TerraMaster, a professional brand that specializes in providing innovative storage products, including network attached storage and direct attached storage, recently released an affordable storage solution for home and SOHO users that offers great value and performance especially for those looking at a sub-$200 product.

If you're a first-time NAS user or a power user looking for an affordable solution for file-sharing for the home, the TerraMaster F2-210 offers everything you expect from a entry-level NAS for less whether it's for simple file storage to cloud sharing to media and entertainment. TerraMaster has you covered. The F2-210 2-bay NAS storage is optimized for affordable yet optimal use for file sharing and multimedia and entertainment use. Its price position makes it one of the most powerful 2-bay NAS solution at its price bracket. The TerraMaster F2-210 has an MSRP of $149.99.

SteelSeries, the makers of the most award-winning headset line in history, today announces the newest member of the Arctis family, the Arctis 1 Wireless. The Arctis 1 Wireless features the new slimmed down body of the Arctis 1, but connects via a small USB-C dongle for a true lossless and low latency connection across Nintendo Switch, PS4, PC and mobile.

The Arctis 1 Wireless is the ultimate 4-in-1 wireless headset. Through a small USB-C dongle, it features SteelSeries' lossless 2.4 GHz wireless technology for ultra-low latency wireless on Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4 and Android. This allows users to easily take the same console or PC experience on-the-go on Nintendo Switch or Android devices.

As the trade war between the US and China continues to unfold, we are seeing major US companies ban or stop providing service to China's technology giant Huawei. Now, it looks like the trade war has crossed the ocean and reached the UK. This time, UK based ARM Holdings, the provider of mobile chip IP for nearly all smartphones and tablets, has revoked the license it has given Huawei.

According to the BBC, ARM Holdings employees were instructed to suspend all interactions with Huawei, and to send a note informing Huawei that "due to an unfortunate situation, they were not allowed to provide support, deliver technology (whether software, code, or other updates), engage in technical discussions, or otherwise discuss technical matters with Huawei, HiSilicon or any of the other named entities." The news came from an internal ARM document the BBC has obtained.

The United States tech industry has overnight dealt a potentially fatal blow to Chinese electronics giant Huawei, by boycotting the company. The companies are establishing compliance with a recent Executive Order passed by President Donald Trump designed to "stop the import, sale, and use of equipment and services by foreign companies based in countries that are potential adversaries to U.S. interests," particularly information technology security. Google has announced that it will no longer allow Huawei to license Android, and will stop updates and Google Play access to Huawei smartphones. Huawei can still equip its phones with open-source Android, but it cannot use Google's proprietary software, including Google Play Store, Chrome, and all the other Google apps. Intel decided to no longer supply processors and other hardware to Huawei, for use in its laptops and server products. Sales of AMD processors will stop, too. Qualcomm-Broadcom have decided to stop supply of mobile SoCs and network PHYs, respectively. Microsoft decided to stop licensing Huawei to use Windows and Office products.

The ban is a consequence of the U.S. Government placing Huawei on a list of banned entities, forcing all U.S. companies to abandon all trade with it, without prior approval from the Department of Commerce. Trade cuts both ways, and not only are U.S. firms banned from buying from Huawei, they're also banned from selling to it. Huawei "buys from" over 30 U.S. companies, (for example, Windows licenses from Microsoft). CNN reports that U.S. firms could lose up to $11 billion in revenues.

beyerdynamic, one of the world's leading manufacturers of headphones, microphones and conferencing products, announces Blue BYRD, the first wireless, in-ear headset within the BYRD Series, and the Soul BYRD, an in-ear headset. Featuring a unique, extra-flat design, the Blue BYRD and Soul BYRD allow for unrestricted listening with state-of-the-art technology and crisp acoustics.

Blue BYRD combines simple elegance, impressive sound and enjoyable wearing comfort to create an everyday wireless headphone. Blue BYRD boasts flawless Bluetooth transmission with Qualcomm aptX and AAC technology for a balanced listening experience for up to six hours of playing time. Blue BYRD's universal, three-button remote microphone provides flexibility to manage media playback, phone calls, and virtual assistants on both Android and iOS playback devices. Blue BYRD retails for $199.00 USD and is currently shipping. For more information, please visit north-america.beyerdynamic.com/blue-byrd.html.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Valve had promised continued support to the Steam Link after discontinuing it last year, and most took it to mean basic updates to the hardware device itself at the time. That was 2018, and it is remarkable how the topic of in-house game streaming has come up since. Be it Google's Project Stream which seemingly is leading up to a major announcement by the company at GDC coming up very shortly, or Microsoft introducing their new Wireless Display app for PC game streaming on the XBOX One, as well as bringing its XBOX Live service to mobile platforms on iOS or Android alike, 2019 seems to herald a re-focus into the concept of game streaming whether the infrastructure is ready or not.

