NVIDIA brings new custom GPUs for cryptocurrency miners; RTX 3060 gets hash rate limited

Another day and another news coming from the house of NVIDIA. With the growing demands of GPUs, most of which are being gobbled up by cryptocurrency miners, the GPU maker has now announced a new product line that will only cater to mining Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. The company is also restricting the capability of the upcoming RTX 3060 by reducing the hash rate, or the mining efficiency by about 50%.

“With the launch of GeForce RTX 3060 on Feb. 25, we’re taking an important step to help ensure GeForce GPUs end up in the hands of gamers,” said NVIDIA in a post. Essentially, the company has designed the software drivers for the RTX 3060 in such a way that it can detect if the card is being used for mining, thereby limiting the overall capability. This seems like a necessary step as gamers around the world are dealing with either limited stocks or extremely high prices quoted by retailers and scalpers online.

Hi Ryan. It’s not just a driver thing. There is a secure handshake between the driver, the RTX 3060 silicon, and the BIOS (firmware) that prevents removal of the hash rate limiter.

— Bryan Del Rizzo (@bdelrizzo) February 19, 2021

CMP or Cryptocurrency Mining Processor is the newest product that NVIDIA will offer to specifically address the needs of Ethereum mining. CMPs will be sold via authorized partners including Asus, Colorful, EVGA, Gigabyte, MSI, Palit, and more. These will be optimized to deliver the best mining performance with a completely different set of specifications. For instance, the CMP cards would not include display outputs, allowing them to be more densely packed and have a lower peak core voltage and frequency. Thus manufacturing these would not impact the availability of GeForce GPUs to gamers, though crypto miners might just gobble down stocks of both.

There are a variety of models in the series including the NVIDIA CMP 30HX processor which would come with 26MHps Ethereum hash rate, 125W rated power, an 8-pin power connector, and 6GB of RAM. The NVIDIA CMP 40HX processor will offer 36MHps Ethereum hash rate, 185W rated power, an 8-pin power connector, and 8GB of RAM. The NVIDIA CMP 50HX processor will come with 45MHps Ethereum hash rate, 250W rated power, 2×8-pin power connectors, and 10GB of RAM. And lastly, the NVIDIA CMP 90HX processor will come with 86MHps Ethereum hash rate, 320W rated power, 2×8-pin power connectors, and 10GB of RAM. The CMP 30HX and CMP 40HX will be available in the first quarter of 2021 while the CMP 50HX and NVIDIA CMP 90HX will be available sometime in the second quarter of this year.

NVIDIA is primarily taking this step as an attempt to salvage the GeForce RTX 3060 which is going to hit stores on 25th February. The company has been facing monumental demands for its current line of RTX 30-series cards including the RTX 3070, RTX 3080, and the RTX 3090. We’ve heard reports of scalpers deploying bots to automatically buy GPUs in bulk to sell them off at extremely high prices on eBay.

While the company suggests that the drivers of the RTX 3060 would downgrade the mining capability of the GPU, Bryan Del Rizzo, Global Director, Public Relations at NVIDIA has given some more information. According to Mr. Rizz, there will be a secure handshake between the driver, the RTX 3060 chip, and the BIOS (firmware) that would prevent the ability to remove the hash rate limiter. This means that it won’t be possible to use an older version of the driver to restore the originally intended hash rate. We are yet to get a confirmation from NVIDIA whether it would bring a similar update for the existing line of RTX cards to bring a balance in the supply and demand of GPUs around the world.

A few days ago, NVIDIA had announced its plans of releasing stock of its older GPUs– the GTX 1050 Ti and the mid-range RTX 2060 as another measure to control the growing demands of the GPU market. Certain retailers in Europe were recently spotted listing the upcoming GeForce RTX 3060 at more than double the original cost of $329. If you are looking for one of the new NVIDIA RTX 30-series graphics cards, keep an eye on our restocks guide.

