Whats On My Android ( The Galaxy Note 8)

It seems as though every web publication and YouTuber wants to let everyone know what's on their smartphone. This of course is a cool way to recommend those in mobile tech community the most impressive applications used on the daily basis. Applications on both iOS and Android are indeed plentiful, literally by the millions. Admittedly, I'm guilty of having the itchy swipe finger where I unnecessarily install apps I end up not using, valuable storage space wasted.  Since acquiring my Note 8 six months back, I have matured  ans stayed away from installing a bevy of apps just because I can, instead I only install apps I know will get full usage.

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First off how do I have my apps arranged on my smartphone

I try not to clutter my home screen with every single app I've installed. Taking the minimal approach, I only place apps on my home screen that serves a valuable purpose. In using this method I'm able to easily access my most used apps. As you can see in the screenshot below this paragraph, this is my actual home screen setup. I have all of my streaming apps listed in the first row, then there's my social media and messenger apps in the second row.  In the last row I call this my default apps which includes Gmail, camera,  the Chrome web browser, and the phone icon. Then there's the app drawer icon situated in the middle, we'll discuss what that is later on in this post.

So with that said, what's on my Android? (Note 8) Read on.

Music Stream

Spotify is probably everyone's music stream service by default,  its definitely my first choice amongst the other service I have installed on my smartphone. I'm a go out on a limb and say the Sweden base music service has definitely impacted the way we all access and listen to music on the go. There is the honorable mentioned services such as Tidal and Apple Music, but for me, Spotify have features that make it much easier to create playlist and sync music offline. 

The other streaming music I constantly use on the go is SoundCloud. What Google is to search, SoundCloud is to music search. You find just about any song on the planet on this stream service, no matter the genre or artist. You'll also find a whole catalog of podcast on SoundCloud.  

Social Media

 Instagram and FaceBook have become ingrained into our daily lives despite its underlying use of your personal data (cough!  cough! can you say Cambridge Analytical? ), to say that they're my favorite social media apps is an under statement, for the most part I use both apps to conduct business and post random goofball foolery. But there is no third party solution for both the gram and FB, at least none that I know of that leaves me impressed. There is though a bevy of third party Twitter apps on both iOS and Android platforms. By far the best Twitter app for Android is Fenix and Flamingo. Often times I don't know which app to engage in during my round of tweets. Importantly, both Fenix and Flamingo have a fluid clean interface.   

Note Taking

Evernote takes the lead here and needs no warranted praise, its by far the best and only note taking app I use daily. Here's an admission, without Evernote the feeling of emptiness subsides in my mind, seriously it does. Bit over dramatic I know, but I think you get the point on how important this app is to me. Not only do I use it for note jotting, you can also clip articles from websites, uploaded images, record audio and video and much more. Evernote multifaceted capabilities are limitless. Here's another admission, I pen this entire article on Evernote.

Photo Editing

All Samsung Galaxy series smartphones have a built-in photo editing app created by default made by Samsung. But the features are minimal and at best lackluster. For me the photo editing app I almost always resort to using is Adobe's Lightroom CC. Its loaded with features I like and it gets the job done.

Cloud Storage

Everyone cloud base storage of choice is DropBox, the go to app I myself use on the constant. I store just about everything on Dropbox, from music and video files to pictures and documents. The beauty of Dropbox is you can seamlessly share files with other Dropbox users. My other cloud base storage app I use as a backup because you can never have enough sources of storage backup, that would be Google Drive. Both these apps can also be used on a PC or Mac. 

Weather

 The best weather app for both Android and iOS platform hands down its Dark Sky.  The app accurately gives hyperlocal weather data with down to the minute forecast. Loves how it blasts rain notification and alerts, keeping you abreast to any changes in current weather conditions in your local area.

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Other noted apps that gets daily usage are stored in the app drawer, for those who aren't  familiar with that Android terminology, the app drawer is a icon present on your home screen that opens up a list of every single you have installed on your smartphone. The beauty of this feature is it thwarts clutter on your home screen, any app you install onto your smartphone goes directly into the app drawer by default.  

The most used app have in the app drawer is the Amazon app, I mean who doesn't shop at Amazon nowadays, then there's  ClearFocus which is a time management app that keeps you productive within a 25 min time frame, allowing users to alternate work sessions with minimal breaks. For movie tickets,  Fandingo has me covered when I want to reserve seats at a movie theater of my choice. I rely on the Bleacher Report for the latest scores and overall sports coverage and so on and on. That's just the gist on what apps I use from the app drawer.

Tell me what's on your smartphone, what is your go to app you use on the daily? Drop a comment in the box below or via social media.

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Hyper X Reveals and Launches The New PulseFire Surge RGB Gaming Mouse

Kingston gaming division brand Hyper X have something in store for you would be gaming nerds, the new PulseFire Surge RGB gaming mouse have what you probably should expect in a gaming mouse, that's beautiful aesthetics and impeccable hardware specification. From what I've read on the mouses spec sheet, it seems as though it's definitely a hardware upgrade from the previous generation PulseFire mouse. The measured dimensions of the mouse goes as follows, 120.24 x 40.7 x 62.8mm weighing 130g with the included attached cable.  

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Hyper X implements a technology call a Pixart 3389 sensor, its rated up to 16,000 DPI with a  50G accelerating power. The mouse also uses the Omron switches for the buttons which is rated at 50 million clicks. Its a wired connecting mouse that have a 5.9 ft braided cable which you insert directly into a USB port.

There are six programmable buttons on the mouse, left, right, a click wheel, DPI selector, and two left side buttons with added macros, users can adjust up to five DPI settings that the DPI button will cycle through. User's can also adjust sensor performance and configure the RGB lighting on the LED ring, and even the Hyper X logo with up to 16.7 million colors and four brightness levels, all made possible using Hyper X NGenuity software. The actual Surge RGB have a on board memory that allows any users up to three configured profiles that you can actually save on the mouse itself.

In comparison to the Hyper X previous gen mouse, the upgrade is noticeable. It adds a much better Pixart sensor 3310 to 3389, more programmable buttons and RGB lighting. The PulseFire Surge RGB gaming mouse surprisingly retail for just $69.99 backed by a 2-year warranty. This gaming peripheral is readily available for purchase at Amazon.com waiting for those credit card digits to be dropped. 