Valve for their own part has had their Steam Link be enjoyed by a fairly niche audience, one that shares a more local form of game streaming from a host device to another on the same network. NVIDIA's Shield offered a similar concept, and that too has not really made the news as much as NVIDIA would surely have wanted. This latest news from Valve allows streaming of one's Steam library (games, in particular) to phones, tablets, and TVs with no download or service fees applicable. Interested users can participate in the open beta program by simply downloading the app (Google Play store only for now) or on the Raspberry Pi as has been the case for a few months already. The Steam Link app is compatible with a number of popular Bluetooth controllers, including the Steam Controller, and Valve recommends a 5 GHz network or wired Ethernet for best experience. Looks like the weekend just got busier than I originally planned!

SteelSeries, the global leader in gaming peripherals, today announced its newest full-size, multi-platform controller, the Stratus Duo. Gamers can swap between the low latency 2.4GHz wireless connection for gaming on Windows, and Bluetooth for mobile gaming on Android, Oculus Go and Samsung VR. Gamers can utilize the Stratus Duo in multiple ways using the 2.4GHz wireless, Bluetooth and wired connections. With its Bluetooth connection, the Stratus Duo supports Android, Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go. Gamers no longer need to struggle with awkward touchscreen controls while playing mobile games on their Android devices.

The Stratus Duo allows gamers to enjoy playing on their Android device via Bluetooth or on their PC via the 2.4GHz wireless connection with no additional software needed for setup. "The gaming ecosystem is continuing to evolve and grow beyond PC and consoles to include mobile devices and VR systems," said Tino Solberg, SteelSeries CTO. "The Stratus Duo allows gamers to easily navigate across several platforms through wireless and Bluetooth technology to create a truly seamless experience."

If you had not heard of Sonarworks prior to this or the press release that went out last week, you may not be alone. The Latvian company is a little over 6 years old, and has since already managed to grab attention of some of the largest players in the audio market, including car makers interested in stereos, DJs, music producers, and of course more typical headphone and speaker makers. Their True-Fi desktop program claims to calibrate headphones to where everyone is able to hear the same sound no matter where they are- provided you use a supported headphone. This makes use of software sound processing and filtering, and the process works well enough to where they say over 30,000 recording studios worldwide currently use their technology.

At CES 2019, Sonarworks demonstrated the mobile version of their True-Fi program, currently in the Apple and Google Play stores as unreleased versions that will remain free until ready, following which it will cost $3.99/month or $99 for a lifetime license (the desktop version costs $79 by itself at this time). I was able to try out the app at their suite, and then also at home on my own phone, and came out impressed with the changes made. I did happen to have one of the ~300 currently-supported headphones though, and Sonarworks say they are working on adding more all the time. Users can also specifically request support to their own headsets if not on the list, although that might involve round trip shipment to Latvia. Read past the break for more, including their equally exciting personalized audio feature coming later this year.

Pioneering audio calibration software company Sonarworks has announced the launch of its new Sonarworks True-Fi mobile app at CES 2019. The revolutionary mobile app, which provides audio calibration references on both iOS and Android for nearly 300 headphone models, has already launched in 'early access' and will be available for purchase later this year in the App Store and Google Play at a price of $3.99 USD per month, or as a lifetime license for $99 USD. Existing Sonarworks customers who already own the desktop version will be provided a free upgrade option to a lifetime license for the mobile app.

Sonarworks True-Fi mobile app- provides consumers with the ultimate sound experience 'while on the go- supports wide a range of native file formats as well as content from iTunes and Android local content libraries. True-Fi mobile supports native file formats including MP3, WAV, AIFF, AAC and ALAC (iOS) and MP3, WAV, OGG (Vorbis) and AAC (Android).

