After taking a year off from announcing its latest smartphone at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Samsung has returned this year to show off the new Galaxy S9.

While the phone looks mostly the same, its interior has been upgraded with all the latest specs to bring users new camera modes, updated Bixby features, and a fingerprint scanner that’s placed… well, where it should have been in the first place. There’s also a new AR Emoji feature that’s supposed to take on Apple’s Animoji by creating a custom, movable emoji based on your face.

Watch all these features, and more, announced in our supercut of the one-hour long event, and be sure to follow The Verge all week as we bring you all the latest from MWC 2018.

Color me a skeptic. The U-shaped Modius headset I donned for a few minutes during Mobile World Congress here is supposed to help you lose weight.

Modius works by gently stimulating the vestibular nerve near the skin’s surface behind the ear, and sending a signal to the hypothalamus, according to its developer, neuroscientist Jason McKeown, That’s the portion of the brain that apparently controls fat storage,metabolism and hunger.

Modius claims that if you wear this contraption for an hour a day, your body will lose its desire to store fat.

If you are exercise-averse, take note: You are meant to wear Modius while sitting or lying down. In fact, you’re not supposed to move, since the vestibular nerve is responsible for balance.

Modius automatically shuts off after an hour, so you can’t overstimulate yourself in any one session. The headset charges overnight by plugging it into a USB port.

To wear the Modius headset, you need to stick electrodes behind your ears. (Photo: Edward C. Baig)

Before putting on the headset, a Modius worker used an alcoholic wipe to clean the skin along the mastoid bone behind my ears and then affix an adhesive pad with electrodes. The pad connected to the headset. You can do this yourself, they assure me.

You control the headset through an app on your phone, choosing an intensity level between 1 and 10. It didn’t hurt. But at Level 4, I felt an ever so slight feeling of nausea, which I’m willing to concede could be psychological. McKeown acknowledges that some folks may indeed experience a sense of being seasick. I have no idea how I’d react if I wore it for a full hour.

I can’t vouch for the science or the company’s claim that it will help you shed pounds. I know of at least one thing it will help you dispose of — your income. It  Iists for $499.

The headset comes with a three-month supply of wipes and pads, after which you’ll have to replace them at a cost of about $37 for an additional three months.

If CES is a guide, you’ll soon be surrounded by a multitude of brainy things—not only smart speakers, electronics gear, and appliances, but eventually household robots, an intelligent car, and maybe even the very city you live in.

All things smart is an underlying theme leading into the annual tech shindig that commences this weekend in Las Vegas, giving the public an early look at devices they may buy later this year or next.

Thought you just successfully navigated the decision about whether to purchase an Amazon Dot vs. a Google Home Mini? Think you’ve got smart lighting figured out? It’s about to get a lot more complicated. Amazon and Google are pushing their artificial intelligence (AI) into a range of uses and partner products, widening the potential for the convenience and privacy perils that these always-listening devices promise.

“The buzzword of the entire show is going to be AI,” says Creative Strategies president and veteran CES attendee Tim Bajarin, who says the tech industry is going “to apply AI to pretty much everything (it) can.”

That’s not all. To achieve this robot-controlled future, some major upgrades to the plumbing need to happen. The vision for a smart society also hinges on better bandwidth — speedy next generation “5G” wireless — and the placement of sensitive computing sensors all over your daily life.

The 4,000 companies exhibiting to the 180,000-plus tech insiders thronging the convention halls will show how their products fit into that always-connected future.

The 2018 show will be dominated by the usual suspects: industry stalwarts such as Samsung, Sony, LG and Panasonic. They keynotes are dominated by companies behind components that should make devices smarter (Intel CEO Brian Krzanich) or the manufacturers of traditional devices that should be getting smarter — Ford Motor CEO Jim Hackett and Richard Yu, CEO of Chinese phone maker Huawei.

Nvidia, whose CEO and founder Jensen Huang was a keynoter last year, is back pushing the company’s vision for AI inside the home and car.