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Why I Want To Purchase The Fractal Design Meshify C PC Case

I often don't display signs of desperation when penning my articles on this website but this time I may have to make an exception. The Fractal Design Meshify C Tempered Glass case is making me conjure up feelings of admiration to the point of me wanting to drop the credit card digits and make a purchase. 

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Fractal Design PC cases needs no intro, they by far they make some of best PC cases around.  It have standout design, infinite amount of room inside and cable management capability. The case definitely meets my overall standard.

Lets explore this PC case in depth, shall we.

The design, especially the frontal portion is pretty interesting, its completely covered in mesh, having an indented asymmetrical pattern from top to bottom, which should prove beneficial as the interior will definitely be bombarded with continuous airflow that will ensure any incoming hardware won't succumb to any overheating issues. 

Though compact, the Meshify C PC case is spacious enough inside to support seven fan mounts and capable of supporting multi-raditors. Speaking of which, while we're on the topic fans and cooling, this case comes pre-installed with two Fractal Design Dynamic X2 GP-12 120mm fans which according to Fractal is suppose to deliver maximize airflow with minimal noise. In looking at the cases interior in depth, there's absolutely no obstructed path from the front intake to rear exhaust. 

If  you have cable management in mind then the Meshify C PC case is definitely ideal for system builders. Behind the motherboard plate there's up to 35mm (1.4-inches) of space with a grommeted pass-through for a nice clean cable routing. You can also conceal any excess cabling in the power supply shroud for added clean interior.

If you have followed my posts in the past, I always bring up that one standout feature on a device that gives it the main selling point. With the Meshify C, the selling point is the design. Aside from having a beautifully compact build and  stealth black color scheme, for me its the tinted tempered glass side panel the main selling point. I know it's a rather mundane especially with the bevy of impressive features  present on this PC case. But the idea of having a full viewing access to the PC cases interior is rather appealing. I mean you literally can see every working component within the case.

The Meshify C other noted features are the easy-to clean filters that's placed in the front, top and the base that have a full PSU coverage. Then there's the drive cages which have a flexible storage options with room for up to five drives. These steel drive cages are implemented with vibration dampening rubber grommets which should cushion against sudden movements. Also the audio jacks, power and reset buttons and USB ports are situated on the top-front of the case making it easily accessible. In my opinion this type of setup should be standard on all PC cases.

So as you can see, this PC case is loaded in terms of it having a good number of standout features. But none of these features I would say is revolutionary or innovative as most PC cases on the market that fall in the unique category have cable management capabilities, roomy interior and a nicely compact design and yes, that tempered glass. The Meshify C PC case is worthy of a purchase mainly because it have a defining look that's appealing to the visuals and potentially offering unparalleled cooling.

 Meshify C PC retail for just $89.99 on Newegg.com. When I do gain access to this case, there will of course be a review within the near future, stay tune.

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Scythe Launches a Very Unique 120mm Choten Top Flow Down CPU Cooler

When it comes to overall structural design with CPU coolers, I've seen my share of uniqueness, yet here we  have the Choten Top Flow Down Draft CPU cooler, made by Scythe who by the way is a reputable Japanese manufacture who make some of the finest coolers in the game.  The lead image above the passage tells the whole story on what you have with this cooler, its oddly unique abstract design is something I've never seen before in all my years of PC building.

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The Top Flow design main purpose is to push air downward towards the motherboard. The circulated air is suppose to preserve longevity in PC's were airflow is not as free flowing in optimal small factor PC's or PC's that have limited fans, all is made possible by heatsink asymmetric design, like I said,a very odd design. The Choten CPU cooler comes bundled with the specialize Scythe Kaze Flex 120 PWM fan, assuring it can fit in most PC cases thanks in part to its minimal total height that measures just 120 millimeters ( 4.7-inches). 

 The Scythe Choten uses a combine total of four quality 6mm copper heatpipes that connects to a solid copper baseplate that have an attached fin-stack. The actual copper parts, which is the base plate and heatpipe are layered in nickel, this prevents cooler from being corroded, improving overall quality. The aligned heatsink is parallel to the base plate attached fan actually guides air directly towards the motherboard. The components that surrounds the CPU socket benefits tremendously from continued air circulation.

The Choten CPU cooler comes bundled with an axial Kaze Flex 120 PWM series fan. The PWM fan speed ranges from 300 RPM to 1200 RPM. Users will have the option to adjust the fan speed accordingly to the motherboards fan controller. The fan supplied outputs a steady flow of air with measured noise level that comes in at 28,2 to 86,93 m3/ h at a low noise levels from 4 to the max at 24,9 dB. Potentially equating to a much quiet system. The Kaze Flex 120 PWM fan features a long lifespan of about 120.000 hours (MTTF) and it have a high-quality Seal Precision FDB. The fan is outfitted with an shock absorb rubber that's placed on the corner of the fan preventing any sort of vibration that may take place.

Scythe didn't just develop this CPU cooler for the experts in mind, its "Easy Clip Mounting System" will be appreciatively welcome with first time PC builders. The Choten CPU cooler will come with pre-installed clips for Intel sockets, which have a easy-mount Push Pin clips. For AMD sockets, it will use the original retention module on the motherboard. The listed compatible Intel sockets goes as follows: LGA775, LG1150, LGA1151, LGA1155, LGA1156. LGA1366. With AMD sockets: AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2, FM2+ and AM4. The product package itself comes bundled with mounting clips, thermal grease.

The price of the Choten CPU cooler will go for 29.30 EU, convert it to US dollars it will be $36.00, which is rather reasonable. The cooler is expected to hit consumer market in a few weeks. Once an accurate date is announced,  I will post a update on social media.

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NVIDIA Launches The Quadro GV100 Volta-Powered Graphics Card

It was at GTC is where Nvidia unveiled and announced their newest graphic card, the Quadra GV100 powered by Volta graphics processor, the newest addition to the Quadra lineup. 

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Not your run of the mill consumer base graphics card as its GV100 GPU is made solely for workstation level applications. Consumers can still go with current Titan V which can still handle the same resource intense workload. But the Quadra drivers gains a big advantage in performance over the Titan V. 

The Volta powered graphics card according NVIDIA is suppose to provide a special professional driver code path for applications that includes CATIA, Solidedge, and much more. 

