It’s been a busy week for tech – with big headlines from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in Hawaii, all the way down to press releases from a ton of other brands, there’s a lot of tech news going around right now. With that said though, we’ve highlighted some of the must-know news stories from the week, for those of you who haven’t had much time to keep up with daily updates, at least as far as consumer electronics are concerned. Let’s see what’s happened this week!
Qualcomm Promises Big Upgrades with its New Flagship Snapdragon Chip
Smartphone silicon giant Qualcomm unveiled its latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, promising a lot of new enhancements for upcoming Android devices. The Snapdragon 8 Elite is the first mobile chip from the company that comes with Qualcomm’s Oryon CPU, and it’s designed with on-device genAI software in mind, as the industry moves even faster towards an AI-based approach to mobile computing. As for performance, the company says that the 8 Elite manages to reach a score of 3,221 for single-core performance and 10,426 for multi-core testing, both of which out-perform the 8 Gen 3’s 2,193 and 7,304 scores respectively.
Meet the Insta360 Ace Pro 2
Insta360 once again expanded its camera lineup with the Ace Pro 2, which comes with improvements in terms of form and function. There’s now up to 39 feet (or 12 meters) of waterproofing, Insta360’s AI software which allows users to access features such as the ability to instantly pause or cancel recordings, support for gestures and voice control, auto editing capabilities, as well as an AI highlights assistant that Insta360 says reduces the need for complex workflows for content creators. There’s also 8K resolution recording at 30fps, 4K recording at 60fps with Active HDR, and features such as PureVideo which improves lowlight filming sessions.
8BitDo’s New Controller is Crazy Affordable
Gaming accessory brand 8BitDo recently took the wraps off its “Ultimate Mobile Gaming Controller” (UMGC), a telescopic controller designed specifically for Android devices. Designed to take on popular options like the Backbone and Razer Kishi, the UMGC is priced at around $50 and comes with hall-effect joysticks and triggers, a technology that utilizes magnets to provide more durable and precise control compared to traditional input methods. Compatible with Android devices ranging from 100 to 170mm in length and Android versions 9 to 15, the controller connects via Bluetooth and offers customizable control setups. It is set to launch on November 29.
Samsung Announces its Latest Exynos Chipset
Last but not the least is Samsung’s latest mid-range SoC, the Exynos 1580. It features a prime Cortex-A720 core clocked at 2.9GHz, three big A720 cores at 2.6GHz, four A520 cores at 1.95GHz, and Samsung also promises a performance boost of up to 37% and an NPU capable of up to 14.7 TOPS. As for hardware support, the Exynos 1580 is compatible with 144Hz refresh rate displays, WiFi 6E, 200MP cameras, and 4K video recording at 60fps. While real-world performance remains to be seen, the chipset is expected to power the upcoming Galaxy A-series models, which are expected to arrive early next year.