But Amazon and Google will also have a major presence in Las Vegas, given their respective push to spread the AI-infused Alexa and Google Assistant voice interfaces into more places. We’ll learn which new products will answer to the ‘Hey, Alexa’ and ‘OK, Google,’ commands.

Google looks to make a big splash at the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show, touting the Google Assistant. It’s advertising Google on the Las Vegas Monorail. (Photo: Jefferson Graham)

The software giants that have long kept a low profile at the show had to come as they expand their reach into hardware. Because make no mistake, CES is still all about products, everything from wall-sized televisions and self-driving cars to drones, laptops, and household appliances. Scores of smaller and sometimes off-the-wheel gadgets will also be on display. And as always, you’ll see robots.

For example, LG plans to add three new CLOi-branded robots for commercial use in airports, hotels, and supermarkets, say to help deliver luggage to a waiting vehicle.

Augmented reality, in which digital characters and objects invade your real world surroundings, will likely be much bigger deal than virtual reality products, and we’ll see this Pokemon Go experience show up in more games and e-commerce applications.

Companies, often privately funded, will show off the weird and wacky, adding technology to products you didn’t think was needed.

For instance, startup Chipolo is teaming up with the menswear fashion brand Perry Ellis on a $75 leather Tech Wallet, which contains what Chipolo claims is the world’s thinnest Bluetooth tracker. It will sound a 95-decibel ring to help a user locate a missing wallet, provided it’s within 200 feet of the user.

This year’s CES will also emphasize digital health and wellness, with dedicated areas covering sleep trackers, gluten monitors and such. The GYENNO Spoon II that’s targeted at Parkinson’s patients and promised this spring, is said to be an “intelligent stabilization utensil” that counteracts tremors as food is picked up and carried to the mouth.

The emergence of the smart speakers, and tech heavyweights like Amazon and Google who are fighting for dominance, may have breathed new life into what was formerly known as the Consumer Electronics Show. The show, which is now in its 51st year, had been fighting a reputation for being a has-been. You’d be hard-pressed to name the last blockbuster product to be hatched there, a difference from CES’ heyday, when it was an early showcase for VCRs, DVRs, and HDTVs but has been more iterative of late.

But CES is reflective of where the tech industry, and by proxy, all of us, are going, and if you need a concrete example of a product you’re using that had its origins there, look no further than the snazzy 4K TV anchoring your home theater. Speaking of which, now that you’ve finally embraced 4K, do you really want to consider the prospects for the 8K displays that some TV makers will preview next week? Don’t fret, commercial 8K is still a ways off.

While executives from Verizon, Qualcomm and Baidu will discuss the rollout of 5G—and just before the show opened, AT&T announced plans to launch speedy 5G for smartphones by the end of 2018—CES has never been a major launch-pad show for smartphones.

Phones aren’t completely off the radar though. Huawei’s Yu is expected to unveil a new smartphone during his keynote talk. And I’ll be moderating a panel with execs from Samsung, Qualcomm and ZTE, titled, “The New Normal in Smartphones.”

One person who won’t be speaking is the FCC chairman Ajit Pai, who canceled a previously schedule appearance only days ahead of the event and a month after the controversial rollback of net neutrality regulations.

FILE – In this Feb. 26, 2015, file photo, Federal Communication Commission commissioner Ajit Pai speaks during an open hearing and vote on net neutrality in Washington. The Senate has confirmed Pai, President Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, despite Democratic complaints that he will undermine net neutrality. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)

Ford CEO Hackett’s speech again signals that CES has become a vehicle for autonomous cars and auto-infotainment systems, even a week ahead of the automobile industry’s own big trade event in Detroit.

New to CES this year is a section devoted to smart cities. Over the coming decade, companies will work to alleviate traffic and urban congestion and reduce pollution. While there’s no firm definition of what makes a city smart, it is apparent that innovations in 5G wireless broadband, AI, robotics and self-driving cars will all play an important role. Steve Koenig of the CTA says that about $15 billion was invested in smart cities in 2015, a figure that could reach $34 to $35 billion by 2020.

