Category: Article

AOC is coming with not one but two new ultrawide gaming monitors: the CU34G2 and the CU34G2X, which are almost identical, with just a couple subtle but very relevant differences, as spotted by ComputerBase this week.

They both share identical chassis and similar panels, offering 34-inches with a 3440 x 1440 resolution. The panels are 8-bit VA units with WLED backlighting and a 3,000:1 static contrast ratio.

The design is clearly oriented at gamers with a sleek housing, elegant stand and red accents. Plus, both support AMD FreeSync.

That’s where the similarities end and the differences begin. The CU34G2 (non-X) has a panel that can refresh at up to 100 Hz, whereas the CU34G2X will go up to 144 Hz. Their color space is also slightly different, with the CU34G2 covering 124% of the sRGB space and 92% of AdobeRGB, whilst the CU34G2X covers 119%of sRGB and 88% of AdobeRGB.

Weirdly, the lower refresh rate variant is said to have HDMI 2.0, and the 144 Hz CU34G2X is said to only have HDMI 1.4. Both do have DisplayPort 1.2 though, so the most important base is covered.

ComputerBase is reporting the prices to be €469 for the CU34G2 and €579 for the CU34G2X, so expect similar figures for U.S. pricing if it does come here. Availability is slated for January.

Long-awaited by storage enthusiasts like myself, today UL Benchmarks released an update to the company’s PCMark 10 dedicated storage benchmarking tools.

The new benchmarks enable provides the tools to test and compare drive performance. Unlike previous versions of PCMark’s Storage Benchmark, it aims to be the modern benchmark for modern drives. PCMark 10’s storage benchmarks are designed to be used with both the slowest and fastest storage devices, including Intel’s Optane SSDs.

Real World Relevance

Unlike synthetic benchmarks, PCMark 10’s aims to relate manufacturers’ technical specifications to practical real-world performance data in a simple-to-use way. The test suite features four separate storage benchmarks covering various real-world traces from common tasks to popular applications.

Some traces are as simple as launching applications and booting Windows 10, while others include copying several large files and many small files and can even track performance while working with common office applications. This gives storage enthusiasts like me some extra insight into how a product truly stacks up.

PCMark 10 Storage Tests

Full System Drive Benchmark – This benchmark uses a wide-ranging set of real-world traces to fully test modern drive performance.

Quick System Drive Benchmark – This benchmark is shorter and features fewer demanding traces for smaller system drives that are unable to complete the Full System Drive benchmark.

Data Drive Benchmark – This benchmark was designed to test a drive’s file’ storage performance rather than application performance. It is also able to run on USBs, NAS drives, and other external storage devices.

Drive Performance Consistency Test – This test isn’t your run of the mill storage benchmark; this thing hammers the device under test hard. It is a long-running test with heavy work-load access patterns that shows in-depth reporting on how the device adapts to different conditions.

Once testing completes, PCMark 10’s Storage Benchmarks calculate an overall score showing relative drive performance so that you can compare devices by simply looking at their score. Bandwidth and average access time are also reported. And, you can also compare up to four test results at once in the PCMark 10 app, or as I do, export the results into Microsoft Excel for thorough analysis.

Available now

It’s available now as a free update for those who already own a professional edition license. For those who haven’t purchased it, PCMark 10 Professional Edition starts at $1495 per year for new customers. If you are interested, you can visit the UL Benchmarks website to request a quote for your specific use.

If a recent sighting on Android Gerrit is to be believed, the process of installing updates on Android devices could be receiving a significant speed boost. The listing discusses a new feature called “Resume on Reboot” which would allow certain phones to complete the update process without requiring a manual unlock.

Currently, an OTA update does not finish without forcing the user to unlock their phone. This step occurs once the device has been rebooted — after the reboot, many apps still need to update to work properly with the new software. This means that even if you leave your phone alone for several hours while the install occurs, the process won’t actually finish until you unlock the device and allow all your apps to update.

