MERCURY

Razer’s Opus X are affordable wireless gaming headphones with low latency technology

Home News (Image credit: Razer) Razer has launched the Opus X, over-ear Bluetooth headphones with noise-cancelling for just £100 ($100, AU$169.95). Best known for its gaming laptops and peripherals, Razer branched out into gaming audio last year with the THX-certified Opus headphones. The new Opus X are half the launch price of their older sibling,… Read more

The pandemic might cut down e-waste but widen the digital divide

We now have evidence that staying home to game or stream and chill during the pandemic was pretty much a first-world problem (or privilege, depending on how you look at it). The proof is in a new report published today by the United Nations University and UN Institute for Training and Research that looks at… Read more

Nvidia Increases Market Share as GPU Sales Explode: JPR

Home News (Image credit: AMD) According to IDC, PC sales in the first quarter were up 55% year-over-year, and since the demand for personal computers is growing, component sales in Q1 2021 were high, too. Jon Peddie Research reports that shipments of integrated and standalone graphics processing units (GPUs) for PCs increased 38.74% year-over-year in the… Read more

NASA’s Juno probe will get close to Jupiter’s moon Ganymede on Monday

On Monday NASA’s Juno space probe, which has been orbiting Jupiter since 2016, will get a close-up look at Jupiter’s biggest moon Ganymede, the agency said in a press release. It will be the closest NASA has gotten to the largest moon in the solar system for more than 20 years— Galileo cruised by Ganymede… Read more

AMD’s Discrete GPU Sales in Q1: Up Sequentially, Down Year-over-Year

Home News (Image credit: Nvidia) Sales of discrete GPUs in the first quarter were up both sequentially and year-over-year due to high demand for PCs in general and gaming PCs in particular, according to Mercury Research. Nvidia continued to dominate the market, AMD has been gaining CPU sales and market share in the recent years… Read more

San Jose approves Google’s gigantic and controversial new downtown campus

After first proposing it in 2017, Google has received unanimous approval from the San Jose City Council to move forward with its Downtown West development plan, CNBC reports. The company and city have reached an agreement to develop around 80 acres of land in downtown San Jose, California that will also serve as a mixed-use… Read more

CPU Market Q1 2021: AMD’s Fastest Growth in Servers Against Intel in 15 Years

Home News Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: Tom’s Hardware) The Mercury Research CPU market share results are in for the first quarter of 2021, which finds AMD scoring its highest single-quarter market share increase in the server market since 2006, leading to record revenue as it… Read more

Tesla to pay $750k fine and build solar microgrid system to settle California air quality violations

Tesla has agreed to pay a $750,000 fine and install a solar roof project to settle air quality violations at its Fremont, California plant, officials announced Friday. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, which regulates air pollution in nine San Francisco Bay Area counties, said the settlement covers 33 notices of violations dating back… Read more

23 of the best vocal tracks to test your system

The vocal: often the official moment that gets a gig under way, the determiner of the direction your eyebrows go when first listening to a new artist. The vocal has enabled ‘one-man bands’ to play to rooms of thousands of people with only a guitar in their hand or a piano at their fingertips. The… Read more

Charles Geschke, co-founder of Adobe and co-inventor of the PDF, has died at 81

Charles “Chuck” Geschke, a co-founder of Adobe who helped develop the PDF, has died at age 81, the company said in a statement. “This is a huge loss for the entire Adobe community and the technology industry, for whom he has been a guide and hero for decades,” Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said in an… Read more

Cowon Plenue D3

Our Verdict Cowon has added Bluetooth, a volume wheel and a dual DAC to its bijou player – and produced another class leader For Detailed presentation across frequencies Bluetooth connectivity Classy build and finish Against Screen looks a little dated Remember matchbook quotes, those little sayings written on complimentary matchbooks you could pick up in… Read more

17 of the best British speakers of all time

Home Features (Image credit: ProAc) We’re celebrating all things British hi-fi this week on What Hi-Fi?, so we had to include our newly updated round-up of our favourite sets of speakers to have emerged from these isles. This list includes some big, some small, some heavenly high-end, some much more affordable – but all straight… Read more

AMD Threadrips Intel’s Sales at Puget Systems

Home News (Image credit: Puget Systems) Puget Systems recently shared sales data showing that its sales of AMD-powered systems have now passed the 50% mark, unseating Intel from its previously-dominating 100% share of the company’s sales. This win comes even though Puget Systems previously stopped selling AMD systems back in 2015 because Team Red was… Read more

Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 review: premium in the right ways

The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is beautiful, bold, and totally functional. Samsung’s flagship Chromebook is less expensive and better than before I’ll spare you the suspense: the battery life is good. It’s not incredible. The Samsung Galaxy Chromebook 2 is far from the longest-lasting Chromebook I’ve ever tested. But after last year’s Samsung Galaxy Chromebook… Read more

Royal Albert Hall celebrates 150th birthday with film narrated by Mick Jagger

Home News (Image credit: Royal Albert Hall) Hot on the heels of the announcement that public indoor events are set to return to the UK this May, the Royal Albert Hall has released a 90-second clip, entitled Your Room Will Be Ready, to commemorate its 150th anniversary year. Indeed, the timing couldn’t be more apt… Read more