LG isn’t waiting until CES to reveal one of its high-end living room gadgets for 2018: it’s a 4K HDR projector. LG claims the new UHD projector is roughly half the size of competing 4K options on the market, many of which are “heavy, expensive, and difficult to install” according to the company.

The HU80KA, by contrast, is being pitched as an “affordable yet premium device” that can output a 150-inch picture in any room of your house. That picture can get awfully bright, too; LG says it tops out at 2,500 lumens, which makes it the company’s brightest projector yet and puts it on par with what’s on the market today.

On top of the 4K resolution, you also get support for HDR video with HDR10. (There’s no mention of Dolby Vision, sadly.) The projector can be positioned on the floor, mounted to the wall, or hung from the ceiling, and LG says it’ll work great in any of those setups.

There are two 7-watt speakers built in, but you’ll probably want to pair a soundbar with this thing at the very least. Audio output options include optical, HDMI, and Bluetooth. The projector will play media off a USB drive, and also lets you hook up an external keyboard and mouse.

Oh, and it runs webOS just like LG’s TV lineup so it’s got most of the big streaming apps integrated out of the box.

LG isn’t yet sharing the HU80KA’s pricing, but that’s par for the course with home theater announcements at CES. Companies show you the flashy thing, and then wait a couple months before revealing the damage it’ll do to your wallet. For reference, some of the “affordable” 4K projectors available today come in slightly under $2,000. That’s not cheap, but I’m definitely looking forward to getting a preview of the HU80KA in just a few days in Las Vegas.

The timing of Intel CEO Brian Krzanich’s large sale of shares in November is raising questions because a Securities and Exchange Commission filing appeared to show that the transactions were planned after the company was informed about the Meltdown and Spectre bugs, but before they were made public.

The shares were sold in accordance with a SEC Rule 10b5-1 plan, which is intended to prevent illegal insider trading by allowing company executives to create predetermined, automatic selling plans. The Form 4 filed by Krzanich, however, state that the plan was adopted on October 30, 2017—months after Google says it informed Intel and other affected companies about the bugs in June, which in turn were only made public this week in reports by The Register and other media.

An Intel spokesperson told TechCrunch that “Brian’s sale is unrelated. It was made pursuant to a pre-arranged stock sale plan (10b5-1) with an automated sale schedule. He continues to hold shares in-line with corporate guidelines.” After the transactions disclosed in the SEC filing, however, Krzanich owns 250,000 shares—or the minimum that he is required to hold as Intel’s CEO, as Motley Fool reported.

According to the Form 4, Krzanich held 495,743 shares before making the transactions listed in the filing. Krzanich first exercised stock options by acquiring and then immediately selling about 644,000 shares on November 29, which left his original position unchanged. Then on the same day, Krzanich made two additional transactions in which he sold a total of 245,743 shares—and this brought his total remaining shares down to exactly 250,000.

It’s important to note that executives often sell their shares and that’s not necessarily an indicator of the company’s performance. But even without the fallout from Meltdown and Spectre (which included a 2% drop in Intel’s share price after they were made public), Krzanich’s sale is noteworthy because executives usually hold onto more shares than they are required to own to signal confidence to investors, so this will very likely cast a cloud over Krzanich’s CES keynote address next week.

GoPro is in the process of laying off around 200-300 employees this week, TechLone has learned from sources close to the company. The hits to the company were largely concentrated in its aerial division, the segment of the company responsible for its Karma drone.

In a letter to impacted employees GoPro explained these cuts are part of a larger restructuring “to better align our resources with business requirements”. 

TechLone has been informed by sources that the company relieved impacted employees of duties today but will keep them on the payroll until February 16, likely planning to hold this news for after CES and perhaps tie it to an upcoming earnings report as in past instances.

The belt-tightening won’t come as much of a surprise to those following the action camera maker’s moves into drones over the past several years. GoPro’s Karma drone has been a headache from the start, both with regards to its technical limitations and a mass recall after reports stated drones were dropping from the sky late last year.