Resume on Reboot changes that. The new feature would store your login information and simply “unlock” the device for you. This would allow the entire update to proceed without any intervention by the user. However, this functionality requires a HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer) called IRebootEscrow. That isn’t on every device, so this won’t be a universal feature for Android phones. Resume on Reboot is being tested on the Pixel 4 and should be available to the public in a future update.

Tablets and 2-in-1 convertibles from the CHUWI brand are quite often equipped with the stylus support, so the company is also famous for making quality stylus pens. The latest one in their portfolio is the CHUWI HiPen H6, which is compatible not just with their new UBook Pro, but also with Microsoft Surface models and more. All that of course with a pretty customer-friendly price point, unlike some of the comparable models from the competition.

CHUWI HiPen H6 can offer quite a delicate drawing experience with 4096 pressure levels so even professionals will not be limited by it. It also has intelligent palm rejection for accurate writing including multi-touch mistakes. And because it’s equipped with a rechargable battery you don’t have to worry anymore about replacing the AAAA batteries like other styluses. With 90 days of battery life with continuous writing you don’t have to worry about battery at all in fact. And like we said before it uses the same MPP (Microsoft Pen Protocol) as the Surface series so you can get it for them too at a price of fifth of the original pen.

And now the stylus drivers got upgraded to the latest 01.03.06 version, bringing optimized performance and smoother experience in writing. The update process is pretty simple, but can’t hurt going through it, just in case.

Copy the file “Phoenix-hid-update” to the tablet, open the file, click twice “ConfigUpdate ” to run.（About 5 seconds)

Upgrade has completed when the running interface displays the version 01.03.60, close the running window to finish.

You can find more information about the CHUWI HiPen H6 stylus and of course all the tablet, laptop and 2-in-1 devices from this brand on the official website. So make sure to check it out, because maybe just out there is hiding some late idea for Xmas gift for yourself or your loved ones.

It’s felt like we’ve waited for years, but Google Assistant users can finally make notes using Google Keep from their phones, a speaker, or other devices. However, the functionality isn’t enabled by default. Here’s how to connect Google Keep Notes to Google Assistant.

How to connect Google Assistant to Keep Notes

Open Assistant settings

Find “Notes & Lists”

Set Google Keep as your default notes service

Note: This integration started rolling out on December 6th and may take time to hit all devices.

Open Google Assistant settings

First and foremost for this long-awaited functionality, we’ll have to dive into the labyrinth that is Google Assistant’s settings menu. To access the Assistant settings, you’ll want to open the Google app on your phone and tap More at the bottom of the screen. From there, tap Settings and then Google Assistant.

Set Google Keep as your default notes service

Next, locate the Services tab and finally, Notes & Lists.

Under the Notes & Lists section, Google will provide you with a handful of providers for syncing your notes. This includes Any.do, AnyList, Bring, but most importantly, Google Keep. Simply tap on the Google Keep section to set it as your default notes provider.

How to manage your Notes w/ Assistant

Once you’ve linked Google Keep with the Assistant, your future notes will all be saved to the app. On top of that, you can also access other lists and notes from Keep via Google Assistant on your phone, Home speaker, and the like.

However, it won’t work the same everywhere. On a smartphone you can say, “Show me my notes,” but a Home speaker or smart display can’t do that. Instead, they can only access a note titled “Shopping list.”

To start a new note from your phone, you can simply ask Google Assistant to “take a note.”

Silicon Lottery’s binning stats show 56% of its samples were able to of hit 4.1 GHz on all 16 cores.

According to statistics shared by binning company Silicon Lottery, the majority of AMD Ryzen 9 3950X CPUs it’s tested have been able to hit a clock speed of 4.1 GHz. The vendor’s data on the CPU was compiled by a user on Reddit.

Silicon Lottery overclocks its samples to the same speed on all of their CPU cores. The company puts the overclocked chips through stringent tests to guarantee their stability. It’s unknown how big of a sample size Silicon Lottery worked with, but the initial information looks interesting nonetheless.

So far, the statistics show that 56% of Silicon Lottery’s Ryzen 9 3950X samples were capable of hitting 4.1 GHz on all 16 cores with a core voltage (Vcore, the amount of voltage supplied to the CPU) of 1.312V. Only 19% made it to the 4.15 GHz mark.

