Intel's latest NUC (Next Unit of Computing) series of Mini PCs, based on the 10th generation of Intel "Core" processors, is now available for purchase. Dubbed Frost Canyon, this NUC series is featuring Intel's 10th generation Comet Lake CPUs at its base. All of the available configurations are based around the Intel Core i7-10710U processor, Intel i219-V Gigabit Lan, Bluetooth 5.0 and Intel WiFi 6 AX200 networking module. Configurations are varying by the amount of pre-installed RAM and storage and the option of whatever you want OS pre-installed or not.

The NUC 10 supports up to 64 GB of DDR4 memory, while the storage options include space for one 2.5 inch SSD/HDD in smaller variants or two 2.5 inch SSD/HDD drives in taller variants, with one NVMe M.2 SSD slot available in both versions. Pricing starts at $679 for the base models, while higher-end configurations cost upward of $1,295. Additionally, it is worth pointing out that all CPUs inside the new NUC are configured to run at 25 W of TPD, regardless of the model. This will result in higher performance compared to 15 W versions of processors found in most laptop solutions.

ADATA is a company currently selling only memory solutions like SSDs and DRAM, however, the company now wants to try something different in 2020. For starters, ADATA wants to launch more products that will be a part of its Xtreme Performance Gear lineup called XPG shortly. XPG will start offering new products like monitors, laptops, gaming PCs and PC cases with a goal of capturing new market share and try to establish itself as a strong brand of PC gaming products. The new lineup will get revealed with more details at CES 2020, however, we have information of what the new lineup contains.

For starters, XPG will begin with a laptop called Xenia 15, a 15.6-inch gaming laptop with 1080p IPS display and 9th gen Intel core i9 CPU. Next up the chain is a gaming PC called XPG Gaia - 5 liters mini PC with one PCIe slot for a graphics card that's up to 8-inches long. In addition, XPG will showcase a new monitor called Photon equipped with a 27-inch panel that features PixelDisplay's Vivid Color Eye-Safe Display technology which is essentially a technique for blocking out blue light. There is also going to be a new case called XPG Volta, a cylindrical case made out of premium materials such as tempered glass and metal. It is supposed to fit up to E-ATX motherboard and have plenty of room for water-cooling setups. Last but not least, XPG will have two concepts of RGB DDR4 memory modules, with both of them having speeds of up to 4800 MHz and having capacity of up to 32 GB per DIMM.

Players of Minecraft on PlayStation 4 rejoice! Minecraft is now getting an update on the PS4 platform that enables all PlayStation users to gain access to cross-play features, so they are now able to play with millions of other players on Xbox, PC, Switch, iOS, Android, and even Samsung Gear VR platform. In the so-called "Bedrock Edition" update that arrives today, Microsoft will push new features to Minecraft and connect millions of players.

In the words of Microsoft's game studio boss Helen Chiang: "One of Minecraft's core missions is to connect players across devices and provide the best experience regardless of platform. We continue to fulfill that mission here today by welcoming PS4 players to Minecraft on Bedrock and growing our cross-platform multiplayer community".

Creative Technology today announced the release of Sound Blaster G3, a portable gaming USB DAC Amp that marks the latest addition to the Sound Blaster revolution ignited 30 years ago. Designed and built with game console users in mind, Sound Blaster G3 is the first Sound Blaster that works directly on PS4 and Nintendo Switch via a driverless plug-and-play format, and is also compatible with PC and Mac. Palm-sized and weighing in at a mere 32 grams, it boasts a great balance of the fabled Sound Blaster audio signature, on-the-go customization and other nifty gaming features at an attractive price tag.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, announces a broad Qualcomm Snapdragon Compute platform portfolio with long battery life, cellular connectivity, and AI accelerated performance to enable fanless, thin and light designs for modern computing. Built with mobility in mind, the portfolio accommodates the evolving needs of mobile consumers. The Snapdragon 7c and 8c now join the previously announced Snapdragon 8cx, delivering lightning fast cellular connectivity to premium, mainstream, and entry-level notebook PCs. The portfolio is available in various price points allowing partners to design always on, always connected PCs for a wide array of consumers. In addition, the Snapdragon 8cx enterprise compute platform brings connected security software and secured-core PC support for modern enterprises looking to bring mobility to their workers.

