Sony SRS-NS7 Wireless Neckband Speaker Arriving In Malaysia This January

Sony has launched the SRS-NS7, the latest addition to its wireless neckband speaker series. According to its specs, the new device fits into the high-end category when compared to its sibling, the Sony SRS-NB10, which was unveiled earlier in July this year.

Like the aforementioned product, the new SRS-NS7 is also an IP4X-rated full range speaker that you can wear around your neck. What sets this particular model apart from its sibling is its larger X-Balanced speaker units, which emphasises on surround sound and clearer bass – giving you a more immersive experience when watching movies or listening to music. 

If you happen to own Sony’s Bravia XR TVs, you can take the wireless neckband speaker’s audio output capabilities a notch higher. Introduced alongside the SRS-NS7 is the WLA-NS7 Bluetooth transmitter, which is capable of transmitting low latency Dolby Atmos 360 spatial audio from the TV to the wearable speaker. The transmitter is sold separately and is only compatible with Bravia XR TVs.

Other than that, the Sony SRS-NS7 also comes with built-in microphones which enables you to use it for voice or video conference calls. Since it relies on Bluetooth 5.0 connectivity, the wearable speaker can also be connected to other compatible devices such as smartphones, PCs, and so on. There’s also a multi-pair capability which allows you to connect the SRS-NS7 to two different devices at once.

In terms of battery life, Sony says the wearable speaker can last up to 12 hours of playback on a single charge. It also comes with 7.5W fast-charging capability via USB-C, which is claimed to top-up an hour’s worth of use in just 10 minutes.

The new Sony SRS-NS7 wireless neckband speaker and the WLA-NS7 Bluetooth transmitter are priced at RM1,249 and RM269 respectively. In terms of local availability, both devices are expected to arrive in Malaysia by January of next year. Meanwhile, the smaller SRS-NB7 will retail at RM599 and is also slated to be available locally at the same time as its high-end sibling.

Microsoft Xbox Series X Mini Fridge Now Official And Arriving This Year

A couple of months ago, there was a Twitter poll where the Xbox Series X beat out Skittles. The poll saw a surge of interest when Aaron Greenberg, marketing manager of Xbox, said that if his console won the poll, he’d make mini fridges that look like the console. Well, it did win and now, Greenberg is keeping his word.

Microsoft concluded its E3 2021 keynote with the announcement of its mini fridge and that it would be available for purchase sometime this holiday season. It’s officially named the Xbox Mini Fridge and they promised that it is “the world’s most powerful mini fridge”, and that it’s built with a cutting-edge “Xbox Velocity Cooling Architecture”; an obvious play on the Xbox Series X’s “Velocity Architecture”.

Maybe you’ll be able to purchase this mini-fridge and cool your head about the fact that Microsoft will not be officially launching the Xbox Series X and Series S in the Malaysian market. That said, the mini fridge might not even make it to our market officially either, for the same reasons as the console’s unavailability in Malaysia.

AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution Gets Launch Date; Arriving 22 June

Besides the Zen 3-powered APUs and new Radeon RX 6000M series GPUs for laptops, one of the more important announcements of AMD’s Computex 2021 keynote was the progress of its FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) upscaling technology. More to the point, the company also provided a key detail many gamers have been looking forward to: a release date for FSR.

As a quick primer, FSR is to AMD what NVIDIA’s DLSS upscaling feature is to its RTX technology. Unlike DLSS, though, FSR doesn’t require the use of proprietary and specifically designed core for the task.

Again, like DLSS, FSR will have four quality presets for gamers: Ultra Quality, Quality, Balance, and Performance. Naturally, Ultra Quality will retain as many pixels at the cost of frames, while running an FSR supported title at the Performance preset will guarantee higher frame rates, albeit at the cost of details.

To our surprise, AMD says that FSR will not only work on its hardware, but also on NVIDIA’s GeForce products. In the case of the keynote, the company showcased the GeForce GTX 1060 running with FSR, with the video demo showing the card supposedly gaining 41% more framerates with the feature enabled.

AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution will be available on 22 June and the feature will be applicable across the board for all Radeon GPUs. To reiterate, the feature will be available on not just AMD’s Radeon RX 6000 series GPUs, but also its last-generation Radeon RX 5000 Series, Radeon RX 500 series, as well as all Ryzen CPUs fitted with Radeon graphics cores.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti And RTX 3070 Ti Now Official; Both Arriving This Month

After months of speculation and rumours, NVIDIA has finally let the cat out of the bag on its new GeForce RTX 3080 Ti and RTX 3070 Ti graphics cards. Announced during its Computex 2021 keynote earlier, the two cards serve as a step-up to the currently existing RTX 3080 and RTX 3070 graphics cards.