The company chalked the potentially dangerous mishap up to the battery disconnecting mid-flight. GoPro temporarily halted sales on the product, bringing it back to market in February. The return prompted some positive financials for the company, and sales did ultimately take off after the reboot, but the Karma’s appeal has been dulled by one-time partner DJI, which introduced its own portable drones, the Mavik Pro and Spark to the market.

The two companies had reportedly been working on the project that would ultimately become the Karma, only to ultimately part ways. Of course, DJI’s wealth of experience in the space gave the company a decided leg up on GoPro’s latest attempt to diversify. The company also reportedly sought partnerships with other drone makers including Southern California’s 3DR. 

Diversification has been an important part of the CEO Nick Woodman’s business plan in recent years, as the market has been flooded with competing action cameras. GoPro is still synonymous with the space, but the prevalence of improved smartphone cameras, along with far cheaper GoPro alternatives, have forced the company to explore additional revenue streams, including drones and VR.

But it’s been precisely those attempts to diversify that have been on the chopping block for the company. GoPro’s entertainment division was a key target during a layoffs in late 2016.

The company had one of its worst years on record in 2016. GoPro let 100 people go from its entertainment division in late 2016 and then an additional 270 jobs were eliminated in March of 2017. Though the company’s earnings improved in 17Q2 earnings seemingly appearing to appeared to indicate that its decision to tighten its belt and streamline its focus worked.

It seems, however, that the rebound wasn’t enough to right the ship completely.

We’ve reached out to GoPro for comment and will update as soon as we hear back.

The week after Christmas is a lazy one, but the App Store was working overtime. Apple triumphantly announced today that the late holiday season brought in more than a billion dollars in purchases on its mobile marketplace.

Indeed, $300 million came in on New Year’s Day alone, presumably as everyone made unwise in-app purchases to get through their hangovers. And $890 million was spent in the week starting Christmas Eve, though, unfortunately, Apple doesn’t break it down further than that.

More granular numbers would have been handy, as it would have allowed us to compare them to Sensor Tower’s report that Christmas Day had a total of $196 million in mobile spending, excluding China — up about 12 percent from last year.

Just as a thought exercise: If we were to divide that amount equally throughout the week, that puts Apple at around $126 million on the 25th, leaving $70 million for Google. That’s just spitballing, of course, as Google hasn’t released any data like this, and excluding China tilts the numbers in Apple’s favor.

Both companies’ app stores, however, pointed at the holidays’ true winner: Amazon. The Alexa app topped the free charts on both platforms, and Amazon proudly crowed that it had sold out of practically every new Echo device.

“Millions” of devices costing anywhere from $25 to $250 add up to quite a sum, and, of course, the gadgets are little more than perennial reminders to sign up for Prime and buy even more things you don’t need.

The OnePlus 5T, as the name suggests, isn’t a completely new handset – rather, it’s an incremental upgrade of the OnePlus 5.

[Update: The OnePlus 5T is now available in a limited edition Sandstone White finish. We’ve been hands on the new color variant and have added pictures and our thoughts on the finish in this review. An update to Android Oreo is also nearly ready.]

It’s not just an upgrade though; it’s also a replacement, as OnePlus has ceased production and sales of the phone it launched just six months prior to the arrival of the OnePlus 5T.

This isn’t a surprising move, as OnePlus did exactly the same thing in 2016 when it introduced the OnePlus 3T half a year after launching the OnePlus 3.

So what do you get with OnePlus’ second generation ‘T’? The main talking points include the biggest screen the firm has ever put on a phone, a tweaked design, improved rear camera and face recognition.

In short, there’s enough new stuff to justify its existence without it offering a radically new smartphone experience.

