortion skills.

We won’t dive into the details too much, but it’s essentially comprised of moving plates, allowing the screen to fold back into itself at the joint and form a bell shape. This not only protects the screen from creasing when folding, but it also means that there are zero gaps when the Razr is shut, completely protecting the screen from dust and debris.

When fully open, the hinge also forces the screen to remain completely rigid and flat, providing the same experience you’d find on any other regular smartphone. Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Fold, there’s also no noticeable crease to distract you, which is a big win for the Moto camp.

Speaking of the Fold, Motorola stated that it tested out various prototypes, including handsets that followed the Fold’s regular-to-big screen philosophy. It finally opted for the current design – namely, a regular smartphone that folds down to half the size. This wasn’t, apparently, purely an excuse to revive the Razr for the sake of it. Rather, this form factor is aimed at people who want a more pocketable, easier-to-handle smartphone experience.

Specced for purpose

We’re not ones to dive into clock speeds and benchmarks, but at €1,599 (around £1,366), you’ll probably want to know what you’re getting for your pile of cash. The answer is a single 16MP camera, a mid-range processor and a 2,510mAh battery.

Camera aside, those specs don’t inspire much, but Motorola is adamant that every single component was carefully chosen with design in mind. The processor, it believes, is more than fast enough to deal with everything you’ll throw at it while being very power efficient. Given the smaller-than-average battery, we can only hope the claim of all-day battery life proves to be true.

Beyond that, though, Motorola believes that the Razr will inherently change the way you use your phone. The external display allows you to read notifications and reply to messages and emails, control music and use the Google Assistant, all without having to flip your power-hungry screen open.

Not only that, but we’re also told that this quick-fire use of the external display also means you’ll be less tempted to fire open full apps and get lost in a thumb-scrolling black hole. The cynics among us might label this as an excuse for the small battery, but we can also see how Motorola’s philosophy could work.

Call it a comeback

Motorola hasn’t exactly lit the phone world ablaze for a long time, but the Razr could change that. While its ludicrously high price tag will make it more of an exclusive luxury for early adopters to start with, the Razr is definitely paving the way for a new generation of incredibly exciting tech.

Will it be the phone of choice for spec fiends? Absolutely not, but make no mistake, this is an absolutely wondrous combination of nostalgic design and ingenious engineering and our first impressions have left us with a big goofy smile on our face.

In a world stuffed with identi-slab smartphones, the new Razr is a welcome hurricane of fresh air.

Korean media Brainbox’s latest interview with Biostar Product Manager Vicky Wang has revealed some pretty interesting information about forthcoming AMD and Intel motherboards.

When asked about Biostar’s future products, Wang responded that we can expect new offerings with both AMD and Intel chipsets. In regards to the much-anticipated AMD B550 chipset, the executive said corresponding motherboards are ready to go.

Sadly, Wang didn’t reveal the specific date on when they will actually hit the shelves. However, a DigiTimes report in June claimed motherboard manufacturers are supposed to receive B550 chipset orders this quarter, meaning the motherboards could come out at the end of 2019 or early 2020.

Intel’s 400-series chipset, which is tailored to Comet Lake-S (CML-S) processors, are also due next year. Wang mentioned three chipsets in particular here. It’s rumored, that the Z490 chipset will target high-end motherboards, while the B460 and H410 chipsets will be for mid-range and entry-level motherboards, respectively. According to a Comet Lake-S leak from earlier this month, the 14nm chips are scheduled for the first half of next year, so we don’t expect to see any 400-series motherboards in a near future.

Today, at the second global technology conference held by CNBC, Huawei revealed that it will release the overall strategy related to Harmony OS on November 20.

Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei, introduced that Huawei is making great efforts to redesign the products. After the arrival of the new 5G, the market demand is very high.

According to previous reports, Vincent Pang, senior vice president of Huawei, recently told Business Insider that Huawei will decide whether to bring Harmony OS to the smartphones in the next six to nine months. But seems this will happen sooner because the company still can’t work with the US companies such as Google.

[On August 9, 2019, Huawei held the Huawei Developer Conference in Dongguan, officially releasing Harmony OS. It is a ‘future-oriented’ operating system. It is a micro-kernel-based distributed operating system, covering all the niches. So it can appear on multi-terminal devices such as smartphones, tablets, TVs, smart cars, and wearable devices.]

Apart from this, as the Huawei executive said, 5G is an infrastructure that can support the development of artificial intelligence. Plus, it can truly amplify the role of the digital economy and promote the development of all mankind.

Liang Hua’s point of view coincides with Tang Hai, the chief 5G scientist of OPPO. Recently the latter brought its commercial 5G smartphone to Europe. It should hit this market in the nearest future.

Apart from this, at the conference, Guangzhou Automobile Group’s executive said, with Huawei, they have jointly developed an autonomous system, ADiGO. The system consists of four parts: intelligent driving system, Internet of Things, big data, and voice platform. It can provide good help and driving experience for unmanned safety and convenience.

MSI has announced a new version of the mid-range GPU of the RX 580, This fully black graphics has been called the RX 580 Armor and the Armor MK2. This graphics card is still based off of the AMD’s Polaris chipset, meaning it still is a generation old graphics card when comparing it to the RX 5700 and the RX 5700 XT.

