XAMI

Canonical, makers of the po[CENSORED]r Ubuntu Linux distribution, recently announced it is pulling out of the mobile device market and will no longer invest in its Unity8 phone and convergence initiative. The decision will also see the company switch back to GNOME for the default Ubuntu desktop when Ubuntu 18.04 LTS arrives. Ubuntu and Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth said in a recent blog post that he took the view that, if convergence was the future and they could deliver it as free software, that would be widely appreciated both in the free software community and in the technology industry as there is substantial frustration with the existing, closed, alternatives available to manufacturers. Shuttleworth said he was wrong on both counts, noting that the community viewed their efforts as fragmentation instead of innovation. The industry has not rallied behind the possibility, either, having instead taken what the South African entrepreneur calls a “better the devil you know” approach to such form factors. Canonical embarked on an ambitious crowdsourced campaign to fund a high-end, Linux-based smartphone called the Ubuntu Edge in mid-2013. The project had a solid showing but fell short of its lofty $32 million goal with only $12.8 million raised. The group went on to launch a handful of rebadged smartphones and tablets but middling hardware and questionable marketing campaigns ensured Canonical would never make any serious traction. Shuttleworth said the decision has been very difficult due to the force of his conviction in the convergence future but the choice, he concluded, is ultimately shaped by commercial constraints.

The Ryzen 5 series of processors from AMD does not even hit store shelves until next Tuesday, but that has not stopped Antonline, from selling the CPUs from a sample lot. Forbes reported that early reviews of the Ryzen 5 1600 have already surfaced stating that it outperforms the Intel Core i7-7700K. Even though the quad-core 7700K is clocked at a base of 4.2 GHz, the Ryzen 5 was able to beat it with its 6-core/12-thread architecture clocking at 3.2 GHz. In fact, the Intel processor could not even keep up when it was overclocked to 4.9 GHz. Speaking of overclocking, the boys over at HardOCP were curious how far the new Ryzen 5 CPUs could be pushed. So they too decided to take advantage of the available samples and run them through their water-cooled unit. The Ryzen 5 series comes in four flavors the quad-core/8-thread 1400 and 1500X, and the 6-core/12-thread 1600 and 1600X. HardOCP purchased two 1400 and two 1600 to put through stress testing. All of the processors have a base clock speed of 3.2 GHz. First, they tested the 1600 CPUs. After hours of testing, the CPU was running stable at 4.0 GHz using 3200 MHz RAM. The core voltage was set to 1.45 volts and level 5 load-line calibration. Both Ryzen 1600s worked identically. They then tested the 1400 processors. The first was stable at 3.9 GHz running at 1.4 volts and an LLC at level 2. The second one they really tried to push to 4.0 GHz, but it would only operate at that speed for less than an hour. They got it stable at 3.975 GHz with a 1.45 v core and at LLC 5. All of these overclocked tests were pushing the CPUs to their absolute limits. All threads were running a full load and the heat produced was high even with water cooling. The 1400 units were operating in a temperature range of 57-67 Celsius, and the 1600s were around 70-73 C. HardOCP stated that “Once you get past 3.8 GHz on these processors, the voltage usage and heat emitted just gets exponential with them. So they get very hot, very quickly,” so you would be better of giving up that extra 100 MHz. Overall, the testers were more pleased with the Ryzen 5 1600. They said that the 1600s were more consistent and easier to set up and get stable. However, they recommend that overclockers be sure to have their BIOS updated because they have experienced buggy issues involving RAM. Ryzen 5 series will hit store shelves April 11, but if you cannot wait that long Antonline is still selling them on Ebay for $180 for the 1400 and $232 for the 1600. Check out TechSpot's full review of the Ryzen 5 1600X and 1500X coming up next Tuesday after the official embargo lifts.

Eurocom has unveiled a new notebook computer that’s perhaps unlike any you’ve seen before. That’s because it’s technically a mobile server. The Eurocom PX7 Pro SE is powered by Intel’s quad-core (eight threads) Xeon E3-1505M v5 processor clocked at 2.8GHz on a CM236 server chipset alongside up to 64GB of ECC DDR4-2133 RAM and up to an Nvidia Quadro M5500 graphics card (8GB of GDDR5 VRAM). It packs a 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080 resolution) IPS matte display, support for four M.2 solid state drives (two of which are PCIe) and a standard 2.5-inch drive (RAID 0/1/5 is supported). The optical drive can also be removed and replaced with another 2.5-inch drive, we’re told. Other noteworthy features include a Killer E2400 Gigabit Ethernet controller, a built-in 9-cell / 7500mAh / 83.25Wh UPS that provides 1.5 hours of backup power, six USB 3.0 ports, DisplayPort 1.2, HDMI 1.4 and more. You can load up Microsoft’s Server 2012R2, Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 as well as Linux / Ubuntu. The PX7 Pro SE measures 17.1 inches x 11.8 inches x 1.9 inches and tips the scales at 8.4 pounds. Eurocom hasn’t yet said how much the PX7 Pro SE will sell for or when it’ll be available.

What happens when you take one of the world’s top mobile developers and hand them the keys to one of the leading first-person shooter franchises? I’m not yet sure but we’ll find out soon enough as Candy Crush Saga developer King Digital Entertainment is currently working on a new Call of Duty mobile game. King said in a job listing that their challenge as a team is to create a Call of Duty experience on mobile that will strive to transform the best console experience fans know and love while also breaking new ground for mobile and redefining the genre. Their approach and ambition, King said, is to be fresh, social and highly accessible while providing a very authentic game experience. As for the development side, the team will turn out multiple prototypes and have the freedom to think outside the box. Those working on the game will be encouraged to stretch their expertise in ways to create “surprising” results, we’re told. They’re looking for an art director, level designer, senior systems designer and a senior UX/UI designer to join the team in Stockholm, Sweden, the listing notes. King isn’t going at it alone, however, as they’ll be collaborating with Activision Blizzard on the project. Activision Blizzard, if you recall, purchased King Digital Entertainment for an eye-popping $5.9 billion in late 2015. This Call of Duty game will be the first Activision property that King will work on. Engadget speculates that, if successful, the project could open the door for future mobile adaptations of po[CENSORED]r franchises like Destiny or Overwatch.

