It’s time again for PCMag’s annual Fastest Mobile Network shootout, and it’s an important one. This is the first year in which we have just three major carriers, and all of them are pushing 5G hard. Verizon took the crown in 2020, barely edging out AT&T. However, that’s thanks almost entirely to the strength of its 4G LTE network. This year’s test reveals that —it’s actually slower than 4G in a lot of places. You might be thinking, “how can this be true?” After all, carriers have been crowing about their blazing fast 5G speeds all year. The report shows that it’s at least a lie of omission.
Today you can get a highly versatile laptop from Dell with $1,000 marked off the retail price. This system is perfect for work, but it also has a 100 percent sRGB compatible display for editing images and a GPU that’s powerful enough to keep the average gamer happy. The new Vostro 15 7500 laptop is a true jack-of-all-trades. Dell’s Vostro systems are oriented as business solutions, and this system is no different, but it also has fairly strong gaming capabilities. Its 100 percent sRGB display is also well suited for editing images. No matter what you need a laptop for, this system should fit the bill.
Facebook’s decision to force Oculus members to sign up for or use existing Facebook accounts hasn’t just played poorly with the community, but it may also be illegal in some European countries. Facebook says it has taken this step voluntarily, not because it’s in hot water with German authorities.”This is a temporary break due to outstanding talks with German supervisory authorities,” the company said in a statement to . “We were not obliged to take this measure, but proactively interrupted the sale.” The reason Oculus is halting its sales, proactively or otherwise, is because of concerns that its requirement to use a Facebook account in order to also play with an Oculus Rift violates the EU’s “coupling ban” rule.
If you’re doing some weekend shopping, picking up a new mouse or keyboard might not seem all that sexy. However, back problems, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other effects from poor home office layouts aren’t all that sexy either. Now that your temporary work from home situation might not be so temporary, it’s seriously time to invest in a mouse or keyboard upgrade that works as fast as you do and can ergonomically rejigger your workspace. On top of all that, you can also get these 20 top-flight mouse and keyboard options at savings of up to 64 percent with these current deals.
SpaceX’s Starship has taken flight once again, although it’s not heading into space quite yet. The latest Starship prototype has completed another 150-meter hop test, proving that its engine works correctly and setting the stage for a promised high-altitude test flight. The Starship started life as the Big Falcon Rocket (BFR), but it got a name change in 2018 with an increased focus on Mars and lunar missions. SpaceX even signed up Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to take the first jaunt around the moon in the Starship. That mission is still loosely scheduled for sometime in the next few years.
As publishers announce their plans for next-generation consoles, we’ve begun to find out what sort of upgrades and improvements we can look forward to. In some cases, those benefits are coming to PC gamers as well — CD Projeckt Red has announced a number of technical and visual improvements, including both ray tracing and faster loading times, across all previously released content. The Witcher 3 is coming to the next generation! A visually and technically enhanced version of the game will be available for purchase for PC and next-gen consoles & as a free update for owners of the game on PC, One and 4.
Nintendo’s new Super Mario 3D All-Stars game is now officially available for pre-order, and it’s set to be released on September 18. This game will only be available officially until March 31, 2021, giving you a relatively short period of time to buy your own copy. Nintendo’s Super Mario 3D All-Stars includes enhanced versions of Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy. These games have been updated with higher resolution graphics to give you an enjoyable experience while you play through these classic games. The game is available for pre-order for $59.99, and it won’t officially launch until September 18.
Does anybody use wired earbuds anymore? Look, we’re not looking to put you on blast if you’re still rocking the Walkman-style headphones tethered to your device. But if that sounds suspiciously like you, it might be time to join us here two decades into the 21st century. Your lack of modern tech can be balanced by your shrewd fiscal sense since all the earbuds we’ve put together here not only feature killer sound but are all at prices up to 70 percent off right now with these current deals. And with Apple’s ever-popular AirPods starting at $159, all of these sub-$100 deals should get your attention.
Intel unveiled its Tiger Lake platform yesterday, and the company is clearly spoiling for a fight against AMD. An actual tiger roaring somewhere offstage would not have seemed unusual. The company’s overall positioning suggests it’s got something impressive on its hands. Intel has taken plenty of flak for marching in place as far as feature integrations are concerned, but Tiger Lake adds PCIe 4.0 support, fully integrated Thunderbolt 4 support, Intel’s new Xe graphics engine (debuting for the first time), additional display pipes, a 6th-generation new image processing unit (Icelake was v4), version 2.0 of its “Gaussian Network Accelerator” (Ice Lake had v1), and support for various low-level deep learning features like AVX-512.
