Enover5

Alright, thanks for the help!

The mention of FSP having D-tier products in their lineup was solely to show that the FSP branding isn't an automatic factor of undisputable quality. And yes, I do have the link, since the PSU is so unknown there only are a limited number of reviews, mainly in Spanish (since the brand's based there), but only one is in italian as far as I am aware of.

I thought my hunt for weird unknown PSUs was over, but not at all. Oh no. Would you know if the Tacens Radix VII AG is any good? Some random italian youtube channel claims it is made by FSP, but they do have D Tier PSUs in this list, so they don't always deliver I guess. It should be noted that is is 80+ Silver-rated though

Great, thanks a lot.

Hello gentlemen, I am here to ask you: where would the Zalman LX series be on the list if it was included?

It's been rumored for quite a while now, so you probably should have waited for the real official announcement before making an article... Unless it is just a placeholder for the announcement of the cards, of course ?

That's where I got it wrong. Thanks you two (Ryan_Vickers and WeteCatf) for calling me out on it. Indeed, the 2017 variant was just of smaller size than the 2015 variant, and that's about it. Oh, and ARTICLE UPDATED !

I didn't remember about the K1 (original) having it, but I know the X1 one does have it... EDIT : The original one ALSO had the X1, my bad.

I know, I know. Unless they go fanless and Chromecast-style for mdarcy, I have no idea who it will be designed for. But that's why I don't support the first source when it says mdarcy and sif will share the same SoC. Sif will need a more modern SoC to claim back the SHIELD TV's throne of being the most "balls to the wall"/price-to-performance champion of Android TV/game console implementations. EDIT: There is currently no Tegra SoC based on Turing, but who knows what Nvidia is planning for its most unpredictable division. So yeah, Pascal or Volta it is (lettuce pray for the latter).

For sif: The Bluetooth certification clearly mentions a "SHIELD Android TV Game Console" with the same model number than in the Shield Experience leak and FCC filing. That's a lot of coincidence if you ask me. For mdarcy: making a lower footprint refresh is far from usual in the industry, and Nvidia has filed for a revision (Class II) of the 2017 SHIELD TV. This points towards a "slim" refresh. And darcy is a well established product. Making a mdarcy means something. Either the m stands for mini, or it stands for mariko. Or both, according to the sources. Plus, we have new peripherals on the way, which don't come out outside of other SHIELD product launches.

As long as it's not important... And no, there was a Shield Tablet prior to the K1, featuring the same Tegra 4 SoC as the Shield Portable (the "controller with a screen attached" if you prefer) and that cameout in 2013, one year before the K1 was announced (although this model had battery overheating problems, so the K1 really came out in 2015)

Since I left mine with the stock ROM, I can't tell you what patching does to it (plus mine was the K1, not the original one), but it is very safe to say it probably is because of the drops, man. Tablets just aren't as resilient to drops as modern day smartphones. But have you tried to open it up and see if one of the speaker connectors was simply loose?

I can only hope you paid a good price for it then xP As for OLED, of course small panels can be found on affordable devices, but remember OLED is very difficult to produce in larger dimensions. And we've only recently seen laptop-sized screens get equipped with them, and for a hefty price. Keep in mind the price of the Shield Tablet line-up, if the MSRP is above 500$ (maybe even 400$), it completely defeats its purpose.

Yeah, the Shield Portable (that's what it was called) was YEARS ahead of its time... And a software implementation failure like I had never seen before. Imagine it with thinner bezels, Dolby Atmos and a high refresh rate screen... Oh boy. I must've been too absorbed by its shear power and beauty to have noticed the haters hatin' in the background ?

Although I disagree on the fact that it had small bezels for the time (to their credit, the speakers were huge and innovative) and the camera (let's face it, at the time you couldn't rely on mobile devices for photography), it was a great device. And for the phone part (pun intended), look into the Surface Duo... if you can afford it, that is.

Oh no. Nope, no chance. You do NOT want an OLED screen or the screen's price will be double of that of the entire tablet alone and the device's price will hit the roof. Plus, they can go higher res without sacrificing affordability, one of the key areas in which the Shield Tablets crushed everything back in the day.

They were quite nice, but I think a modern design with rounded corners such as the Galaxy Tab S6 or S5e, with an IPS LCD that has a variable high refresh rate would be better suited.

