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.

Halos AI Inc. unveiled its flagship product "CatDrive" which will be crowdfunding on Indiegogo on 21st Nov. As the most secure wireless external hard drive, CatDrive is safer than the cloud and even smarter than mobile hard drives. It astonishingly allows users to be masters of their own data and to store and share digital content safely and freely.

In addition to functions such as centralized storage and on-the-go access, CatDrive also lets provides you with safe and easy storage.

• 5 advanced technologies: Local-storage, shockproof HDD, independent accounts with private spaces and auto backup.
• Multiple users: Each user has their own account and space which is invisible to others.
• Private share circle: Members of CatDrive can share files without limits, receive real-time notifications, and the shared content will never expire.
• Photo Roll: Organize and display photos in a stunning way.

Razer, the leading global lifestyle brand for gamers, has announced two new additions to the Razer Hammerhead in-ear headset family. The new earphones feature a digital connection regardless of Android or iOS - no 3.5 mm connection, a highly durable aluminum chassis, flat cables and bi-flange ear tips for passive noise isolation. They also come with inline remotes to provide quick control for audio fidelity from the 10 mm dynamic drivers. The Razer Hammerhead USB-C is the perfect companion for the Razer Phone and other devices without 3.5 mm audio jacks, while the Razer Hammerhead for iOS Mercury Edition blends with iPhone colors.

The Harmony Link, a device that made its introduction back in 2011, basically turns your iPad, iPhone, or Android smartphone into a remote control. With the help of the corresponding Logitech app, users can control up to eight different home theater devices scattered around the house. Harmony Link owners probably woke up today to some very disgusting news. In a short email sent by Logitech to their customers, the company announced its plan to drop support for the device completely in March 16, 2018. This is outright wrong considering customers bought the Harmony Link as a device and not a subscription service.

There's no other way around it though. Many Harmony Link devices are likely to end up in the garbage bin come March of next year. Logitech is currently offering a 35% discount on the new Harmony Hub to soften the blow. However, we doubt their customers will return given the mistreatment. Besides, there's no guarantee that this won't happen again when the company decides to replace the Harmony Hub with the next best thing.

Razer today unveiled the Razer Phone, an Android smartphone with groundbreaking audiovisual technologies and processing muscle that takes personal entertainment to the next level. The first device from Razer's mobile division, the Razer Phone comes with a phenomenal display, cinematic audio and enough power to last a user all day, all in the palm of his or her hand.

The Razer Phone is equipped with the world's first 120 Hz UltraMotion display that delivers the fastest refresh rates and smoothest graphics among today's smartphones. UltraMotion's adaptive refresh technology synchronizes the GPU and display to remove image tearing or lag while driving efficient power usage. The 5.72-inch display - a Quad HD IGZO LCD - delivers vibrant and sharp images with a wide color gamut.

Researchers have recently discovered a critical flaw that affects all WPA2 protected Wi-Fi devices. This can't be remedied solely by user intervention, or password changes, or even by the usage of HTTPS website; this is a flaw with the core of WPA's protection scheme, and means that an attacker could intercept every single traffic data point that your device sends over Wi-Fi, including passwords, credit card details, images - the whole treasure trove. Adding insult to injury, it's even possible for attackers using this method to inject malware into your devices. The new attack method - dubbed KRACK for Key Reinstallation Attack - basically forces your device's encryption code to default to a known, plain-text all-zero decryption key, which is trivial for hackers to reuse.

Adding to the paranoia, this is basically a device and software-agnostic attack - it's effective against devices running Android, Linux, and OpenBSD, and to a lesser extent macOS and Windows, as well as MediaTek Linksys, and other types of devices. HTTPS isn't the best solution either, simply because some website's implementation of it isn't the best, and there are scripts (such as SSLScript) that can force a website to downgrade its connection to a simple HTTP link - which can then be infiltrated by the attacker.

Creative Technology Ltd today announced that its Award-Winning Under-Monitor Sound System, the Sound BlasterX Katana, now supports USB audio connectivity with all Sony PS4 console variants. The updated support allows PS4 users to enjoy cinematic audio performance via USB delivered by the Katana for all their gaming content, including popular titles such as Uncharted: The LostLegacy and Horizon: Zero Dawn, as well as highly anticipated upcoming titles such as Star Wars Battlefront 2, Call of Duty WWII, NBA 2K18 and Destiny 2.

On top of that, users will enjoy an enhanced in-game communication experience that allows them to enjoy a full suite of noise-reduction and voice morphing technologies made possible by Katana's built-in advanced Sound Blaster processor. Previously, Katana users could only connect to their PS4 via optical connection with a separate mic connection to the PS4's controller - all without the benefit of noise reduction and voice morphing enhancements. Also, users can look forward to accessing these technologies on-the-fly while Katana is connected to a PS4, from the convenience of an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, with an updated version of the Sound Blaster Connect App - which is slated to be released by end-October 2017 on the App Store and Google Play.

We here at TPU wrote an extensive editorial on the issue of web mining possibly becoming the revenue model of the future. The Pirate Bay may not have been the first site to adopt Coinhive's javascript code for mining purposes when users access its pages, but it was the highest-profile one to be caught, since the performance hogging was enough that users started seeing diminished responsiveness on their systems when visiting the torrent site. On that editorial piece, we talked about the issues of web mining, and compared it to the advent of ad-based revenue models for websites. A piece of our argument revolved around human nature and the pursuit of higher and higher revenue, in a system that would typically reward abuse with higher amounts of mining-generated money - and how users, browsers, and ad-blocking would evolve to also block these mining efforts.

Well, Adblock Plus has gone and done it, adding a filter for Coinhive-based web mining, filtering the mining script. This will likely ignite a cat and mouse game between web mining providers, users, and the browsers and extensions we use to protect ourselves, but it isn't something we hadn't mentioned before. The Adblock Plus extension is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Android. Look after the break for instructions on how to add these filters to your Adblock Plus-enabled browser of choice.

On Wednesday, during its annual Connect(); developer event, Microsoft Corp. unveiled a series of products and partnerships that strengthen the company's Azure cloud platform for building intelligent, cross-platform apps and services. Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise Executive Vice President Scott Guthrie detailed significant steps Microsoft is taking to empower the ecosystem by giving developers greater choice in the tools they use - including joining the Linux Foundation as a Platinum Member to better collaborate with the open source community, welcoming Google to the independent .NET Foundation, and working with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. to enable .NET developers to build apps for more than 50 million Samsung devices worldwide.

Guthrie also demonstrated a preview of Visual Studio for Mac, which enables developers to write cloud, mobile and macOS apps on Apple's Mac operating system using the popular development environment; a preview of the next version of the company's flagship SQL Server database with support for Linux, Linux-based Docker containers and Windows-based environments; and a preview of Azure App Service on Linux with support for containers.