Samsung’s second attempt at tinkering with the latest Galaxy S-series model has taken a couple of extra months this time around, launching at the start of 2022 when rumors on the upcoming S22 Ultra have already started surfacing. This fan-focused variant of the regular S21 packs nearly identical specs and design but wraps them under new color finishes at a lower $699 starting price tag. With a slightly larger overall profile, the S21 FE 5G comes with a bigger 6....

Current-gen SSDs have hit a brick wall in our virus scan test as we can’t seem to get a time better than 43 seconds. The Evo 1TB matched our fastest time at 43 seconds while the 250GB model took 44 seconds until we enabled RAPID. The Evo took 99 seconds to complete the game installation – not bad, though the 1TB model was a couple seconds faster. Enabling RAPID shaved just one second off the time for both models....

A research firm recently published methods for attackers to hijack automation tools that ship with Windows 11 to distribute malware and steal data across networks. The process comes with some caveats but marks another area of concern for IT security. The vulnerability centers on Power Automate, a tool Microsoft packages with Windows 11 that lets users automate tedious or repetitive asks across various programs. Users can automatically backup files, convert batches of files, move data between programs, and more, optionally automating actions across groups through a cloud....

The Epic Games Store isn’t the only one giving stuff away. IndieGala offers free games regularly, as does the Humble Store and GOG. While free games are always hard to turn down, we have to ask how this is a valid business strategy for these platforms? And should gamers worry? “Launching and operating a digital game store is not for the faint of heart,” said Lewis Ward, Director of Gaming, eSports and VR/AR at IDC....

The 3GB models should be around $50 cheaper than the 6GB cards and that’s a good chunk of change for a mid-range graphics card. As some of you may know, I’m based in Australia and here there is roughly $100 separating the 3GB and 6GB GTX 1060. That’s a massive difference in price and makes it difficult to recommend the more expensive version. Granted, the difference is less extreme stateside, but you still stand to save around 20%....

SK Hynix said it would cut 2023 investment by 50% following its Q3 profit crash, the result of high inflation and weak consumer demand. Exacerbating the company’s problems are US restrictions against China’s semiconductor industry. SK Hynix said it expects the export controls to hinder any expansion plans for its plant in Wuxi, China, where almost half of all the company’s DRAM chips are produced. Should Washington’s restrictions prevent SK Hynix from acquiring the chipmaking tools the factory requires to sustain DRAM production, it would be forced to sell or move the equipment to South Korea....

Xbox boss Phil Spencer last week said that Microsoft is committed to keeping Call of Duty on PlayStation for several more years beyond the current deal Sony has with Activision, which covers the series’ next three releases, including October’s Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. The comments came after the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority regulator expressed concerns over Microsoft “withholding or degrading” Activision Blizzard content from other consoles or subscription services if the $68....

Take-Two Interactive got things going with its $12.7 billion acquisition of Zynga, but it was Microsoft that really stirred the pot with its $68.7 billion offer to purchase Activision Blizzard. Regarding the Microsoft deal, many have questioned how Sony and others might respond. Analysts at Enders Analysis believe that if Sony wants to hop aboard the merger and acquisition bandwagon, its best bet might be a buyout of Electronic Arts....

For those of you who dislike ‘heavy’ Android skins with over-the-top designs and features, you’ll be pleased that the Xperia Z1’s skin is relatively light. In many respects the design cues of vanilla Android are kept throughout the lockscreen, homescreen and other applications, but it still leads me to think that Sony’s skin is skinning for the sake of skinning, rather than trying to introduce something new to the Android ecosystem....

Every stock application on the Xperia Z3 is the same, or largely the same as its counterpart on the Z2. Some of these apps, like Calendar and Album, are well-featured and quite functional. Others are simple but usable, not really offering anything over what Google provides in stock Android. Check out my Xperia Z2 review for a deeper look at some of these apps. Speaking of stock Android, the skin Sony is using on the Xperia Z3 definitely feels dated up against the latest Material design language....