One word describes the Quadro GV100 overall specs, beast, the better word would be astounding. It has 32GB of HBM2 ( high bandwidth memory) on board, which is scalable up to 64GB addressable frame buffer using a two-way NVLink interconnect technology ( we'll closely examine NVLink technology later on in this post), basically what you have here is two GPUs combined onto one graphics card. When it comes to performance, it falls nothing short of being impressive, the Quadro GV100 produces 7.4 teraflops of precision performance or 14.8 teraflops of a single performance. Deep learning task can enable Teraflops to balloon up to a scary 118.5. There are a total of 10,240 CUDA cores ( yes you read right, 10,000) and 236 TFLOPS Tensor cores.

The standout technology within this graphic card is NVLink. What is NVLink you ask? Its a new wired based semiconductor technology created by NVIDIA, its main purpose is to code transfer and data control a processor system between the CPU and GPU. NVLink puts together point-to-point connection with measured data rates of about 20 and 25 Gbit/s.   NVLink primary goal is to focus on high performance,data transfer between lanes will be more efficient and faster than the PCIe that's currently in your computer.

Earlier I mentioned that the Quadra GV100 is not for the average PC builder who's looking to just game or partake in mundane computer related task, the $9,000 price point most certainly dictate it's market target. It's mainly for users looking for powerful workstation that can handle complex 3D rendering and science applications. The standout feature for me is the NVIDIA RTX Technology, developers can now put Quadro GV100 to full use with real time ray tracing. The technology (Ray Tracing)  will take 3D applications to a whole new level.

Owning a graphics card like this of its powerful magnitude brings about many benefits. You can implement deep learning development with ease, a supercharge more fluid rendering performance,  a much faster double precision combine with memory scaling up to 64GB and we certainly can't leave out  its VR capability which features a massive on-board memory capacity.  

The Quadro vDWS is now readily available for over 120 systems from 33 vendors. The NVIDIA Quadro GV100 discrete graphics card can now be purchased immediately on NVIDIA's website.

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ASUS and Acer Displays Featuring 144Hz 4K G-Sync HDR Expected To Launch In April

Nvidia's 144Hz 4K G-Sync HDR technology made its debut last year at CES 2017, demonstrated on an 27-inch Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ display. Then months later Acer exploited the same technology on its Predator X27 display. Since making its debut last year, we have yet seen any displays with this new technology drop to market. 

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That's all about to change as there are reports of a soon to be launch of these mentioned bad ass displays. Both these displays will be implemented with G-Sync technology. Originally these displays were suppose to be launched last Summer 2017, but as reported by AnandTech, we should expect a April market launch.

Aside from the mentioned features, the monitors will include LED lighting featuring 34 zones and 1000-nits brightness thanks in part to the AUO M270QNO2.2 AHVA panels. 

Both the Asus ROG Swift and Acer Predator X27 featuring 144Hz + G-Sync technology more than likely will make its way to consumer market not as a test prop but an actual consumer products that you can purchase. The ROG Swift monitor alone packs some heavy duty pixels at 3440 x 1440 resolution. With such great visual technology means you'll need a graphics card to match, preferably a GeFrce GTX 1080 Ti is highly recommended. Both displays will definitely run you an considerable amount of money, with the whole cryptocurrency craze, 1080 Ti will also be an added drain to the wallet.

The benefits of having a display featuring G-Sync 144Hz refresh rate is far greater than the negative of course. You'll be granted with a much more fluid  gaming experience without any image distorted tearing.

Though acquiring a display that will eature 144Hz 4K G-Sync technology will come at a hefty price tag, you got be excited about these monitors which will soon land in the hands of gamers and PC enthusiast a like.

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The How To Series Presents: How To Properly Install a CPU Cooler

So you want to learn how to properly install a CPU cooler huh. Well assuming you never in your entire life build or upgraded a computer, here's a some few pointers from yours truly. Now in this quick tutorial I'm going to use a stock AMD CPU cooler as an example, the series of steps is the same and still applies to all CPU coolers. Let us begin, shall we?  

Tools Needed

Aftermarket CPU coolers consist of a heat sink and fan, there are four mount screws on each side, so it's not required that you need an over abundance of tools. You just have to have the right set of tools. One to be exact, proverbially a flat or Phillips head is needed. If there just so happen to be any brackets that may have came with the cooler,  put that off to the side for now, we'll talk about what to do with that later on in this tutorial. 

The Cooler

Carefully take the CPU cooler out of the box and place it on top of the table. Here's a brief reminder, you want to have a nice clean work space. Situate all tools or any screws in a organize fashion so that the installation process is made easy. If you have a plastic Dixie cup, place any loose screws into that cup . You need a clean work space and clear mind when upgrading or building a computer. 

The Installation

Once out the box, the CPU cooler is ready to be installed on the processor. Importantly, some CPU coolers may come with pre-applied Thermal paste already attached to the bottom of the heat sink, most don't. In any case, make sure you purchase a tube Thermal paste which you can get from any respective vendors.  It's very important that you not remove the thermal paste, leave it as is. I can't tell you how many times I've accidentally removed the paste from the heat sink. Another reminder, there should be a thin layered plastic seal over the paste, when you're ready to place the cooler over the processor, remove the plastic seal. 

Now let's begin the installation process. Take the CPU cooler and place it directly over the processor, but before you do that, assuming that you purchased your tube of Thermal paste, squeeze a pea size amount directly on the middle of the processor, then carefully place the CPU cooler directly the processor. Thermal paste ensures proper heat transfer. Keep in mind, Intel and AMD have different CPU sockets, the installation process maybe a bit different mainly because AMD CPU sockets may need brackets to hold the cooler in place. The brackets itself goes on the other side of the motherboard, the bottom part of the CPU socket.

The Connection

Once you place the CPU cooler on the processor, push down until you hear a click, then screw all four mount screws in place. Screw the screws from the opposite sides of each other until it locks in place. The installation process is now complete, just make sure the CPU cooler is locked in place, give it a gentle nudge, this ensures the cooler is secured in place.

Now we're complete, but wait, what did we forget? We have to power up the cooler as it needs a separate power source to get the fan up and running. That cable you see dangling from the CPU cooler is an actual power cable  you connect that to a four pin CPU fan header that's on the motherboard, its usually situated right next to your CPU socket or not far from it. Connect the cable to the header, once done you may power up the PC. Make sure you see the fan actually spin. There are all sorts of CPU temperature monitoring applications you can download right off the Internet if you want check and see if your CPU cooler is operable. One app I always use is CPU Core Temp, its fairly easy to use, just download the app from its homepage: WARNING!!!!! be very careful and try not to install any bundled software that maybe attached to this app.