Today, AMD announced the first members of its 2019 mobility line-up encompassing all notebook segments: 2nd Gen AMD Ryzen 3000 Series Mobile Processors powering ultrathin and gaming notebooks; AMD Athlon 300 Series Mobile Processors powering mainstream notebooks with the fast and efficient "Zen"3 core; and optimized 7th Gen AMD A-Series processors, elevating performance for mainstream Chromebooks. In addition, AMD announced that starting this quarter, gamers, creators and enthusiasts will be able to install Radeon Software Adrenalin software to bring the latest GPU features and game optimizations to all systems powered by AMD Ryzen Processors with Radeon Graphics.

"Users expect mobile PCs that excel at both everyday tasks and compute-heavy experiences, and with our latest mobile processor portfolio AMD offers exactly that across all levels of the market," said Saeid Moshkelani, senior vice president and general manager, Client Compute, AMD. "Notebook users want to experience the latest modern features while streaming, gaming, or finishing work faster. Enabling breakthrough entertainment experiences, AMD is pleased to enable a wide range of AMD powered notebooks than ever that deliver on those expectations with blazing fast performance, rich graphics, and long battery life."

Today Basemark releases version 1.1 of its multi-platform graphics hardware evaluation tool Basemark GPU. Basemark GPU has been made available for free to download and use for personal users. Additionally, Basemark has provided professional versions for Benchmark Development Program members, corporate and commercial users.

Basemark GPU 1.1 Benchmark offers unparalleled, objective comparisons between Vulkan, OpenGL, OpenGL ES and now DirectX 12 for graphics performance analysis across both mobile and desktop platforms. Our desktop Linux version of Basemark GPU 1.1 will be available in the next few days utilizing the easily installable universal Flatpak delivery format.

Basemark GPU is available for download now.

VIA Technologies, Inc., today announced the launch of the VIA ALTA DS 3 Edge AI system. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E Embedded Platform, the system enables the rapid development and deployment of intelligent signage, kiosk, and access control devices that require real-time image and video capture, processing, and display capabilities.

The VIA ALTA DS 3 harnesses the cutting-edge compute, graphics, and AI processing capabilities of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E Embedded Platform to facilitate the creation of vibrant new user experiences by allowing customers to combine their own AI applications with immersive multimedia signage display content in a compact, low-power system.

It's a record-setting fine: the European Commission has officially ruled that Google must pay a fine of €4.34 billion for breaking antitrust laws, specifically related to the implementation of its services within the Android ecosystem. The three key areas within which the EC has found wrongdoings pertain to bundling of its search engine and Chrome apps into the operating system; blocking phone makers from creating devices that run forked versions of Android (claiming, without proof, that these versions would offer more security risks), and "made payments to certain large manufacturers and mobile network operators" to exclusively bundle the Google Search app on handsets.

Google now has 90 days to comply with the EC's decision (notwithstanding payment of the fine), which Google, obviously, has already announced will appeal the decision. In a statement to The Verge, a Google representative said that "Android has created more choice for everyone, not less. A vibrant ecosystem, rapid innovation, and lower prices are classic hallmarks of robust competition," and that Google "(...) will appeal the Commission's decision." The idea here seems to be to stop Google from forcing manufacturers to bundle their app and search software stacks - many times in a seemingly unremovable way. You can check the press release in the source link, but some of the more interesting snippets have been collated after the break.

Samsung Electronics America, Inc., announced the Samsung Chromebook Plus (V2), a 2-in-1 convertible designed to help people get the most out of Chrome OS wherever life and work take them. Available at Best Buy starting June 24, the Samsung Chromebook Plus (V2) is equipped with a built-in pen and offers a light, thin and stylish design that delivers versatility, portability and a premium experience at a competitive price point.

"Today's consumers want to be able to maximize their communication while also expressing their creativity wherever they are, and the new Samsung Chromebook Plus fulfills that need, " said Alanna Cotton, Senior Vice President and General Manager at Samsung Electronics America. "For those who choose Chrome OS, we wanted to give them a lot of reasons to choose the new Samsung Chromebook Plus, as it is designed especially for people who never stop moving, to match their pace and magnify their creativity."

Since its inception in 2006, the Republic of Gamers has pursued a mandate to push boundaries to deliver a better gaming experience. We started with motherboards, spread to virtually every DIY desktop component, and have been building hardcore gaming laptops for more than a decade.

The smartphones in that early era barely qualified as such, but they started a revolution that transformed the computing landscape. We watched closely as these digital sidearms became increasingly capable gaming machines and all-around computers, and we saw how developers harnessed their growing power to take mobile gameplay and graphics to the next level. We also gained insight from esports professionals, regular players, and game developers on how mobile gaming devices could be improved.

