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Latest by J. Martindale

AMD Ryzen 5 2400G & Ryzen 3 2200G Review fingers motherboard.

AMD Ryzen 3000 chips could have 16 cores, 5GHz turbo frequency

The latest rumor about the specs for AMD's upcoming Ryzen 3000-series CPUs suggests that the top chips could have as many as 16 cores and 32 threads. Better yet, those same chips will reportedly hit turbo clock speeds as high as 5.1GHz, which could topple Intel as the performance king of the CPU industry.
AMD RX 590

AMD Navi graphic cards could offer RTX 2070-like performance for $250

AMD's Navi is only a few weeks away from being unveiled and the rumor mill is heating up. The latest rumors suggest that the top Navi GPU set to launch in the first half of 2019 could be comparable to Nvidia's RTX 2070 and may cost as little as $250, with far lower power requirements than AMD's usual GPUs.
RTX 2080

The Zotac RTX 2080 graphics card is now $100 off at $699

The Zotac GTX 2080 AMP edition graphics card is available now for just $699 via a $100-off coupon. It's a great deal for one of the best graphics cards in the world that will support years of high-end gaming. If you have a 4K monitor handy, it can deliver great frame rates at that setting.
windows 10 insiders will get their hands on microsoft edge extensions this month feature

Microsoft may ditch Edge for a new Chromium-based web browser

Microsoft may soon ditch its Edge browser entirely, with a view to replacing it with a Chromium-based browser. The new browser would still be Windows' default solution, but it would offer a Chrome-like experience, making for an overall more refined browser, but one that was less distinguishable overall.
DirectX ray tracing in Battlefield V.

Dice, Nvidia promise ‘Battlefield V’ ray tracing performance boost via updates

Nvidia and Dice have released driver and game updates for Battlefield V which massively optimizes the ray tracing component of the new game. We're told that these improvements can lead to as much as a 50-percent increase in frames per second in scenes which offer a lot of real-time reflections.
nvidia rtx titan 2080 ti titanrtx02

Nvidia’s Titan RTX is the first full Turing GPU with 24GB of memory

The Nvidia RTX Titan is here and although it's not a card that most gamers will ever get inside their systems, it does have some mouth-watering specifications. It's effectively a fully unlocked 2080 Ti, with a few more CUDA cores, higher boost clocks, and more than double the memory for a whole lot more power.
sec fine khaled mayweather cryptocurrency floydmayweathercontrite

DJ Khaled and Mayweather Jr. charged with fraud over cryptocurrency hype

The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined both DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather Jr. for promoting a fraudulent cryptocurrency initial coin offering without disclosing that they were doing so. The two men will have to pay back hundreds of thousands in payments, as well as fines, with interest.

Legal dust-up: MacBook owners are suing Apple over a lack of filters

Apple has been hit with a new class-action lawsuit, this time related to MacBook Pro and iMac desktops not coming with built-in dust filters. This, the representing law firm attests, has led to the failure of a number of devices, costly repairs, and lessened resale prices for millions of Apple consumers.
A person on the Google home page on a MacBook.

Chrome update could create tab groups for easier reading

Google is reportedly working on an update for its Chrome browser which would introduce groups to its tabs, thereby making it possible to bring related tabs together to help declutter the tab bar. Such a system would also make it easier to read what tabs are what, an improvement over the existing shrunken tabs.
nsa hack hq

NSA tools are still letting hackers take over unpatched systems

NSA hacking tools stolen more than two years ago are still being used in new and dangerous ways. Hackers are using the tools to go after systems previously protected behind routers, potentially leaving as many as a million PCs around the world vulnerable. Make sure your PC and router are well patched.
apple macbook pro 15 laptop amazon deal september event 3

B&H discounts MacBook Pro by $500 and new Mac Mini by $290

B&H has knocked off even more money from some of the most popular Apple products this Cyber Monday, making them cheaper than they've ever been since launch. The best MacBook Pros Apple produces can be had for as much as $500 off of their list price, while the excellent Mac Mini is down by almost $300.
PC build-out guide

The best cheap gaming PC build for under $500

Building your own gaming PC is easier today than it's ever been, with a wide range of affordable components, and far more user-friendly cases and coolers than there has been in the past. To get you started, we've put together the best cheap gaming PC build we can find at $500 or less and a $1,000 alternative.
Nvidia's RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti sitting on a table.