This tutorial is now over...

One quick note, over time dust can accumulate over top your heat sink and fan, which then can cause the processor to overheat, impeding the overall performance of your computer. Just simply blow the dust off your heat sink and fan using a can of dust blower. This will alleviate any dust build up and thwart any issues that might arise.  Add this to your monthly PC maintenance task list. 

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The Newly Launched Sythe Ninja 5 Cooler With Two Kaze Flex 120mm Silent Fan

I tell you what needs to be included in my next PC build, the new Ninja 5 CPU cooler which includes two Kaze Flex 120mm silent fans. Scythe is a Japanese manufacturer who's expertise is cooling processors and have a reputation for producing some of the best aftermarket CPU coolers in the business. This behemoth size fifth generation CPU cooler in profile in this post comes fully bundled with two Kaze Flex 120mm PWM fans which is said to offer users a more silent solution, all while still maintaining ultra-high performance.

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In detail, the Ninja 5 comes equipped with high quality dual Kaze Fllex 120 PWM fans, compared to early gen models which have just one fan, the dual fan setup should aid in decreasing noise levels. The fans that's mounted in line have a very unique function, the first fan pulls air into the heatsink, while the other fan pushes air out. Both these fans are supported by PWM function and can be controlled via the motherboards controllers with speeds ranging from 300 to the max 800 RPM. The low fan speed range means inaudible noise levels are measured at 4 to 14,5 dBA.

According to Smythe, the lifespan of the Kaze Flex 120 PWM fan series should give you 120.000 hours (MTTF), the produced quietness is attributed to a high quality sealed-Precision FDB. The  Shock absorbers is made from rubber and is located directly in the corners, preventing any sudden vibration. 

The overall design of the Ninja 5 is tweaked to have an entire new black top fin layer offering a much improved aesthetics. There are six shortened fin-layers on the very bottom of the stack compatible to most RAM modules, thanks in part to a gap that's built on both sides of the heatsink. The Ninja 5 compatible RAM modules have a total height of about 55mm. Heat transfers directly from the nickel-plated copper base right onto the aluminum fins that uses a total of 6 copper heat pipes, which are also plated in nickel. 

Like you have with most aftermarket CPU coolers, the pricing for the Scythe Ninja 5 is fairly reasonable at just $55 US and is available at your respective vendors. 

Before I conclude this post, its important to note that the socket compatibility list will feature the following Intel Sockets LGA775, (1150, 1155,1156,1366, 2011, 2011-v3, 2066), with the AMD Sockets AM2, AM2+, AM3, AM3+, FM1, FM2+, and AM4. 

The entire kit will include mounting clips, two Kaze Flex 120mm PWN fans with clips and Thermal grease. One PWN - Y adapter is also supplied with the CPU. One screwdriver is needed to install this CPU cooler. 

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Source images and information: Sythe

The new Samsung Galaxy S9-Plus, Is It Worth The Upgrade?

If you closely follow what's going on in the mobile tech realm, you know every February-March is right around the time of year Samsung are the first out the gate to unveil their newest market impacting flagship smartphone,  the Galaxy S series. Well it seems Samsung has stuck to script when they unveiled their new Galaxy S9 and S9-Plus a few weeks. Now If you're the current owner of the Galaxy S8 series you may feel compelled to upgrade to the next gen iteration, but should you? 

 Not everyone feels the need purchase a smartphone every 12 months.  With smartphones now crossing the $1,000 price tag barrier (Ahh Apple, yes you), it's safe to say the average consumer would rather extend the smartphones life cycle that goes beyond year.  

For the sake of this post, lets assume at this moment you're the current owner of the Samsung Galaxy S8-Plus, which by the way is still an impressive smartphone, but will the new features and hardware upgrade entice you to purchase the new Galaxy S9+?  Maybe outlining the smartphones design, hardware and features might impact your decision. Read along.

About that Design

 It seems as though Samsung has made incremental changes to Galaxy S9-Plus design, those changes are still noticeable to the naked eye. If you turn the device around,  the rear is quite similar to the Galaxy S8-Plus. As far as the fingerprint sensor goes, which by the way did draw some controversy, it seems as though Samsung listened  to consumer outcry's as it is now correctly centered directly under the camera, making it easily accessible.

The Galaxy S9-Plus entire structure is somewhat different from the last generation device. The glass portion of the device is said to be 20% thicker, and metallic casing is made from 7000 series aluminum, making it more structurally sound, still, I'd advise you purchase a smartphone case, you just never know when disaster will unfold.

In terms of overall dimensions, the both S9-Plus is a tad short and narrower than last year's model, with the height being reduced by 1.2mm and a half millimeter thick. If you really take a keen examination of the bezel, it is also reduced by about 0.48 mm, with the  bottom bezel being reduced by about 1mm.  All and all, with the S9-Plus you have a more compact smartphone.

Then there's the hardware

When it comes to the Galaxy S9-Plus hardware, I'd say the biggest upgrade is the processor. It's powered by Qualcom's newest SnapDragon 845 processor (US and China) other market participates will receive the Exynos 9810 processor. The processor upgrade of course means you should overall have increased performance. Unfortunately the only real upgrade is the processor, there is still 6GB of RAM, 64GB of internal storage (SD Card slot expansion up to 400GB).

Big changes to the camera

Probably the biggest changes to Galaxy S9-Plus and even the S9 is the camera. Seriously,  the camera alone can make a good case to upgrade to next generation device as the image capturing technology is impressive. In examining the specs in depth,  the primary rear camera features a fast Dual Pixel 12MP sensor with industry standard optical image stabilization (OIS). The camera also features dedicated image processing engine that can actually combine 12 images into one high quality image which should improve noise reduction. 

With all the camera specs and features I just mentioned,  probably the most standout is Samsung's own Dual Aperture f/ 1.5 - f/ 2.4 lens that's featured not only on the S9-Plus, but also on the S9. How this feature operate,  instead of having a fixed aperture, which is found on just about every smartphone on the market, the Dual Aperture setup can automatically adjust to allow more light through the lens when shooting images in dimly lit areas, or less light when there's too much light or over exposure. This all ensures that users capture sharp crisp images. 

Adding to what's already stacked with impressive features, Samsung introduces the new Super Slow-mo capture mode to its camera, enabling users to record footage as high as 960 fps. The automatic Motion Detection feature that's present can a setup shot that's already captured by the user and then automatically begin to record.