Halo: Reach for PC is going live today, as per confirmations from game developer 343 Industries. The game is supposed to go live tonight at 10 AM PST / 1 PM EST when it will be released on PC and Xbox One. The PC port is going to be available for purchase on three platforms: Game Pass, Steam, and the Windows Store. The PC port currently contains some bugs, however, 343 Industries is working to iron them out before the game launches. Features like uncapped FPS will be mostly unstable during the launch period and might cause the game to crash, so it's better to turn it off for now. Latency issues could also be present in the beginning but 343i is working hard to remove it before the game drops tonight. For all Steam users, you can pre-purchase the game here.

The add-in board market increased in Q3'19 by 42% from last quarter, with over $2.8 billion dollars of AIBs shipped. Nvidia increased its market share to 73% in Q3. The last fiscal quarter was transitional for Nvidia as older products made their way through the channel allowing the company to ramp up production and ship more new products at the end of the quarter. Nvidia not only boosted their market share but they raised the overall AIB market. Their channel inventory is now reported as healthy says the company. Nvidia's RTX line is doing well and represents 66% of its gaming revenue.

Quarter-to-quarter graphics add-in board shipments increased by 42.2% and increased by 6.2% year-to-year. The market shares for the desktop discrete GPU suppliers shifted in the quarter, Nvidia significantly increased market share from last quarter, while AMD increased share year-over-year.

Intel is partnering with MediaTek on the development, certification and support of 5G modem solutions for the next generation of PC experiences. As part of the partnership, Intel will define a 5G solution specification, including a 5G modem to be developed and delivered by MediaTek. Intel will also provide optimization and validation across the platform and lend system integration and co-engineering support to further enable its OEM partners.

"5G is poised to unleash a new level of computing and connectivity that will transform the way we interact with the world. This partnership with MediaTek brings together industry leaders with deep engineering, system integration and connectivity expertise to deliver 5G experiences on the next generation of the world's best PCs." -Gregory Bryant, Intel executive vice president and general manager of the Client Computing Group.

MonsterLabo, a team of four people best known for their work on "The First" PC case, are at it again with giant pieces of PC component tech. This time, they took tried and true designs and sizes of CPU and GPU coolers and threw them into an enlargement ray, coming up with what they are calling "The Heart". As it stands, and it stands higher and heavier than all other cooling solutions hitherto, "The Heart" is a cooling solution that extends from your CPU through to your GPU, cooling both with its design of densely stacked fins.

Dimensions is where "The Heart" is bold, with the cooler measuring 200 by 185 mm and 265 mm tall. Adding insult to injury, its weight comes in at 6.6 lbs (3 Kg for us metric system aficionados). MonsterLabo rates the cooler's dissipation capabilities at 100 W CPU load and a 120 W GPU. Adding a 500-RPM 140 mm fan would bump those numbers to 140 W and 160 W, respectively. Mind these numbers apply to cases where "The Heart" is installed into MonsterLabo's own The First case, but differences should be relatively minor in any other case, should you actually be able to install it there. Of course, the combined CPU and GPU design will be very hit or miss - your graphics card will have to be perfectly compatible with the cooler, with its GPU set just right on the PCB for it to be perfectly covered by it. If you want to risk that, you can always drop $200 or €180 for The Heart, in either black or white finishes. Inexpensive for a heart, yes, but extremely expensive as a cooler with expected limited compatibility.

Dell today announced the Latitude 7220 Rugged Extreme tablet, built to meet the demands of workers in harsh environments; from the factory floor to ambulances, desert sandstorms to Arctic conditions.