MSI Intros New Custom RX 580 Cards, The Armor & The Armor MK2

This new card does have some changes to it compared to MSI’s older RX 580 cards, the design change from the red and black color scheme to the new all-black (yes including the fans) design theme is well appreciated for gamers that don’t RGB all of their system. Not only the design change is present here, but there is also a fully redesigned PCB, and a redesigned I/O bracket. The newly designed PCB and I/O bracket have kept the four display connectors.

MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor Graphics Cards

The attached heatsink’s surface area is seemingly increased which will allow the card to boost its clock speed, due to the overall lower temperature that this card will allow for. This new RX 580 card also keeps the same single 8-pin connector that the original MSI RX 580 had pre-installed.

MSI Radeon RX 580 Armor MK2 Graphics Cards

Comparing this card to the older RX 580 means that the initial price point for this card should be right around $300, although this is completely unconfirmed at this point, It is also still unknown if there will be a significant RAM difference between the Armor and the Armor MK.2 designs.

I know that when this card, I will be picking one up if it has the right price point. When comparing this to one of AMD’s newest flagship graphics card the RX 5700, this card does put up a fight but not for long as it is running on the older architecture, as shown by this Userbenchmark the RX 580 only gets a speed ranking of 54th when comparing this to an RX 5700 which received a speed ranking of 21st, and the RX 5700 most likely going to cost a similar price point means that if MSI is planning to sell this at MSRP value they may be looking a loss of profit.

The new OM-D E-M5 Mark III is lighter, sharper and better than the older Mark II version. It has 20 million pixels instead of 16, it has better autofocus, and an improved image stabilization system. That’s a pretty good start!

It’s arrived just after Olympus’s 100-year anniversary and fits between the more novice-orientated Olympus PEN models and OM-D E-M10 Mark III, and the professional OM-D E-M1 Mark II and E-M1X models.

The existing E-M5 Mark II already offered a great set of features in a highly compact camera, but its ageing 16MP sensor held it back. The Mark III continues with that compact-yet-powerful theme, but with the latest, highest resolution 20MP MFT sensor.

It’s aimed at real photo enthusiasts and semi-professional photographers, and goes head to head with cameras like the Fujifilm X-T30, Nikon Z 50 and Sony A6400. These are already among the best mirrorless cameras you can buy, so we have high hopes for this one.

SPECIFICATIONS

Sensor: 20.4MP MFT Live MOS

Image processor: TruPic VIII

AF points: 127 phase detection AF points, all cross-type

ISO range: 200-6,400 (exp. Low-25,600)

Max image size: 5184 × 3888

Metering modes: ESP multi-pattern, centre weighted, spot, highlight, shadow mode

Video: C4K, 4K UHD 30p, 1080p at 120fps

Viewfinder: EVF OLED, 2.36m dots

Memory card: 1x SD/SDHC/SDXC (UHS I)

Max burst: 10fps mechanical shutter, 15/30fps Pro Capture

Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth

Size: 125.3 x 85.2 x 49.7mm

Weight: 414g

KEY FEATURES

There’s a lot of technology built into this camera, and a lot of features. Some you’ll find in rival cameras, some you won’t. This is not really designed to be a camera for professionals, and it’s not going to qualify as one of the cheapest mirrorless cameras any time soon, but it’s got a magic combination of features, price, performance and size that will instantly appeal to hobbyists and enthusiasts.

The E-M5 Mark III is lighter than its predecessor and yet its weather sealed construction means its dust, splash and freeze-proof. The autofocus system doesn’t have the most AF points but the 121 phase detection on sensor AF points are all cross-type and cover most of the sensor area.

The E-M5 Mark III certainly ticks all the boxes for action photography, offering 10fps continuous shooting with the mechanical shutter, but an amazing 30fps in Pro Capture mode with focus locked on the first frame, or 15fps with continuous AF. This doesn’t quite match the 60fps Pro Capture mode on the E-M1 Mark II, but it’s mighty impressive nonetheless.

What makes this Pro Capture mode especially interesting is that it starts buffering images as soon as you half press the shutter release, then saves these 14 buffered shots and a further 85 (Olympus says) when you press the shutter release the rest of the way. It gives the uncanny impression of capturing action that starts before you’ve even pressed the shutter button.

Olympus says all parts have been miniaturised in this new camera to produce the smallest body possible. It also has a new and improved image stabilisation system offering up to 5.5EV shake compensation – or up to 6.5EV with one of Olympus’s stabilized lenses.

This same stabilisation system is used for shooting video, either in C4K or UHD, and in the movie mode it’s supplemented by digital stabilisation for even smoother footage. The E-M5 Mark III’s video credentials are supplemented by a special ‘Flat’ mode for more effective grading later on, and a socket for an external microphone.

The E-M5 also offers Focus Bracketing (you can combine images later in the Olympus Workspace image editing software ) and in-camera Focus Stacking, where the camera automatically combines 8 separate images in-camera.

Olympus’s Tripod High Res Shot makes an appearance again, combining eight images with half-pixel shifts between them – though as the name spells out, this is no a handheld mode.