Especially if Nvidia increases the number of ports of PC games to Android via their Lightspeed Studios.

Disclaimer : While the first two devices are almost certainly coming (unless Nvidia pulls out a Shield Tablet X1-type move), the third one is just extrapolation based on previous news dating back to April 24th, and experience as to Nvidia’s method of announcing new Shield products. Let’s start from the beginning, shall we. On June 15th, XDA-Developpers reported that they had found a device codenamed “mdarcy” in "the Google Play Developer Consoles’ Device Catalogue". The product was supposed to boast the revised, shrunk-down version of the Tegra X1 found in the new Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, the t210b01. What supports this is the fact that “mariko” is the codename for the t210b01 chip, and “darcy” is the device name for the 2017 Shield TV, and “mdarcy” is obviously a “darcy” device based on “mariko”. The device will likely have a smaller footprint conpared to the 2017 current-gen Shield TV, and could go fanless (I personally don’t back up this claim, as even the Nintendo Switch Lite, which consumes certainly less power than a fixed set-top-box, needs a fan and heatsink in order not to overheat, so imagine a device that would stay in your living room 100% of the time and that would have higher clock speeds in order to output 4K at 60fps… Yeaaah, it’s gonna be a no for me). But while we knew Nvidia was planning mdarcy, on August 5th, some new leaks coming directly from the related FCC filing by Nvidia have taught us that they’re planning a second Shield TV device codenamed “sif”. And unlike mdarcy, sif is supposedly the next-gen Shield TV. It is currently unclear which chip Nvidia chose for sif, but I would expect the Tegra X2 or the low-power version of the Tegra Xavier, since it will need to be more powerful than mdarcy (also, don’t trust the website when it says mdarcy and sif will share SoCs as their claim isn’t backed up by any source whatsoever and it simply doesn't make any sense). IO-wise, sif will apparently present no USB port (which I find quite strange and disappointing but oh well…) nor will it support/feature a TV tuner. Fast forward to the 30th of September, and mysmartprice.com reported that sif was just certified for Bluetooth 5.0 by the Bluetooth SIG, confirming what we know from the FCC filings and the Shield Experience 8,0 update. And we know the device concerned is not mdarcy because of the model number, that is to say P3430. The Bluetooth certification usually happening near the release date of new products, we can definitely expect the new Shield TVs some time soon, possibly before the end of the year (I really can’t imagine Nvidia unveiling these alongside the 1660ti Super, 1650ti and 1660 Super), or Q1 2020 (although I have no clue as to why they would do that). Both Shield TVs will also likely come out with new accessories, two of which were leaked in March: a controller, “stormcaster”, and a remote, “friday”. But that’s only two devices, right? And I promised you three. So, the Shield 2-in-1 convertible tablet, codename “mystique”. I know, there haven’t been any more leaks pointing to a release being due for the same time frame as the two above (the only clue we got of the existence of such a product was on the 24th of April), however the thing is Nvidia has always released their Shield products all at the same time, and around that time of the year. Plus, it’s been 4 years since we last got a mobile device from Nvidia (NO, the Nintendo Switch DOESN’T COUNT), and more importantly, between April and present time, a game-changing event (for this device, at least ) occurred: Android 10 has dropped, and it features a desktop mode. You can see where this is going, right? I predict that if the tablet ever comes to exist, it will use it as following: when handheld (only the tablet, not the keyboard), it will run Android normally. But as soon as you’ll snap on the keyboard, it will switch to the desktop mode WHILE still outputting to the primary display, "Desktop" which is one of the three leaked modes Nvidia has worked on (more precisely, the “NVIDIA Desktop Experience”). From the April leak, you can also choose to activate a specific mode on start up. And with the new Surface line up just announced, I wonder if they’re not thinking about taking on Microsoft’s solution head to head before it is too late, as Microsoft plans to combine Android and Windws in one device. I REALLY hope mystique will come out before the end of the year alongside mdarcy and sif, so we can finally have a decently-priced top-spec Android tablet again (2015 vibes anyone?). Another thing I hope for is support for stormcaster with mystique, like the the precedent Shield Tablets have supported the STBs' controllers. Sources: https://www.mysmartprice.com/gear/new-nvidia-shield-tv-gets-closer-launch-passes-bluetooth-sig-certification/ https://www.xda-developers.com/nvidia-shield-android-tv-refreshed-tegra-x1/ https://www.xda-developers.com/nvidia-shield-tv-2019-rumors/ https://www.xda-developers.com/nvidia-new-shield-controller-shield-remote/ https://www.xda-developers.com/nvidia-desktop-experience-shield-tablet-2019/ NEW STUFF : Hey, itsa me, your boy, about 3 days late, to tell you "sif" got certified by the WiFi alliance for... WiFi 5 (802.11 ac if you prefer). So yeah, no WiFi 6, which isn't all that great (although users tend to prefer to connect SHIELD TVs via Ethernet). If it helps bringing the price down, like the absence of NFC on the Shield Tablet K1, then why not. No need for me to tell you the launch is nearing rapidly. My guess is Nvidia is targeting a release after the announcement at CES 2020, as other SHIELD TVs were announced there at that time of the year. By the way, we have a problem of conflicting sources here, as although I said sif was the device that was just certified, 9to5Google claims the model number P3430 (the model that got certified) refers to mdarcy, while literally every single other source has said P3430 was in fact sif. And by reading their article, it seems as though they don't know about sif's (or simply the other SHIELD TV in the works) existence. New sources : https://www.wi-fi.org/product-finder-results?keywords=P3430 https://9to5google.com/2019/10/03/nvidia-shield-tv-dongle-bluetooth-certification-android-pie/ (Take this one with a pinch of salt, like the mysmartprice link)