Nvidia admits its 2080 Ti cards have a problem, but isn’t saying what it is

Nvidia has admitted that it missed the problems with some of its 2080 Ti Founders Edition cards during the quality assurance part of the manufacturing process. It hasn't detailed what the problem is, but has acknowledged that it is more widespread than it initially suggested.
google squoosh image editor

Google’s Squoosh will get an image web-ready with in-browser compression

Google debuted a new in-browser image editing and compression tool, Squoosh. It takes images, changes their format to something popular and gives you detailed options for resizing and optimizing, making it a great option for those looking to tweak their images for uploading to websites and portfolios.
cloudflare 1111 dns resolver apps

Cloudflare’s privacy-enhancing 1.1.1.1 DNS service comes to iOS and Android

Cloudflare has launched iOS and Android applications for its 1.1.1.1 DNS resolver service, which it claims makes the internet both faster and more private. Installing and enabling it takes just a few taps. The app is now free for anyone on iOS or Android devices from their respective app stores.
amd-ces-2018-Dr.-Lisa-Su

AMD is pulling ahead in the die shrink race with 7nm CPUs and graphics cards

AMD's upcoming Zen 2 and Navi generations of respective CPUs and graphics cards are exciting for a number of reasons. But perhaps their most intriguing element is that they will both be built on the 7nm process, leapfrogging the best efforts of both Intel and Nvidia in the ongoing die shrink race.
audible free trial

How to cancel your Audible membership

You can cancel your Audible membership at any time and it's not a complicated process either. You will lose any credits you still have outstanding -- so consider downloading a few books first -- and Audible will do its best to keep you, but if you want to learn how to cancel your Audible membership, read on.
Nvidia's RTX 2080 and RTX 2080 Ti sitting on a table.

Nvidia’s flagship RTX 2080 Ti graphics cards are failing. Or are they?

Owners of Nvidia's RTX 2080 Ti have been complaining about crashes, blue screens, artifacts, and repeated RMA issues for weeks now, but investigations aren't turning up anything too definitive with what's going on. It does appear, however, that the cards causing the most problems are Founders Editions.
amd vega 20 7nm graphics cards amdradeoninstinct01

AMD’s impressive Vega 7nm graphics cards arrive, but they’re not for gaming

AMD has launched the world's first 7nm graphics cards based on its new Vega 20 architecture, but they aren't for gamers. The new cards come with as much as 32GB of HBM2 memory and will help accelerate servers and enterprise compute tasks, even scaling up to multiple GPUs with AMD's Infinity Fabric.
New Bing on its way

Bing, Windows search evolve into new, cross-platform Microsoft Search

Microsoft is upgrading the search experience on Bing, in Windows, and in its Office platforms, augmenting the results with more contextual suggestions, including commands, web results, and application features, which can all be accessed at the click of a button. The rollout is set to begin immediately.
nvidia reveals geforce rtx 20 series graphics cards 2000 11

Nvidia’s ‘binning’ practice could mean the best RTX 2070s are third-party cards

Nvidia is binning the GPUs found at the core of its RTX 2070 graphics cards, giving the best to third parties for higher clocks and better overclocking potential. To separate out the chips Nvidia is giving the binned ones a unique designation, so anyone with a 2070 can find out which one they have.
samsung lc49hg90dmnxza chg90 series review 49 inch gaming monitor 1

Dell Ultrasharp 49 vs. Samsung CHG90

Picking a 49-inch, curved monitor should be easy, but there's a surprising amount of competition in even that niche-ultrawide space. Taking two of the best options out there to see which would be the better option for you, we pitted the Dell Ultrasharp 49 vs. Samsung CHG90 in the age-old battle of buck for your buck.
MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti ARMOR 11G OC review

Want a GTX 1080 Ti? Buy one now before the stock runs out

Stock of Nvidia's last-generation flagship graphics card, the GTX 1080 Ti, is reportedly running low following a halt in its production. Interest in the GPU has been high following the launch of the costly and not-much-better RTX Turing GPUs, but buyers may be stuck with second-hand cards soon.
chrome 69 user issues google update

