Valve has announced a limited test for the already rumored Counter-Strike 2, which it describes as an overhaul of every system and piece of content in the game. The test, which began this Wednesday (22), will give players a chance to try out the updated mechanics, including improved smoke grenades and updates that provide servers with more precise information about player actions.

The new game is built on Valve’s Source 2 engine and promises a range of updates and new features, including revamped maps, better visuals, UI enhancements, reworked audio, and much more. CS2’s FAQ page states that the full release is expected in the summer of 2023 and will be free to play.

Valve Studio’s announcement has generated excitement among Counter-Strike fans, who have been eagerly anticipating this release. The company’s focus on improving core mechanics and providing more precise information to servers suggests a commitment to enhancing the gameplay experience for players.

Updated Maps and Gameplay Mechanics

In a recent video titled “Leveling Up The World,” Valve has revealed that CS2 will feature updated maps with a fresh look and the company also stated that experienced players should be able to carry over their skills from the original game. Players will have three tiers of maps available, including touchstone levels that are essentially unchanged, allowing them to get used to the new gameplay in a familiar setting. Other maps will have upgraded features, with some entirely rebuilt.

Committed to enhancing the gameplay experience for players, Valve added a dedicated bind to remove the weapon’s silencer. The company is striving to make Counter-Strike 2 a more immersive and exciting experience for players, building on the success of the original game.

With the full release expected in summer 2023, fans are eagerly anticipating the launch of Counter-Strike 2. The improved maps, updated gameplay mechanics, and enhanced visuals promise to take the game to new heights and this limited test will allow Valve to gather feedback from players and make any necessary adjustments before the full release.

With new features and years of updates promised, it remains to be seen how CS2 will shape up and whether it will become a major player in the FPS genre. As Valve continues to tweak and refine the game based on player feedback, it will be interesting to see how the final product shapes up and what’s coming next. More info can be checked out at the official website.

This Tuesday (03/21/2023) Google announced that its new AI language model, named Bard, is now available for public testing (starting with people in the US and UK). Designed to rival OpenAI’s GPT-3, the new product can generate human-like text responses to user inputs, making it a promising tool for applications such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and content creation.

Built on the Transformer architecture, Google’s Bard is similar to GPT-3 and trained on a vast amount of text data to understand the nuances of language. However, Bard differs from GPT-3 in its ability to understand prompts with multiple inputs and generate responses that are tailored to specific contexts.

Google has made Bard available through its Cloud AI platform, where developers can access the model’s API and integrate it into their own applications and services, and to make sure the product is used in a responsible way, Mountain View has implemented some restrictions both on the number of requests that can be made per day and also regarding the usage for any abusive or harmful behavior (everything will be monitored by the big G).

About the new AI model, Google‘s Sissie Hsiao and Eli Collins in a blog post:

“We’ve learned a lot so far by testing Bard, and the next critical step in improving it is to get feedback from more people…”

Google announced Bard last month as a response to the success of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which captured the attention of many with its ability to provide human-like responses to a wide variety of questions. ChatGPT became popular very quickly, reaching an estimated 100 million active users by January and inspiring other companies, including Microsoft, to develop their own AI products.

However, Google faced heavy criticism when Bard served up inaccurate information about the James Webb Space Telescope during a demo but despite this setback, Google emphasized that Bard is still an experimental tool and acknowledged that it won’t always provide accurate responses.

With Bard’s release, Google has entered the race to create the most advanced AI language model, challenging the dominance of GPT-3 and as the competition in the field of AI language models heats up, it remains to be seen which product will ultimately come out on top and shape the future of language AI. You can check out Bard’s website to learn more about it and join the waiting list.

The OPPO Find X6 Pro has launched yesterday in China and packs impressive hardware specifications, including a 50 MP triple-camera with a massive 1-inch primary camera sensor and a periscope telephoto.

The successor of the OPPO Find X5 Pro, the Find X6 Pro offers the standard features found in the latest flagship Android phones, such as Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, a large 5,000 mAh battery, a 120 Hz 6.82-inch 3,168 x 1,440 AMOLED display, IP68 for dust and water resistance,16GB RAM and 512 GB storage.

Similarly to most Chinese high-end phones, it provides fast charging above 50W with a power brick included in the box, unlike the Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, or the Google Pixel 7 Pro. The SuperVOOC 100W fast charging technology is the same as the one found in the OnePlus 11 (for the Chinese version, and the U.S. version got only 80W).

Unlike the OnePlus latest flagship, the Find X6 Pro includes 50W wireless charging, a feature also found in the Honor Magic5 Pro and the Xiaomi 13 Pro.

