Roku announces upgraded Roku Express, Wireless Bass subwoofer, and more
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Roku is mostly leaving its hardware lineup untouched for the fall — with a couple exceptions. Today, the company is introducing an enhanced Roku Express that now includes dual-band Wi-Fi for more robust, dependable streaming performance. Still priced at $29.99, the device is available for preorder now and will be in stores on October 16th.
The Express is Roku’s introductory streaming device and accordingly sticks to 1080p quality; you need to move up to the Roku Express 4K Plus — which already includes dual-band connectivity — if you want to watch 4K / Ultra HD content. The basic Express comes with Roku’s simplest remote, so you’ll need to use the company’s mobile app if you want to use the private listening feature with connected headphones. The new Express arrives ahead of a rumored Google Chromecast HD expected at next month’s hardware event.
From The Verge
Intel says one of its 13th Gen CPUs will hit 6GHz out of the box
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At least one of Intel’s forthcoming 13th-generation CPUs will be able to run at 6GHz at stock, Tom’s Hardware reports. The detail was shared in a slide onstage at Intel’s Technology Tour 2022, which also says it’ll be capable of hitting 8GHz when overclocked. Other improvements promised for this new generation, which is named Raptor Lake, include a 15 percent improvement in single-threaded performance, and a 41 percent improvement in multi-threaded performance.
Intel’s 6GHz claim is a shot across the bow at competitor AMD, which recently said that its upcoming flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 7950X will be capable of boosting up to 5.7GHz. Although raw clock speeds aren’t the be all and end all when it comes to performance, breaking the 6GHz barrier would be an important marketing win for Intel, which has been battling with a resurgent AMD in the CPU market in recent years.
From The Verge
OnePlus 11 Pro renders leak: The alert slider is back
We’re all expecting OnePlus to launch the OnePlus 11 Pro next year, following in the footsteps of the OnePlus 10 Pro that was first launched back in January. We don’t have to wait until next year to see the upcoming phone though, as a reliable leaker has given us a comprehensive look at the new device.
Steve ‘OnLeaks‘ Hemmerstoffer and Smartprix posted renders of the OnePlus 11 Pro today, showing a phone with a rather interesting rear camera housing. Expect a circular housing as opposed to the OnePlus 10 Pro’s rectangular design.
From Android Authority
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra camera leak gives us more details about its 200MP sensor
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is expected to feature a 200MP camera sensor, but so far, we haven’t learned much else other than that stat through its first few leaks and rumors. Now, a new report gives us a bit more context on the camera, and it comes from the same source from which the initial rumors were provided.
According to Ice Universe (via GSMArena), the Galaxy S23 Ultra will feature a 200MP ISOCELL sensor with a 1/1.3″ sensor size. It’ll also feature a 0.6μm pixel size with an f/1.7 aperture. The S22 Ultra featured a 108MP primary camera with 0.8μm pixels and an f/1.8 aperture, so this is likely to be an upgrade over the previous generation.
From Android Police
Sony Xperia 1 IV Gaming Edition brings 16GB RAM and bundles Xperia Stream
Sony announced a new gaming accessory for its Xperia 1 IV earlier today which brings active cooling and four additional ports. In addition to the accessory, Sony also announced a new Xperia 1 IV Gaming Edition smartphone which brings 16GB RAM and 512GB storage.
Everything else from specs to the design is identical to the regular Xperia 1 IV meaning – a 6.5-inch 4K 120Hz OLED display, Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and a 5,000 mAh battery. Buyers also get the newly announced Xperia Stream accessory bundled for free with the Xperia 1 IV Gaming Edition.
Xperia 1 IV Gaming Edition retails for JPY 175,000 which converts to $1,225. It’s already available on pre-order in Japan from Sony and Docomo while official sales start on Thursday, September 15. International pricing and availability are not yet detailed.
From Gsmarena
Leak appears to show Meta’s Quest Pro headset a month ahead of launch
Meta’s Quest Pro headset is due to arrive next month, but a leaked video appears to show it in full. It was originally posted on Facebook by Ramiro Cardenas, who said that multiple devices (labeled “engineering samples”) were left in a hotel room.