The lightest and most powerful rugged 12" tablet on the market today is designed to provide the mobility and connectivity to help field users stay productive; its durability offering peace of mind for those in some of the dirtiest, wettest, most challenging and most critical workplaces. Updated features include an enhanced 1000 NIT FHD display with anti-glare coatings, allowing customers to access and showcase their work even when out in direct sunlight. The screen is also glove responsive and multi-touch capable.

Rambus Inc., a premier silicon IP and chip provider making data faster and safer, today announced it has achieved industry-leading 18 Gbps performance with the Rambus GDDR6 Memory PHY. Running at the industry's fastest data rate of 18 Gbps, the Rambus GDDR6 PHY IP delivers peak performance four-to-five times faster than current DDR4 solutions and continues the company's longstanding tradition of developing leading-edge products. The Rambus GDDR6 PHY pairs with the companion GDDR6 memory controller from the recent acquisition of Northwest Logic to provide a complete and optimized memory subsystem solution.

Increased data usage in applications such as AI, ML, data center, networking and automotive systems is driving a need for higher bandwidth memory. The coming introduction of high-bandwidth 5G networks will exacerbate this challenge. Working closely with our memory partners, the Rambus GDDR6 solution gives system designers more options in selecting the memory system that meets both their bandwidth and cost requirements.

Rockstar Games has dropped a launch trailer for their upcoming PC release of the critically-acclaimed Red Dead Redemption 2. Fret not if you're worried about spoilers (though the game has indeed released quite a while ago): the trailer is only one minute long. There are some specific PC improvements to the title, such as support for up to 8K resolutions (good luck on that), support for higher framerates than on consoles, HDR, and support for non-standard monitor ratios.

The PC version of the game will also introduce a new photo mode for all you photography enthusiasts out there - even though it's in-game, it should still count. One of the things the PC version of the game won't ship with - sadly - is support for raytracing. There were some rumors running around the web regarding support for raytracing on the Rockstar Release due to some screenshots outed by NVIDIA that sported an RTX logo on the bottom right corner, but those served only as marketing for their latest 20-series graphics cards. No raytracing will be available in this game - and there is no reason to think it might.

Activision's latest blockbuster in the Call of Duty franchise has been announced to have brought in something to the tune of $600 million to the company's coffers. That's a whole lot of money - but remember we're talking about an actual finished Call of Duty game that includes a single-player campaign. Yearly installments have proven to not do any harm to Call of Duty - it remains one of the biggest entertainment launches every year, which is part of the reason why Activision has three development studios constantly working on the franchise, with three-year development cycles for each title (this particular release was created by Infinity Ward). That's a big level of commitment, and it usually shows in the finished quality of the games.

The game has overtaken all previous releases in the franchise for this current generation of consoles (and PC). Reasons for that surely include the reference to one of the franchises most beloved entries, the homonymous Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and the return of Captain Price, but surely the presence of a single-player campaign and the absence of any microtransactions pulled their weight in this release success. If there were any doubts on Call of Duty keeping its momentum, they have to be postponed to next year's release.

Venom has announced the launch of the Sabre Stereo Gaming Headset, a new premium gaming headset for use with a wide variety of formats including PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite and PC, due to go on sale November 1st 2019. Already well established for their range of great-value gaming headsets, the Sabre offers gamers a distinctly higher-end experience at the price of £29.99, without the exorbitant price point typically associated with a headset of such distinction.

Delivering quality and features unrivalled at the price point, the Sabre looks, feels and sounds every inch a premium product, from the quality metal, self-adjusting headband which adapts to the users head size, greatly cushioned foam ear-cups for sustained comfort, even for glasses and piercing wearers. Powerful 50 mm Neodymium Drivers offer superbly rich audio and chat quality whether you're gaming, listening to music or watching movies.

Kojima Productions, a Japanese video game developer and maker of popular video game series "Metal Gear", has announced that they will release highly anticipated game Death Stranding on November 8th for PlayStation 4. Another important note is that Kojima Productions also plans to launch a PC version of the Death Stranding game, however it will be delayed to "early Summer" of 2020, without a specific date to look out for.