You also get Olympus’s clever Live Composite and Live Bulb modes. Live Composite mode overlaps multiple shots but records only brighter values, so it’s perfect for capturing light trails with out overexposing the ambient light – and you can check progress in live view. Or you can simply use the Live Bulb mode to watch your long exposures slowly building on the screen.

Elsewhere, you get a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000sec, USB charging (very useful, especially given the modest battery life), 6 different scene modes and 16 of Olympus’s rather good Art Filters.

BUILD AND HANDLING

Olympus’s weight saving has certainly worked. The OM-D E-M5 Mark III is very light, though if you fit the Olympus Pro 12-40mm lens typically supplied with this camera as a kit, though, it loses a little of its advantage, as this is a pretty hefty lens by Micro Four Thirds standards.

It’s also possible to get the E-M5 Mark III as a kit with the Olympus 14-42mm EZ ‘pancake’ zoom. This is ultra-compact, and while it doesn’t have the zoom range, constant aperture or image quality of the 12-40mm Pro lens, it’s quite superb for travel photography when you want to travel light.

In fact, the E-M5 III is an object lesson in how to design effective controls for a small camera body. The main mode dial is big and positive with a locking button in the centre, there are two large customisable control dials on the top plate and a clever lever on the back that switches them between two sets of functions.

The rear four way controller is small but effective enough and there’s an ‘OK’ button in the center which activates a handy interactive touch sensitive settings screen.

The rear screen is a fully vari-angle type, not just a tilting screen, so you can easily flip it round to face forward, and white the EVF isn’t the highest resolution, it still has a creditable 2.36 million dots, it’s an OLED type with great clarity and contrast.

Olympus has given this new model a thumb rest on the back and a larger front grip – it really does handle very well for a camera of its size.

PERFORMANCE

The autofocus feels fast and positive, and especially so if you use the touch shutter option with the rear screen – here, a tap of the finger is followed so closely by the focus ‘beep’ and the shutter release that it feels virtually instantaneous.

The AF kept up pretty well in our action tests too, though you may need to spend a little time trying out the different AF modes and area patterns to find the only that suits your subject best. The Pro Capture mode does not offer continuous AF at 30fps, but it’s still ideal for action that takes place at a specific point in front of the camera.

Shots taken in daylight display vibrant but natural looking colours, and crisp, clear image detail – we were shooting mostly with the 12-40mm f/2.8 Pro lens, which is a terrific standard zoom with great edge-to-edge sharpness. The smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor starts to show noise and smudging a little lower in the ISO range than rival APS-C cameras, but the excellent in-body stabilization helps to make up for that – the smaller sensor format seems to help the stabilization performance, and the Olympus (and Panasonic) systems are almost uncannily steady.

Some quick tests of the image stabilisation system show it’s possible to capture sharp handheld shots at shutter speeds as low as 1/4sec, and we’re impressed by the image stabilisation for ‘run and gun’ style handheld video.

Overall, our real-world tests confirmed the results of our lab tests, below – the OM-D E-M5 Mark III might be at a technical disadvantage on paper, due to its smaller sensor and lower megapixel count, but its results stand up extremely well against the best of its rivals.

LAB TESTS

We tested the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III lab test results against those of three key rivals; the Sony A6400, Fujifilm X-T30 and Canon EOS RP. They’re all in the same general ballpark for price, but have very different sensors and feature sets!

Resolution

The Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III came through this test very well, despite its smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor and lower 20-megapixel resolution. It matched the best of its rivals for detail rendition up to ISO 1600, even the full frame Canon EOS RP, but predictably enough it did start to fall away at higher ISO settings.

Signal to noise ratio

The smaller sensor in the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III does tend to hurt it in our noise tests. The Fujifilm X-T30 and full frame Canon EOS RP both control noise more effectively – though interestingly the Olympus proved slightly better than the Sony A6400.

Dynamic range

This is another good result for the Olympus. The Fujifilm X-T30’s dynamic range is just slightly better up to around ISO 1600, but then the Olympus takes the lead. The Sony A6400 is the poorest performer here (though still not bad) while the Canon EOS RP fails to exploit its larger sensor area and only manages third place.

VERDICT

Olympus has packed a lot of technology into a very small and affordable camera body, and some clever and genuinely useful long exposure and focus bracketing options too. Don’t be fooled by this camera’s size. It may be little larger than the smallest entry-level mirrorless cameras, but it has features and capabilities you won’t find all in the same place even with the top enthusiast DSLRs and mirrorless models. And while the 20MP sensor is at a numerical disadvantage compared to most APS-C sensors, you’re unlikely to see much difference in real world shooting.

After concentrating so much on its lower end PEN models and it’s top-end pro cameras, Olympus has rather neglected its mid-range model, and the one that’s potentially the most interesting of all to keen enthusiasts. Well now the OM-D E-M5 III puts that right, and looks set to reinvigorate the mid-range mirrorless camera market with some real competition for its APS-C rivals. Olympus has been in the news for all the wrong reasons recently, so we’re very happy to report that the E-M5 Mark III is very good news indeed.