The father of Android, Andy Rubin, has returned with the “Essential Phone”: for $699, you get a futuristic-looking handset headlined by a 5.7-inch QHD edge-to-edge display that pretty much takes up the entire front. Specs include a Snapdragon 835, 4GB of RAM, 128GB of storage, USB-C, Bluetooth 5.0, and a 3040mAh battery with fast charge. The official page can be found here for additional details and pre-orders. I think the phone looks great, but they might have blown it with the front camera placement.



After months of teases and speculation, Android creator Andy Rubin has unveiled the first smartphone by his new company, Essential. As expected, it’s designed to be a no-compromise device with top-of-the-line specs and sophisticated industrial design. Taking center stage is an edge-to-edge display that rises to the top of the phone, stopping only for the front-facing camera in the middle. The device is made of titanium and ceramic, which the company claims will trump most aluminum phones in the durability department. It’s a sleek look complimented by a complete lack of logos.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – Android Creator Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone Looks Stunning and Will Cost 9

Taipei, Taiwan – May 30, 2017 – MSI, a world leader in gaming hardware, continues to build on its critically-acclaimed gaming hardware with the announcement of several brand-new products at COMPUTEX 2017. MSI reveals its most up-to-date gaming laptops, motherboards, desktops and gaming peripherals with premium builds and robust specifications at booth L0617.

X299 GAMING M7 ACK

Designed for gamers and PC enthusiasts who crave for extreme performance, the X299 GAMING M7 ACK is nothing short of spectacular. Featuring the 10+1+1 phase DigitALL premium power design with Loadline Calibration and MSI’s Turbo Socket, the new M7 is ready to challenge extreme overclockers to push it to the limit. With MSI’s new built-in M.2 thermal solution, patent-pending M.2 Shield FROZR tech, you never have to worry about your fast PCI-Express based M.2 SSD to start throttling, lowering down performance. Killerâ„¢ Double Shot PRO allows the 2x Killerâ„¢ E2500 Ethernet connectors and the Killerâ„¢ 1535 Wi-Fi adapter to work together for optimal online gameplay.

X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC

The world’s first motherboard with fully exchangeable heatsink covers and X-Mounting accessories to support 3D printing and modding, combined with the latest generation MYSTIC LIGHT RGB LEDs, makes the X299 GAMING PRO CARBON AC any modders’ dream! Just activate the one-second Game boost function and performance raises to the next level like manual overclocking, without breaking a sweat. Furthermore, with the addition of 2x M.2 Shield, any fast PCI-Express SSD is sure to deliver maximum performance. With Turbo M.2 and Turbo U.2, simply connect any of the latest generation NVMe based SSDs with ease, providing you a lighting fast storage transfer experience.


X299 TOMAHAWK

Built on the iF award winning design of the original TOMAHAWK, the new X299 TOMAHAWK perfectly illustrates the evolution of the next generation of MSI motherboards. X299 TOMAHAWK shows its strength through stainless steel heatsinks and MSI Steel Armor design, making the high-end motherboard unbreakable in any gaming session. X299 TOMAHAWK also includes the exclusive M.2 Shield FROZR, a design to protect against thermal throttling on M.2 SSDs. Not to mention Turbo U.2 with Steel Armor, front USB type C to maximize your systems data transfer performance through any type of connection. On top of all that, MSI exclusive VR Boost and VR ready bring smooth performance when enjoying any game in VR, AR and MR.

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Source: [H]ardOCP – MSI Introduces New X299 GAMING Motherboards

While there has been a lot of clamor about the upcoming Intel Core i9 CPUs, Intel did finally give some insight to pricing and verified core count.

The 12-Core 7920X comes in at $1200, the 14-Core 7940X at $1400, the 16-Core 7960X at $1700, and the 18-Core 7980XE at $2000. Get your wallets out, and your savings account. It would seem that this is Intel’s immediate reaction to AMD’s Threadripper HEDT CPU. What makes this seem like a kneejerk reaction is the fact that CPU’s with more than 12 cores are not mentioned in ASUS’ X299 motherboard announcement this morning.
Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – Intel Core i9-7900 Series CPU Core Count and Prices

ASUS Introduces New X299 Based Motherboards – Based on Intel’s X299 chipset, the ROG, Prime and TUF series feature state-of-the-art connectivity and control options designed for gamers, power users and prosumers.

Fremont, CA (May 30, 2017) – A new era of high-end desktops is here. Intel just took the wraps off its long-awaited Core X-Series processors and accompanying X299 chipset, which bring enough horsepower and bandwidth for everything from professional content creation to hardcore gaming. Intel’s new X299 platform and accompanying Core X-Series processors raise the bar for CPU and memory performance with up to 12 cores and 128GB of quad-channel DDR4 memory. And they add bandwidth for multiple graphics cards and NVME SSDs with up to 44 PCIe lanes through the CPU and even more from the chipset. It’s an incredibly potent platform we’ve used to create the Prime, TUF, and ROG X299 families.

ROG Strix X299-E


TUF X299 Mark 1 and Mark 2


PRIME X299 Deuluxe


ROG has three models expertly tailored for different priorities: the Rampage VI Extreme lives up to its name for drool-worthy dream machines with custom liquid cooling and ultra-fast networking, the Rampage VI Apex unabashedly targets peak game performance and record-breaking overclocking, and the Strix X299-E provides gamers the powerful tuning, cooling, and personalization options they need to get the most from their rigs. ROG does more than just offer checkbox features-we take the time to ensure each one is empowering for enthusiasts and accessible for beginners.

The Prime and TUF models are designed for differing audiences: new Prime X299-Deluxe is for high-end builders who want it all, the Prime X299-A eschews certain extras in favor of a straightforward approach that gets back to basics, the TUF X299 Mark 1 stands out from its competitors with protective armor and advanced cooling options, while the TUF X299 Mark 2 strips down to the essentials for X299 builders who want to deviate from the conventional formula. The new ASUS Prime and TUF X299s series are a breath of fresh air at a time when far too many motherboards offer more of the same.

ROG Rampage VI Extreme, Rampage VI Apex and ROG Strix X299-E motherboards will be available at leading resellers in North America starting in late June with the STRIX series. Suggested MSRP pricing will be announced on 6/19/2017.

Discussion

Source: [H]ardOCP – ASUS Introduces New X299 Based Motherboards