Check out our video below outlining the design and screen of the OnePlus 5T

OnePlus 5T price and availability

• OnePlus 5T launch price: from £449, $499, AU$599
• OnePlus 5T release date: November 21

OnePlus 5T specs

Weight: 162g
Dimensions: 156.1 x 75 x 7.3mm
OS: Android 7.1.1
Screen size: 6.01 inches
Resolution: 1080 x 2160
CPU: Snapdragon 835
RAM: 6GB/8GB
Storage: 64GB/128GB
Battery: 3,300mAh
Rear camera: 16MP + 20MP
Front camera: 16MP

The good news is that the OnePlus 5T price is exactly the same as the OnePlus 5’s, which means SIM-free you’re looking at £449 ($499, AU$599) for the 6GB/64GB model, and £499 ($559, AU$699) for the 8GB/128GB variant.

This makes the OnePlus 5T cheaper than pretty much all of its flagship rivals – but significantly the difference in spec between them is the smallest it’s ever been.

As far as a OnePlus 5T release date goes, the handset will be available from November 21 in North America, UK and Europe, with China, Hong Kong and India getting the phone soon after.

In the UK, OnePlus has signed an exclusive deal with O2, with the network offering the handset on a range of tariffs for those who don’t fancy buying the 5T outright. You can see the best OnePlus 5T deals O2 has to offer by clicking here.

Display

• Biggest-ever screen on a OnePlus phone
• 6.01-inch Full HD, AMOLED display with 18:9 aspect ratio

The single biggest change on the OnePus 5T is the display, with the handset boasting a 6.01-inch Full HD AMOLED panel with a 18:9 aspect ratio that follows this year’s trend of elongated screens on the iPhone X, Google Pixel 2 XL, Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG V30.

It’s the first time OnePlus has increased the size of the display on its core handset (the smaller OnePlus X aside), making this the biggest screen we’ve ever seen on a handset from the Chinese firm.

While its size and aspect ratio may see the OnePlus 5T pull inline with the flagship handsets it’s looking to topple, there is still one spec which denies it full membership of the high-end display club: resolution.

OnePlus has once again opted to stick with a Full HD resolution, at 1080 x 2160 with a 401ppi pixel density, while rivals all boast QHD (2K) displays.

It doesn’t mean the screen on the OnePlus 5T is poor, and thanks to the AMOLED panel colors are bright and punchy, but when you slide it alongside the competition you can see it’s not as sharp. In isolation though, it’s difficult to pick any real fault with it.

OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei also revealed on Twitter that he fooled a fan into thinking it did have a QHD display, when actually it’s stuck with Full HD.

The default color balance does seem to be a little blue, and if that doesn’t suit your eyes you can change this in the settings menu.

The screen calibration options enable you to switch to SRBG, DCI-P3, adaptive mode or customize your own settings, although the default mode does give you the punchier colors.

Selecting another mode mutes the vibrancy, but does give a more natural look to colors, especially when viewing images. The choice is yours, but we opted to stick with the default setting for the majority of our OnePlus 5T review.

OnePlus has also included a feature it calls Sunlight Display, which automatically detects harsh light and adapts the display for the best viewability; it’s basically an auto brightness mode, but it also knows what you’re doing on screen (whether it’s a game, movie or general navigation) and will optimize the display accordingly.

We didn’t notice the OnePlus 5T adapting the screen during our review period, but we also didn’t experience any viewability issues, which suggests that Sunlight Display does work, if only subtly.

Design

• Premium metal unibody looks and feels great
• Fingerprint scanner on rear with smaller bezels up front

The bigger display has had a knock-on effect in terms of the design of the OnePlus 5T, with the bezels above and below the screen getting slimmed down to provide a sleeker look and an 80.5% screen-to-body ratio.

That reduction in bezel has necessitated another design change too, with the fingerprint scanner and physical navigation keys disappearing from the front of the phone.

Biometric fans needn’t worry though, as the digit reader has been relocated to the rear of the device, and its centralized position means it’s easy to hit with your forefinger – and of course there’s now face recognition too, of which more in a moment.

The OnePlus 5T continues with the premium metal unibody design of the phone it’s replacing, which makes it look good and feel great in the hand, with the gently-curving rear helping it nestle nicely into the palm.