Are you enjoying the new Stories feature Facebook introduced last week? Probably not. The ability to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours isn’t proving hugely po[CENSORED]r among the social network’s users, so the company is making some changes. The Verge reports that Facebook is altering the Stories UI. When none or very few of your friends are using the feature, which is the case for most people, you will no longer see an empty white space at the top of the app; instead, Facebook is filling it with ghostly images of people you know. The greyed-out icons represent those frequently contacted friends who haven’t posted any Stories recently– or ever. Tapping on one of the images informs you of this fact with the message: “[name] hasn’t added to their story recently.” The idea behind the change is that it will encourage people who’ve never used the feature to give it a try - while making it less obvious that very few people are even aware of it. It appears that the update is only being tested on a small percentage of users right now. Like many of Facebook’s experiments, there’s no guarantee it will be rolled out to everyone at some point in the future. It was Snapchat that first came up with the ephemeral Stories format back in 2013. Facebook-owned Instagram ‘borrowed’ the idea, which it also called Stories, in August 2016. Facebook added its version of the feature last Tuesday, part of an update that also included a new in-app camera and a private messaging feature called Direct.

Microsoft has updated its Windows Store policies to ban developers from submitting game system emulators to any of its platforms. While the policies were initially published at the end of last month, the company began taking action this week, delisting the po[CENSORED]r Universal Emulator from the store. The latter was one of the more po[CENSORED]r emulators on the Windows Store, with support for NES, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis and GameBoy Color/Advanced games using an Xbox One controller. The app had been previously banned from Xbox One consoles just a few days after receiving approval. Back then Microsoft said that third party apps that are targeted to Xbox One and are primarily gaming experiences must be approved through the ID@Xbox program. However, with the policy update, submitting console emulators through the ID@Xbox program is now out of the question. While console emulators can no longer be downloaded from the Windows Store, you can still run them on Windows if they’re available to download elsewhere. Universal Emulator in particular is also available in a browser based version that’s independent from app stores and even works on the Xbox One. With this Microsoft joint Apple in clocking console emulators from their respective app stores, leaving Google as the only mobile app store still supporting game emulator apps.

If a recent report is to be believed, Apple fans may have a reason to be thankful for the Galaxy S8+. It seems the upcoming iPhone 8 could be cheaper than expected - an attempt to put it in a similar price bracket as Samsung’s handset. It’s been widely reported that Apple’s next flagship iPhone will cost upwards of $1000, but in a report from global financial services firm UBS (obtained by MacRumors), analyst Steven Milunovich believes the 64GB base model could start at $850 to $900. Milunovich says the fact the iPhone 8 will have a smaller display than Samsung’s new device has forced Apple to rethink its pricing strategy, pushing the cheapest version of the iPhone 8 closer to the S8+’s $840-$850 price. There may still be a $1000+ iPhone 8, but this will be the top-tier, 256GB model. Additionally, Milunovich says Apple’s other two upcoming handsets, likely named the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus, will start at around $649 and $749, respectively. In other iPhone 8 news, it’s rumored that the smartphone may not be ready in time for the expected September launch date. A report from the Chinese-language Economic Daily News (via Digitimes) says problems with the switch from LCD to OLED screens is causing the delay, which could see the phones pushed back to October or even November. “Technical issues related to the lamination process of curved OLED panels, and the adoption of a 3D sensing system may cause the delay of the new iPhone devices,” states the paper.

Ultrawide 21:9 monitors are growing in po[CENSORED]rity. The displays, which are usually around the 34-inch or 35-inch mark, can offer unparalleled levels of immersion and an amazing gaming experience – providing you have a capable graphics card. But it seems Samsung wants to go bigger. According to TFTCentral (via PC Gamer), the Korean company has plans to manufacture what is being officially called a ‘double full HD’ (DFHD) panel. It features a 32:9 aspect ratio, will be 49-inches across and boasts a resolution of 3840 x 1080 – essentially, it’s like two 27-inch full HD displays next to each other, just without the bezels in the middle. Not only is the DFHD panel huge, it will feature an 1800R [CENSORED]ture, making it curvier than many (but not all) Ultrawides. The great news for gamers is that it’ll come with a maximum refresh rate of 144Hz and support either G-Sync or FreeSync, depending on specific vendor implementation. It also uses VA technology, boast a 5000:1 static contrast ratio, and has a “3-side frameless design.” The display isn’t the only one in Samsung’s 'Grand Circle' format. It’s also working on a 44-inch, 3840 x 1200 panel, with what it says is a 29:9 aspect ratio (though PC Gamer notes it’s technically 32:10 or 16:5). Again, the panel uses VA tech, comes with an 1800R [CENSORED]ture, and should support G-Sync/FreeSync, but there will reportedly be both 60Hz and 120Hz versions available. Production of both panels is set to begin in September, which means the retail units should arrive next year, giving you enough time to save up for what will undoubtedly be some pricey products.

Solid state drives are generally considered more durable than their spinning predecessors but that designation is typically only associated with physical “toughness.” Excessive reading and writing of NAND flash is one sure-fire way to trash an SSD with the quickness. Unfortunately, if your profession involves doing just that – say, you’re a filmmaker that records 4K digital video – then there’s really no way to avoid it. Your best bet in such a scenario may simply be to arm yourself with hardware that’s better equipped to stand up to the abuse. Sony believes it has just what the doctor ordered with its new G Series Professional SSDs. The G Series Professional line consists of two drives – the SV-GS96 which offers 960GB of storage and the smaller (and cheaper) SV-GS48 that has 480GB of space. The larger of the two drives is rated for up to 2,400 terabytes written (TBW) over the life of the drive while the smaller drive is good for 1,200 TBW thanks to Sony’s Error Correction Code technology. There’s also tech built in that Sony says will prevent sudden speed decreases when writing to the drive. Both feature read speeds of up to 550MB/sec. The drives also feature beefed up SATA connectors that can withstand being connected and unplugged up to 3,000 times. That, according to Sony, is upwards of six times more durable than a standard SATA connector. The G Series Professional SSDs are scheduled to arrive in May. Expect to pay $539 for the 960GB model and $287 for the smaller 480GB variant.