The OPPO Find X6 Pro will be available in China on March 24^th, 2023, and there is no word about a global release that would include the European market. The price starts at 5,999 yuan (about $870) for the 12GB/256GB version, and the 16GB/512GB model costs 6,999 yuan (about $1020).

The primary camera featuring the uber-large 50MP 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor is the star of the show, and you can also find it in the latest Xiaomi flagship launched at MWC, the 13 Pro. Other phones offering the 1-inch Sony IMX989 sensor are the Vivo X90 Pro and the Xiaomi 12S Ultra.

Additionally, the 23 mm wide shooter has a large f/1.8 aperture and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS).

Both the 15 mm ultrawide and the 65 mm periscopic cameras offer a 50-MP 1/1.56-inch Sony IMX 890 sensor with OIS.

The telephoto shooter delivers a 3X optical zoom alongside a 6X hybrid zoom (using crop) and OPPO claims it features “the largest sensor of any smartphone telephoto camera on the market” with a “large 2μm pixel”. Larger sensors with larger pixels can capture more light which enables better performance in low-light environments.

The 21 mm 32MP selfie camera shoots 1080p 30 fps videos while the rear photo module delivers 4K 60 fps movies.

Samsung recently announced the prices for its high-end S95C and mid-range S90C OLED TVs, following their announcement in January. The S90C ones will be available in 55-inch, 65-inch, and 77-inch sizes with a starting price of $1,899, which happens to be the same as LG’s C3 OLED TVs. The pricing strategy is likely a calculated move by “Sammy” to compete with LG’s highly regarded OLED TV.

Talking about the Samsung S95C OLEDs, we will also be available them available in three sizes (55”, 65”, 77”) but their pricing starts at $2,499 instead (the exact same price as the high-end 55-inch LG G3 OLEDs).

What sets the S90C and S95C apart?

The pricing difference between the Samsung S90C and S95C models varies by $600 for the 55-inch models and $900 for the 77-inch models. But here is what sets the two TVs apart:

• The Samsung S95C comes with the OneConnect Box, which helps to hide cables better (it’s worth noting that this feature is not included with the S90C, despite its high price tag).
• The S95C is approximately 20% brighter than the S90C. When tested by experts, the S95C’s peak brightness in Filmmaker Mode was measured at around 2320 nits in a 10% window. So, it’s reasonable to assume that the S90C would produce approximately 1900 nits in Filmmaker Mode (and possibly more in Standard mode).
• The Samsung S95C has a larger built-in sound system, with a 70W 4.2.2 channel setup that includes top speakers; the S90C, on the other hand, has a 40W 2.1 system. This means that there should be a noticeable difference in sound quality between the two TVs.

Pricing for the Samsung S95C and S90C OLED TVs

• 77″ Samsung S95C OLED: $4,499
• 65” Samsung S95C OLED: $3,299
• 55” Samsung S95C OLED: $2,499
• 77″ Samsung S90C OLED: $3,599
• 65” Samsung S90C OLED: TBA
• 55” Samsung S90C OLED: $1,899

It’s difficult to determine if the upgrade to the S95C is worth it until both TVs are tested side by side. However, this breakdown should provide a clear understanding of the differences between the two QD-OLED models. Which one will you be getting?

PUBG, one of the most popular games in the battle-royale category, is about to get some exciting updates. The developers have published a roadmap outlining the upcoming changes including a potential shift to a new game engine, anti-cheat improvements, gameplay mechanic changes, and the addition of a new map, called Neon.

The studio behind the development is currently testing out different engine options, with plans to port one of the existing maps to a new engine version. Additionally, PUBG Studios is considering implementing modding, new destruction elements, and balancing the gunplay to offer a better experience.

About the upcoming changes, the developer said:

“We are currently testing out various options and attempting to port one of our maps to a new engine version. Please bear in mind that this is not yet decided whether this transition will be possible, however, we will do our best to give it a try […] While details are still being ironed out, we will make sure to give you updates in the future.”

To make standard PUBG matches more enjoyable, the team plans to improve items, Blue Zone, and vehicle spawn rates, revamp tactical gear, and add a new revive system. The studio is also developing a new gameplay system for the Neon map that will offer a fresh way of obtaining items:

“In 2023, we aim to alleviate those stress factors and increase enjoyment by providing a variety of content. Changes planned to improve Normal Match include improving item/Blue Zone/vehicle spawn rates, revamping tactical gear, and adding a new revive system […] Overall, our intent is to minimize the stress in Normal Match by improving various elements without compromising the core gameplay.”

Other planned updates include new game modes, improved social features, a clan system, anti-cheat improvements, and the use of advanced machine-learning systems to enhance the game. The full roadmap provides further details on these developments, and the studio plans to keep players updated on their progress.

If you’re a big fan of technology and outdoor cooking, the industry-leading brand Kamado Joe has just announced something that may be very interesting for you: a digitally-connected ceramic grill with some nice extras.