Razer today released the Razer Tetra, an ultra-lightweight chat headset with pro-grade microphone for crystal-clear team communication on all platforms including PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and mobile devices.

The Razer Tetra is a single-ear console chat headset, designed for gamers wishing to enjoy their home audio set-up but still communicate with their teammates. Lots of gamers have an extensive surround sound speaker system set-up to enjoy immersive movie and game audio, and while many use a headset for game sound and communications, some prefer the big sound experience from their media systems. With today's multiplayer games, communication with teammates is key. The Razer Tetra delivers crystal-clear communications even in the loudest of audio set-ups. The cardioid microphone is tuned for a focused voice-pickup range, reducing ambient noises from the sides and back, giving superior voice clarity over traditional chat headsets. An in-line volume control gives gamers full access to all important settings during the battle at the touch of a finger, with a volume slider and mic-mute function to tune the audio during play.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 has been delayed, according to developer Hardsuit Labs (Paradox Interactive makes a cameo here as publisher). The game, which builds upon the original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines released way back in 2004, aims to provide a "deep, branching storyline; fascinating and amazingly acted characters; the rich universe of the World of Darkness" that can additionally be played in either first or third person perspective. According to the developer, pushing for a Q1 2020 release would mean compromise in those areas, as well as in polish for the final version of the game.

Of course, one other reason for the delay might be the fact that Q1 2020 is already jam-packed with heavy-hitting franchises and games such as the hugely awaited Cyberpunk 2077, the remastered Final Fantasy 7, The Last of us 2, and Doom Eternal, just to name a few. Perhaps the developer (and publisher Paradox Interactive) saw history in danger of repeating itself with the release of the original Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, which went toe to toe with Half Life 2, Halo 2 and Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - not the best time to launch a game. That decision eventually led to the shuttering of then-developer Troika Games. Expect the game to still drop around 2020, though no firm release date was set alongside the delay announcement.

InWin is excited to announce its new "Alice" PC Chassis. Gathering inspiration from the classic story, Alice in Wonderland, InWin is taking PC builders on a journey where imagination reigns supreme!

The Alice chassis combines a durable and sturdy, yet ultra-light-weight frame with a variety of vivid colors. For those that are bold enough to enjoy something different than a traditional, heavy case, the Alice chassis showcases an explosion of possible color choices and intricate designs to create something totally distinct.

Razer has announced the Raion, an arcade fightpad for PS4 and PC, with top tier tournament features giving players the control and accuracy of a fullsize fightstick in the palm of their hands.

Designed from the ground up for the fighting game community, the Raion features a 6-button layout on the face of the fightpad, a tactile 8-way D-pad, and the traditional shoulder and trigger buttons. This layout offers a greater variety of input options for both standard and 'claw' grip style players. A competition mode disables extra buttons to ensure uninterrupted gaming and the PS4 touchpad has all the console functions players expect from their controller.

Sennheiser today launched the GSP370 gaming headset, which will allow you to immerse yourself in virtual worlds for as many as 100 hours between charges. Sennheiser have managed to improve power efficiency of the GSP370 over their current flagship, the GSP670, by more than five times - that one headset only lasts between 16 and 20 hours for each full charge. And this battery efficiency didn't come at the cost of maximum output levels - the 117dB SPL makes sure of that.

There's a noise-canceling mic in the headset, and memory foam pads appeal to comfort and extended gaming sessions. The GPS370 is compatible with PC, Mac, and PlayStation 4 (and Xbox as well with the headphone adapters or newer controllers) and is available on Sennheiser's website starting today for $199.95. Data transmission is taken care of by Bluetooth 5.0 (in a dongle adapter) and there's a micro USB charging cable in the box, which is enough to power the headset for usage even if its battery runs completely dry. Sennheiser will also include its GSA 50 headset hanger, which normally sells for $38, for free.

Highly anticipated version of Red Dead Redemption 2 for PC is now available for pre-order. Launching on November 5th, this game will be available for pre-purchase starting from today until October 22nd, when the pre-order period will end. For now, ordering is exclusive to the Rockstar Games Launcher, Rockstar's version of Steam/Epic Store for its own games.