Early indications suggest that Samsung’s Galaxy S8+ is one amazing device. Its 6.2-inch OLED screen has come in for particular praise - DisplayMate called it the most innovative and high-performance smartphone display ever tested. But does its brilliance come at the cost of short battery life? Apparently not. PhoneArena has been testing the Galaxy S8+ against other po[CENSORED]r smartphones. It found that Samsung’s handset came second on the overall list of flagship devices, beating many of the other larger handsets but still a fair bit behind the iPhone 7 Plus. All phones were tested with their screen brightness set to 200 nits. The Exynos 8895 version of S8+ is used, with the resolution set to 1080 x 2220. The S8+ manages exactly 8 hours of battery life, putting it ahead of its S line predecessor – the S7 Edge – by 42 minutes. The new handset pushes the iPhone 7, which has a 1960 mAh battery, out of second position, beating it by 14 minutes. Apple still boasts the device with the longest life. Lasting 9 hours and 5 minutes, the iPhone 7 Plus beats the S8+ by quite a margin, though the iPhone does have a much smaller display. Nevertheless, Samsung’s phone, which boasts a 3,500 mAh battery, is ahead of competitors such as Google’s Pixel and the Huawei P10. One area where the S8+ has many of its rivals beat is charging time. With Samsung’s Fast Adaptive Charging support, the handset can fully recharge from 0 to 100 percent in 99 minutes, much quicker than the 197 minutes it takes for the iPhone 7 Plus to fully juice up.

Huawei has launched a new flagship smartphone under its Honor sub-brand. Dubbed the Huawei Honor 8 Pro, the new handset features a sizable 5.7-inch quad HD display (2,560 x 1,440 resolution, 515 PPI) that’s powered by an octa-core Kirin 960 processor, Mali-G71 graphics and 6GB of RAM. There’s also 64GB of local storage on tap that’s expandable up to 128GB, dual 12-megapixel rear-facing cameras with f/2.2 aperture lenses, an 8-megapixel selfie camera up front, 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2, a 3.5mm headphone jack, NFC, GPS, USB Type-C charging and more. A large 4,000mAh battery with Fast Charging technology keeps the show going. Speaking of, that show will be powered by Google’s Android 7.0 Nougat with Huawei’s custom EMUI 5.1 overlay on top (sorry, no pure Android here). The handset measures 157mm x 77.5mm x 6.79mm and weighs just 184 grams. The Huawei Honor 8 Pro will be offered in your choice of blue, black and gold color schemes starting at £475, or just south of $600. Given the general cost of today’s flagships (Samsung's Galaxy S8, for example, starts at $750), that’s on the lower end of the scale for a handset that looks incredibly solid – at least, on paper. No word yet on whether it’ll be sold through your local US carrier but you should be able to grab one from Amazon come April 20.

Overlooking its obvious flaw, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 was one heck of a smartphone with a terrific display. At the time, renowned smartphone display expert and DisplayMate President Dr. Raymond M. Soneira found the flagship to have the most innovative and high performance display of any handset. That’s some stiff competition to tackle but according to Soneira, Samsung has done just that with the Note 7’s successor. In a report on the matter, Soneira notes that the Galaxy S8 steals the crown as the most innovative and high performance smartphone display they’ve ever tested in the lab. Soneira found that the Galaxy S8 matches or sets new smartphone display records for highest peak brightness (1,020 nits), largest native color gamut (113 percent DCI-P3 and 142 percent sRGB / Rec.709), highest contrast rating in ambient light (227), highest (infinite) contrast ratio and lowest screen reflectance (4.5 percent), just to name a few. The screen expert recalls that the first notable OLED smartphone they looked at, the Google Nexus One, came in last place in their 2010 smartphone display shootout. In the span of just seven years, mobile OLED technology now has a commanding first place lead on the industry and continues forging ahead. The culmination of that is the Galaxy S8, the first in a new generation of OLED smartphones. Samsung is setting the stage for 2017 flagships as they’ll all likely use full screen display designs with flexible OLED technology. Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones go on sale April 21.

There are an incredible number of games available on Steam, many of which vary in quality from average to utter garbage. The platform has implemented several methods over the last few years to separate the wheat from the chaff, and is now about to overhaul the system to increase the visibility of high-quality titles and bury those it refers to as “fake games.” The company invited YouTube critics Jim Sterling and John "TotalBiscuit" Bain to its Seattle headquarters to discuss the changes, which the pair laid out in lengthy videos. If you don’t want to watch the cumulative one hour and 24 minutes, Kotaku has summarized everything. The most noticeable change will be the introduction of “Steam Explorers.” The opt-in system involves users buying games from pre-selected lists of low-selling titles, then flagging any undiscovered gems so that the algorithms are more likely to increase their visibility. Anyone can be an Explorer, and while you do have to purchase the games, Steam is considering rewards such as unique badges, access to exclusive forums (for sharing titles and setting up multiplayer matches), and, most importantly, no-argument refunds (one per week). The curator system is also getting an overhaul to make it a more “rewarding and useful experience.” Curators will soon be able to create top ten lists, embed videos, and use different types of sorting. A big change for Curators is the addition of an integrated “key mailer system,” which lets developers contact them directly through the platform and hand over game keys - so no more using email or other methods outside of Steam, which has led to attempted fraud in the past. Curators will also be given more information about how their actions affect game sales. Valve is even considering paying the most influential Curators as an incentive to keep up their good work. As noted by Kotaku, the system sounds like it could be exploited by unethical Curators, and even the honest ones could unconsciously skew their recommendations based on the po[CENSORED]rity of a game. For regular Steam users, Valve will soon include more data about the games they see, including why it’s being shown, how many impressions the page gets, where the impressions come from, and so on. Additionally, when Steam Direct – the replacement for Steam Greenlight – finally launches, there will be fewer games arriving on the service, and they will supposedly be of a higher quality. It’s worth noting that none of the changes are definitely going to happen - some details could change. We’ll just have to wait and see how they affect the average user.

With the majority of Apple's focus on mobile devices and laptops, they have been largely ignoring their desktop users. In an extremely rare move for the company, Apple has owned up to this mistake and now has plans for a total Mac Pro redesign. Speaking to a small group of reporters including TechCrunch, Phil Schiller, Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing, apologized for what happened with the Mac Pro and stated Apple was "going to come out with something great to replace it." Apple doesn't often share much about their future plans, so this announcement carries extra weight. Apple has come to believe that the aggressive industrial design of the 2013 Mac Pro was a mistake and that they designed themselves "into a bit of a thermal corner." The small form factor was a nice idea, but was flawed from the beginning. The Mac Pro was aimed at serious professionals that needed a high performance workstation for content creation and other applications. Many of them didn't care about the size and would gladly have accepted a slightly larger Mac in exchange for better performance. Since everything was crammed into the small form factor, Apple wasn't able to upgrade it very much either. With a Windows PC, creators could upgrade their hardware nearly every month it seemed, but the Mac Pro went 3 years without a single substantial upgrade. While the new modular redesign won't be coming out anytime this year, Apple is refreshing the Mac Pro in the meantime. A 6-core Xeon with 16GB of RAM and two AMD FirePro D500s will cost $3000 and for an additional $1000, you can upgrade to an 8-core processor with dual FirePro D700s. While the Mac desktop line only accounts for about 20% of Apple's computer sales, it's still an important segment of the market for them. These professional users help give the Mac its brand recognition and high end appeal.