Starting with the RTX 3080 Ti, as per the initial reports, the card comes with 12GB GDDR6X, 34 Shaders-TFLOPS, 67 RT-FLOPS, and 273 Tensor-TFLOPs. Additionally, the card also has 10240 CUDA Cores, a 19Gbps memory clock, as well as a 384-bit memory bus.

In terms of performance, NVIDIA says that the card is 1.5x more powerful and faster than its last generation RTX 2080 Ti. That power does come with a higher TGP consumption of 350W, which is 30W more than the RTX 3080. Elsewhere, the card has a boost clock of 1665MHz, 112 ROPs, and a memory bandwidth of 912GB/s.

The GeForce RTX 3080 Ti will be available from 3 June onwards, with an official SRP of US$1199 (~RM4946).

Next on the list is the RTX 3070 Ti. Aesthetically, the card’s cooler shroud definitely looks different from the RTX 3070; rather than use the same dual front-facing fan design, NVIDIA has opted to use the inverted dual-axis flow through design, originally introduced with the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090.

Specs-wise, there’s not a whole lot of detail about the RTX 3070 Ti besides what was showed on screen, but the card is definitely getting 8GB GDDR6X graphics memory, and not the standard GDDR6. Additionally, the card will have 22 Shader-TFLOPS, 42 RT-TFLOPS, and 174 Tensor-TFLOPs. In terms of performance, NVIDIA says the card is 1.5x more powerful than the RTX 2070 Super, and approximately 20% faster than the current RTX 3070.

As for availability, the GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is slated for 10 June and will have an SRP of US$599 (~RM2471).

Sony FX3 Cinema Line Camera Now Official; Arriving In Malaysia This May

Sony has officially announced the latest member of its Cinema Line cameras with the new FX3, which also happens to be the smallest of the bunch. As you may recall from our previous report, the camera had already been leaked last week – with its overall design and some of its key specifications revealed ahead of its launch.

As previously pointed out in the leaks, the Sony FX3 Cinema Line does indeed carry some hardware elements from the A7S III, packed into a more compact A7C-like body. However, the camera does feature a different sensor – specifically, a back-illuminated full-frame 10.2MP which Sony claims to offer low noise, up to 409,600 ISO in sensitivity and over 15 stops of dynamic range. Included onboard is the same S-Cinetone colour matrix that is also featured on the brand’s FX6 and FX9 cameras, as well as eleven different picture profile settings such as S-Gamut3 and S-Gamut3 Cinema. However, unlike its Cinema Line brethren, the FX3 does not come with an internal electronic ND (neutral density) filter.

The new camera is able to capture videos in 4K with 10-bit 4:2:2 colour sampling internally or 16-bit RAW output via HDMI. Frame rate-wise, it can record up to 120 fps in 4K resolution and up to 240 fps in Full HD 1080p. Much like the Sony A7S III, the FX3 Cinema Line does not have the ability to record 8K footage, although that is to be expected considering its size. It is also worth noting that it does come with better internal cooling than the aforementioned model, allowing it to shoot videos at up to 13 hours uninterrupted. According to Sony, the cooling system’s fan can be customised to operate in three modes: Auto, Minimum and Off.

Further assisting with the FX3’s imaging capabilities is a 627-point focal-plane phase-detection autofocus system. This comes with several functionalities such as Eye-AF, Real-Time Tracking AF and Touch Tracking via its rear LCD screen. The camera is the first from the Cinema Line series to be equipped with a 5-axis on-sensor image stabilisation system (IBIS), which can be further enhanced with digital stabilisation by activating the onboard Active Mode. However, the company noted that the mode is only available for low frame rate video recording.

Despite its slight resemblance to the A7C (or rather, a bulkier version of it), the Sony FX3 Cinema Line does not include an electronic viewfinder – somewhat reminiscent of the brand’s older NEX mirrorless camera models instead. For image framing, the new camera relies on a tilt-swivel 1.44 million-dot LCD screen on its back, which also enables for touch-based autofocus control, selection and tracking. Sony says that its body is supported by stainless steel substructure, making it sturdy enough to handle challenging situations. It is also noted to be dust and moisture resistant to an extent, although no IP rating was provided.

Other than that, the camera comes with five 1/4-20 inch UNC thread holes on its upper body for mounting external peripherals, one USB-C port, a microUSB port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a full size HDMI Type-A port. It is also worth noting that the USB-C port can be utilised to keep the device powered for extended periods. Storage-wise, the FX3 features dual CFexpress Type A and SD memory card slots.

Sony has confirmed that the new FX3 Cinema Line is expected to arrive in Malaysia this May. The camera will be sold at a recommended retail price of RM18,999 – a tad higher than the Sony A7S III (currently at RM16,599), but still considerably affordable than the other devices in the brand’s Cinema Line series.