Called Konnected Joe, the product is, according to Kamado Joe, the first of its kind, blending all the benefits of traditional ceramic cooking with modern tech, offering a perfect setup for temperature control and lighting. The app-enabled features and digital control are a great plus that will help grillers experience this product’s benefits.

About the product, Cara Finger, President of Middleby Outdoor said:
“Kamado Joe has been committed to delivering a superior grilling experience since the beginning […] Today, we’re proud to introduce kamado-style cooking to grillers of all skill levels with the Konnected Joe, giving them the confidence and flexibility to use digital controls.”

Kamado Joe’s top features

• Ready to use in under 15 minutes – The Automatic Fire Starterignition lights the charcoal with the push of a button,
• Great temperature control – The Kontrol System (consisting of the Kontrol Board™ digital display, Kontrol Fan™, and Kontrol Tower™ top vent) maintains total temperature control throughout each cook.
• Automatic Cook Mode – The Automatic Cook Mode offers step-by-step instructions on the Kontrol Board digital display, or you can use Classic Cook Mode and control your temperature manually for traditional kamado cooking.
• App connected – Adjust and monitor your grill temperature, meat probes, and cook times from anywhere with the new Kamado Joe app.
• Easy clean and more flexibility – The Konnected Joe also includes thoughtfully engineered features like a slide-out ash drawer for easy clean-up, Air Lift™ Hinge for reduced dome weight, and 2-Tier Divide & Conquer for cooking flexibility.

Pre-orders already started

Available for pre-order in the U.S. for $1,699, the Konnected Joe can be found online at Kamadojoe.com and in retailers like the Home Depot, with orders starting June 2023.

The popular leaker @UniverseIce just released interesting information about the next generation of the iPhone 15 Pro Max — and if what he said is to be believed, the successor of the iPhone 14 Pro Max may hit the stores with noticeable improvements on the display.

A few weeks ago, a short video of alleged glass panels for the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max leaked in China, showing some changes in the bezel dimensions, and now, with UniverseIce’s post, these changes were mentioned again, with the leaker adding that the side bezels for the 15 Pro Max will be 28,6% narrower than last year’s iPhone, measuring only 1.55 mm.

iPhone 15 Pro Max will break the record of 1.81mm bezel black edge held by Xiaomi 13, and we measure that its cover plate black bezel width is only 1.55 mm.（S22 and S23 ≈1.95mm，iPhone 14 Pro 2.17mm） pic.twitter.com/9TBrVCGSCo

— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) March 17, 2023

In terms com comparison, Xiaomi’s latest flagship, the Xiaomi 13, has bezels of 1.61 mm and Samsung’s Galaxy S23 brings 1.95 mm – in other words, Apple’s new flagship may be the one with the thinnest bezels among the three, and this is reiterated also on recently leaked CAD renders.

For the next Pro models Apple might adopt even more curved edges, which could give the impression of even thinner bezels and, unlike the Xiaomi 13, the side bezels on the next Cupertino device may be uniform.

The iPhone 15 series will probably be announced in September bringing, aside from improvements on the display, a new Apple A17 Bionic SoC. Rumors also talk about the presence of a USB-C instead of Lightning and in some of the models we may even see solid-state buttons. Sounds exciting!

News about the Apple Watch saving lives is always popping up everywhere, and we just received another one that will make us all remember how this little device is helping so many people around the world. This time, the wearable was capable of saving the life of Ken Counihan, a Cleveland resident that, thanks to alerts sent over elevated breathing, was later diagnosed with blood clots.

Counihan likes to keep track of what he does (one of the reasons why he decided to get an Apple Watch) and in October, one day he got an alert talking about his breathing, so he decided to go see a doctor. Unfortunately, aside from an X-ray, all he was prescribed was some medicine for bronchitis.

Counihan’s condition could’ve killed him overnight

But later in the night, his blood’s oxygen levels started dropping, which made his wife rush him to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with blood clots all over his lungs – a condition that, according to doctors, might kill the patient if medical attention is not administrated. According to Counihan:

My blood oxygen—which is normally mid-90s, which is what is supposed to be, kind of 95 and up—started to get out to the mid-80s. It was 10 o’clock at night. My wife was very concerned. My son was very concerned. I was like ‘I just want to go to bed. I’m tired…and they were both like ‘No, you’ve got to get to the ER. They took me back to the CT scan and found that I had blood clots all over my lungs.

Doctor Lucy Franjic, who is an emergency medical physician at Cleveland Clinic, says that 60% of the people diagnosed with clots in their lungs do not make it to the next day so, if it weren’t for the alerts that made him look for medical attention, the worse might have happened.