Ryzen 9 3900X binning statistics from August showed that 68% and 35% of the 12-core samples reached 4.1 GHz and 4.15 GHz, respectively. Therefore, it’s reasonable to assume that your chances of achieving a higher overclock decrease significantly as you climb the core ladder. That’s not to mention that AMD doesn’t leave much manual overclocking headroom on its Ryzen 3000-series processors.

What’s even more fascinating is the gloomy results for the Infinity Fabric (FCLK) clock. In Silicon Lottery’s efforts to bin the FCLK on Ryzen 9 3950X, it concluded that only 12% of the samples can run the FCLK at 1,900 MHz stably.

If you’re not committed to running all your cores at identical speeds, it appears that AM4 motherboard manufacturers will add the ability to overclock AMD CCXes (AMD CPU’s core complexes). This will allow users to overclock the processor’s cores to different speeds, instead of imposing a single clock speed on every core.

There may never be a “Year of the Linux desktop” per se, but Linux on Windows, via the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), is certainly gaining popularity. Canonical, Ubuntu Linux’s parent company, has just announced it will help sponsor WSLConf, the first WSL-specific conference.

Hayden Barnes, the founder of Whitewater Foundry, a startup focusing on Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and sponsor of Pengwin, Whitewater’s Linux for Windows, started the conference. WSLconf will be held from March 10 to March 11, 2020, at Building 20 on the Microsoft HQ campus in Redmond, Wash.

Canonical, which recently revealed it’s making WSL a priority for Ubuntu, stated it would be a featured sponsor of WSLConf. Besides Canonical, Microsoft, and Whitewater Foundry, speakers from Docker, Kali Linux, Rancher Labs, and wslutilities will also appear at the conference.

WSL is meant primarily for developers and system administrators, not ordinary end-users. For example, at the conference, there will be talks on building Kubernetes on WSL; demos of WSL integration with the Visual Studio and JetBrains IDEs; and WSL for long-time Unix/Linux system administrators.

At the same time, Microsoft is also extending its office programs to the traditional Linux desktop. For the first time, an MS-Office program, Microsoft Teams, will be available to run natively on Linux.

At one time, the idea that the Windows and Linux desktops would cross-pollinate with each other would be dismissed as downright silly. That was then. This is now. The two rival desktops are integrating. Who would have guessed?

Fujifilm’s X100 series of premium compact cameras have become cult classics among street photographers, but there hasn’t been a new model in the range since early 2017. Well, the long wait for a successor to the X100F could soon be over if recent leaks are to be believed, with the Fujifilm X100V rumored to be launching in early 2020.

The usually reliable Fuji Rumors claims to have been told by sources that the Fujifilm X100V, the fifth model in the series, will arrive in February 2020. The site also claims that the price will be around US$1,500; there are no leaked prices for the UK or Australia yet, but that converts to around £1,140 or AU$2,200, and if those are close to the actual prices it would be a fairly significant increase over its predecessor in the US and Australia.

The current model in the series, the Fujifilm X100F, launched back in January 2017 for US$1,299 / £1,249 / AU$1,900, which was already a sizable bump from the X100T. Still, fans of these premium compacts, which mix stunning retro looks with a unique hybrid viewfinder, will likely still stump up the extra cash if their wishlist of improvements is realized in the new model.

Retro looks, upgraded performance?

So far, there haven’t been any major specs leaks for the Fujifilm X100V, but previous rumors have suggested the camera might be getting a new lens.

The series has retained the same lens since the 12MP Fujifilm X100, and will need an updated one if, as expected, the X100V adopts the same 26.1MP CMOS sensor found inside the Fujifilm X-Pro3 and X-T3. This new lens would likely retain the classic 23mm focal length that makes it so popular for street snapping, while potentially bringing new features like improved autofocus motors.

Other much-requested upgrades are weather sealing, USB-C charging, and the excellent autofocus system seen on the Fujifilm X-T3. More radical improvements, such as a flip-screen, appear to be less likely, as Fujifilm has preferred to only make iterative improvements to its X100 series since it arrived in 2011. We’ll bring you any official news as soon as we get it.