  The Display is still best in the business

 If there's one thing Samsung have the edge in this competitive world of mobile gadgetry is it's display. Quite honestly I don't know any smartphone manufacturer that comes even close. The iPhone X beautifully bright display believe it or not is courtesy of Samsung. The Super AMOLED Infinity display on Galaxy S9-Plus still retains its 2960 x 1440 screen resolution, which by the way is a good thing.

Well the bottom,  should you upgrade to the Galaxy S9 Plus? 

 If you currently own the Galaxy S7 or other branded smartphones that's much older, upgrading to the Galaxy S9-Plus makes a lot of sense, the smartphone brings a ton a features to the table that includes Dual apertures, which if I'm not mistaken it is an industry first, a much faster and new Snapdragon 845 processor and a fingerprint sensor that's placed right below the camera where it should have been all along. But if you're the casual consumer who's currently rocking the Galaxy S8-Plus or even the Note 8-Plus as your daily driver, features on the S9-Plus in comparison don't really standout as much, for me I basically view it as minor improvements. 

Are the features and hardware upgrade (processor and camera) enough to make the immediate purchase of the Galaxy S9-Plus ?  Tell me what you think, your comments are welcome in the box below or via social media.

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The New Huawei MateBook X Pro: Lets Talk About Its Specs, Features and Design

At Mobile World Congress 2018 Huawei has raised the curtains and revealed their newest ultra-portable laptop, dubbed the MateBook X Pro. From all of my gathered information detailing specs design and features, here's what you need to know, lets talk about it. 

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The design of the Mate X-Pro closely resembles the latest device from Apple, you know, the current generation MacBook Pro. The entire laptop construct is made out of aluminum, weighing just 1.33kg (3.0 pounds), measuring 304mm x 217mm x 14.mm ( 12-inch x 8.5-inch x 1-inch). Consumers as an option have a choice between Silver and Space Grey color schemes.

 From a hardware perspective the MateBook X Pro is pretty impressive, under the hood you'll find the latest 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8550U and or a Core i5-8250U processor. For your viewing pleasure the 13.9-inch display is an LTPS ( Low temperature polysilicon)  panel that have a compactly thin bezel yielding a 91% screen to body ratio, making it much smaller than Dell's own XPS 13 which have a Infinity Edge display. The display which is touchscreen comes pixel packed at 3000 x 2000 resolution, a 178-degree viewing angles that can reproduce a 100% sRGB color gamut. The contrast ratio is 1500:1, a maximized brightness at 450nits, supporting a 10-point multi touch with a anti-fingerprint coating. Powering the MateBook Pro X is a lithium polymer 57. 4Wh battery, when fully charged, users can squeeze out 12 hours of video playback as claimed Huawei. 

Like most laptops that fall in the high end category, consumers have the option to upgrade hardware upon purchase. With the MateBook  X Pro, you can get a system that have both the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and GeForce MX150 with 2GB of GDDR5. The RAM choices are 8GB or 16GB, either way you still have plenty of system memory. On the storage front, consumers can choose between 256GB or 512GB  NVMe PCIe SSD.

Image Source: Huawei

Other noted features on the MateBook X Pro are two USB-C ports,  both ports acting as a charger, one port supporting Thunderbolt 3 upon boot.  WiFi connection is made possible by a integrated supported IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 2.4GHz or 5GHz wireless frequencies and 2x2 MIMMO access points. Whats a laptop without Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity which the MateBook X Pro have. For me the quad split speaker setup on the MateBook X Pro is probably the most impressive feature on the laptop. It uses a Dolby Altmos 2.0, the sound technology itself is known for giving mobile devices that immersive 3D sound experience.

Image Source: Huawei

 Oddly enough, the 1MP webcam is discreetly placed on the keyboard, pops up upon activation by simply placing your finger on the webcam. The webcam placement is understanding if you take into consideration you're dealing with a laptop that have a very thin bezel. What should be standard on all laptops is a finger print sensor which in the case of MateBook Pro X it is integrated right into the power button. The fingerprint sensor as claimed by Huawei can power on the laptop and log users into a computer in over 7.8 seconds.

According to various published reports, the Huawei MateBook X Pro is schedule to be available this upcoming Spring priced at 1,499 euros ($1842 US). So basically not only is the laptop itself comparable to the latest gen MacBook, but so is the price.

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Samsung Unveils The PM1643 SSD With a Monstrous 30TB Storage Capacity

When is having an excessive amount of storage in a hard drive enough? The answer to that question is never. But to have an excessive Gigabytes of storage space to go along with speed, I'm sure most will make a purchase no matter the cost. Then again isn't that what you now have with SSD's ? Some bordering around 4GB. Samsung's newly unveiled PM1643 Serial Attached SCSi  (SAS for short) SSD not only grants you speed, but offers a monstrous amount of storage space at 30.72 terabytes.

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Even though Seagate's 60TB have yet to ship, for now Samsung's PM1643 take the mantle as being the worlds largest SSD in terms of storage capacity. Internally the drive is incorporated with some serious components, it uses 64-layers 3-bit 512-gigabit chips that uses V-NAND technology. Samsung do have a similar drive in their storage line already on the market, the PM1633a  which contains half the amount of storage space measuring in at 15.36TB,  launched in 2016. 

 There are 16 stacked layers of 512GB VNAND  creating a 1TB NAND flash. Ingeniously, the engineers at Samsung were able to squeeze 32-1TB packages right into a 2.5-inch form factor,  structurally making the PM1643 much thicker than most SSD's on the current market. The core technology that makes the  PM1643 so fast is its  12GB/s SAS interface. The drive is said to offer a read write speeds of approximately 400,000 IOPS and 50,000 IOPS respectively. Sequential read and write speeds is clocked at 2,100MB/sec and 1,7000MB/sec.

In comparison to their current model, the PM1633a have a random read/writes that goes as follows, 200,000/32,000 IOPS and sequential read of 1.2GB/sec.

The drives high level performance is all due in part to a excessively high storage capacity placed in one entire package that integrates 9 controllers and a Through Silicon Via (TSV) technology providing a faster interconnect for the 40GB of DRAM. The PM1643 can handle one full drive write per day and offers a MTBF of 2 million hours that's attached with a five year warranty.