If you are a big fan of FPS (first-person shooting) games you probably may have come across or even heard about Counter-Strike. In the past few days, game creator Valve Company filed new Counter-Strike 2 trademarks, indicating that a sequel is being prepared. What some thought might be a CSGO Source 2, because of recent activity in the Steam backend, may be wrong and fans could be presented with a full sequel instead.

This past week Valve has been making changes to the CSGO Steam archive, adding new executable files dubbed ‘CS2’ and updating the Counter-Strike Global Offensive beta platform, which made many fans think that the company was preparing CSGO Source 2, a long-awaited engine update – but a bit of digging in the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) suggested that a full new version of Counter-Strike could be on the way.

On March 14 a trademark application was submitted for something called ‘CS2’, and the filling contains a ‘related properties section’ which outlines any other Valve trademarks to which the new game might be connected. Searching the two serial numbers contained in this specific section reveals Counter-Strike and CSGO (both property of Valve).

Down below we can see the CSGO trademark filing with the matching registration number:

In other words, both games are intellectual property linked to the ‘CS2’ brand. If the new game is going to be released soon or not, we don’t know yet but if you want to get the best of it, it’s better to get grinding on those CSGO ranks!

If you’re a big fan of the Back to the Future Franchise you probably dream about a reality where we will be able to commute to work in flying cars – what if I told you that this may not take long to happen?

Doron Merdinger, CEO of Doroni Aerospace (a Miami-based aerospace company) recently revealed that they’re testing a flying car that may be delivered in 2025. The two-seat vehicle is called Doroni H1 and it looks like a hovering drone. It was designed for short trips and can reach up to 140 miles per hour in terms of speed.

The US firm just performed the first untethered flight with its prototype, and a full-scale flying model shall be ready in the next few months, set to be certified with the Federal Aviation Administration as a Light Sport Aircraft.

This means that, aside from the driver’s license, the driver will need 20 hours of training – but the real bad news has to do with the price: the flying car will cost up to $350,000. With more than 1,550 investors, the company has raised more than $2.7 million on the crowdfunding platform StartEngine.com. Recently they shared in a statement:

We expect to start selling and leasing 22 units in our third year and 722 units by our fifth year. We anticipate the Doroni H1 eVTOL will generate revenue, starting with first responders, law enforcement, armed forces, letter of intent for a preorder from a security company, and recreational users […] From there, we plan on positioning ourselves to possibly be acquired by global defense contractors, automobile manufacturers such as General Motors, or ridesharing companies such as Uber and Lyft.

The H1 can be charged in a garage, and it is expected to range 60 miles. The battery charges from 20 to 80% in about 20 minutes. The initial retail price was estimated at $195,000 but because of the rising costs of materials, it’s now $350,000.

Running a little late, Epic Games finally revealed the free games we can expect in its store on March 23. Usually, the company reveals its next free games at the same time as it releases the week’s offering (on March 16 it was the strategy game Warhammer 40,000: Gladius – Relics of War).

Curiously, the free titles were not revealed until this Thursday (16), leaving many fans worried. But the company previously confirmed that the giveaways would continue throughout 2023. It’s still uncertain why the content took a bit longer to be revealed but, at least, now the fans know what to expect for the end of March.

Without further ado, they are:

• Chess Ultra (March 23 – March 30)
• Starter Pack: Ishizuchi for World of Warships (March 23 – March 30)

As the name says, Chess Ultra is a chess game described by many as the “ultimate chess experience”, featuring VR compatibility, Grandmaster-approved AI, and 4K visuals, not to mention its full Twitch integration, comprehensive time controls, beautiful environments and chess sets and the ability to export some historic matches in Chess.

The Worlds of Warships Starter Pack comes with a bunch of items for the game, including the iconic Ishizuchi (a tier 4 Japanese battleship), some epic camouflages, a port slot, an award container, and more. All of this is to attract people into playing World of Warships, a multiplayer game that requires strong tactics.

Overall, both games require players to exercise their thinking and come up with strategies so, they’ll definitely provide lots of fun so it is worth checking them out.

Samsung just announced the Galaxy A54 5G, its newest member of the Galaxy A Series. The device is aimed at those who do not want to spend a lot of cash but still want a device that is able to shoot excellent videos (OIS and video digital image stabilization included) and has a good battery life.

Starting at $449.99, the mid-ranger, according to the Korean giant, is able to shoot “stunning images with clear quality even in low light conditions” thanks to the Night Mode and AI capabilities. There are also great possibilities for selfie lovers, thanks to its 32MP (f/2.2) front-facing camera.

The Galaxy A54 5G comes packed with a 6.4″ Super AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate. Regarding software, it comes with Android 13 (One UI 5.1) and Samsung promises up to four OS upgrades and five years of security updates. Also, the South Korean company bundles its Knox security system to reinforce privacy and data protection.