For the last 20+ years, the traditional thinking in the tech industry has been that in order to have any real power and influence, you had to have an operating system. Companies like Microsoft, Apple, and Google have turned their OS offerings into platforms, which could then be leveraged to provide additional revenue-generating services, as well as drive the direction and application agenda for other companies who wanted to access the users of a particular OS. In an effort to follow that strategy, we’ve witnessed a number of companies try, unsuccessfully, to reach a position of power and control in the tech industry by building or buying operating systems of their own. From Blackberry, to HP and LG (with WebOS), to Samsung (with Tizen), there have been numerous efforts to try to replicate that OS-to-platform strategy. Over the last year or so, however, we’ve begun to see the rise of platforms that are built to be independent from an OS. Prominent among these are Amazon, with Alexa, Facebook with, well, Facebook, and most recently, Samsung with a whole set of services that, while initially focused on their hardware, actually reflect a more holistic view of a multi-connection, multi-device world. Interestingly, even many of the traditional OS vendors are starting to spend more time focusing on these “metaplatform” strategies, as they recognize that the value of an OS-only platform is quickly diminishing. Each of the major OS vendors, for example, is placing increased emphasis on their voice-based assistants—most of which are available across multiple traditional OS boundaries—and treating them more like the OS-based platforms of old. Moving forward, I suspect we will see more machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-based services that may connect to the voice-based assistants or the traditional OS’s, but will actually be independent of them. From intelligent chatbots, that enable automated tech support, to sales and other common services, through smart news and media-delivery applications, these AI-based services are going to open up a sea of new opportunities for these “new” platform players. Another key new service will likely be built around authentication and digital identity capabilities. This will serve not only as a first log-in of the day, but function as an identity gateway through e-commerce, online banking, secure communications, and many other key services that require verification and authentication of one’s identity. While some OS-independent platform strategies have been known for some time, the recent Samsung S8 launch event unveiled the first real glimpse of what Samsung may have in mind going forward. While some of these OS-independent platform strategies have been known for some time, the recent Samsung S8 launch event unveiled the first real glimpse of what Samsung may have in mind going forward. Because of the company’s extensive range of not only consumer tech products, such as smartphones, tablets, wearables and PCs, but also TVs and other consumer electronics, along with white goods like connected appliances, Samsung is uniquely positioned to deliver the most comprehensive connected hardware (and connected home) story of almost any company in the world. In fact, with the recent purchase of Harman—a major automotive component supplier—they can even start to extend their reach into connected cars. To date, the company hasn’t really leveraged this potential position of power, but it looks like they’re finally starting to do so. Samsung Pass, for example, moves beyond the simple (though critical) capability of digital payments offered in Samsung Pay, to a complete multi-factor biometric-capable identity and vertification solution. Best of all, it appears to be compatible with the FIDO Alliance standard for the passing of identity credentials between devices and across web services, which is going to be a critical capability moving forward. On a more concrete level, the Bixby Assistant on the S8, of course, provides the kind of voice-based assistant mentioned previously, but it also potentially ties in with other Samsung hardware. So, for example, you will eventually be able to tell Bixby on your Samsung phone to control other Samsung-branded devices or, through their new Samsung Connect Home or other SmartThings hub device, other non-Samsung devices. While other companies do offer similar types of smart home hubs, none have the brand reach nor the installed base of branded devices that Samsung does. As with any single-branded effort to dominate in the tech world, Samsung can’t possibly make a significant impact without reaching out proactively to other potential partners (and even competitors) on the device side in order to make its connected device platform viable. Still, because of its enormous footprint across so many aspects of households around the world, Samsung now possesses a bigger potential to become a disruptor in the platform war than its earlier OS-based efforts with Tizen might have suggested.

Barring a handful of news items, there hasn’t been much new information released this year about Microsoft’s upcoming Project Scorpio console. It’ll undoubtedly be a big part of the company’s E3 presentation in June, but reports suggest we’re going to find out more about the machine sometime this week. Windows Central claims a “major gaming outlet” recently visited Microsoft to check out Scorpio’s internals “ahead of a planned exclusive blowout of coverage.” Forza Motorsport 7 is said to have been used to show off the console’s power and 4K visuals. It's also thought that Microsoft will demo Star Wars: Battlefront II and Red Dead Redemption 2 on Scorpio at some point. The Inner Circle believes the specs will arrive this Thursday via Digital Foundry. The report lines up with Xbox head Phil Spencer’s March statement that Scorpio details could be released before June as “doing everything at E3 would be difficult.” “Clearly we’re gonna talk about Scorpio at E3” he said on IGN’s unlocked. “I also don’t want to take up the majority of the time doing things about hardware.” “I like our E3 show being about games,” he added. Additionally, Spencer was asked by a Twitter user about Scorpio's specs being released this week, he neither confirmed nor denied the rumors. We already know that Scorpio will boast 6 teraflops of computing power, 12GB of GDDR5, 8 CPU cores, and 320 GB/s of memory bandwidth. It’s said to come in a compact design, despite sporting an internal power supply. Last month, it was reported that owners of non-4K TVs would be able to take advantage of Scorpio’s technology, thanks to supersampling that renders games at a higher-than-1080p resolution before downscaling to 1080p, resulting in smoother edges and shadows. While there are some who claim Scorpio could challenge the PC as the best gaming machine available, it seems the console won’t have one of its rival platform’s best features: upgradeable components. “The idea that users will open up a console and change compute components inside seems like a stretch to me,” said Spencer.

Amazon is making it easier to buy on its site for to those who would prefer not linking their debit or credit card with the launch of Amazon Cash. The new service comes as an alternative to purchasing gift cards and essentially allows anyone to apply cash toward their Amazon account, through hundreds of participating brick-and-mortar retailers across the U.S. Users can generate their Amazon Cash barcode by visiting the Amazon Cash site and then access it through through Amazon’s website and the mobile app. You could also just screenshot or print out your barcode and show it to a clerk in participating stores to deposit funds. Customers can deposit money in amounts between $15 and $500 dollars and this will be available for your next purchases. Participating retailers include CVS Pharmacy, Speedway, Sheetz, Kum & Go, D&W Fresh Market, Family Fare Supermarkets, and VG's Grocery — with more on the way, according to Amazon. There is no fee to use Amazon Cash. Walmart and PayPal also offer similar services to appeal to customers that don’t have access to bank or credit cards. As TechCrunch points out, citing a 2015 report from the FDIC, more than a quarter of American consumers rely primarily or exclusively on cash.