Samsung have not set a price point yet for the PM1643, the storage drive will definitely not be cheap, the 15.36GB PM 1633a alone retails for a whopping $11,600. So just imagine the pricing of the PM1643 SSD times 2. Clearly this particular drive is made for enterprising business that uses servers. But if you so desire to purchase this storage drive for a future build, start saving your money. 

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G.Skill Unveils Its 4700MHz Trident Z DDR4 Memory Kit, With RGB Lights I Might Add

G. Skill is a reputable manufacturer that make some the finest memory kits around. In fact, most of my PC builds include their RAM sticks. So when I read from various published reports that G.Skill just unveiled their new Trident Z DDR4 16GB (2 x 8GB) memory kit, I was stoked with excitement.

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Why so excited you ask? G.Skill's Trident Z clock speed measures an insane 4700MHz, making it one of the fastest memory kits around. To add to its uniqueness, the Trident Z memory kit will be laced up with tri-color RGB lighting. The memory kit will be fitted with a Samsung B-die ICs and will  support XMP 2.0 memory profiles. 

The timings on the G Skill Trident memory kit will definitely improve to a CL 19-19-19-39, needing only 1.45V of power. With it being energy efficient this for me certainly is the biggest selling point. And those GB lights gives the memory kit sex appeal. 

There is no mention of pricing from G.Skill as of yet, but there are memory kits on the market comparable to the Trident Z, the Corsair 16GB Vengeance LPX DDR4 kit comes to mind which is also have a insanely fast clock  speed at 4600MHz clock speed but will retail is very pricey at $589.99, so expect G.Skill's flagship memory kit to have the same expensive price point. The Trident Z 4700 is expected to hit the market for purchase in Q2 2018. Stay tune.

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Info Nugget: What exactly is XMP?

XMP is acronym for   Extreme Memory Profile, is Intel technology that allow users to change multiple settings by selecting different profiles, taking full advantage of higher memory speeds. This is basically simplified way to overclock your memory without going into your BIOS settings. 

Hardware Breakdown Presents: The Samsung New 860 Pro SSD

These days NVMe storage drives is top choice among the PC enthusiasts and premium market laptops with good reason, they are miniature and compact, with it literally being the size of a stick of gum. More importantly, NVMe storage drives are superbly fast. Just check out the insane read/write numbers when you get a chance. Yet still you have a bevy of PC systems today outfitted with legacy SATA ports. With that said, Samsung just released a new band of SATA based solid state drives that's implemented with the company's latest 64-layer 3D NAND flash memory and brand new controller into their SSD 860 PRO and 860 EVO Series drives.

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As always in this monthly edition of Hardware Breakdown we get out the virtual screw driver and crack open any particular device or hardware of interest and examine the core technology that makes it uniquely functional. As claimed by Samsung, the SSD 860 PRO is fast and reliable, lets find out why. 

In cracking open the 2TB SSD 860 PRO, below the PCB you'll find 8 pieces of flash memory, a DDR4 DRAM cache and controller which is the drives core technology. Samsung MJX controller that's used is newly instituted and suppose to improve its host communication performance, also improving compatibility with Linux OS. The actual LPDDR4 cache itself will vary in size depending on the capacity of the drive, which maxes out at 4GB.

Another core technology of interest on this drive is the 64-layer 3D Vertical NAND (VNAND in short) flash memory. The NAND uses Samsung's proprietary vertical cell structure based on a 3D Charge Trap Flash (CTF) technology and uses a vertical interconnect process technology that links a 3D cell array. Infusing these technologies together, 3D V-NAND will provide much better scaling than planar NAND flash. Charge Trap Flash technology  in itself is very unique.  It consist of complex set of semiconductor memory circuits that is used to create a  non-volatile NOR and NAND flash memory. The the technology as a whole functions differently than the more conventional floating-gate MOSFET technology using a silicon nitride to store electrons instead of using polycrytsalline silicon. This technology does have several benefits, it can process much smaller geometric's reducing cost and chip size, multiple bits can be stored on just one single flash memory cell making its more reliable, a much higher yield charge is less susceptible to any form of defects within the tunnel oxide layer, and finally, fewer process steps are required to form a single charge stored in a node.

Not only is the SSD 860 PRO constructed for the sole purpose of speed and reliability, the drive endurance rating is boosted up to 4,800 TBW on the max capacity 4 TB drive and 2,400 TBW on the 2 TB drive. 

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What Does a Water Cooling Setup Look Like In a PC and What Are The Benefits

If you aren't the novice PC builder who just so happened to stumble upon this post then I'm assuming you have no vague idea what a water cooling setup looks like within a computer, or how it operates. If you are one of those individuals, then you found yourself in right place, let the knowledge dropping begin. 

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 Water cooling functions similar to what you have with a  heat-sink and fan. The primary goal still is to draw heat away from the processor, but the setup is quite different, there's the  radiator which have a fan attached, a long tubing that flows a special liquid coolant that runs directly onto a water block which you then place right on top of the processor. 

Installing heat-sink and fan is a simplified task,  basically all you to do is (carefully)  place the heat-sink directly over the processor and then attach the fan onto heat-sink. Requiring power source you then need to connect the fan power cable to a CPU fan header that's embedded on the motherboard. Like a said, a very simple task.

The sum of all parts, the radiator, pump, tubing, reservoir, and fan. 

 With water cooling setup, you're dealing with a whole different animal altogether. You have to contend with a network of tubing which flows the liquid that's connected to a radiator and fan which moves heat from liquid to air, then there's the pump which moves the liquid, and finally there's the reservoir, it filters air from the liquid and stores excess coolant. So yes,  you have a great sum of parts to deal with. 

There is the pros and cons in using a water cooling setup, first the pros. Water transfers heat more efficiently than air. Also you'll have improved acoustics as liquid cooling will enable a quieter system even under heavy workloads, canceling out the need to stuff your PC case with a bunch of fans. Cooler temperatures will also be sustained over a longer period of time.

Then there's the issue with space, a much larger heat-sink and fan will definitely perform well comparable to some water cooling apparatuses, but expect a depletion of space within your PC case, there are some after market coolers that are so large you can barely install certain key components into your PC, such as your RAM and graphics card. 

The cons though, yes there is the con as custom water coolers constantly need regular maintenance and can potentially leak as gaskets and seal can wear out in time. Then there's the money aspect of it all, implementing a water cooling can be quite expensive, ranging in cost between $200- $500. You can though as a option go with the close loop solution which is cheaper in price starting at $60. Quick note, there are close loop water coolers who's price do exceed over $200.