Other interesting bits about this cost-effective phone include the IP67 certification, a 5,000 mAh battery, expandable storage (up to 1 TB), 6GB of RAM, 128 GB of storage, and a triple camera setup at the back including:

• 12 MP Ultra-wide Camera (f/2.2, FF)
• 50 MP Main Camera (f/1.8, AF, OIS)
• 5 MP Macro Camera (f/2.4, FF)

Preorders in the US start soon

The new Samsung phone will be available for preorders on March 30 in the US, arriving in stores starting April 6. Preorders can save up to $250 with eligible trade-ins and even get a Galaxy Buds Live for $49.99.

After OpenAI introduced the ChatGPT chatbot last November, Generative AI became one of the hottest topics in the tech world so, naturally, it also started to be explored by other companies in this industry like, for example, Google.

The sophisticated and creative possibilities of this new tech are indeed able to improve the user experience in several different scenarios, and, knowing that, this Tuesday (14) Google started to introduce AI tools in two of its most popular products: Gmail and Docs.

The new features (that will help users when creating text) were released as part of an initiative to boost productivity in the workspace; therefore, they are limited to the 3 billion Workspace users for now. In a recent blog post, Johanna Voolich Wright, Vice president of products for Google Workspace, wrote:

Whether you’re a busy HR professional who needs to create customized job descriptions, or a parent drafting the invitation for your child’s pirate-themed birthday party, Workspace saves you the time and effort of writing that first version […] Simply type a topic you’d like to write about, and a draft will instantly be generated for you.

In Google’s test, a user will be able to go into a text box and type something like “draft an email to the team” and the app will build a three-paragraph thank-you note that can be edited and used as a template or even turned into something different like, for example, a bullet list. If the outcome is not what the user was expecting, he or she can ask the app to try again.

Google’s initiative may have come as a direct answer to Microsoft’s major investment in OpenAI’s GPT technology, which will become an important part of Microsoft 365 (previously called Office 365), something to be talked about in a LinkedIn online event called “The Future of Work with AI”, scheduled for this next Thursday (16).

We still don’t know when Google will release the new features broadly (or if they’ll be free), but Mountain View is already planning additional AI tools for Workspace, including automatically generated images in Slides, note-taking in Meet, and a formula generation in Sheets.

The famous Twitter account @onleaks just leaked what it seems to be a first look at the upcoming Pixel 8 Pro. The leaker shared CAD renders of the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro last year that turned out to be very accurate so, we have high hopes for this one too.

If the image is to be believed, apparently we will not have lots of changes when it comes to the design, but it’s evident that the Mountain View giant is going to introduce some interesting features. On the back side we can see that there is no more separation between the camera modules (it looks like they’re all under the same glass piece), which could be a smart design choice to alleviate the camera glass-breaking issues.

Another somewhat interesting novelty comes in the form of a mysterious sensor placed right below the LED flash – which seems to be a depth sensor. The report also mentions a slight increase in roundness at the corners, a decrease in screen size (from 6.7″ to 6.52″) and, if the information is accurate, the new Pixel will also be a bit slimmer too. Here are the listed dimensions for a quick comparison:

• Pixel 7 Pro: 162.9 x 76.6 x 8.9 mm
• Pixel 8 Pro: 162.6×76.5×8.7mm

The new Pixel phones are expected to be teased during this year’s Google I/O, which happens in May. If we are lucky enough, maybe Google will end up “leaking” the upcoming devices just like it did last year. Let’s wait and see!

OpenAI just announced the latest version of its primary large language model, the GPT-4. This new one is even smarter, and according to the company, it has been trained on more data, which can help achieve better results.

The startup said that Microsoft Azure was used to training the new model (the Redmond giant has invested billions in the new technology) – unfortunately, no specifics were given on how GPT-4 was trained or which hardware was used, information that is comprehensively kept behind closed doors because of the increasing competition.

Microsoft revealed this Tuesday (14) that Bing’s AI chatbot is already using GTP-4 and, from the looks of it, this latest version will likely be adopted by consumer product chatbots in the following weeks.

Human-level performance, fewer mistakes, and more

In the past six months, OpenAI’s GPT language has been powering many of the AI demos that got many of us mesmerized, but what was already pretty good, now is even better; the startup claims that the new model will be able to reply with fewer factually incorrect answers, as well as less conversation about forbidden topics.

But one of the most interesting features has to do with a so-called human-level performance, that according to the company, makes GPT-4 perform even better than a regular human being in SAT exams. On simulated tests, the new language scored 93% on an SAT reading exam, 89% on an SAT Math exam, and 90% on a bar exam.

It’s not all rainbows and butterflies – but is it getting there?

