Month: January 2022

Acer’s new Chromebook 314 and 315 with Intel Jasper Lake chips start at $300

Acer is updating its line of budget Chromebooks with new models sporting 14 and 15 inch displays and low-power processors based on Intel Jasper Lake technology. The new Acer Chromebook 315 (CB315-4H/T) with a 15.6 inch display should hit the streets this month for $300 and up, while the 14 inch Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-3H/T) is […]

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Acer is updating its line of budget Chromebooks with new models sporting 14 and 15 inch displays and low-power processors based on Intel Jasper Lake technology.

The new Acer Chromebook 315 (CB315-4H/T) with a 15.6 inch display should hit the streets this month for $300 and up, while the 14 inch Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-3H/T) is coming in June with the same starting price.

Acer Chromebook 315

For the most part the two laptops have similar specs, but the 15.6 inch model not only has a larger display and a bigger, heavier body, but also a numeric keypad on the right side of the keyboard.

While the new Chromebook 314 lacks that keypad, there is a little extra room on the left and right sides of the keyboard that Acer used for a pair of upward-facing stereo speakers.

Here’s a run-down of key specs for the new Chromebooks:

Chromebook 315 (CB315-4H/T) Acer Chromebook 314 (CB314-3H/T)
Display 15.6 inch, 1920 x 1080 (touch optional) 14 inch, 1920 x 1080 (touch optional)
Processor Intel Celeron N4500
Intel Celeron N5100
Intel Pentium Silver N6000		  Intel Celeron N4500
Intel Celeron N5100
Intel Pentium Silver N6000
RAM Up to 8GB LPDDR4X Up to 8GB LPDDR4X
Storage 64GB or 128GB eMMC 64GB or 128GB eMMC
Ports 2 x USB-C
2 x USB-A
1 x 3.5mm audio
1 x microSD		 2 x USB-C
2 x USB-A
1 x 3.5mm audio
1 x microSD
Wireless WiFi 6 WiFi 6
Battery Up to 10 hours (est) Up to 10 hours (est)
Audio DTS Audio
Dual microphones		 DTS Audio (upward-facing speakers)
Dual microphones
Dimensions 14.42″ x 9.61″ x 0.79″ 12.85″ x 8.86″ x 0.79″
Weight 3.53 pounds 3.2 pounds
Starting price $300 (North America)
399 Euros (EMEA)		 $300 (North America)
369 Euros (EMEA)
Availability January 2022 (North America)
Q1, 2022 (EMEA)		 June 2022 (North America)
April 2022 (EMEA)

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Samsung teases the Galaxy S22’s AMD GPU as renders leak

Galaxy Note and S22 Ultra are basically merging, while the base S22 gets smaller.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra, complete with S-Pen.

Enlarge / The Galaxy S22 Ultra, complete with S-Pen. (credit: 91mobiles)

With a new year comes new phones, and Samsung will be one of the first out of the gate with the Galaxy S22 series. The device should be released sometime in the next month or two, so there are naturally a lot of leaks to look at.

91mobiles has the official Samsung-made renders of the company's next flagship. The big news this year is that the highest-end SKU, the Galaxy S22 Ultra, is being converted into a Galaxy Note substitute and will ship with an internally stowable S-Pen. Samsung killed the S-Pen-equipped Galaxy Note last year, with reports saying the Note and S line were too similar and that culling the slab smartphone lineup would let Samsung focus more on foldables. With its squared-off design and S-Pen present in all the renders, the S22 Ultra is a Galaxy Note in everything but name.

Fans of the S-Pen will be happy, but Samsung is sacrificing some runtime for S-Pen storage. There's no getting around having to carve out a big chunk of internal space to store a stylus, and in 2020, the 5000 mAh S20 Ultra had 500 mAh more battery capacity than the 4500 mAh Note 20 Ultra. This year, the S22 Ultra is rumored to hit 5000 mAh even with the S-Pen hole, thanks to battery density improvements. Still, the battery could have been larger without S-Pen storage.

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Acer Chromebook Spin 513 has a 3:2 display and a Kompanio 1380 processor now available

The new Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H) is a thin and light convertible laptop with a 13.5 inch, 2256 x 1504 pixel touchscreen display featuring a 3:2 aspect ratio. First announced in January, the laptop features 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and …

The new Acer Chromebook Spin 513 (CP513-2H) is a thin and light convertible laptop with a 13.5 inch, 2256 x 1504 pixel touchscreen display featuring a 3:2 aspect ratio. First announced in January, the laptop features 8GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, and it’s also one of the first Chromebooks powered by MediaTek’s new Kompanio […]

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FDA authorizes booster doses for 12- to 15-year-olds, shortens interval for adults

The changes are motivated by omicron and backed by data from Israel.

A health worker administers a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to an elderly resident at Ichilov medical center in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021.

Enlarge / A health worker administers a third dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to an elderly resident at Ichilov medical center in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Monday, Aug. 2, 2021. (credit: Getty | Bloomberg)

As the ultra-transmissible omicron coronavirus variant bears down on the US, the Food and Drug Administration on Monday announced a set of sweeping changes to the availability of Pfizer-BioNTech booster doses.

The regulator expanded access to third doses by authorizing their use for kids 12 to 15 years old. The agency also shortened the interval at which adults and children 12 and up can get a booster after their second dose—moving the time from six months to only five months. Last, the FDA made third doses available to immunocompromised children ages 5 to 11 who may not mount a strong response from only the first two doses.

