The IFA Berlin tradeshow is traditionally where Sony launches its new devices in the second half of the year. IFA is taking place from 3 – 5 September 2020, therefore it is not surprising to see the first renders leak of a new Xperia smartphone. Sony launched the Xperia 5 at IFA 2019, so it doesn't take huge elements of deduction to figure that the Xperia 5 II (Mark 2) is likely to arrive at IFA 2020.

Sony Japan has announced the Xperia 8 Lite (J3273), which is basically a SIM-free version of the Xperia 8 model that launched last year. This move follows a number of other handsets that have gone SIM-free in Japan recently, including the Xperia 1 II, Xperia 1 and Xperia 5.

The Nintendo Switch has not seen any changes to its hardware ever since it was launched a few years ago. Nintendo did introduce a new model with the Switch Lite, but otherwise there haven’t been any other upgrades. However, if the latest rumors are to be believed, we could be getting a new model next year.

This is according to a report from Bloomberg who claims that Nintendo is expected to introduce an upgraded version of the Switch in the first quarter of 2021. While the report does not state what kind of upgrades we can expect, they do claim that Nintendo was looking into introducing more computing power along with 4K graphics.

Sony has updated a few handsets recently including the Xperia 1 II (Mark 2) flagship which sees its build number move from 58.0.A.3.88 to version 58.0.A.3.132, and incudes the August 2020 Android security patches.

One of the nifty features of the iOS and macOS ecosystem is that they all work hand in hand. This is especially useful if you have a new device and need to connect to the WiFi, in which you can actually sync the password of the WiFi network from an older device with the new one, saving you some time.

The good news is that it looks like Google wants the same thing for Android and Chrome OS where based on the comments made by developers, it seems that soon Google will enable WiFi password syncing between Android and Chrome OS devices. This means that if you’re connected to someone’s WiFi network and don’t want to bother them for the password, or if you forgot your password, you can use this sync feature to connect the new device to the network.

Sony Japan has announced that it will release a SIM-free version of the Xperia 1 II, which will come with a boost in specs versus the international model. Up until now, the Xperia 1 II was available only through two carriers in Japan (NTT docomo and au by KDDI). The new variant with model number XQ-AT42 is expected to arrive on 30 October 2020 at a cost of 124,000 yen (£892, €987, $1168).

In the past few months, we’ve seen how various camera makes such as Fujifilm, Canon, and Olympus release software for computers that easily turns their cameras into webcams without the need for third-party software or capture cards. Sony was missing from that list, but not anymore.

Sony has since released the Imaging Edge Webcam software that will turn compatible Sony cameras into webcams quickly and easily. All you need to do is download the software from Sony’s website, connect it to your computers, and you’re good to go! For now, the software only supports Windows 10, and we’re not sure if there are plans to eventually support macOS as well, but we wouldn’t be surprised if the version of macOS were to arrive later.

Sony has picked up an EISA 2020-21 Multimedia Smartphone award for the Xperia 1 II (Mark 2), a well-deserved win given the phones' all round performance. The handset boasts a number of features that helped it to win including its 4K OLED display, Dolby Atmos sound, support for PlayStation DUALSHOCK4 controllers, and of course the return of the 3.5mm headphone jack.

The beauty of Android over iOS is that Android usually lets users choose their default apps, while iOS pretty much limits users to the default apps. However, the bad news is that come Android 11, Google seems to be clamping down on allowing users to pick their default camera within apps.

Basically, with certain apps, the developers can make it so that users can choose to use a different camera app apart from the default one it is bundled with. This is because some apps aren’t designed to be photography apps, and as such, they might not necessarily take the best photos or give users more control.

The company has announced that they will be “raising the bar” with their Android update support where a bunch of Samsung handsets and tablets will now be eligible for at least three generations worth of updates. This means that depending on the device, your handset or tablet could receive major Android updates up to 2021 or some even going into 2022.

The support devices include Samsung’s Galaxy S series starting with the Galaxy S10 Lite and newer; the Note series which starts from the Note 10 Lite and newer; Samsung’s entire foldable lineup; the Galaxy A series which starts with the A51 and newer; and the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and newer.

As far as Zelda games on the Nintendo Switch are concerned, there are several titles that we know of. There is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, the Breath of the Wild sequel, and The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. However, it seems that we might soon be able to add one more title to that list.

According to an Amazon UK listing, it appears that Nintendo could also be planning on launching The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword on the Switch as well. For those who are unfamiliar, Skyward Sword is not a new Zelda game, but rather it was originally designed for the Wii and Wii U consoles.

The argument that the US government is using in their bid to ban TikTok is that they claim that the app collects data on US citizens, which they believe poses a risk to national security. It seems that whatever excuses TikTok is making to defend itself might be moot, especially with a recent discovery.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, it appears that towards the end of 2019, TikTok had actually been collecting data on Android users in the form of the user’s MAC addresses. Unlike cookies that can be easily deleted, MAC addresses are unique identifiers that are used especially in digital advertising to identify devices.

When it comes to mobile chipsets, Qualcomm is undoubtedly king. This isn’t to say that they are necessarily the best, but they do have a massive chunk of the chipset market. Samsung is producing chipsets of their own, although benchmarks have shown in the past that the company’s Exynos chipsets simply aren’t up to scratch compared to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon series.

However, that could change soon because according to a report from Business Korea, it seems that Samsung could be looking to take things up a notch by partnering with the likes of ARM and AMD. For those unfamiliar, ARM is the company that developed the architecture that many companies like Qualcomm, Samsung, Apple, and Huawei use for their own chipsets.

Microsoft is set to release Project xCloud on Android devices next month, but the good news is that if you can’t wait to try it out, you’ll be very pleased to learn that Microsoft has actually released the beta version of the service today where if you’re interested, you’ll actually be able to take it for a spin ahead of the public launch.

It should be noted that since this is a beta, Microsoft does warn that there could be some quirks with the service, but for the most part it should still be largely playable. Also, instead of offering over 100 titles, the beta will only give gamers access to about 30 of the launch times, but that should still be more than enough to tide you over until the service goes live for everyone.