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YouTube now lets you play videos in 4K resolution on devices with low-res displays

The Youtube app on Android lets you play videos at up to 4K resolution. All you need is a phone with a 4K display and a decent internet connection, and you’re good to go. However, it seems like Google has now opened up unsupported video resolution options on some devices, allowing some users to play 4K videos on a device with a low-resolution display.

According to a couple of recent posts on the YouTube subreddit, the YouTube app on Android now lets you play 4K videos even if you don’t have a supported device. As the following screenshot from Reddit user u/Liskowskyy showcases, the app now shows all video resolution options up to 2160p60 regardless of the screen resolution.

While some think that this change is unintentional, a user in the comments on another thread by Reddit user u/sssxun speculates that the change may not, in fact, be a bug. They claim that by allowing unsupported video resolution options on devices with lower resolution screens, videos will have higher fidelity than while playing them at a supported resolution. I tested this on a device with a 1080p display, and videos do seem to look a lot better when played at 2160p60.

As another commenter points out, the stark video quality improvement is due to the fact that the higher resolution videos have a higher bitrate and, therefore, less blocky compression artifacts in high motion screens. Playing higher resolution video on a low-resolution display also increases the sharpness because of downscaling, making the video appear better overall.

The unsupported video resolution options seem to be widely available on various versions of the YouTube app on Android. I checked a couple of devices, and I was able to find the additional resolution options in all of them, despite them running different versions of the app. This leads me to believe that it may have been enabled via a server-side switch. We’ll update this post once we receive any additional details about this change from YouTube.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 series to get major S Pen feature update this month

When it comes to Android tablets, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab S7 is inarguably one of the best experiences you can get. Just a month ago, the Korean OEM rolled out the latest iteration of its custom Android skin to the flagship tablet in the form of One UI 3.1, which brought in a bunch of new productivity capabilities. Well, it seems that Samsung has more to offer to the Galaxy Tab S7 community, as the company is now gearing up to release another major software update to further enhance the S Pen experience.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Series Forums

One of the biggest new features in the upcoming update is the expansion of the S Pen’s handwriting feature to more text boxes that are otherwise limited to the on-screen keyboard. For instance, Galaxy Tab S7 owners should be able to utilize the S Pen for handwriting in address boxes once the new build is installed. The underlying algorithm will allow to digitize punctuation marks as well. There’s also a handy gesture mechanism, e.g. drawing a ‘v’ between words will leave a space, while ‘⌒’ will connect separate words.

In order to use the ‘Pen to text’ functionality, users first need to enable it either by going to Settings > Advanced Feature > S Pen > S Pen to text, or to Settings > General management > Samsung Keyboard settings > S Pen to text. What’s more interesting is that the same feature is coming to Samsung Notes, which should come in handy for people who actively use the Galaxy Tab S7 for note taking.

The tablets are also gaining new camera capabilities related to document scanning. You can now tap the ‘Attach’ icon in the Samsung Notes app, choose the ‘Scan’ option, and boom! The document becomes readily available to make notes on it. It might not be as big of a change as the S Pen to text feature, but Samsung has indeed streamlined the process of note taking by building the feature right into the Notes app.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 (128 GB)

Starting at $120 at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 (256 GB)

Starting at $170 at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus (128 GB)

Starting at $320 at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 Plus (256 GB)

Starting at $370 at Samsung

The aforementioned features will roll out to the Galaxy Tab S7 and Tab S7+ by the end of February. As soon as Samsung releases the update, we’ll be sure to let you know.

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Source: Samsung Newsroom

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OnePlus 9 Pro rumored to feature an LTPO display, while OnePlus 9 specs leak again

The OnePlus 9 series has leaked numerous times in the last few months, giving us a fair idea of what to expect from the OnePlus’ upcoming flagship lineup. The company is expected to launch three smartphones this time around, with the OnePlus 9 Pro leading the chart, followed by the standard OnePlus 9 and an alleged Lite model called OnePlus 9E. It wasn’t long ago that we learned about the OnePlus 9 Pro’s Hasselblad camera branding along with some leaked renders which showed off the overall design, display properties, camera UI, and more.