This right here is a close loop water cooler.

Speaking of which, close loop water coolers is the best option if you don't want to contend with excessive tubing and that oversize reservoirs. Close loop water coolers operate the same as the much bigger water cooling setups. You have the pump which is positioned on top of the CPU and it to circulates fluid through a soft tubing. Heat is then transferred from the CPU to the liquid via copper plate which is on the base of the pump. Importantly, less maintenance is required when using a close loop water cooler. 

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Explanation Needed: Why Does Your Computers Processor Get Hot?

The central processing unit, better known as the CPU is the absolute brains of the computer, the system core. Pretty much any device that processes data have a processor, that smartphone in your pocket, the gaming console you game on, both have a processor. 

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Though designed to operate at high temperatures, it is normal for the CPU to produce an abundance amount of heat. In fact an acceptable temperature range is around 200 F' definitely signals system stability. 

In giving you the reason why the processor gets hot, I must give you a  brief technical synopsis as to how the CPU operates.The CPU works by enabling electric signal to pass right through a complex set of microscopic transistors or by simply blocking them. Think of the processor as a on and off light switch, power on, power off. As electricity passes directly through the CPU, or is blocked, a high level of heat energy begins to develop. While engaging in resource intensive task such as gaming on a PC the processor is expected to run exceedingly hot as its going through a rapid series of computations. While the computer is in its idle state the CPU should cool down, but overheating while there's minimal activity is a sure sign there's problematic issues ensuing. 

Workload is a determining factor in the rise and fall of CPU's temperature. A heavy amount of workloads means more electricity will pass through the processor, thus producing an extreme amount of heat. Computing tasks that involves resources intense applications such as 3D rendering, or video editing, gaming will increase the processor frequencies resulting in a sudden rise in core temperature. 

In order to keep your processor from overheating, you'll need a decent cooling setup and proper airflow. Most systems by default are implemented with the heatsink and fan who's main function is to draw heat away from the processor. High end gaming PC's that push the boundaries in performance may have a different cooling setup altogether, PC builders proverbially will go with a liquid base cooling setup that includes a water pump and radiator which behaves differently than the heatsink and fan. Water is actually used to cool the processor,  heat then travels up the tube and is then dissipated through the radiator and fan.

Aside from the cooling setup that includes the heatsink and fan, airflow is just as important. Most PC cases have a airflow setup where you have the a fan or fans placed in the front of the case which draws in air, while in the rear part of the case s fan or fans draws hot air out. Most PC cases now have vents on the top, this enable hot air the to also flow upward.

Impeding airflow within a PC or laptop is dust, by far a major enemy of electronic components. Dust build up on the fans, heatsink and vents can actually cause the processor to overheat. Hot air have no way out, thus causing the processor to overheat and malfunction. In most modern computer systems today are design to shut down if and when processor overheats. 

Thwarting any potential overheating within a  processor can be made simply by blowing dust out of the case. In fact keeping dust off of the core components and out of the PC can case actually consistently keep temperatures at a stable range, provided that you have a proper cooling setup.

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Integral Memory Introduces The Worlds First 512 microSDXC Card

It seems as though yearly you'll see big improvements within the wonderful world of storage tyechnology, either it becomes fast or there's a bump up in storage capacity. Case in point, we have Integral Memory who are major players in the microSD storage industry has introduced the 512GB microSDHC/XC, which notably is the world first to crack that storage barrier, overtaking the previous capacity champs, SanDisk 400GB Ultra microSDXC card. This great for those who store a ton of data content on mobile devices that includes smartphones, laptops and cameras.

First, a quote from the reps at Integral memory....

"Consumers have been clear in their call for increased storage, as mobile devices have become essential to many in everyday life. "The need to provide extended memory for smartphones, tablets and a growing range of other mobile devices such as action cams and drones has been answered. As a company, we are very proud to be the first to achieve the 512GB capacity milestone in microSDXC, worldwide."

In response to the above quote, their point is well taken in that the smartphone camera have advanced in image technology that's capable capturing ultra-high resolution images and record video at 200fps, which adds up to massive amount of storage spaced being depleted.

The data transfer speed numbers for the new 512GB capacity card goes as follows, 80MB/s which is a bump down in speed from the SanDisk Ultra which have a rated speed in upwards of 100MB/s. The Integral Memory card have a UHS-l Class 1 specification, which meets the Video Speed Class 10 (V10) standard for video transfer performance.

There is no definitive price point on the Integral 512 microSDXC card as of yet, but if want to use the SanDisk 400 as a price reference it cost $242 on Amazon. Availability is expected to take place next month, and will be back by a 5-year warranty.  

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Details Of The Six Core Ryzen 5 2600 Processor and The ASUS Crosshair VII HERO X470 Motherboard: The Leaks

It seems as though full details of the next gen Ryzen processor was leaked onto the Internet, which should come as no surprise as AMD at CES last week did announced new upcoming products that includes a 2nd generation Ryzen line processors based on their 12-nonameter Zen + architecture. One of those processors that was leaked just so happen to be the Ryzen 5 2600, which seemingly accidentally showed up in a SiSoftware SANDRA data entry, right along with the next generation X470 chipset motherboard from ASUS.

The Ryzen 5 2600 will dub the codename ZD2600BBM68AF_38/34_Y, which will replace the 1st generation Ryzen 5 1600. Listed spec details shows it will have 6 physical cores and 12-Threads, with a  3.4GHz core clock frequency, a 3.8GHz boost clock frequency. If you're owner of the Ryzen 5 1600 like I am then you should know that the 2600 clock speed have a higher clock frequency.

The database listing also displays the ASUS Crosshair Vll Hero motherboard based right on the AMD X470 chipset. There is no details provided about the X470, but the company did state that  the 2nd generation processor will output low power and increased performance.

Its worth noting that the Zen + is not comparable to the Zen 2, instead it will be manufactured on a 7nm process. The Ryzen 5 2600 and the AMD X470 chipset motherboard is expected to be release April of 2018. Like with most hardware or device leaks, details on features will most certainly circulate around the Internet in the coming months, stay tune. 

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TAG Heuer Unveils The Connected Modular 41

The Swiss watch manufacture has just unveiled their new TAG Heuer Connected Modular 41, which is the smaller version of their Connected 45 which was released to market March of last year.