UK Chip designer Imagination Technologies has seen its share price fall by nearly 70 percent after Apple said it plans to stop using the firm’s graphics technology inside iPhones and iPads within the next “15 to 24 months.” In a statement issued today, Imagination said Apple, which is one of its biggest shareholders, will stop using its products because the Cupertino company is developing its own graphics processing chips. Apple's licensing agreement with Imagination has been in place since at least 2008. It owns more than 8 percent of the UK firm, and came close to acquiring it last year. A deal never materialized, but several Imagination employees were recruited by the iPhone maker. Imagination gets around half its revenue from Apple, thanks to royalties from its PowerVR graphics architecture found in iOS devices. While the firm does have licensing deals with other customers, Imagination called Apple’s contract “essential” in its latest annual report. Apple paid about £60.7 million (around $75.88 million) in royalties to Imagination last year, and it is forecast to pay about £65 million ($81.26 million) for the current financial year, according to the BBC. Ending the agreement may not be a smooth process for Apple. Imagination writes that the firm's plans to develop in-house chips could see it infringe on the UK company’s intellectual property rights. Imagination did note that it is looking at "potential alternative commercial arrangements" with Apple, though the news still wiped around £515 million ($643 million) off the value of the company.

The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association has announced that development of the DDR5 standard is “moving forward rapidly.” The standards body said DDR5 memory will provide double the bandwidth and density versus current generation DDR4. This, in turn, will result in improved performance with greater power efficiency. The standard will also feature a more user-friendly interface for server and client platforms, we’re told. Mian Quddus, Chairman of the JEDEC board of directors, said in a press release that increased server performance requirements are driving the need for advanced technologies and the standardization of next generation memory such as DDR5 will be essential to fulfilling those needs. As The Tech Report recalls, JEDEC first started talking about DDR3 in May 2005 ahead of the first products hitting the scene in 2007. Similarly, JEDEC published the final specifications for DDR4 in September 2012 with support finding its way into consumer products in the second half of 2014. JEDEC is also developing NVDIMM-P (Non-Volatile Dual Inline Memory Module, Persistent), a new high-capacity memory module that retains content after power is cut (kind of like Intel's Optane memory). More information on the DDR5 and NVDIMM-P standards will be shared at JEDEC’s Server Forum event in Santa Clara on June 19. The standards body said it aims to publish the design for DDR5 sometime in 2018.

It’ll let you in on a little secret about photography – virtually everything you see in a commercial capacity has gone through some form of post-processing enhancement. While there are still plenty of photographers that strive to “get it right” in the camera, it can be nearly impossible to avoid a time-consuming run through Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop – especially if you’re going for an artistic, dramatic or otherwise unnatural effect. Research from Adobe and Cornell University, however, may soon result in the minimization of how much time you’ll need to devote to post-processing such images. The duo developed a technique called deep photo style transfer that builds upon recent work on painterly transfer. Simply put, the tool can seamlessly transfer the style of a source image – things like the time of day, weather, season and artistic edits – and apply them to a vastly different image. For example, you could take a picture of a city skyline in brightly-lit, less than ideal conditions, feed the tool an image of a beautiful night skyline and have those ‘effects’ transferred over to your original image. It doesn’t sound all that impressive but the results above speak for themselves. Adobe hasn’t said if it plans to bring the tool to one of its editing suites although as Engadget notes, if you’re running Linux, you can snag the necessary files from GitHub and take it out for a spin.

Samsung and Microsoft first signed a cross-license patent agreement in 2011 that resulted in Samsung paying licensing fees to Microsoft. The two reworked their deal in 2015, and though details were not made public, Samsung began preloading Microsoft apps on its phones and tablets. That’s been the case with Samsung Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S7 too but Microsoft is doing things differently this time around. The company has announced that it will sell a ‘Microsoft Edition’ of the Samsung Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus, beginning April 21 at brick-and-mortar Microsoft Store locations across the US. Interestingly, the device will have to be unboxed in-store and connected to the retailer’s Wi-Fi, which will start loading Microsoft apps into the device. The customization “ensures a best-in-class productivity experience with Microsoft applications such as Office, OneDrive, Cortana, Outlook and more.” "Microsoft Store is committed to empowering its customers to achieve more through Office and Microsoft applications. The new device customization is an example of bringing together Microsoft applications on more devices so customers can work, play and connect from their pockets," the company said. It’s worth noting that regular Samsung Galaxy S8 devices still come bundled with basic Microsoft apps like OneDrive, Skype, and Office. Microsoft Edition devices include a few additional apps, arranges those productivity applications on the home screen and provides additional accessibility to other Microsoft owned applications such as LinkedIn, Wunderlist and more. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ Microsoft Edition devices will retail for $749.99 and $849.99, respectively, just like the normal carrier versions, with pre-orders beginning today.

Ransomware is a particularly nasty class of malicious software. Unlike a destructive virus or piece of malware that eradicates data entirely, ransomware attacks victims psychologically with the hope that their precious files can be recovered… if you’re willing to pay for it. Many of the top digital security firms in the world have been waging war on ransomware since day one. As Jason Woloz, a senior program manager with Google’s Android Security team, explains in a recent blog post, Google is no exception. Google has long had protections from ransomware in Android and although the issue has become more prevalent with time, infections on mobile devices are still quite rare. Woloz notes that since 2015, less than 0.00001 percent of ransomware installations originated from Google Play and less than 0.01 percent of installations from sources other than Google Play were categorized as ransomware. Woloz says that’s less than the odds of getting struck by lightning twice in your lifetime. Google’s fight against ransomware involves a couple of key components including Application Sandboxing which forces apps to operate independently of others and Verify Apps, the security system that analyzes apps before installation and regularly checks in with both devices and apps for PHAs (Potentially Harmful Applications). With Android 7.0 Nougat, Google is further bolstering its fight against ransomware. A few of the upcoming additions and changes are outlined below. Safety blinders: Apps can no longer see which other apps are active. That means scammy ones can’t see what other apps are doing—and can’t inform their attacks based on activity. Even stronger locks: If you set a lockscreen PIN prior to installing ransomware, ransomware can’t misuse your device’s permissions to change your PIN and lock you out. Whacking clickjacking: “Clickjacking” tricks people into clicking something, often by obscuring permission dialogs behind other windows. You’re now protected from ransomware attacks that use this tactic to sneakily gain control of a device. Woloz also provides the following steps you can do to help keep your device safe: Only download apps from a trustworthy source, such as Google Play. Ensure Verify Apps is enabled. Install security updates and always ensure your device is updated to the latest version to get the best security protection. Back up your device. Be cautious. Take a moment to read reviews and other information about apps before installing, to make sure you download the app you’re looking for. Even if you do everything “right,” it’s still possible that ransomware could find its way to your device. If that happens, Google recommends first trying to boot into safe mode and uninstalling any recent apps you may have installed. Should that not work, you can try performing a factory reset although this should probably be your last resort (especially if you don’t have your files backed up).