At 156.1 x 75 x 7.3mm and 162g the OnePlus 5T is wider, taller and heavier than the OnePlus 5, but remains the same thickness, making it similar in size and weight to the LG V30 and iPhone 8 Plus.

OnePlus 5T Midnight Black hands on gallery

Something the design doesn’t offer, though, is much grip, so you may want to invest in a material or silicone case to give you a little extra purchase – although it will add to the phone’s size in your hand.

You’ll find that the power/lock key on the right, and the volume rocker on the left, fall easily under thumb and finger when you’re holding the phone in portrait, and OnePlus continues with its notification slider on the side of the handset, allowing you to easily switch between silent, do not disturb and loud modes.

In January 2018, OnePlus launched a new color variant of the OnePlus 5T. It’s a limited edition, and we’re not sure how many devices have been produce in the Sandstone White finish, but it does offer something a little different to the stock Midnight Black color.

First of all it’s white (duh), but only on the back. The front of the handset remains black, as does the rear camera bump. While we would have liked a white surround on the front too, we do like the black camera bulge.

The Sandstone White OnePlus 5T uses the same black volume rocker, power switch and SIM tray, providing more contrast against the white finish. Then there’s the alert slider, which is an eye-catching red.

OnePlus 5T Sandstone White hands on gallery

If this looks familiar, it’s because it’s exactly the same color composition OnePlus used for the Star Wars Edition of the handset (launched in just a handful of countries) minus the famous franchise’s logo on the back.

What the white finish does provide is more grip, with a textured finished which more closely resembles the original OnePlus One. The trade-off is the white version doesn’t feel as premium in the hand, and if the OnePlus One is anything to go by it could end up getting quite dirty relatively quickly.

It’s worth noting that OnePlus provides a clear plastic case in the box with both the Midnight Black and Sandstone White models, which should keep it looking smarter for longer.

Another plus point on the OnePlus 5T is that the headphone jack has also been retained, allowing you to plug in your headphones without the need for a clunky adapter.

The camera bump from the OnePlus 5 remains on the 5T, but this time around the edges of the protrusion have been more lovingly sculpted into the main body of the device for a more uniform and slick look.

OnePlus claims it has added an anti-fingerprint layer to the finish on the OnePlus 5T, but we found that it still got grubby pretty easily, although marks and prints are easy enough to wipe off.

At launch the OnePlus 5T is available in just one color, Midnight Black, with no word on whether more hues will be on offer in the future.

From the back, it looks like the OnePlus 5, only with a fingerprint scanner

Face recognition

• Fast, easy and effective
• Not as accomplished as iPhone X

Another key feature, and a first for OnePlus, is the inclusion of face recognition tech as the brand attempts to ride the coattails of the iPhone X.

Face recognition on the OnePlus 5T isn’t as advanced as Apple’s offering, but it’s still surprisingly good, using over 100 facial identifiers to check it’s you.

It’s used only for unlocking the handset, and you’ll need to double-tap the screen or press the power key to utilize it.

The good news is that it’s really easy to setup, with the phone requiring only a matter of seconds to lock in your look.

Face unlock is surprisingly quick and easy to setup on the OnePlus 5T

It’s incredibly fast, with almost no delay between you tapping the screen or button and your home screen appearing before you. OnePlus claims the tech can identify you and unlock the handset in just 0.4 seconds, and we’re inclined to agree.

This does mean it’s a touch slower than the fingerprint scanner (0.2 seconds), and it requires you to be looking almost directly at the phone for it to work.

However, we did find that face unlock worked at some impressive angles, which means you don’t have to hold the OnePlus 5T directly in front of your face for it to work.

Something it can’t do, but which the iPhone X can, is see you in the dark. That’s because, unlike Apple, OnePlus hasn’t used an infrared camera to spy you in the dark.

Face unlock on the 5T requires a light source – street lights at night are enough, but the screen brightness itself isn’t – to check your face.

The OnePlus 5T can handle glasses and no glasses, so whether or not you’re wearing them the phone will know it’s still you, as long as your eyes are still visible. Where it struggles is when the eyes are covered.

