Sony is no stranger to launching its mainline consoles in different special editions and revisions, and it looks like the company is at it again - new reports confirm that the Japanese tech giant is working on a more powerful version of the PlayStation 5, currently known as the PS5 "Pro."

According to a report from the folks over at The Verge, Sony has been in talks with various developers to prepare games ready over the summer - it's also said that the company will make ray-tracing support a top priority with the Pro model. The report also states that sources have confirmed a number of hardware specifications for the upcoming console.

The PS5 Pro is codenamed "Trinity," and packs a more powerful GPU (45% faster than the standard model) and slightly faster CPU mode. Supposedly, the PS5 Pro will be capable of rendering games with ray tracing enabled, as well as higher resolutions and frame rates in certain titles. Select titles will also be able to use a "Trinity Enhanced" (PS5 Pro Enhanced) if they come with "significant enhancements."

Additionally, a document from Sony to developers says that while the Pro model comes with the same CPU on the standard PS5, a new mode will be included for faster clock speeds, with up to as much as 10% faster speeds.

PS5 Pro dev kits will supposedly have changes to system memory, running to as high as 576GB/s on the PS5 Pro. Futhermore, games can use an additional 1.2GB of system memory on the PS5 Pro - 13.7GB overall compared to the 12.5GB allocated to games on the regular PS5 model. At this point, no solid launch date has been set, although it's strongly believed that Sony might get the PS5 Pro launch in time for the holidays.

Samsung is no stranger when it comes to wearable headsets. The company has created a number of VR headsets over the years, but with the launch of the Apple Vision Pro, it's no surprise that Samsung is showing renewed interest in the category again. Samsung teased an XR headset that will be built in collaboration with Google and Qualcomm back in 2023, and we could officially get the details as soon as next month.

This is according to a post on X by Google. The company says there will be some announcements related to augmented reality made at I/O 2024. This has led some to speculate that maybe the details and features of the Samsung XR headset could be revealed during the event.

Samsung hasn't really said much about the headset after the initial confirmation in 2023. This has led to a lot of rumors and speculation about the device. It is rumored to run on a variant of Android and use a Qualcomm chipset made for XR devices.

The rumors also claim that it will come in at a lower price than the Apple Vision Pro. It will be interesting to see what kind of features it could offer. Samsung isn't alone in trying to come up with something new to compete with the Apple Vision Pro. In 2023, there were rumors that Meta and LG could be working together to create a new headset.

The Pixel leaks just keep on coming - shortly after several images showing the supposed Pixel 8a color variants were shared online, it looks like another tidbit of pre-launch information has once again made rounds online. This time however, the new leaks reveals some information about the Pixel 9.

Posting on Twitter, tech informant @Za_Raczke states that will feature a new modem, in addition to satellite connectivity. More specifically, the Pixel 9 is expected to come with the Samsung Modem 5400 via the Tensor G4 chip, which is expected to be a significant upgrade over previous Samsung modems that Google has used in the past.

It should be noted that Google's Tensor-powered smartphones have been notorious among users for spotty connectivity, which included issues with both cellular and Wifi signals. Many have blamed this on the Samsung-made modems in the phones.

As for satellite connectivity, it's stated that this year's Pixel flagships will be the first to natively come with Android's satellite-communication feature, which will be initially provided in partnership with both T-Mobile and SpaceX. However, the feature will only allow messaging in addition to a "Satellite Gateway" app for reaching out to communication services.

For the longest time ever, Samsung dominated the smartphone market. They pretty much held onto the number one spot, at least until last year. Last year, Apple managed to dethrone Samsung and claim the number one position, but it looks like Apple's claim to the throne did not last very long.

According to the latest figures from the IDC, Samsung has managed to reclaim their position. The numbers reveal that for Q1 2024, Samsung managed to ship 60.1 million units of smartphones which gave them a 20.8% market share. This is versus Apple who only shipped 50.1 million units which represented a 17.3% market share.

Both Apple and Samsung actually saw a decline in year-over-year shipments, but Apple seemed to take a larger hit of -9.6%. Samsung on the other hand only saw a decline of 0.7%. In third place is Xiaomi with a 14.1% market share and a growth of 33.8%. Transsion came in fourth place with a 9.9% market share, but saw the largest growth of 84.9% year-over-year. Oppo came in fifth place with an 8.7% market share.

To be fair, Samsung released its flagship phones earlier this year which probably gave them a boost. It will be interesting to see if Apple's release of their new iPhones later this year will let them overtake Samsung again. But until that happens, for now it looks like Samsung is once again reigning supreme.

While Nothing's upcoming wireless earbuds are still officially behind wraps, it looks like fans now have a good idea of what to expect (at least visually) once the company formally unveils its new products. More specifically, a set of leaked images show the new Nothing Ear and Nothing Ear (a) designs, leaving nothing (pun somewhat intended) to the imagination.

Posting on twitter/X, tech tipster Ishan Agarwal shared several images of both earbuds. Based on the posts, it looks like the Nothing Ear will succeed the Nothing Ear (2), although interestingly enough it doesn't bear "3" in its name, at least at the moment. As for the design, it does resemble the first two Nothing Ear flagship earbuds, especially with the design and square charging case.

Meanwhile, the Nothing Ear (a) is expected to slot into Nothing's budget accessory lineup, as evidenced by the "a" branding. The leaked photo shows three different variants, one of which sports a yellow palette, which is a look previously unseen in older Nothing products. The a-model earbuds also come in a slightly smaller charging case.

As for hardware, not much is known about the new Nothing Ear model, although it's predicted that the Ear (a) might feature 45dB ANC, Dual connection, quick charging, up to 8 hours battery life and IP54 rating.