If you thought the Galaxy Note 10 and Pixel 4 were the only phones worth waiting for, Asus wants to prove you wrong. The Zenfone maker has unveiled the follow-up to its first gaming phone, appropriately named the ROG Phone II, and it’s nothing less than a monster.When the ROG Phone released, it was a novel, if flawed concept, with things like a second side USB-C port, a clip-on fan, and RGB lighting. The ROG II absolutely doubles down on the concept, with a similar aesthetic but massively improved specs that pretty much include everything but 5G:Display: 6.59-inch FHD+ 2340…

If you’re thinking about resetting your Windows PC with a local account, save yourself some frustration and consider upgrading to the Windows 10 May 2019 Update first.Our experiences with the October 2018 Update nearly convinced us that local accounts were gone for good. They’re not, thank goodness, but Out-of-the-Box Experience (OOBE) in that version pushes you particularly hard toward using a Microsoft account. We discovered two workarounds, though, to allow you to log in as you wish.What happened to Windows 10’s local account?  The changes were made in what Microsoft calls the Out-of-the-Box Experience (OOBE), which you’ll see either when…

By last year’s standards, Samsung’s RU8000 is a good TV; but this year, it’s eclipsed in terms of both color and HDR performance by less-expensive competitors.Powered by WPeMatico

Caveat emptor, cord-cutters: Many of the manufacturers selling TV antennas on Amazon are making suspicious performance claims for their products.Powered by WPeMatico

To outsiders, AMD’s triumphant launch of Ryzen 3000 looks like total victory with the only thing left to do is schedule the ticker-tape parade down Broadway.Intel, meanwhile, has to look for an impoverished nation to dump a truckload of 2019 CPU Champions shirts onto. Fortunately, the truth is a lot more nuanced. And while we’d also name AMD’s Ryzen 3000 the overall champs too —reality requires a lot more context on the CPU that’s right for you.So to keep you from having to sift through dozens of reviews and hundreds of forum posts, we’ll sum up the strengths and weaknesses of…

In time for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, Nvidia has recreated the moment using its RTX ray tracing technnology.Technically, the company recreated the moment five years ago, when Nvidia calculated the visual aspects of the landing, modelling the individual rivets on the lander and modelling the reflectivity of Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit and the lunar dust. Nvidia took that model and applied its RTX technology, modeling light as it bounced off the lunar surface, Armstong’s helmet, and various other visual elements.To read this article in full, please click herePowered by WPeMatico

Audeze is the latest vaunted headphones manufacturer to look over at the gaming headset market and think, “We could do that.” And why not? Gaming headsets get a bad rap even nowadays, derided for subpar sound quality and construction. It’s natural that a company renowned for audiophile gear would think it could do better.The reality, per usual, is a bit more complicated. The Audeze Mobius does indeed nail the fidelity part of the equation, and is one of the best gaming headsets I’ve ever listened to. But it flubs a lot of details any gaming-first company would’ve prioritized—battery life, cabling,…

Acer’s Nitro 7 is a classic example of how every decision matters when building entry-level gaming laptops. Every component must be second-guessed, every trade-off weighed, because a mere $50 can be the difference between standing out and stalling out. Do you opt for a better screen or more storage space? A better GPU or more RAM? High-end laptops get to have it all, but budget-friendly machines don’t have that luxury.Trouble is, sometimes you get a laptop that’s perhaps perfect for one niche, but suboptimal for your average buyer. Acer’s Nitro 7 opts for an above-average (for this price point at least) display,…

Adding Bluetooth eliminates the need to buy a Philips Hue Bridge. But you can run only 10 bulbs without it, and you’ll be cut off from the broader Hue ecosystem.Powered by WPeMatico

Samsung on Thursday announced a major breakthrough in the future of smartphones: mass production has begun on the industry’s first 12GB LPDDR5 mobile DRAM chip, so it should start showing up in smartphones pretty soon. But don’t get your hopes up about it showing up on the Galaxy Note 10’s spec sheet next month.As Samsung explains in its press release, the 10nm LPDDR5 chip (Lower Power Double Data Rate) has been “optimized for enabling 5G and AI features in future smartphones.” That mainly boils down to speed. The new chips have a data rate of 5,500Mbps, about 1.3 times faster…