Razer's Power Bank keeps your laptop running

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/23/razer-power-bank/

External battery packs are a dime a dozen, but you might want to pay attention to this one. Razer has unveiled the Power Bank, a 12,800mAh external battery designed primarily for laptops. It's clearly intended as a companion for Razer's own portables, and can extend the life of a Blade Stealth to as long as 15 hours. That's more than a little helpful if you're stuck traveling all day. However, its reliance on USB-C makes it compatible with any laptop that can charge using the newer connector. Yes, you could keep a MacBook running on this brick if you don't mind the style mismatch.

Like some of these batteries, the Power Bank doubles as a phone charger thanks to two USB-A ports. It even supports Quick Charge 3.0 for those phones that can handle it. This definitely won't be an inexpensive peripheral when it ships in March, at $150 (£170) -- we've seen higher-capacity batteries that sell for less, like Mophie's Powerstation XXL. Not all of those are designed to charge your phone and laptop at the same time, though, and the logo-emblazoned aluminum body might be worth it if you're a dyed-in-the-wool Razer fan determined to coordinate the look of your gear.

Source: Razer

Samsung's next smartphone chip is ready for gigabit LTE

Source: https://www.engadget.com/2017/02/23/samsung-s-next-smartphone-chip-is-ready-for-gigabit-lte/

Mobile World Congress is nearly upon us, giving Samsung ample reason to show off the latest product from its chip foundries. The company has announced the Exynos 9 Series 8895, a flagship CPU that's made with a 10-nanometer manufacturing process. The smaller circuits, it's hoped, will offer 27 percent better performance while drawing 40 percent less battery.

The 8895 ships with eight cores, four of which are Cortex A53s, paired with a quartet of Samsung's custom-designed variants. The company claims that it'll play back 4K video at 120fps as well as offering VR content at the same resolution. Security fans will also note that the 8895 comes with an additional processing unit designed to keep your fingerprint, iris and payment data securely locked away from prying eyes.

Additionally, the chip is Samsung's first to boast a gigabit LTE modem and support for five carrier aggregation. The hardware is expected to throughput data at 1Gbps and upload those Instagram selfies at a top speed of 150Mbps. That should keep your lust for high-capacity data networks at bay while those 5G networks are built out.

If history is any indication, it's more than likely that the Exynos 9 Series 9985 will sit at the heart of the forthcoming Galaxy S8. At least, it's the chip that'll be found inside the international version of the device -- since the US edition of the last few flagships used Qualcomm CPUs instead. We're likely to find out for sure in the run-up to the device's expected launch at the tail-end of March.

Source: Samsung