Won’t get fooled again: Chrome 71 to block all ads on abusive sites

If a website displays ads which are designed to trick or manipulate users and Google finds out about it, its Chrome browser will start blocking all of their ads, starting in December. The Chrome 71 release is looking to crack down on abusive web practices, and hoodwinking ads is one of them.
in a data driven tomorrow does privacy need to survive the future what is

Privacy is becoming obsolete, but not everyone thinks you should fear its demise

Privacy often seems to be at odds with government surveillance and smart assistant technologies like Siri and Cortana. But do we need to sacrifice one for the other? We asked experts in a variety of fields to find out what a future without privacy might look like and whether that's really such a bad thing.
oculus

Oculus VR could upgrade the Rift with a new display in 2019

Oculus may release a new version of its Oculus Rift headset in 2019, though it won't be a Rift 2. The new rumor calls the design the Rift S, and suggests it will have a better display and ditch the external constellation tracking cameras in favor of simpler and arguably less accurate, inside-out tracking.
Alienware 17 R5 review

Dell patent hints at a super-thin, OLED-backlit keyboard

Dell's latest patent gives it the exclusive opportunity to produce keyboard keyboards with OLED backlighting. While that might be a more expensive solution than LED backlighting, it could make backlit keyboards thinner and the lighting far more versatile, potentially allowing for inter-key lighting animation.
Asus XG49VQ monitor

Asus’ new monitor is 49 inches of high-speed gaming goodness

Asus' new gaming display might be perfect for game streamers, offering an enormous 49-inches of screen real estate and a triple picture in picture mode. Such a display would allow streaming gamers to play the game and view a chat interface on the same screen without sacrificing size or detail levels.
windows 10 october update

Windows 10 October 2018 Update won’t launch in October after all

Microsoft's long-planned and long-expected October 2018 update for Windows 10 is looking less likely to release in that month at all. With just hours to go until we tip into November, it seems more apt to rename it the November 2018 update following multiple delays, bug fixes, and insider test releases.
Acer Chromebook 15 Spin Review

Drink up. Intel’s Whiskey Lake 8th-gen CPUs are coming to Chromebooks

Intel's 8th-generation Whiskey Lake CPUs look set to make their way into a new Chromebook design code-named Sarien. The new Chromebook has made its first appearance in the Chromium repository so is likely months away from being revealed, but its potential with the new Intel CPUs is exciting nonetheless.
macbook pro 15 radeon vega 20 vega20

Apple’s MacBook Pro 15 gets an upgrade with AMD Radeon Pro Vega graphics

AMD and Apple have continued their graphics partnership with the MacBook Pro with the upcoming introduction of a new graphical option. Buyers who want more power will be able to opt for a Radeon Pro Vega 20 or 16 graphics chip come late November, giving them greater gaming and 3D-rendering capabilities.
apple mac mini 8th gen 64gb macmini 01

New Apple Mac Mini packs four- and six-core CPUs with up to 64GB memory for $800

Apple has made its new generation of Mac Mini hardware much more powerful than its predecessor. Upgrading to 8th-generation Intel processors, potential buyers have a choice of Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs and up to 64GB of memory, as well as up to 2TB of storage space, all in a compact, space-gray chassis.
amd 2970wx 2920x threadripper2packagine01

AMD’s new Threadripper 2 CPUs offer improved performance at a discounted price

AMD's Threadripper 2000-series CPUs are now available in all of their guises following the release of the 2970WX and 2920X. These chips offers more affordable versions of the flagship 2990WX and 2950X chips, with slightly weaker core counts, but the same clocks and same features for high-speed multitasking.
twisted photons could give wi fi fast as fiber optics verizon 300mbps optic feature large

Startup to apply quantum mechanics to protect data in fiber-optic cables

A new trial of a quantum network which would protect its data through quantum entangled encryption keys is set to begin in the near future. The network will connect New Jersey and New York, giving participating businesses the chance to send data in a manner that will destroy the data if snooping occurs.