The FDA's moves are motivated by omicron and backed by data from Israel, which has a booster program further along than that of the US. In fact, Israeli officials on Monday began offering fourth doses (second booster doses) of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to people ages 60 and over in an effort to sustain high levels of protection in the population. The omicron variant, which is currently powering a vertical rise in cases in the US, has been found to thwart protection from only two vaccine doses, but it can still be defeated with booster doses.

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This 2.8 inch mini PC has an Intel Celeron N5105 processor, dual HDMI ports

Over the past two years we’ve seen a handful of companies release palm-sized desktop computers powered by 10-watt Intel Celeron J4125 processors based on Gemini Lake Refresh architecture. Now it looks like the first models with Intel Celeron N5105 Jasper Lake processors have arrived. The new 2.8 inch mini PCs are available from AliExpress for around […]

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Over the past two years we’ve seen a handful of companies release palm-sized desktop computers powered by 10-watt Intel Celeron J4125 processors based on Gemini Lake Refresh architecture.

Now it looks like the first models with Intel Celeron N5105 Jasper Lake processors have arrived. The new 2.8 inch mini PCs are available from AliExpress for around $200 and up or from Amazon for $269 and up. And the processor isn’t the only thing that’s been upgraded.

While the Celeron J4125 and N5105 chips look similar on paper, with the newer model only offering a slight increase in Turbo Boost frequencies, the Celeron N5105 is based on newer architecture and should bring a significant boost in both single-core and multi-threaded performance. It also has higher-performance graphics that should make the new model a much better option for use as a media center PC, digital signage system, or even for lightweight gaming.

Measuring 72 x 72 x 45mm (2.8″ x 2.8″ x 1.8″), the new mini PCs are a little larger than older models like the Chuwi LarkBox or GMK NucBox, which measure about 61 x 61 x 43mm (2.4″ x 2.4″ x 1.7″). But in addition to picking up a higher-performance processor, the new models add a second HDMI port, allowing you to connect up to two displays.

That brings the selection of ports for the new 2.8″ models to:

  • 2 x HDMI 2.0
  • 1 x Gigabit Ethernet
  • 1 x USB Type-C
  • 3 x USB 3.0 Type-A
  • 1 x 3.5mm audio
  • 1 x microSD card reader

The USB-C port is the tiny computer’s power jack, with support for a 12V/3A AC adapter. It’s unclear whether that port also supports data (USB-C docks with passthrough power do not work with the GMK NucBox or Chuwi LarkBox).

The 2.8″ mini PCs also have an Intel AC7265 wireless card with support for WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.

Sold under several different brand names, I’ve found a few different companies selling the new 2.8″ mini PC under the name “ZX01,” but GMK also recently began selling a model it called the GMK NucBox5. That model also has a Celeron N5105 processor and 8GB of RAM, and it has a starting price of $320 for a model with  a 256GB SSD.

Entry-level models of the ZX01 and other 2.8″ mini PCs have as little as 64GB of solid state storage, but there are also higher-priced models are available with up to 1TB of storage.

While the Celeron N5015 processor can theoretically support up to 16GB of memory, all the versions of the 2.8″ mini PC I’ve found so far seem to have 8GB of memory which I’m pretty sure is soldered to the mainboard and not user upgradeable. But the little computer does have an M.2 2242 slot so the solid state storage should be user replaceable.

This article was originally published January 3, 2022 and last updated January 20, 2022. 

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Mercedes-Benz Vision EQXX: Das elektrische Ein-Liter-Auto

Mit dem Vision EQXX will Daimler neue Maßstäbe bei der Effizienz von Elektroautos setzen. Damit soll eine Reichweite von 1.000 km möglich werden. Ein Bericht von Friedhelm Greis (Elektroauto, Technologie)

Mit dem Vision EQXX will Daimler neue Maßstäbe bei der Effizienz von Elektroautos setzen. Damit soll eine Reichweite von 1.000 km möglich werden. Ein Bericht von Friedhelm Greis (Elektroauto, Technologie)

Square Enix signals major push into “blockchain gaming” mania

But buzzwordy plans for a user-generated item market don’t sound all that novel.

Which popular Square Enix franchises will be graced with a blockchain-based marketplace full of user-created items?

Enlarge / Which popular Square Enix franchises will be graced with a blockchain-based marketplace full of user-created items?

Square Enix President Yosuke Matsuda used a New Year's message this weekend to telegraph the company's interest in "blockchain gaming" and "decentralized games" as "a major strategic theme for us starting in 2022." Specifically, Matsuda sees the blockchain as a way to give players "explicit incentives" to create "major game-changing content" and profit from those "creative efforts."

While Matsuda puts the current majority of players in a "play to have fun" camp, he writes that he foresees "a certain number of people whose motivation is to 'play to contribute,' by which I mean to help make the game more exciting." Most traditional games rely on "personal feelings as goodwill and volunteer spirit" to motivate that kind of user-generated content, Matsuda writes, which is "one reason that there haven’t been as many major game-changing [pieces of] content that were user generated as one would expect."

But Matsuda sees "advances in token economies" giving players "explicit incentives" for creating in-game content, providing "a tangible upside to their creative efforts." This will lead to more content being created, in turn attracting more "play to have fun" players and resulting in "self-sustaining game growth," in Matsuda's vision.

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