Back for more The original Superhot, developed and published by a small, eponymous team, came out over 4 years ago – initially on the PC and Mac, before working its way onto other platforms, and even into VR format. It started life as an entry into a competition (where developers would design and create a first person shooter in 7 days), before evolving into a successful Kickstarter project. I really liked the design choices for the art and gameplay; the palette, consisting solely of shades of 3 colors, suited the overall theme of the game perfectly....

A hydro battery is comprised of two large bodies of water at different heights – in this instance, they are located nearly 2,000 feet below ground between the Emosson and Vieux Emosson dams in Valais. Excess energy can be used to pump water from the lower basin to the higher pool. When power demand increases, water in the higher pool is allowed to flow back into the lower reservoir. As the water flows, it spins turbines which generate hydroelectric power....

Looking at sequential read performance using a varying range of data sizes we see that the DS216+ matches the Asustor AS6202T while being a good bit faster than the QNAP TS-221 and Netgear ReadyNAS RN312. The sequential write performance is also strong on the DS216+, though the Asustor AS6202T does show a distinct advantage in the 8K test, interestingly.

The DS2413+ is currently the flagship model of the latest x13 Series, featuring more memory and greater storage than any other NAS in the line. A little over a year and a half ago we tested its predecessor, the DS2411+, which also supported the DX1211 expansion enclosure and looked similar to what we have here today – at least on the outside. It’s a different story under the hood. The DS2413+’s processor has been upgraded to a gutsier Intel Atom model and there is twice as much memory....

Motherboard, Processor, Memory At $200, the quad-core Core i5-4430 is a little pricier than we’d usually pick for our Entry-Level Rig, but given Haswell’s impressive performance and the fact that its platform is still brand new, it’s hard to recommend investing in anything else – including AMD’s Bulldozer chips. If you plan to overclock heavily, need support for three or more graphics cards, or want support for Intel’s SSD caching technology, we suggest upgrading to the i5-4670K and the motherboard in our Enthusiast’s PC....

It was back in August last year when China tightened its already harsh restrictions on online gaming for those under 18. Previously, minors could access online games for one and a half hours on weekdays and three hours on holidays and weekends. This was slashed to just one hour, between 8 pm and 9 pm local time, on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. There had been rumors that restrictions would be eased during the summer, with children allowed to play online titles for one hour every day of the week....

The situation began in June when Musk sent memos to SpaceX employees and Tesla executives directing that all but “exceptional” workers must spend a minimum of 40 hours in the office per week or quit. This followed an earlier email sent to Tesla staff explaining that they must work in a main company office and not a remote pseudo location. With no alternative, staff returned a few weeks later, only to find there weren’t enough desks or parking spaces at the Fremont, California, office....

The powerful CPU/GPU combo in the Gigabyte Aorus 17X would potentially allow this laptop to make the most of its 360Hz display when it comes to modern AAA gaming. The 17.3-inch IPS screen, perhaps, is the weakest part here, given that it will sport just 1080p resolution as per the company’s official listing on its Taiwanese website (status 404 at the time of writing). Gigabyte also appears to have spilled the beans on Intel’s upcoming 12th Gen Alder Lake-HX CPU, which the latter is yet to officially announce....

We recorded temps with the same version of Everest Ultimate Edition as well as the same motherboard, processor and BIOS revision. We ran the i7-4960X at its default 3.3GHz in addition to an overclocked 4.3GHz configuration. All tests were conducted using a horizontal motherboard orientation, positioned flat in the Cooler Master HAF XB. Heatsinks with heatpipes are positioned so they span vertically. Furthermore, we disabled features that would affect the results, including CPU Enhanced Halt (C1E), C3/C6 State Support, CPU Thermal Monitor, EIST and Turbo Boost....

Do you plan on purchasing something like a GTX 1050, RX 560 or perhaps something more powerful or you also want to use your budget build to get into video editing or any other kind of productivity work then which CPU should you get? Well, first let’s factor in the platform costs. The MSI H310M Pro-VD which we used to support the Pentium G5400 costs roughly $62 and 8GB of DDR4-2400 memory will set you back $75....