Google is rolling out the latest version of Chrome for Mac, Windows, and Linux. Chrome 79 readies tab freezing to make the browser less resource-intensive, and a slew of security features related to phishing protections.

A new “tab freezing” feature introduced with Chrome 79 works to save memory, CPU, and battery resources on desktops. Tabs that have been in the background for over 5 minutes will be frozen and not able to perform tasks. There is an exception for playing audio and video, as well as recording, while site developers can experimentally opt-out.

This release also expands Google’s password and phishing protections in Chrome. The Password Checkup extension is now integrated as part of “Sync and Google Services,” while two phishing protections work to make Safe Browsing better and alert you to change passwords entered on malicious sites. More details are available here.

A related change sees the browser better emphasize what profile you’re using by adding a name next to the avatar. Intended for shared devices with multiple users, Google wants to make sure you are storing credentials in the right Google Account.

Originally planned for the previous release, Chrome 79 features an experiment for 1% of users that enables secure DNS connections through DNS-over-HTTPS. This prevents user tracking and malicious redirects. A new flag allows you to opt-out of the DoH test: chrome://flags/#dns-over-https.

Chrome will check if the user’s DNS provider is among a list of participating DoH-compatible providers and if so, it will enable DoH. If the DNS provider is not on the list, Chrome won’t enable DoH and will continue to operate as it does today.

Chrome will begin marking sites that use TLS 1.0 or 1.1 “Not Secure” and remove the lock symbol. This measure starts in January 2020 as Google encourages sites to move away from legacy TLS.

Google is working on a shared clipboard between computers and Android that’s available from the right-click menu. Copied text can be shared on devices that are logged in to the same Google Account and have Chrome Sync enabled. Text is end-to-end encrypted and Google notes how it can’t see the contents. It began rolling out in October for a “limited number of users” and will be “released to all users in a future version of Chrome.”

Chrome 79 for desktops is available now, with Android and Chrome OS following in the coming weeks.

HP’s newest Spectre x360 13 brings forward its predecessor’s iconic design but in a much smaller package. As important, it appears that HP has fixed a major issue I experienced with the previous generation Spectre x360 13.

Before getting to that, let’s take a look at the most startling change: This 5th-generation Spectre x360 is 13 percent smaller than its predecessor. That doesn’t sound like much, but when you place the new unit on top of the old, you’ll find that the older 4th-generation Spectre x360 13 is almost one inch deeper than the new unit.

Obviously, something had to give. And sure enough, the new Spectre x360 13 sacrifices the stylized speaker grill that sat above the keyboard previously, and the wrist rest is a bit less deep as well. More impressively, HP has finally taken meaningful steps to reduce its previously-ludicrously large bezels on the display lid: The gigantic 25.82 mm bottom bezel on the previous version has been replaced by a much smaller 11.09 mm bottom bezel on the new version, a 57 percent reduction. And the top bezel has shrunk even more impressively, from 17.35 mm to just 5.85 mm, a 66 percent reduction.

Put another way, the previous-generation Spectre x360 13 had an unimpressive 78 percent screen-to-body ratio, but the new version has a 90 percent screen-to-body ratio. It looks great, and it still works as before: The tiny top bezel contains a smaller web camera and IR camera (for Windows Hello) components. HP wasn’t forced to “pull a Dell” and put the cameras below the display.

Beyond this most welcome change, the Spectre x360 13 carries forward with the gem-cut, hard-edged, angular aluminum CNC design of its predecessor. The look is polarizing—you either love it or you don’t, I guess—but it’s also practical. Because of the unusual 45-degree rear corners, HP has found a new and easily discoverable (and memorable) place for the power button, on the left rear corner. And it has placed a USB-C port on the right rear corner; thanks to its angle, an attached power cord won’t get in your way if you wish to use a mouse on the right side of the device. Smart.

For those who are not fans of the angular design, HP has somewhat softened the blow by bringing back a classic silver color option. This is ideal for those who don’t want the flashier color schemes—Nightfall Black with Copper Luxe accents, and Poseidon Blue with Pale Brass accents—that HP also offers. This is a PC that even the most conservative user can embrace.