Now prominent OnePlus leakster Max Jambor has teased an interesting bit of information. According to Max, the OnePlus 9 Pro variant will feature an LTPO display instead of the standard LTPS AMOLED panel used by the earlier models.

pic.twitter.com/YIsClmGeQu

— Max Jambor (@MaxJmb) February 18, 2021

Popularized by the Apple Watch lineup, the LTPO display technology is fast gaining steam in the smartphone world. It’s already found on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra and Galaxy S21 Ultra, and the upcoming iPhone 13 series is also rumored to have it on all three models. OnePlus obviously wouldn’t wish to lag behind its peers in this important area. Low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO for short) OLED panels are considered superior to the current LTPS OLED panels used by most phones. They draw less power and also support adaptive refresh rates without needing additional hardware.

In a separate leak, TechDroider has leaked some of the key specifications of the OnePlus 9, including SoC, display, and battery capacity. The source of information are screenshots of the AIDA64 app running on an alleged OnePlus 9 unit. As per the screenshots, the OnePlus 9 will feature a 6.55-inch full HD+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset (code-named Lahaina), 8GB of RAM, a 12MP rear camera, and a 4,500mAh battery with support for 65W fast charging support.

EXCLUSIVE – OnePlus 9 Specifications pic.twitter.com/mJJ6VkkYU1

— TechDroider (@techdroider) February 19, 2021

Both the phones are shaping up to be good phones, but one cannot deny that the competition is going to very tough, especially on the premium end. It remains to be seen how OnePlus plans to set its phones apart from its competitiors and possibly emerge out ahead.

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WhatsApp will soon display an in-app banner to provide more info about its policy changes

WhatsApp announced that it was updating its privacy policy to mandate data sharing with Facebook earlier this year. But the updated privacy policy met with severe backlash from users worldwide. On top of that, many criticized the manner in which WhatsApp chose to impose the policy on its userbase. Things got to a point where even the Indian government sent an official notice to the company to withdraw the changes, citing “grave concerns” to the implications for choice and autonomy of Indian citizens (LOL). Although WhatsApp made an attempt to clarify the changes and reassure users that their private data wasn’t at risk, the company was forced to postpone the new policy by a few months. Now that the date is drawing closer, it is exploring other ways to inform users about the changes and dispel all doubts.

In a recent blog post, WhatsApp has revealed that it will soon display a banner in the app to provide more information about the policy changes. With this, the company aims to address all concerns that it has come across over the last few weeks. WhatsApp plans to display the new banner for a significant amount of time, allowing users to go through the changes at their own pace. It’s worth noting that the company is already utilizing the “Status” feature in WhatsApp to “share our values and updates” with users.

The blog post also talks about WhatsApp’s business model, presumably as an attempt to assure users that they aren’t the product. The company states: “We also think it’s important people know how we can provide WhatsApp for free. Every day millions of people start a WhatsApp chat with a business because it’s easier to do so than placing a phone call or exchanging emails. We charge businesses to provide customer service on WhatsApp – not people. Some shopping features involve Facebook so that businesses can manage their inventory across apps. We display more information directly in WhatsApp so people can choose if they want to engage with businesses, or not.”

Finally, WhatsApp takes the blog post as an opportunity to reproach competitors who have greatly benefited from the recent events. The company notes that some of its competitors have tried to “get away with claiming they can’t see people’s messages” even when they don’t offer end-to-end encryption by default. It adds that if an app doesn’t offer end-to-end encryption by default, “that means that they can read your messages.” This seems to be a direct jab at Telegram, which only offers end-to-end encryption on its Secret Chats feature.

Talking about other apps that do offer end-to-end encryption by default, the company stated, “Other apps say they’re better because they know even less information than WhatsApp.We believe people are looking for apps to be both reliable and safe, even if that requires WhatsApp having some limited data. We strive to be thoughtful on the decisions we make and we’ll continue to develop new ways of meeting these responsibilities with less information, not more.” I don’t exactly see how collecting less user data is a bad thing, which makes this point sound a bit ridiculous. Sure, some apps may not offer as many features as WhatsApp because they collect less user data, but do you actually need all of those features in a messaging app? If your answer is yes, then you should probably accept WhatsApp’s new policy changes and stick with the app. If not, then here are a couple of alternatives that you can consider.

