Computing

On a purely technical level isolated from all contexts, the new Chromium-based Microsoft Edge web browser may actually have a lot going for it. It is compatible with almost all websites, thanks to the same backend that Google Chrome itself uses, and Microsoft has added features that improve performance or offer users a lot of conveniences. Unfortunately, perception can do a lot to make or break a product, regardless of its strengths, and Microsoft's aggressive push to bring Edge to Windows users' consciousness may ironically sour the web browser instead.

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The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 was released to a wary consumer public in late 2020. Here it was, the least expensive of the RTX 30 graphics cards from NVIDIA, ready to roll with power that out-performed its predecessors in almost every way, available at approximately $500 USD. The "wary" part comes thanks to supply issues with other RTX cards this year, issues that messed with the minds and pocketbooks of potential users that, now, might be relying on the RTX 3070 to fill the void left for them after the hype of the reveal and the subsequent failure to meet demand.

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Although not as common as towering desktops, the mini PC form factor has enjoyed increased popularity in recent years as consumers looked towards more general-purpose home computers. These relatively tiny PCs, however, are not exactly known for their performance and power, leaning more towards space-savings and power-efficiency, enough for basic computing tasks.

MINISFORUM, however, has long been trying to move away from such stereotypes with the likes of the H31G and its discrete NVIDIA GPU. With the MINISFORUM X35G, the company takes things in a slightly different direction, cramming in Intel's latest CPU generation and data storage tech to turn the small box into a capable workstation.

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If the Surface Duo turned out to be an expensive disappointment, it seems that Microsoft's next big products will be carrying on that trend. Although the larger dual-screen Surface Neo isn't expected until 2022 at the earliest, the operating system that is supposed to run on it may debut much earlier. In fact, Windows 10X could be ready to ship to manufacturers by the end of the year but it might give everyone a case of deja vu in the way it will handle "legacy" win32 software.

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The Oculus Quest 2 is an admittedly impressive kit as far as standalone VR systems go. Its otherwise positive debut, however, has been marred by controversy, confusion, and consternation over the requirement to have and use a Facebook account to even use the previously independent product. Unsurprisingly, there have been attempts to circumvent that requirement but the most successful one so far is also asking for trouble by jailbreaking the Quest 2 that will surely force Facebook to respond in kind.

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Internet Explorer is a web browser living on borrowed time. Microsoft initiated plans to move users from the old internet access point in favor of the newer app Microsoft Edge. The latest version of the web browser Edge 87 showed Microsoft's latest push for movement from IE to the latest web browser: blocking the biggest websites.

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Drivers are pieces of software that some hardware or application use to communicate with an operating system. In other words, a functioning and authorized driver is critical in making sure things like printers, scanners, game controllers, and other peripherals work with a computer's OS. Sometimes, drivers stop working because of bugs, which leaves users with hardware they can't use until it's fixed. The case with Macs and HP printers, however, is rather unusual because the root cause may actually be some miscommunication and oversight.

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Dark mode was a big thing in the computing industry in the past few years. "Was" because almost all major platforms have already implemented it, one way or another, except Google's Chrome OS. Just like with the Chrome browser itself, Chrome OS's support for light text and content over dark backgrounds has not been consistent or complete. That may no longer be the case soon as Google has started rolling out an in-progress dark mode implementation, now available to more adventurous Chrome OS users.

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From a purely business point of view, it's no surprise really that Facebook wants to unify all its platforms under a single account. While it can't really force that on Instagram and WhatsApp, especially not while under intense scrutiny, it was able to put its hand down on the relatively younger Oculus ecosystem. Whether Facebook and Oculus really thought about it or not, it is only now that users are coming across the fine print regarding the Facebook account requirement for using Oculus devices and they're not good discoveries at all.

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We now live in a world that revolves around digital objects but we still naturally have to deal with physical ones. Bridging the two have never been easy nor seamless but a lot of technologies, like augmented reality or AR, try to narrow the gap. But while AR brings digital objects to the real world to some extent, a new app goes the opposite direction and lets you clip and drop real-world objects into your digital canvas.

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Today we're taking a peek at all the new Razer Chroma devices the company's revealed at once. Everything shown today is either a refresh of a device that's been available before, with better specs, or an entirely new device. This includes the Razer Mouse Dock Chroma, Mouse Bungee V3 Chroma, Bungee V3 (no Chroma), Charging Pad Chroma, Base Station 2 Chroma, Base Station 2 Chroma (Mercury / Quartz), and a completely new Razer Chroma Addressable RGB Controller.

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The GeForce RTX 3000 series is supposed to be NVIDIA's latest and greatest and while it may still end up like that next year, for now, it's starting to become the company's embarrassment. The popularity of the cards, perhaps partly thanks to aggressive and successful marketing, has created a demand that NVIDIA is unable to quickly supply. Now, however, there are signs that it may even be cutting back on at least two configurations that would have given buyers more VRAM despite slightly lower specs.

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