Like previous HP x360 designs, the new Spectre converts between four usage modes: Traditional laptop, tent, presentation, and tablet. If you’re familiar with my notion of optimizing for the everyday, I feel like this is the right design for most users. Its optimized for the most common usage mode, a laptop, but can easily transform when needed. For example, you can use the included HP Pen to take notes on the display in tablet mode, and its smaller overall size makes it a better fit for that role than previous x360s.

Inside, the new Spectre is powered by 10th-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 quad-core processors with Intel Iris Plus Graphics, 8 to 16 GB of RAM, and 256 to 2 TB of SSD storage, with some models offering an Intel Optane option. The smaller new form factor necessitated a new thermal design, which consists of larger air inlets and outlets, more internal graphite sheeting to disperse heat, and new air inlet holes under the top middle of the keyboard.

Connectivity is likewise impressive: The HP features Wi-Fi 6 and gigabit 4G LTE, with 4×4 antennas and a unique ability to use both simultaneously if desired. It includes Bluetooth 5.0 capabilities as well.

External expansion is acceptable given the PC’s small dimensions. There’s a single full-sized USB 3.1 port on the left, complete with a flip-down half cover, and a combo audio jack.

On the right, you’ll find two USB-C ports—one of which, again, is on the angled back right corner—and a microSD card reader.

The keyboards on HP’s premium PCs are typically excellent, and the Spectre x360 13 appears to continue this trend, with ideal key travel and a comfortable typing experience. One possible concern, of course, is the smaller wrist rest area. I have very large hands, and I’m curious if this will remain comfortable over time. But I suspect that those with more normally-sized mitts will do just fine.

I mentioned upfront that I experienced one serious issue with the Spectre’s predecessor. That was with its trackpad, which proved so unreliable that I scuttled my review of the PC. HP heard the complaints—I wasn’t the only one, obviously—and it provides a precision touchpad in the new version. I assume that will fix the problems.

To compensate for the lack of space on the keyboard deck, HP moved the new Spectre x360’s speakers to the bottom, and in my early tests they sound pretty punchy, especially when the PC is on a hard surface. I’ll compare the sound to that of the previous version and to the new HP Elite Dragonfly, which has particularly good audio.

There are three display options, each of which is glossy: A Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS panel, that same Full HD panel with an integrated privacy screen, and a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) IPS BrightView panel. The review unit—which includes a Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of NVMe M.2 SSD storage—is the first of the three, and my personal preference.

On that note, HP rates the battery life at 22 hours, which it says is the longest battery life of any quad-core 13.3-inch consumer convertible PC; web browsing is rated at almost 12 hours, and that’s likely closer to accurate. It can also charge to 50 percent in just 30 minutes.

There are some additional unique touches. Like its predecessor, the new Spectre includes a hardware switch—located on the right side of the device between the microSD card slot and the USB-C port—for toggling the webcam on and off for privacy. But new to the 5th-generation unit is a microphone mute toggle key on the function row of the keyboard.

HP also bundles a few security-oriented software apps on the Spectre—ExpressVPN and LastPass—but I find these additions to be largely superfluous. ExpressVPN is free for one month only, and LastPass is the free version.

Speaking of software, the crapware-laden load-out that HP supplies is not ideal. The taskbar comes with icons for ExpressVPN, a Dropbox promotion, and HP JumpStarts, and the Start menu is cluttered with even more, including two McAfee apps, and a surprisingly long list of HP and Intel applications and utilities. And that’s on top of the nonsense that Microsoft dumps on us all in Windows 10. I thought we had moved past this phase, but I guess not.

Pricing is reasonable for a premium PC of this type: The HP Spectre x360 13 starts at $1099 for a model with a Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB of SSD storage. The review unit retails for $1299, and it includes a Core i7 processor, 8 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of storage. Upgrade to the 4K UHD AMOLED display, 16 GB of RAM, and 1 TB SSD + 32 GB of Intel Optane, and you’re looking at $1699.