Despite all of its power, GPT-4 still does not perform exceptionally well when it comes to making stuff up – in a recent blog post, the company said that their new product has limitations when it comes to social biases, hallucinations, and adversarial prompts but, from what it seems, they are already working on improvements.

OpenAI also said in a blog post that the differences between GPT-4 and GPT 3.5 are subtle in casual conversations; the difference comes out when the complexity of the task reaches a sufficient threshold because the newer version is both more creative and reliable and also is more prepared to handle different nuances of instructions.

Regarding availability, GPT-4 will be released first to ChatGPT subscribers (and also will be available as part of an API that allows its integration into the apps. When it comes to pricing, the startup will charge:

• 3 cents for ~750-word prompts.
• 6 cents for ~750-word answers.

Apple was never known for selling cheap phones but that didn’t stop the Cupertino giant to take 8 spots on the top 10 most recently sold phones in 2022, according to information recently shared by Counterpoint research.

That goes to show that now, more than ever, a lot of people want an iPhone in their pockets and Tim Cook’s company seems to be willing to thrive even more, now aiming also for the lower-tier segment with the upcoming iPhone SE 4.

The long-rumored device may be a very strong competitor to phones like the Google Pixel 6a and the Samsung Galaxy A53, which are good examples of very popular Android smartphones in the present time.

iPhone 14 DNA but only with a single camera on the back

As for when the new budget-friendly iPhone will be released, recent rumors from The Elec backed up by the already-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that we may see this new device being announced only in the spring of 2024.

A great surprise, according to the latest rumors, is that the next Special Edition iPhone should ditch the outdated 9-year-old design and go for something more modern, closer to what we already have in the iPhone 14 series — this may come as a very good surprise since many tech websites also suggested that the looks could be the same as the super-popular $750 iPhone XR from 2018.

Aside from that, we can also expect in this new iteration of the iPhone SE:

• 6.1″ OLED panel with 60 Hz
• A16 Bionic SoC
• 4 to 6 GB of RAM
• 128 GB of storage (or 64 GB if Cupertino wants to go even cheaper)
• USB-C port (but with USB 2.0 speeds)
• Camera system inherited from the iPhone 14 (Face ID + 12 MP selfie camera and a 12 MP single-sensor on the back)

An expected price bump

Another very important factor for the iPhone SE 4 success is indeed the Price — the iPhone SE (2022) was launched at $430 (almost half of what the $800 iPhone 14 costs), but it’s improbable that its successor will be able to keep the same price tag since we have seen noticeable price bumps worldwide in the latest releases. We can expect something around $405-500 for the US and around €700 for markets like Europe.

Since the most wanted mid-tier Android phones usually cost around $450-650, this price bump may not be something that will make customers interested in migrating from Android to iOS give up, unless Google makes terrific work with the upcoming Pixel 7a, Pixel 8 and the Galaxy A33.

The next cost-benefit king?

The Way Samsung and Apple aim for their budget-driven customers is very different; the first goes above and beyond, offering large batteries, higher refresh-rate panels, and multiple cameras, while the second provides a recycled design with the most advanced chipset available.

And if we consider the recent selling numbers, it looks like Apple’s strategy is paying off. OS preferences aside, maybe throwing the top-tier Soc, an OLED panel, and a Face ID sensor, and raising the price a bit will end up getting more attention than offering things like a 90Hz or 120Hz panel — could we be looking at the next cost-benefit king? Only time will tell.

The Lenovo ThinkVision M14d is the successor (or a variant?) to the original ThinkVision M14 we reviewed before. It is a 14-inch high-resolution portable monitor that requires only one USB-C connector for both image signal and power.The new monitor is priced at $500 (MSRP), substantially more than the $249 its predecessor launched at. Let’s review the technical specs and in-person tests before you can decide if Lenovo has priced this […]

This week, Lenovo launched a trio of new ThinkStation workstations. The flagship product is the ThinkStation PX (P10), which can be configured with extraordinarily powerful components, followed by the ThinkStation P7 and ThinkStation P5.

Let’s focus on the ThinkStation PX as it best represents the potential of this new series of workstations as it can pack “up to” 120 CPU cores (2x 4th Generation Xeon Scalable’ Sapphire Rapids’), 2 TB of RAM, and four Nvidia RTX 6000 48GB graphics cards. The power comes from up to two 1800W power supplies.

“NVIDIA offers the world’s most powerful visual computing GPUs for desktop workstations,” said Bob Pette, VP of Professional Visualization at NVIDIA. I don’t think anyone will contradict this statement. At this level, NVIDIA is riding along, even though the competition, like AMD or Intel, does have ambitions.