The Samsung Galaxy S8 is set to be launched today at an event in New York at 10am EDT (8am PT, 4pm BST). We'll be updating this story ahead of the Galaxy Unpacked 2017 livestream going live (now streaming above), so you can watch the announcement here. With that said, this is possibly Samsung's worst kept secret ever, as everything about the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ has been leaked already, from design to price and specifications -- even the user's manual with details on key features (see that further down below). Both phones will have curved edges and are expected to go on sale next month (April 21st or 28th, we'll know for sure soon). The redesigned Galaxy looks more svelte than its well-regarded predecessor. There is no physical home button, and the whole front is wrapped around in glass with minimal bezels at the top and bottom. Depending on your location the Galaxy S8/S8+ will be powered by Samsung’s own Exynos processor or the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC. The Galaxy S8 will be 5.8-inch while the Plus is expected to come in at 6.2-inch, both Super AMOLED with QHD+ display resolutions (2400 x 2960) and 18:9 aspect ratio. Other specs include 4GB or 6GB of RAM, a 12-megapixel dual pixel rear camera, and an 8-megapixel front camera, IP68 waterproofing, wireless charging, and 3000mAh / 3500mAh batteries. The devices will run Android 7.0 Nougat. We liked the Galaxy S7 Edge a lot. Now Samsung has to deliver on finer details like software (including carrier restrictions and bloat), improved palm detection when holding the phone by the thin edges, durability, and so on. Along with Apple's next-gen iPhone (expected in September), the new Galaxy is easily one of the most anticipated tech launches of the year. This year Samsung has not only to worry about the Android competition and getting ahead of the pack so it's still relevant by year's end when the new iPhone will be out, but it has to overcome its own wrongdoing after the failed Galaxy Note 7. The Korean company will also be revealing the new and improved Gear VR headset that works with the S8/S8+ at the Unpacked event. Just yesterday Samsung accidentally leaked the Galaxy S8 user guide, which lists many of the phone's key features. It's taken down since, but not before someone saved a copy, here it is courtesy of Phandroid: INFINITY DISPLAY Always On display – View various information, such as a clock or calendar, even when the screen is off. Multi window – You can run two apps simultaneously without changing the screen. If you use the snap window feature, you can select an area and pin it to the top of the screen and use other apps or features in the lower window. Edge screen – With various Edge panels, you can access frequently used features quickly and easily. You can also capture an area of content and share it with others. INTELLIGENT LIFE Hello Bixby – View frequently updated content, such as the weather, reminders, and alarms, in one place. Hello Bixby analyses your usage patterns and provides suggested information, apps, and functions based on your routine. Bixby Vision (image search) – Bixby Vision is an image search feature that lets you search for relevant information conveniently. Activate Bixby Vision and scan objects or locations with the camera to search for products online or nearby places. You can also translate detected text. Reminder – Schedule notifications and to-do items or use location reminders. You can also create reminders from videos, images, or websites to view them later. Bixby (intelligent voice assistant) – Bixby is an intelligent voice assistant that helps you use the device more conveniently. Press the Bixby key or say “Bixby.” Bixby will respond to you. Start a conversation by talking or typing. Bixby will launch a function you request or show the information you want. SECURITY Iris recognition – The iris recognition feature uses the unique characteristics of your irises, such as their shape and patten, to strengthen the security of your device. You can use your iris data to quickly unlock your screen, verify your Samsung account, and sign into webpages and more. Fingerprint recognition – A built-in capacitive sensor reads your fingerprint when you touch it from any direction. Use your fingerprint to unlock your smartphone and pay with Samsung Pay. Face recognition – Unlock the screen using facial recognition instead of drawing a pattern or entering a PIN or password. Secure Folder – Protect your private content and apps in Secure Folder. Photos, memos, and apps in Secure Folder cannot by accessed by others. You can also keep your private content and apps secure by hiding Secure Folder when the device is unlocked. Samsung Pass – Register your IDs and passwords for websites to Samsung Pass and verify your identity securely via your biometric data, rather than entering your login information. CAMERA Experience the improved camera for taking photos. You can either take clear selfies with the front camera’s smart Auto Focus (AF) feature and create various scenes with the various shooting modes and optimized filters. MORE Samsung Pay – Register your frequently used credit or debit cards to make quick and secure payments. Purchase items by simply touching your smartphone to any standard credit card reader. Samsung DeX – Samsung DeX is a service that allows you to use your smartphone like a computer by connecting a smartphone to an external display, such as a TV monitor. You can your smartphone’s features on a large screen conveniently by connecting an external display, keyboard, and mouse. Samsung Connect – Connect to nearby devices, such as Bluetooth headsets or other smartphones, easily and quickly. You can also control and manage TVs, home appliances, and Internet of Things (IoT) products with your smartphone. Samsung Cloud – Store important data such as images, videos, and apps, securely in Samsung Cloud and view it on other devices. Bluetooth Dual audio – Stream audio from one smartphone to up to two Bluetooth headsets or speakers simultaneously. You can adjust the volume levels for each device independently, allowing users to listen comfortably. An external memory card (microSD card) – A micro SD card allows you to expand your device’s storage and lets you store more content, such as photos and videos. Water resistant – The Galaxy S8 meets IP68 standards to ensure that it is water resistant. Now, you can use your smartphone in wet environments. You can your smartphone freely in various situations. Connection with Gear – You can quickly connect your smartphone and Gear by using the Samsung Gear app. You can answer calls, receive messages, record your walking steps, or workout, measure your heart rate, play music, and more on the Gear.