From my visual perspective, this particular smartwatch is definitely laced with the TAG Heuer signature design, the quality leather watch band, the buckle, lugs and bezel or module surrounding the display. Internally the specs within the Modular 41 is impressive, 1GB of RAM and 8GB storage, and the processor is powered by Intel though there is no details on the actual clock speed. The display uses AMOLED technology, with a 390 x 390 resolution and 326 PPI, the display is definitely well lit having a max brightness at 350 nits. 

 Submerging the Modular 41 under would not be a problem as it is resistance to water in upwards of 50 meters (164 feet).  Present is GPS and a NFC chip that will support Google Pay. The watch will ship with Android Wear 2.0, but there are reports of Oreo being present out of the box.

The TAG Heuer Connected Modular 41 is indeed a beautiful smartwatch, but placing this wearable on your wrist if you so desire to purchase will be an expensive proposition at $1200 to start. Crafty quality design is what you're paying for more than anything.

Nugget Notables: NITS in lighting is a unit of visible-light intensity, commonly specifying brightness of a liquid crystal display. 

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Reports Of Chromecast and Google Home and Home Max Are Disabling Wi-Fi Networks

Lately it seems there's a been bevy of issues with some our favorite devices and hardware, you have Apple suddenly having security issues with their Macbooks and iOS, then there's the whole Specter and Meltdown exploit that's plaguing Intel processors, sending shock waves within the tech community . Then we have Google, yes even Google is now having impacting issues. There are reports that some owners of Google Chromecast dongles and Home smart speakers are suddenly experiencing unexpected Wi-Fi dropouts and random router reboots. This issue seems to be affecting several different routers and the main culprit is how Google's devices are casting content.

If you head right over to Reddit you'll see a mass number of complaints of suffering users who are having problematic issues with Chromecast and Google Home devices that is Wi-Fi connected to ASUS, Linksys, Netgear, TP-Link and Synology routers. At least TP-Link is acknowledging the issues, saying that many users of the Archer C1200 model have been experiencing issues with network connectivity, and are being transparent offering their take on whats technically going on

TP-Link had this to say....

"Following initial research and investigation, our Engineering Team is confident that they've determined one of the key origins of the issue. From what we have gathered so far, the issue appears to be related to some recent releases of Android OS and Google Apps. This issue stems from these devices' 'Cast' feature, which sends MDNS multicast discovery packets in order to keep a live connection with Google products such as Google Home. These packets normally sent in a 20-second interval. However, we have discovered that the devices will sometimes broadcast a large amount of these packets at a very high speed in a short amount of time. This occurs when the device is awakened from the "sleep mode", and could exceed more than 100,000 packets in a short amount of time. The longer your device is in 'sleep', the larger this packet burst will be. This issue may eventually cause some of router’s primary features to shut down—including wireless connectivity."

Along with their statement, TP-Link offered this solution to the problem, users would have to perform a reboot to release the memory. Or users can simply try disabling Cast feature on their Android devices, this should temporarily clear up this issue until there is a permanent fix.  As of now, TP-Link is offering a beta firmware with three models of its Archer C1200 routers.

Linksys and Netgear have also issued a firmware updates to the following models: WRT3200ACM and WRT32X routers and Orbi mesh routers.

Linksys...

"This firmware incorporates a new WLAN driver that will help mitigate an issue that was discovered where Android devices coming in and out of sleep mode would crash the Wireless Network. Both of these firmwares will eventually make their way to our update servers for regular download, however [we] decided that a month of this issue is long enough for us to post this for all of you that have been following this in the community to download and use while we go through our final QA checks that are required before putting it on the update server,"

Whats rather troubling is there have been no word from Google, at least I myself haven't seen any statements posted online. Also we don't know if Google is even working on a fix, more than likely they are leaving it in the hands of the router manufacturers.  I myself luckily have not experienced any issues with my router, if I do, I will most certainly give you an update via social media.

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Straight Outta CES 2018: Three Impressive Tech That Wowed Me

Once again I failed to attend CES which is now 50 years old. If you don't know what CES is its acronym for Consumer Electronic Show (C.E.S.). Its a  technology trade show held every year around the first week in January. Tech pundits by the masses get to view just about every single  technology driven gadget that's put on display, from smartphones, TV's, to  computers and cars. Some of which are concept prototypes that will never fall into the hands of consumers. Most of these gadgets though will probably make their market debut in the coming months.

Though I wasn't an attendee at CES, doesn't mean I was not part of festive event. There were plenty of tech publications that afforded tech die-hards such as myself with a bevy of articles, images and video. I came away very impressed with some of the tech that were displayed at CES, so impressed I listed three that really wowed me.

And they are....

Synaptics Clear ID Fingerprint Reader

Normally you wouldn't see biometric security make its round at CES, but Synaptics Clear ID Fingerprint reader was probably the most newsworthy tech to come out of the trade show. Unlike the more traditional fingerprint reader on a smartphone which comes in a form of a physical button, the fingerprint reader featured on the Vivo smartphone is a optical sensor that  is placed under the display and peers right directly through the gap between the OLED dots recognizing the pattern of your fingerprint. 

Operating like any other bio metric sensors except the only difference is it no longer needs dedicated space. Big advantage in having this type of bio metric tech is manufacturers don't have to worry about trying to figure out where to place the fingerprint reader. Don't call this a CES concept tech as the Synaptic fingerprint reader is already being mass produced. In 2018 you should see upcoming smartphones embed the new technology, with Vivo being the first. Just ask Note 8 users if they rather have this type of finger print reader, I'm certainly raising my hand.

Sennheiser HD 820

Its rather odd for me to post headphones on this list being that I would have to actually listen out for sound quality.  Sennheiser does have a reputation of producing headphones that output excellent audio quality. What mesmerizes me about the Sennheiser new HD 820 headphones is the overall design, past iteration have a open back, but this particular brand have close back that's constructed out of the famed Gorilla Glass, which should aid in giving users total sound isolation. You'll have to wait until the summer of 2018 to access these audio beauts, and won't be cheap at a whopping $2,400 price point.

Project Linda

Razer's Project Linda is definitely a CES concept that probably won't see action with consumers, but the idea of shoving a smartphone into a laptop shell and have it morph into a computer is definitely interesting. Even crazy is having the  smartphone be the brains and mouse pad, a pretty interesting concept indeed. 

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