The maximum storage capacity is the sum of seven M.2 drives (28TB) plus two 3.5” drives (24TB), or 52TB total. Of course, popular flavors of RAID arrays are also supported. An integrated 10Gb Ethernet adapter is used to move data across the network quickly. A classic 1GbE adapter and a built-in WiFi 6E MIMO radio supplement it. Note that the antenna is built into the chassis and does not stick out.

That is a lot of hardware for a computer that is the size of a huge PC gaming rig. However, this is much more powerful than anything gamers use, and for a good reason. This workstation will be utilized in high-end professional visualization workloads, such as cinematic graphics production and rendering.

Jeff Wood, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), Workstations at Lenovo, unveils the new ThinkStation trio

That’s why Lenovo partnered with DreamWorks to launch these new workstations. DreamWorks is going to equip its creative staff with these workstations going forward. It’s not widely known, but Lenovo already powers the most recent additions of DreamWorks rendering server farm with their Neptune liquid-cooled servers that are a hit in the HPC sector (High-Performance Computing).

Having worked in computer graphics myself, I can vouch that no amount of computing is “good enough” for the kind of stuff DreamWorks creates. If anything, creators like that are limited by the computing power available to them.

As you can imagine, such hardware is destined to be run at maximum hardware utilization as often as possible, and it’s an incredible amount of computing per cubic inch, so the next challenge is, without a doubt… cooling.

Thermal management is one of the great added values Aston Martin brings, not just the aesthetics. If you think of it, high-performance cars are massive heat generators, whether the engine, exhaust, brakes, etc. And most of it is air-cooled, just like these workstations.

Aston Martin brought a wealth of know-how and experience in airflow, thermal management, industrial design, manufacturing, and materials that were hugely beneficial to the creation of these computers, according to Lenovo and Aston Martin representatives. And, of course, they also know how to make things manufacturing-friendly and within budget.

“We’ve spent the last 110 years controlling heat in cars,” said Cathal Loughnane, Head Of Aston Martin Partnerships at Aston Martin, explaining why there’s some overlap between high-end cars and high-end computers.

Interestingly enough, Aston Martin is also a Lenovo customer, and the next ThinkStations were designed using the current generation ThinkStations workstations.

The cooling system is based on a minutely designed and orchestrated airflow that relies on the components’ positioning inside the case and tight control of the incoming and outgoing airflow.

You can see prominent control surfaces such as the air intake baffle, but the airflow simulations even went into details such as how the air goes between the RAM modules or around the CPUs. When the team got the hardware prototypes, real-world measurements closely validated the digital simulation predicted.

Certainly, that’s the simulation-driven “future of design” that NVIDIA promotes with digital twins, even though I don’t think it was used in this project.

The design (aesthetic) is exquisite, and Aston Martin was inspired by the design language and physical properties of the $333,000+ Aston Martin DBS car’s front grille (and red color).

While gaming PCs’ grilles are primarily designed only for aesthetics, sports cars, and now workstations, grilles also significantly affect how the air enters the hot area by stabilizing the airflow. The more stable the airflow, the more controllable it becomes afterward. The ThinkStation 5U chassis also fits in racks if you like to stack your computing assets neatly and if you can afford to buy several of these (the computer weighs 70 Lbs, fully loaded).

I’ll let you judge the beauty of the toolless chassis design, but I think it is gorgeous and looks more luxurious in the real world than the marketing renderings.

I jokingly mentioned to Rob Herman, VP & GM, Workstation & Client AI Group at Lenovo, that Lenovo would probably make a killing if it were to sell the empty chassis to gamers. Interestingly enough, one of the first comments in the official youtube video was “Amazing PC Case Design!.”

DreamWorks will procure these workstations for their creative workforce to be used as desktop computers because having a supercomputer on one’s desk is conducive to higher productivity as highly-qualified workers don’t have to wait (as long) for rendering or animations to be computed.

However, when employees aren’t using the workstations, the desktop workstations can combine their computing power with others over the network in a “rendering farm,” which is a group of computers working on a common [3D] rendering job. That way, DreamWorks gets maximum hardware utilization to recoup its investment.

The Lenovo ThinkStation P7 and P5 are smaller and more compact variants of the new ThinkStation series to cover a vast array of perhaps less extreme computing needs. However, they remain very capable systems with many of the same design DNA.

You can check the complete specs to see the minute details, but at a high level, the ThinkStation P7 has ~65% of the computing of the PX, while the P5 has ~65% of the computing power of the P7.

All workstations pursue a similar goal of maximum productivity, resiliency, and future-proofing (with good expansion options), but at different price points and footprints.

The workstations will become available in May and will likely displace some of the existing ones if you want to speculate on how much they cost. At this time, no official pricing has been communicated by Lenovo.