In the video (tweeted by security expert Kevin Beaumont), Cardenas shows a black headset with three cameras on the front that resembles the minimal glimpses we’ve seen so far of the Project Cambria headset teased by Meta earlier. It also looks like the model seen in a leaked instructional video. He also revealed the new controllers, with a new design (again, much like the one in the leaked instructional video) that replaces the previous looped controllers.
From Engadget
Apple iPhone 14 battery replacement is 43% more expensive than previous generation
In case you are one of those users that like to hold onto their phone for years to come, you might want to know how much a battery replacement of your iPhone 14 would cost. It seems that Apple raised its prices to $99, which is a big jump from last year’s $69. That’s 43% to be exact.
This price applies to all iPhone 14 models – the regular and the Pro ones. This new iPhone 14 batteries are marginally bigger than their predecessors, so it makes us wonder what caused such a big price hike. Not to mention the currently strong dollar makes matters worse for users outside of the US. For instance, a battery replacement in the UK would set you back £105.
Of course, those price tags are for replacements outside the warranty or AppleCare+ coverage. If you battery malfunctions the replacement will be free.
From Gsmarena
New Nvidia RTX 3060 GPUs could be good news for your wallet – but bad news for RTX 4060
Nvidia could have a couple of new spins on its current-gen graphics cards coming soon enough, going by chatter on the grapevine.
Specifically, the belief is that an RTX 3060 with 8GB of VRAM, rather than 12GB, is in the pipeline for the end of October, with the card also having the memory bus purportedly dropped to 128-bit (rather than 192-bit).
This would appear alongside an RTX 3060 Ti which has the same amount of VRAM (it had 8GB already), but is equipped with faster GDDR6X memory (rather than plain GDDR6). Presumably this will be 19Gbps video RAM (as seen on the 3070 Ti), so it would usher in a bandwidth increase of just over a third.
This was a rumor previously floated on Twitter by MegaSizeGPU, and it’s now been given more weight after VideoCardz has talked to its sources, and apparently got word from graphics card makers that these new models of the RTX 3060 are indeed planned.
Supposedly this is a drive by Nvidia to expand its portfolio of mid-range GPUs in the face of what’s described as growing competition.
More fresh Ampere variations may be planned, too, according to MegaSizeGPU, but that pair of RTX 3060 refreshes are the only models for which we have VideoCardz’s assurance that they are happening. Another rumor hints at an RTX 3070 Ti with a GA102 GPU, which is the chip that powers the RTX 3090 and 3080 (the RTX 3070 Ti as it exists is GA104). If that happens, however, it may be region specific (such as Asia only).
From Techradar
What to Expect From an Apple Event in October: iPad Pro, M2 Macs, and More
Following its September event focused on new iPhone and Apple Watch models, Apple often holds another event in October focused on new iPad and Mac models, and this year will likely be no exception. October is still three weeks away, but we already have a good idea of the products that would likely be announced at an event next month.
For the October event, rumors suggest that Apple plans to announce new iPad Pro models with the M2 chip, a redesigned 10th-generation entry-level iPad, and at least a few more Macs powered by the M2 series of chips, with potential candidates including the 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro, the Mac mini, and/or the Mac Pro.
From Macrumors
Elon Musk’s third termination notice to Twitter is about Mudge’s severance
The third time is the charm. Elon Musk’s lawyers might have been thinking that while sending the third termination notice to Twitter last Friday in an attempt to end its $44 billion acquisition of the company. In the latest notice filed with the SEC, Tesla CEO’s legal team has objected to Twitter paying severance money to the company’s former security head Peiter “Mudge” Zatko in June — arguing that the action violated a clause in the acquisition agreement.
The notice sent to Twitter mentions that the deal agreement had a condition where the social network couldn’t pay any non-ordinary severance or termination payments to “Company Service Provider” including ex-employees. We have asked Twitter for a comment, and we’ll update the story if we hear back.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Twitter confidentially negotiated a $7 million severance with Zatko, who left the company in January 2022. The social network hired him in 2020 to fix the platform’s myriad of security problems. The report noted that Zatko had signed a standard nondisclosure agreement while accepting the payout — but it allowed him to speak about the company through whistleblower complaints and congressional hearings.
From Techcrunch
