When it comes to new gaming products in recent times, NVIDIA is way behind compared to the competitors. In order to resolve that problem finally, NVIDIA held a premier of the GTX 700 series. Aside from focusing the attention on itself in the moment when AMD had interesting developments in terms of APUs, NVIDIA did itself another favor. Namely, considering that GTX 700 doesn’t have a new architecture and doesn’t use a new production process, what we actually got was brand restructuring. Also, improvements do exist in certain areas of the products, so it’s not a case of a simple “rebrand” strategy. In any case, we had the opportunity to test GeForce GTX 780 with which the brand was started, in descending order. Next month, we expect GTX 770, and how the situation will continue to develop, remains to be seen. We assume that NVIDIA will mostly focus on brand reorganization (they’ve become quite the experts in that area). Let’s go back to the GTX 780.

OPPO is an electronics manufacturer based in China, already known on several markets for their range of MP3 and portable media players, LCD TVs, e-book readers, and starting recently, mobile phones. We are usually a bit  skeptic when we are  encountering a new smartphone manufacturer for the first time. However, we  have received very good impressions from different sources about their earlier model named Finder which still holds the title of the slimmest phone in the world and is available only on China market. Intrigued, with high expectations and  critical attitude we welcomed OPPO Find 5 in our lab.

The latest GPU that AMD made was in March of last year. Since then, Southern Islands series consisted of three models, off of which a great many number of Radeon models were based. Still, some changes had to be made after the competition introduced GeForce GTX 650 Ti. Aside from that, Radeon HD 7850 with 1 GB of memory had to be sent in early retirement because of stopped production of GDDR5 chips with 1 GB/256 bits configuration. AMD’s plans were momentarily disrupted, because a great gap was made between Radeon HD 7770 and HD 7850. The gap always existed, because Cape Verde and Pitcairn were too different. Lucky for AMD, that wasn’t as noticeable up until the moment the competition introduced a model that could fill that gap and that was GeForce GTX 650 Ti. The answer wasn’t simple and that’s why we had to wait for a while. Namely, the weakened Pitcairn wasn’t an adequate solution, because it was made for a 256-bit bus, and it probably wouldn’t have been enough of them to satisfy the great demand of the middle class. Not to mention that the price of production couldn’t be lowered enough in order for it to be tempting to customers. On the other hand, Cape Verde reached its peak on HD 7770, and as such couldn’t be further altered.

If you’re a demanding customer, a good motherboard is a very important thing, because it represents the basis of a good PC. Therefore, a right choice is important if you want it to last. Besides, high-quality models can help to reduce other expenses. Let’s say you realize at some point that you need more SATA 6 Gbps or USB 3.0 ports. In that case, you’d have to either buy a new motherboard or buy a controller, which would take up a slot. In both cases, you’ll have more expenses. Aside from that, models like we’re about to review has some other qualities. Therefore, let’s see what P8Z77-V Deluxe offers.

After MWC (Mobile World Congress) introduction earlier this year, we were looking forward to meet the latest Padfone as well as Fonepad, new brand in vast ASUS Android portfolio. Presented by Jerry Shen, ASUS CEO himself, Fonepad holds several interesting attributes at aggressive price point. It is the world’s first 7-inch Intel Lexington tablet and features the Intel Atom Z Series SoC with 1 GB of memory, a HD (1280x720) IPS display, microSD card expandability and has cellular data connectivity, but it also features full voice calling and SMS capabilities, allowing it to replace your smartphone. The focus is on staying connected and consuming content on the move, while occasionally making phone calls, likely via a Bluetooth headset (it will be bundled on some markets).

Quality of Noctua products is unparalleled in terms of cooling systems, and they offer a large variety of their products. Their products fulfill the needs of most of the customers, and three models that we’re about to review confirm that. At first look, they are very similar, even their designations are nearly the same, but their purposes are different. Their designations are as follows: NF-A14 ULN, NF-A14 FLX and NF-A15 PWM.

When it comes to products of ASUS, we can safely assume that it will be of top quality and that its technical capabilities will far exceed those of its competitors. That already became a standard for motherboards and video cards, but ASUS doesn’t lag behind in other areas and that’s the reason why we’ve seen great notebooks, displays, networking equipment… In the last few years the company’s name became a synonym for quality sound and next to these fantastic sound cards are also headphones of no less superior characteristics. After the exquisite Vulcan PRO, ASUS made a new mascot, Orion PRO, which also belongs to the ROG brand of products, specially made for gamers.

At first glance, this year’s flagship of Android, Galaxy S4 cellphone looks a lot like the last year’s Galaxy S III model.  Although, when we looked more closely, it became clear that improvements in design do exist – the newest addition to the Galaxy S brand of products at the same time has both bigger screen and battery, and is also thinner, a bit smaller and weighs less than its predecessor. For this feat, Samsung should be lauded, although we suspect that good part of this accomplishment is due to implementation of Gorilla Glass 3 protective screen. It’s thinner, but at the same time sturdier, with a greater resistance to scratches, although if numbers are to be believed, it’s also more fuscous. The “inspired by nature” design choice of rounded edges, present in Galaxy S III, is less pronounced here, corners are sharper and the rim isn’t wavy anymore, rather it has the same scope everywhere. The said rim also has another two strengthenings which serve to additionally simulate a metallic hoop, but are still made from plastic. The edges are higher than the screen for a space of less than a millimeter and the whole of the device is covered with a layer of hyperglaze, as is the case with its predecessor, which under the transparent surface has a lattice of thin lines, whose purpose is to change the monotony of large, white-colored surfaces.

LG Optimus G comes in a luxury white box of a surprisingly high quality, with just a silver G on the front and the LG logo at the top. The inside is filled with standard goodies like the charger (with a detachable USB cable), product guide and set of earphones in their own bag with the QuadBeat logo. If you check out the picture, they are much better-designed than previous LG offerings, with flat cables and an aluminium rim. Sound reproduction is solid but a bit light on the bass side, clear in mids and highs. As expected, there is only the mike and one button on the cable; one press is play/pause, while two short ones will skip to next song.

According to both IT experts and market analytics, HTC has been on unstable ground for a while now, feverishly trying to keep its balance and restore the global reputation it enjoyed until only a few years back. In terms of both total profit and general market success, HTC is far below the current market leaders, Samsung and Apple, which used their last year’s respective flagship phones to secure an already established position and make life even more difficult for the decrepit HTC. However, the former leader of the mobile technology domain isn’t the one to surrender easily, so they’ve made a sharp turn and significant change of strategy in order to restore as much market share as possible in 2013. Firstly, there’s a new branding strategy, which admittedly builds on the success of last year’s models, in the form of continuing the One product line, a series of products that attempt to become the best devices out there in both name and spirit, each in its own category. Last year, that was HTC One X, anything but a bad phone, but one that still hasn’t managed to fulfil the plans and visions of the company’s management. This year, HTC has a new incoming model, called simply and effectively One, without any suffixes, bringing a lot of new, outside-the-box features to a somewhat stale Android market.