At MWC 2023, we were excited to see Honor launching the Magic Vs, its first foldable that will be available globally after its introduction in China in late November.The Honor Magic Vs is the first serious alternative to the Samsung Galaxy Fold4 as it delivers a slightly thinner and lighter form factor with a similar build quality and system hardware. The displays and cameras are also on par, while the […]

It was great seeing Mobile World Congress 2023 (MWC) come back to life and catch up with a large contingent of international tech personalities. There were many cool products and technologies, and now that the show has ended, it’s time to share what caught our attention. Without further ado, here are Ubergizmo’s Best of MWC 2023: in no particular order.

Honor Magic5 Pro

At MWC 2013, Honor launched the Honor Magic5 Pro, a new smartphone with an elegant design and an overall human-centric” approach to technology. Honor focuses on providing “intuitive technology solutions to improve the daily lives of everyone,” according to George Zhao, Honor’s CEO.

The specifications are impressive, with a 6.81” curved-edge LTPO display that peaks at 1800 NITs and an amazing triple-50MP camera array with laser-assisted autofocus in the back of the phone. This might be a very high performer, but we’ll have to take a closer look, so stay tuned!

Xiaomi 13 Pro

The Xiaomi 13 Pro is the new Xiaomi flagship smartphone, and at 1299 Euros, it is priced as a high-end device. You get great technology (like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform) and outright luxury for that price. For example, the ceramic chassis in either Black or White is noticeably more Premium than any other type of surface, glass included.

It also comes with a Leica-tuned powerful triple-camera system in the rear. The 5500 mAh battery is 10% larger than most high-end phones and charges very fast with a cable (67W), but Xiaomi 13 Pro’s 50W wireless charging is also 66% faster than the iPhone 14 Pro 30W wired charging.

OnePlus 11 Concept with the cooling system

When it comes to raw performance, most devices are not only limited by their computing platform but also by the thermal build-up. For computer designers, there are not many more challenging things than cooling a high-powered, fanless, smartphone that can run console-looking games.

OnePlus is known for building excellent “performance/value” phones, such as the OnePlus 10T. At MWC, the company introduced its new OnePlus Active Cryoflux cooling technology. Essentially, OnePlus has demonstrated a liquid-cooling system, with an active pump, for smartphones. In theory, this allows heat to be transferred away from the processor faster, sustaining the performance at a higher level than previous cooling techniques. Exciting!

TCL NXTPaper11

The new TCL NXTPAPER 11 is a $249 derivative of the TCL NXTPAPER 12 Pro launched at CES this year. As its name suggests, it is an 11-inch tablet with NXTPAPER display technology (with a backlight). This tablet is not your run-the-mill e-paper tech. It has a 2K resolution, 500 NITs of brightness (2X brighter than before), and pretty good colors (for a paper-like screen). This display is optimized for eye comfort rather than battery life like e-Ink is. Reading on it is much more comfortable, especially in a place with potential glare.

Lenovo Rollable Laptop Proof of Concept

There’s one thing everybody agrees on: more display surface area is better for productivity. That explains the explosion of foldable phones like the Z Fold4 or the new Honor Magic Vs. It’s also true for mobile laptop displays. Lenovo is known for building the first Foldable laptop with the ThinkPad X1 Fold. The newer X1 Fold Gen 2 is even better, but they have a new Rollable laptop concept this time.

The Lenovo Rollable Laptop Concept seems to be built with something like the Yogabook 9i dual-screen with a new rollable display. If Lenovo can make this work, we want to take it for a spin! The extended display has some serious productivity power.

Motorola Rollable Phone

Motorola came to MWC 2023 prepared, and the company showed its Rollable Phone concept to us. This may indicate that Lenovo is thinking “rollable” across the board (Motorola is a subsidiary of Lenovo), but this concept is exciting. Like the new foldable flip-phones like the Z Flip4, the goal is to have a compact phone with a big screen. However, rollable telephones can potentially occupy a smaller volume than flip phones.

The screen extension is only ~1mm thick when rolled out. In the “closed” position, the extra display surface can be used in the back of the phone: for example as a camera viewfinder. The technology is here, so let’s see if Motorola will launch a groundbreaking product with it.

Honor Magic Vs

The new Honor Magic Vs (“Five-S” not “Versus”) is Honor’s take on foldable phones and a direct competitor of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4. Launched in China not long ago, the Magic Vs makes its way to the global market at MWC 2023.

This large foldable phone has many qualities worth noticing: a larger display, better zoom camera, larger battery capacity, and charge speed, for example. According to Honor, some of this is made possible by the new, very smart, hinge design that frees up a lot of internal volume while being tested for 400k open/close cycles. That’s 2X more than the competition.

With the Magic Vs, Honor shows it is a serious player at the very highest level, and consumers can rejoice.