Also, the app is expected to reach 80m downloads by the time the party holds the ceremony.

<--- I'll personally come in your sleep. :cue For Mankind by Misha Mansoor:

This is why I don’t shop at Alibaba nor use Chinese tech giants’ services (not even Tencent btw). Two people working at Alibaba confirmed the development of « Xuexi Qiangguo », a propaganda app praising Chinese president Xi Jinping’s policy and reiterating the crucial role of the Communist Party in China, was undertaken by the « Y Projects Business Unit », a shaaaaady branch of the company meant to develop solutions other than for the parent company. The app « dethroned Tik Tok’s Chinese version Douyin and WeChat to become the country’s most popular app on Apple’s China app store » (the app is of course also available on Android). As bad as a corporation cooperating with a government is, it shouldn’t really come as a surprise to a lot of people as Jack Ma, the company’s founder, is an eminent member of the Communist Party, and China being a dictatorship, it makes its giant tech corporates such as Tencent or *Huawei* cooperate by force anyway. The app has been downloaded more than 45 million people since its launch in January, and part of its popularity comes from the obligation for expansive Communist Party members to download it. The app launched ahead of the annual party reunion that takes place in March. The real problem is this cooperation creates so many privacy concerns I cannot help but feel sorry for the Chinese people. I mean, no one can certify the app has no tracker or other spyware hidden in the app that the government would have wanted. And if you add the facial recognition system already present in most of China's megalopoles and big cities, well, I feel sad. You feel it, too, don't you? Source: Reuters (I first saw it on French online newspaper 20minutes)

As I already mentionned, apps can keep all the information they've gathered, but won't be able to collect new. So these apps will probably stay kinda relevant for some time, although their future clearly isn't assured.

Sources: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-12/apple-cracks-down-on-apps-sharing-information-on-users-friends https://developer.apple.com/app-store/review/guidelines/#data-use-and-sharing Apple now preventing developers from collecting your contacts data and making databases out of it isn't a bad news in itself, but the very fact that it was allowed for allllllllllll the time the terms of use of the App Store were applied is absolutely horrifying. This pretty much means that Apple's reputation for [autain tone] "being fair to their customers by putting an accent on privacy and data privacy" was only pure b******* until now - and who knows if there aren't other willingly-made loopholes or exploits in their policies. Plus, let's not forget that Apple has stated the developers won't have the right to collect new data, but developers can keep the data they are already in full possession of. Decidedly, both Apple and Facebook have way too often been in the spotlight these recent days due to errors from them accumulating and combining over time, and ESPECIALLY because of privacy issues, in the current context of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Let's also remember applications running on Android must ask for the permission - if necessary - to obtain access to contacts info, although we do not know what developers make of it if such a permission is given to an app. EDIT: It is important to note that yes permission was asked but it was for the huge majority REQUIRED for the app to run.