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Android 12’s new swipe-down gesture lets you quickly access notification shade from any screen

The Android 12 season is officially upon us. The latest iteration of Android brings with it some fresh UI changes and many useful features. Some of the biggest highlights of Android 12 include a one-handed mode that shrinks the UI for better one-handed usage, a native scrolling screenshot functionality that finally lets stock Android users take long screenshots, new Material NEXT design, improved widgets, and a lot more.

One of the pre-dominant themes of Android 12 seems to be better one-hand usability, as along with a dedicated one-handed mode, we’re also seeing Google optimizing various aspects of the UI to make it easier to reach with your thumb. In line with this trend, Google has also added a new swipe-down gesture to spare your thumb from doing awkward gymnastics for pulling down the notification shade. Google Pixel owners are probably familiar with swiping down on the home screen to pull down the notification tray. This new gesture works the same way except that you’ll be able to use it in any app — instead of just on the home screen.

As you can see in the quick demo below, you can now simply swipe down from the bottom (from just above the gesture navigation bar) to bring down the notification shade instead of reaching all the way to the top.

I found another gesture – swipe down for notifications. You know how the Pixel Launcher lets you swipe down on the home screen to pull down the notification shade? Yeah, this does that – but in any app. pic.twitter.com/VpmRESJkkM

— Mishaal Rahman (@MishaalRahman) February 19, 2021

This is likely intended as a replacement for the fingerprint swipe-down gesture offered by Google Pixel phones — which doesn’t work without a physical fingerprint scanner. Moreover, this swipe-down gesture seems to be an alternative to Android 12’s native one-handed mode as we found that they’re not compatible with each other.

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Android 12 tests “Automatic” sound status for notifications

Google dropped the first developer preview of Android 12 last night, and boy is there a lot of cool things to talk about. We have already detailed some of the major changes in the latest iteration of Android, including the scrolling screenshot feature, a native one-handed mode, UI optimizations for better one-hand usage, iOS-style widget stacks, and a whole lot more. As we continue to dig deeper into the new software, we keep finding new features and subtle changes that didn’t catch our attention immediately.

Many of the features we found are half-baked or still work in progress and hence not yet live in the first preview. One such interesting feature we found in Android 12 Developer Preview 1 is that the system can automatically decide the sound status of an incoming notification.

Right now, in Android 11, when you half-swipe on a notification and click on the gear icon, you see two options: Default and Silent. The default status corresponds to the system-wide sound profile and may allow the notification to ring or vibrate depending on the selected sound profile. Meanwhile, choosing the silent option here entirely disables the sound and vibration for the said app — regardless of the system sound profile. In Android 12, however, Google is working on adding a third option called Automatic, which, unsurprisingly, automatically decides if the notification should make sound or vibration.

Our Editor-in-Chief, Mishaal Rahman, found some strings related to this new feature and even managed to get it working. Here are the screenshots that show the feature in action and how it compares with Android 11:

<string name="feedback_alerted">This notification was automatically &lt;b>promoted to Default&lt;/b> by the system.</string>
<string name="feedback_demoted">This notification was automatically &lt;b>ranked lower&lt;/b> in your shade.</string>
<string name="feedback Ok">OK</string> <string name="feedback_promoted">This notification was automatically &lt;b>ranked higher&lt;/b> in your shade.</string>
<string name="feedback_prompt">Was this correct?</string>
<string name="feedback_response">Thanks for your feedback!</string>
<string name="feedback_silenced">This notification was automatically &lt;b>demoted to Silent&lt;/b> by the system.</string>

This feature isn’t live in the Android 12 Developer Preview 1 yet as it likely needs some more time in the oven. We don’t know when Google plans to implement it, but it’s definitely something that we would like to see making its way to the final release. In the meantime, stay tuned to XDA Portal as we still have a lot more Android 12 news coming up your way!

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