For all pre-purchases, Rockstar has prepared a heap of extra bonuses. For starters, users can choose any two games from the selection of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto:Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Bully: Scholarship Edition, L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, Max Payne 3: The Complete Edition, for free. Additionally, every pre-purchase made through Rockstar Game Launcher will result in a free upgrade to the premium edition of Red Dead Redemption 2, where ultimate and special edition will get a $20 discount if users want to upgrade. Furthermore, there are additional bonuses that include Outlaw Survival Kit for Story Mode, War Horse for Story Mode, Le Trésor des Morts Treasure Map for Story Mode, Cash Bonus for Story Mode, 50 gold Bars for Red Dead Online. To add thing up, PC port of RDR2 will feature updated graphics to harness the power PC graphics cards offer with features like HDR for better visual effects.

Intel at the Intel Developer Conference 'IDC' 2019 in Tokyo revealed their performance projections for mobility Xe GPUs, which will supersede their current consumer-bound UHD620 graphics under the Gen 11 architecture. The company is being vocal in that they can achieve an up to 2x performance uplift over their previous generation - but that will likely only take place in specific scenarios, and not as a rule of thumb. Just looking at Intel's own performance comparison graphics goes to show that we're mostly looking at between 50% and 70% performance improvements in popular eSports titles, which are, really, representative of most of the gaming market nowadays.

The objective is to reach above 60 FPS in the most popular eSports titles, something that Gen 11 GPUs didn't manage with their overall IPC and dedicated die-area. We've known for some time that Intel's Xe (as in, exponential) architecture will feature hardware-based raytracing, and the architecture is being developed for scalability that goes all the way from iGPUs to HPC platforms.

Yesterday Intel hosted an event in London, where it held a presentation and demonstration of new concept product. Simply called "The Element", this new products tries to introduce the concept of modular computing, where you can basically swap out parts and replace them with ease, to users of PCs who wanted this to happen for a long time.

If anyone remembers Razer's project Christine, which unfortunately didn't take off, this product should be of no surprise to them. The Element is a complete PC consisting out of CPU, RAM and Storage, with a PCIe slot attached to it. Featuring plenty of IO options like Thunderbolt, HDMI, Ethernet, USB, and Wi-Fi, The Element is a complete solution for computing. For the demo Intel soldered a BGA Xeon CPU with room for two SODIMM slots for memory and two M.2 ports for storage expansion, all cooled by a blower fan directly cooling the CPU heatsink. Power is supplied from PCIe slot (75 Watts) and 8 pin connector which would come from a regular PSU. There is also an option for the card to be powered by a 19 V power source if external power brick is provided.

Microsoft today announced a new partnership with Spotify for new users of their Xbox Game Pass service. The new partnership is only open for U.S. and U.K residents, though - anyone else will have to pony up for both services, if interested. In essence, should you upgrade your existing Xbox Live subscription to Xbox Game Pass (either on PC or console), which you can currently do for just $1, you will also get access to Spotify's Premium plan for a long 6 months. Fuel for thought and whatever you feel like doing - just diving into one of the more than 100 entries into Microsoft's Game Pass, or the millions of songs available with Spotify.

The EPIC Games Store, the digital storefront most PC gamers love to hate, has made available two free gamers for those who want to simply login to their store. The first game is Metro 2033: Redux, the updated Metro 2033 version that uses its sequel, Metro: Last Light's graphics engine. Besides the updated graphics, there are numerous quality of life improvements in the game, making it the definitive version of it to try out (if you have been living under a rock, or just haven't had any time for gaming in recent years whatsoever).

The other game is Everything, a procedurally-generated game that simulates mechanics and systems of nature. There is no objective in this game - the objective is just to immerse yourself and your time on a leisurely approach to space and planet-bound systems. Just log into your EPIC games account via the store and you can add both these games to your digital library (did I mention they're available for free?)