HP, Inc. today unveiled the world's first Chromebook detachable packing all the productivity benefits of Chrome OS and popularity of Android into a sleek, versatile, powerful, and secure device. Chromebooks are one of the fastest-growing segments of the PC category, growing more than 50% over the past two years. HP is focused on delivering and evolving its Chromebook portfolio to meet this growing demand to have access to the Google ecosystem on exciting, flexible form factors.

"The HP Chromebook x2 hits a trifecta for customers, combining the productivity of the Chrome OS and power of the world's most-used app platform into a versatile form factor ideal for experiencing all the Google ecosystem has to offer," said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, consumer personal systems, HP Inc. "As the world's first Chromebook detachable, it will unlock new ways for people to create, collaborate and consume within Chrome and the Google Play Store."

After being crowned as Steam's third best-selling game ever, PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) is on its way to conquer the mobile world. Developed by LightSpeed & Quantum Studio and published by Chinese tech giant Tencent, PUBG Mobile has been soft launched in Canada. The game is now available for download at the Google Play Store. PUBG Mobile stays true to the PC version. It was developed on the Unreal Engine 4 and supports features that include 7.1 surround sound and in-game voice chat. For the time being, only the original Erangel map is in the mobile version. The minimum requirements consist of a smartphone with Android 5.1.1 and 2 GB of RAM. Although there is no mention of a minimum processor requirement, the developer states that the game is supported on more than 500 Android devices.

NVIDIA this CES is pushing for a new large-format PC display standard called "Big Format Gaming Display" (BFGD). This is a glorified 4K-HDR living room TV (40-inch and above) that's been tweaked for gaming desktops with G-SYNC-HDR hardware, an NVIDIA Shield in place of the TV's in-built Android-based "Smart TV" OS, and 110-ish ppi pixel-density of conventional monitors, so no software-based HiDPI scaling is necessary. The logic behind BFGD is either more desktop immersion, or better quality living-room gaming.

HP showed off the HP Omen X 65, a massive 65-inch television monitor with 4K Ultra HD resolution, support for HDR10 (1,000 nits brightness), 120 Hz maximum refresh-rate, support for NVIDIA G-SYNC HDR, and an in-built NVIDIA Shield, which you can use for on-demand content, game-streaming from your main gaming rig in another room, or even casual gaming from the Shield library. Somebody forgot to pack its power-brick. Thankfully, any ATX PSU can put out 12 VDC, and the booth staff improvised. Since NVIDIA is targeting this device at serious gamers, expect the Omen X 65 to cost a pretty penny more than that 65-inch 4K HDR TV you probably bought last Black Friday.

Razer, the leading lifestyle brand for gamers, today revealed "Project Linda," a 13.3-inch laptop design powered by the Android-based Razer Phone. The smartphone and laptop hybrid concept harkens a new era for mobile personal computing, blending the familiar Android environment with the ease-of-use of a laptop. As one of the few companies in the world to straddle user interfaces, laptops and smartphones, Project Linda is a groundbreaking concept that blurs the lines between the smartphone and the laptop.

Razer's Project Linda laptop seamlessly docks the Razer Phone inside its chassis where a touchpad would normally reside, and connects with the press of a button. The phone's Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile platform and 8 GB of RAM deliver responsive performance, instantly transforming Project Linda into an Android laptop. The Razer Phone 5.7-inch display can be used as a touchpad, or as a second screen for access to apps, tools, and more.

ASUS today announced its latest lineup of small form factor products at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, including the PB40 and PN40 Mini PCs, Chromebox 3 and Tinker Board S. This year's innovations offer compactness and versatility for a variety of usage scenarios without compromising quality or performance.

With the new PB40 and PN40 Mini PCs, users can enjoy the power of a computer with the convenience of a compact and portable device, whether for work or play. The latest Chromebox 3 lets users enjoy their favorite Android apps for both home and educational entertainment, with the full power of an 8th Generation Intel Core processor. And with the new ASUS Tinker Board S, DIY enthusiasts can enjoy class-leading performance for turning their creative ideas into reality.

Vuzix Corporation, a leading supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies for the consumer and enterprise markets, is pleased to announce the official unveiling of the Vuzix Blade, which was awarded four International CES Innovation 2018 awards in the areas of Fitness, Sports and Biotech; Wireless Handset Accessories; Portable Media Players and Accessories as well as Computer Accessories.

The Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses provide a wearable smart display with a see-through viewing experience utilizing Vuzix' proprietary waveguide optics and Cobra II display engine. It's like having your computer or smartphone screen information right in front of you, wherever you go. The Vuzix Blade weighing in at less than 3 oz. represents the first pair of smart glasses that provide the wearer with a sizable virtual screen and brilliant pallet of colors via a thin completely see-through lens, in a fashionable form factor. The Vuzix Blade features adjustable FOV location and brightness, and is prescription ready, enabling any wearer both indoors and out to enjoy a comfortable visual experience. The Vuzix Blade, which can be paired seamlessly to Android or iOS phones enables individuals or workers to leave their phone in their pocket while visually presented with location aware content driven by the user's phone. Built for today's world and usable for work or play, the Vuzix Blade AR Smart Glasses offer the wearer heads up and hands-free mobile computing and connectivity, in an unprecedented form factor.

Creative Technology Ltd announced today the Aurvana Trio audiophile-grade in-ear headphones, the latest addition to its well-received Aurvana Series. The Aurvana Trio features a triple driver array that combines two precision balanced armature drivers with one dynamic bio-cellulose driver.
Aurvana Trio: Audiophile-Grade Hybrid Triple Driver In-Ear Headphones

The dual balanced armature module consists of a super tweeter that has been tuned to deliver detailed high-frequency playback, and a mid-range driver for natural vocals. The dynamic 10mm Bio-cellulose driver, on the other hand, is meticulously tuned to produce beautifully accurate and powerful bass. Bio-cellulose is an extremely fine natural fiber with high purity. Using cutting-edge biotechnology processes, this material is compressed to produce an ultra-thin diaphragm that is ideal for delivering sound velocity comparable to an aluminium or titanium diaphragm, while giving warm and delicate sound of paper ones.

Zorloo is pleased to introduce its second-generation portable USB-DAC product, ZuperDAC-S, today. It builds on its wildly praised ZuperDAC to enable computers or mobile phones an unprecedented HiFi music experience. Today, computers and mobile phones are powerful enough to handle different audio protocols. However, the last but most critical step in the entire digital-to-analog conversion process, i.e. turning musical data 0 and 1 into audible sound waves, always sucks. Constrained by the limitation of this internal conversion process, audio may also have to be re-sampled to fit the pipeline.

Bypassing the internal conversion with ZuperDAC-S drastically improves sound quality to a new level. It supports up to 192kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit depth, which eliminates unnecessary sample rate and bit depth conversion. The music output from ZuperDAC-S is exactly what was recorded. ZuperDAC-S uses the ESS Sabre 9018 audiodac and delivers a stunning 120dB SNR and 0.0005% THD+N performance. It delivers a balanced, clear and articulated sound in a wide soundstage. The integrated headphone amplifier output can connect directly to headphones, or go through the amplifier systems.

The holidays can be stressful, and what better way to relax than to enjoy some quality time with your favorite games? The only thing that would make it better would be to pick them up them with some sweet savings. More than 100 (!) Android and GeForce NOW games for SHIELD TV went on sale today through Tuesday, December 26 for up to 90% off - from Alto's Adventure to Yooka-Laylee, and everything from Grim Fandango to Metal Gear Solid 3 in between.

With games from 2K, Double Fine, Jackbox, Konami, Rising Star, Telltale, and Zen Studios; the SHIELD TV Holiday Game sale has something for everyone. Check out all games on our special site. And if you're still looking for a last minute Christmas gift either for yourself or your loved ones, we've got you covered: Save 20% on a new SHIELD by December 24th.

Microsoft released one of its key software products, Microsoft Office, to all Chromebooks. Office for Android is now available on all Google Play-enabled Chromebooks. Chrome OS is derived from Android, which itself is a Linux-based operating system. Like the rest of the Android software ecosystem, Office for Android eludes other desktop Linux distributions, due to lack of the required APIs and other quasi-proprietary dependencies exclusively found on Android and Chrome OS.

Microsoft Office is one of the "killer apps" that keep Windows popular. It's been available on the Apple Mac platform for over a decade, and made its long march to the Android platform with the decline of Microsoft's Windows Mobile platform. It should finally make premium chromebooks, such as the Google Pixelbook (pictured below), worth the buy to business professionals on the move.