The OnePlus 5T unlocked for us in the top row, but the disguises worn in the bottom row saw the 5T lock us out.

We tried face unlock in several different scenarios (as you can see above), but when we wore a low slung hat, and then blinkered goggles, the 5T wouldn’t unlock.

We also passed it around the office, friends and family to see if anyone else’s face unlocked the handset, and the good news is they didn’t. The likelihood is that the technology may be fooled on rare occasions – as it has been on the iPhone X – but it feels secure.

In the future OnePlus plans to expand the use of face recognition to enable you to log in to apps and verify purchases, but for now it’s using the OnePlus 5T as a test bed for the technology to make sure it’s secure.

Dell’s XPS 13 is arguably the best traditional Windows laptop around, but it’s gotten a bit aesthetically stale in recent years as the design has hardly changed since 2015. While 2018’s model doesn’t radically change the formula, a new white-and-rose-gold colorway and even smaller frame is welcome change of pace.

While you can still get the laptop in a traditional black-and-silver, the color is the star of the show. White laptops have a tendency to stain, but Dell says its special coating should ensure its resistant to most things you throw on it – including your grubby skin oils. The white model also has a bit of woven texture that felt nice during my brief hands-on, and the optional fingerprint reader is now integrated into the power button. (Side-note: pardon the lack of hands-on photos; my SD card died on me).

The laptop is 30 percent thinner than the previous model and starts at 2.7 pounds, once again making it “the smallest 13-inch on the planet.” The already-tiny bezels are even smaller, and you can now configure it with a 4K screen with 100 percent sRGB coverage. The webcam is still on the chunky bottom bezel though, and I kind of wish Dell would use a taller aspect ratio like 16:10 or 3:2, but it’s still one of the best screen-to-body ratios you’ll find.

One change that might divide some users is that Dell is going all in on USB-C ports and abandoning USB-A (though there’s an adapter in a box). The laptop comes with three USB-C ports, two of them Thunderbolt 3 ports, and one USB 3.1. Another neat bonus: this time those Thunderbolt 3 ports come with a full four PCI-E lanes, which should let you add external graphics without a hitch.

Meanwhile the refresh comes with a bigger battery to both provide “up to 19 hours” of battery with the FHD display, and improved thermals should help get more out of the 8th-gen Intel chips under load.

The new laptop goes on sale today on Dell.com and Microsoft.com, starting at $999. You can read more about the new laptop on Dell’s website.

It’s been less than a year since Mad Catz shut its doors, but today to the story of the gaming peripheral maker got a lot more interesting. Mad Catz has returned, with a line up of new gaming accessories primed and ready for the show floor at CES. The company will now be known as Mad Catz Global Limited and will be headquartered in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

The products announced by Mad Catz today include a new mouse and mousepad combo, a mechanical gaming keyboard, and a headset. The company seems to be reviving old product lines now that it’s back in business, with the new mouse being the latest in the RAT series. Known as the RAT AIR, this mouse uses its accompanying RAT PAD as a wireless power mat.

The RAT AIR can be used wirelessly with the pad, drawing power from the USB mat as you play. This, importantly, removes the need for batteries, which can add extra weight where you may not want it. The RAT AIR can be used without the pad, thanks to a removable USB cable that can turn it into a wired mouse.

The STRIKE 4 keyboard seems to be a pretty straightforward accessory, and indeed, Mad Catz doesn’t spend an awful lot of time describing it today. Outfitted with RGB lighting and an aluminum frame, the STRIKE 4 should provide all that we’ve come to expect from mechanical gaming keyboards. Just as well, the FREQ 4 gaming headset boasts “high-quality 40mm neodymium drivers and a metal plated frame.”

For now, details on these new products are fairly slim, but Mad Catz says more information will be “announced shortly.” We can probably expect that happen at CES, where Mad Catz will have these new devices on hand. Beyond that, the freshly-revived company says that it will have more products to announce in the months to come. Perhaps a new fight stick is on the way? Time will tell.