The Smallest Alienware Refreshed for 2017 If you want a reasonably small and portable gaming laptop, the Alienware 13 is one of the leading options on the market. With its 13.3-inch display, the footprint of this laptop is smaller than a typical 15-inch laptop, and if you’re willing to put up with extra thickness and weight, it’s possible to use it as a portable workstation instead of an ultraportable. Like many Alienware laptops, the 13 comes in a large range of configurations. Depending on how much you want to spend, you can kit out this laptop with a GTX 1050 / Ti or GTX 1060 discrete GPU, as well as quad-core Kaby Lake CPUs, up to 32 GB of RAM, up to 2 TB of PCIe storage, and either a 1080p LCD or 1440p OLED display. Prices range anywhere from $999 to nearly $3,500. The Alienware 13 is a relatively unique product as few of the major gaming laptop manufacturers produce 13-inch devices. MSI, Gigabyte, Aorus and Razer only go down to 14-inch systems, leaving Alienware almost unopposed in this space. It’s not an automatic win for the Alienware 13 in the size and weight arena, though. At 24mm thick and 2.6 kg heavy (5.7 lbs), it’s not attempting to be the slimmest or lightest it could be. In fact many 14-inch laptops are more portable than the Alienware 13, including the Razer Blade (1.9kg heavy and 18mm thick), the MSI GS43VR (1.8kg and 23mm) and Aorus X3 Plus v7 (1.8kg and 23mm). The Alienware 13 also runs into a footprint issue. Despite its smaller display, it’s not physically smaller than any of the aforementioned 14-inch laptops. This means the Alienware 13’s display is flanked by large bezels, which could easily have accommodated a 14-inch panel. I’d be disappointed if Alienware was using the smaller 13-inch display as a marketing bullet point, making the system sound smaller and more portable than it is, rather than giving users the largest display possible in this form factor. There are a couple of reasons why the Alienware 13 is larger than its competitors. The main reason is there’s a beefy cooling solution that uses two massive heatsinks attached to the rear of the device. Air is drawn in through large vents on the sides and base of the laptop, and exhausted through the rear. There’s a lot of metal used here, which adds to the weight of the device. Alienware has also opted for a large 76 Wh battery inside the body, which is marginally larger than the 73 Wh and 70 Wh cells used in the Aorus X3 Plus v7 and Razer Blade, respectively. Combined with the smaller display, you can expect the Alienware 13 to last longer than its competitors on battery. There is an excellent selection of ports on the Alienware 13. On the rear you get a power connector, HDMI 2.0, mini-DisplayPort 1.2, Thunderbolt 3 USB Type-C, Ethernet and the Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port. Having these ports on the rear makes sense if you’re primarily using the laptop on a desk, as you can plug in things like a display and a wired network without cluttering the sides of the device. On the sides of the Alienware 13 are two USB 3.0 Type-A ports, one on each side, plus a USB 3.1 Type-C port (not Thunderbolt 3) on the right. There are two 3.5mm audio jacks for headphones and a microphone on the left. Towards the front of each edge are the large speakers included with the Alienware 13. These speakers can go quite loud, but the quality isn’t particularly impressive, especially as there are noticeable distortions at high volumes. Don’t expect much bass either, although the speakers are less tinny than many ultraportables. The design of the Alienware 13 is very similar to every other Alienware laptop released in the last few years. On the metal lid is Alienware’s signature Y-shaped pattern with their alien head logo, which adds a bit of gamer style to the design. The palm rest is made from a soft-touch black plastic, which is clean and stealthy but attracts fingerprints easily. While I typically prefer more business-oriented industrially-designed laptops, the Alienware 13’s design is good as far as gaming laptops are concerned. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Alienware laptop without a ton of LED lighting. The Alienware 13 has eight RGB lighting zones: four in the keyboard, plus a zone in each of the trackpad, power button, Alienware text, and alien head logo. This provides a great level of customization, although it’s disappointing you can’t control the color of individual keys, which is possible on the Razer Blade. The keyboard on this laptop is decent. The layout is great, with large modifier keys, a full-sized set of arrows, and a decent range of functions mapped to the F-keys. Travel distance was impressive, and tactile feedback was very good. This leads to a great experience while gaming or typing. The trackpad is also very solid. The trackpad’s surface is good, which provides a comfortable tracking experience, while the tracking itself is excellent. You won’t be using the trackpad for any serious gaming, but it’s nice to see massive physical click buttons included here. Alienware is one of the few gaming laptop manufacturers that includes Windows Hello and Tobii eye-tracking support across their entire product line-up. The Alienware 13’s implementation is the same as the Alienware 15’s, so it’s very solid and works well for facial recognition log ins and eye tracking. Personally I’m not a huge fan of eye tracking in games, and there’s only a limited selection of games that implement support, but it’s a neat feature for those that want to try it out. There are technically three display options available for the Alienware 13, but I would not recommend the 1366 x 768 option under any circumstances. My review unit included a 13.3-inch 1080p IPS LCD and there’s a 2560 x 1440 OLED option available for those that want to spend an extra $250. There are some disappointing aspects to both the 1080p LCD and 1440p OLED options for gamers. Neither display comes with support for G-Sync, which is a feature available on some competing devices. Neither supports refresh rates above 60 Hz either, and while the fastest GPU available (the GTX 1060) isn’t particularly suited to high-refresh gaming in modern titles, it’s possible to achieve well over 60 FPS in games dating a few years back. Alienware claims the 1080p LCD option is only good for 300 nits of brightness, but in my testing, it comfortably hit 377 nits at 100%. Contrast was good, at 1180:1, while color temperature was too cold, which is a typical trait of most laptop displays. Color performance out of the box is decent but not hugely accurate, although the display looks vibrant and decent in general, thanks in part to great viewing angles. A quick color calibration using SpectraCal’s CALMAN 5 software allowed the Alienware 13 to hit very accurate levels. I’m not sure how many creative professionals will actually use a laptop like the Alienware 13, but it is possible to use this laptop for color accurate work when properly calibrated. Hardware Overview and System Performance There are loads of configuration options available for the Alienware 13. As of writing, there are six options to be found on Dell’s website with room to change some components as you see fit. The configurations available are as follows: $999.99 – Core i7-7300HQ, GTX 1050, 8GB RAM, 180GB SSD, 768p LCD $1,099.99 – Core i7-7300HQ, GTX 1050 Ti, 8GB RAM, 180GB SSD, 1080p LCD $1,599.99 – Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1060, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1080p LCD $2,049.99 – Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1060, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 1440p OLED $2,624.99 – Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1060, 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 1440p OLED $3,349.99 – Core i7-7700HQ, GTX 1060, 32GB RAM, 1TB + 1TB SSD, 1440p OLED The model I received to review is the $1,599.99 option configured with 16GB of RAM rather than 8GB. With this change, my review unit would cost $1,699.99. Like with many Dell laptops, it’s easy to remove the base model from contention. For just $100 more, you’ll get yourself a faster GPU in the GTX 1050 Ti rather than a GTX 1050, plus a higher-resolution 1080p display. The mid-tier configurations are expensive, but this is typical of most smaller, portable gaming laptops. The Razer Blade, for example, is $1,899 for largely the same hardware as in my Alienware 13 review model; in other words, it’s $200 more expensive. The MSI GS43VR is similarly priced to the Alienware 13 at certain configurations. The simple fact is: if you want the best hardware in a gaming laptop, the best value has always been in 15-inch models, not 14- or 13-inch devices. I’ve tested both the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 and the Intel Core i7-7700HQ in gaming laptops before, but never in the same laptop. The GTX 1060 6GB variant in the Alienware 15 is essentially equivalent to the desktop graphics card, with 1280 CUDA cores and a rated boost clock of 1670 MHz. The Core i7-7700HQ is a 45W Kaby Lake CPU with four cores, eight threads and a base clock of 2.80 GHz with a boost of 3.80 GHz. Before I get to the benchmarks, I will mention that 256GB of storage in a gaming laptop is completely inadequate. I currently test 10 games on every laptop I receive to review, and with many games installs pushing 40 to 50 GB, I couldn’t fit the entire test suite on the Alienware 13. In fact I was barely able to squeeze five games on this laptop. Most gamers will want to install more than five games on their laptop at once, so I’d recommend at least a 512GB SSD. In games, the Alienware 13 performs very similarly to other GTX 1060 laptops. It’s two percent slower than the MSI GS43VR, and roughly on par with the MSI GS63VR on average. Strangely, the Alienware 13 is 3.5 percent faster than the Alienware 15 on average. My general thoughts on the GTX 1060 in gaming laptops hasn’t changed with the Alienware 13. This GPU is well suited to 1080p gaming, and it performs very well in titles from a few years ago. In more modern titles, especially the most punishing games like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, you’ll be hovering around the 30 FPS mark with ultra settings, so in some circumstances you’ll have to turn down the quality if you’d rather play at 60 FPS. At this stage, the GTX 1060 is as good as it gets in this form factor; there are no GTX 1070 laptops smaller than 15 inches, so if you want more performance, it’s not possible to upgrade further. Thermal performance of the Alienware 13 is average. Using AIDA64’s stress test on the CPU only, the CPU sat at around 88°C with only moderate fan noise. Even with this intense workload, it took the fans a full six minutes to spin up from a reasonably quiet state, which is much better than other gaming laptops I’ve tested. If you’re not using the GPU, you can expect the Alienware 13 to remain quiet for the most part, and even under load, the fan noise is pleasant enough. Hitting the CPU and GPU together in AIDA64 punishes the Alienware 13. The system gets noticeably louder, with the GPU sitting around 90°C and throttling impacting CPU performance. Luckily this sort of test is a worst-case scenario for the laptop, and you won’t see these sorts of figures in typical games. Playing Hitman, the Alienware 13’s GPU hit 85°C while the CPU sat at 86°C (both 100% utilization), which is above average for a GTX 1060 gaming laptop. Fan noise was lower than in the AIDA64 stress test, but still very noticeable and quite loud. Raising the laptop off my desk by four centimeters lowered the Alienware 13’s temperatures by nearly 20°C on both the GPU and CPU, indicating there is an airflow issue preventing enough cool air from being sucked in through the vents along the base of the laptop. Battery Life & What's to Like on the Alienware 13 Inside the Alienware 13 is a 76 Wh battery, which is marginally larger than other gaming laptops of this size, and much larger than most 13-inch ultraportables. While this battery is decently sized, the powerful components in the Alienware 13 do limit its battery life to an extent. Battery life isn't fantastic, but it's better than most 15-inch gaming laptops. In the video browsing test in particular, the Alienware 13 outperforms MSI's similar GS43VR by a significant margin, though it falls behind slightly in web browsing. Wrap Up: Powerful Laptop, Not So Little As a smaller form factor gaming laptop, the Alienware 13 gets a lot of things right. At most price points, this laptop includes powerful and competitive hardware, which is exactly what most buyers are after. On the flip side, the Alienware 13 isn’t as portable as other laptops of a similar class. Most people interested in buying a 13- or 14-inch gaming laptop are doing so because they want something portable but powerful; something they can use for work out of the house, and games in the house. Due to the size and weight of the Alienware 13, this laptop really isn’t suited to this type of user. All the major competitors to the Alienware 13 – from MSI, Razer, and Aorus – clock in under 2kg heavy, while some also strive for a slim chassis. The Alienware 13 is a whopping 2.6kg heavy, which puts it in the same ballpark as larger 15-inch laptops, reducing its portability. And while the screen is just 13.3-inches in size, the laptop itself is no smaller than 14-inch competitors thanks to large bezels and a beefy cooler. If you’re not hugely concerned about the portability of the Alienware 13, and don’t want a more affordable 15-inch gaming laptop, there’s a lot to like about this system. For starters, it’s affordable across the entry-level and mid-tier configurations. At $1,100 you can net yourself a pretty decent GTX 1050 Ti gaming laptop, while at $1,599 for GTX 1060 models it’s similarly priced to MSI’s GS43VR and much cheaper than the Aorus X3 Plus v7 and Razer Blade. 256GB of storage space is too slim in the base GTX 1060 configuration, but the included SSD is blazing fast and upgrades to 512GB of space cost $150. My review unit was kitted out with an Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, and GeForce GTX 1060 6GB. This configuration performed exactly as I expected. The GTX 1060 is a fantastic GPU for 1080p gaming at very high quality settings, and the 7700HQ provides a small performance boost over its Skylake predecessor. During low-intensity or CPU-only workloads, the Alienware 13 is reasonably quiet thanks to a decent cooling solution, with fans that only spin up aggressively after 5 to 6 minutes of 100% CPU utilization. The laptop is much louder during gaming, although the fans aren’t as annoying as some other solutions I’ve tested. I was impressed with most other aspects of the Alienware 13’s body. The keyboard and trackpad are both very good, and you also get a wide range of RGB LED color zones you can use to customize the Alienware 13’s look. The layout and selection of ports available should suffice for most users, and the included speakers are loud. Whether or not the Alienware 13 is for you depends on whether portability is important. If it is, you should probably look elsewhere for lighter laptops from Razer, MSI and Aorus. If you don’t really care, the Alienware 13 offers decent hardware and features at an affordable price point. Article from: TechSpot