Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 835 VRDK program alongside the news that it had teamed with Leap Motion, a company that has been on the edge of hand tracking technology.

The partnership between Qualcomm and Leap Motion is an interesting one, that could reshape the control methods used in VR: as the companies are demonstrating Qualcomm's own positional tracking technology, with Leap Motion's hand tracking tech. This partnership could lead to "natural human computer interaction" for standalone Snapdragon 835-powered VR headsets, and as Qualcomm puts it: "sets a new standard for mobile VR content development".

Tim Leland, VP of Product Management with Qualcomm, said: "As we deliver the new Snapdragon mobile platform for greater immersion with untethered virtual reality HMDs, natural user interfaces like hand movements will help consumers more intuitively interact with VR content, therefore we're delighted to be working closely with a VR technology leader like Leap Motion. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 was designed to combine six degrees of positional tracking, high VR frame rates, immersive audio and enhanced 3D graphics with real-time rendering in a compact, stand-alone headset for the ultimate VR experience".

Thanks to the fancy SenseMI technology inside of AMD's new Ryzen processors, they will be self-overclocking with Extended Frequency Range (XFR) tech - and the better the cooling, the higher XFR cranks the frequency.

This means it will be a good idea to buy the best cooling your case can handle, so the frequency of your new Ryzen CPU reaches as high as XFR can push it. I wasn't too surprised to see Amazon offering Ryzen 7 1800X and 1700X bundles with Corsair AIO units, more specifically Corsair's damn good Hydro Series H100i V2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU cooler.

The bundle lets you save $33, dropping the price of the Corsair H100i from $129.99 to $96.99.

Samsung isn't far away from launching its Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ smartphones, so here we are with some spoilers. The Galaxy S8+ is going to be huge, with a massive 6.2-inch (full rectangle) / 6.1-inch (rounded corners) Quad HD+ Super AMOLED display. Expect Samsung's new Galaxy S8 and S8+ to be the first with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 835 processor.

Inside, will be a 12MP dual pixel rear camera with an 8MP front-facing camera. The Galaxy S8 and S8+ will be IP68 dust/water resistant, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage expandable with microSD, they'll feature an iris scanner and security with Samsung's own Knox technology - features found in the Galaxy Note 7.

Notorious leaker Evan Blass revealed the specs on Twitter, which also list wireless charging support - with a charging pad being optional, Android (but no details on whether it's Android 7.0, 7.1, or anything else) - and earphones "tuned by AKG".

Samsung has just officially unveiled its next-gen Exynos 9 Series of processors, led by the Exynos 9 Series 8895 - Samsung's first processor to use 10nm FinFET technology.

Samsung's new Exynos 9 Series 8895 is the first processor to have a gigabit LTE modem that supports five carrier aggregation, or 5CA. This means Exynos 8895-powered smartphones will be capable of 1Gbps downlink speeds, and 150Mbps uploads.

The new Exynos 8895 has an 8-core processor at its heart, with 4K video support thanks to ARM's latest Mali-G71 GPU, and when teamed with the advanced MFC (multi-format codec) it will support video recording and playback at a huge 4K 120FPS. This is a huge deal, as it means Samsung's new Galaxy S8 might be capable of 4K 120FPS support... which would be, in the words of Ron Burgundy, that would be "kind of a big deal".

AMD launched its new Ryzen CPUs with a brief tease of Radeon Vega, in the form of the new Radeon Vega logo being shown on the year to come for AMD.

The company had some of its new Radeon Vega graphics cards on show at its Ryzen Tech Day event, with some great photos taken by ComputerBase.

The company had a Radeon Vega graphics card in plain sight, rocking an 8+6-pin PCIe power setup.

AMD is hitting a new stride, unlike anything the company has seen before. We know their history leading into last year, starting this new direction with the GPU division splitting off into Radeon Technologies Group. RTG launched the mid-range Radeon RX 400 series, led by the Radeon RX 480. It was a great hit for AMD, but the CPU side of their business wasn't doing so well - until now.

AMD launched their much anticipated - seriously, have you seen any CPU in history apart from Intel's first Core series have this much hype? - Ryzen processors with a massive thud, dropping the Ryzen 7 1800X with 8C/16T @ 4GHz for just $499. Intel would be scrambling right now with how they're going to combat this, but in the meantime AMD is enjoying the #1 and #2 best-selling CPU spots on Amazon right now.

The Ryzen 7 1800X is breaking world records on Cinebench multi-threaded benchmarks, oh and the #4 best-selling CPU on Amazon is the Ryzen 7 1700. If the winning continues at this rate, AMD will be hitting a Donald Trump level of winning - where there'll be so much winning, we'll be begging AMD to stop. That's until Vega - that is.

Fresh from its hugely successful theatrical run which bagged Lucasfilm another lazy billion dollars, the 'Star Wars' spin-off 'Rogue One' is headed to the small screen with multiple Blu-ray, DVD digital releases.

Releasing on digital a few weeks earlier on March 24, the 3D and 2D Blu-ray packages will hit retail shelves on March 4 (a day later in Australia). The physical release will include the film in it's original 2.39:1 widescreen aspect ratio, with DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 sound, plus an additional disc of bonus features including multiple featurettes; 'A Rogue Idea, 'Jyn: The Rebel', 'Cassian: The Spy', 'K-2SO: The Droid', 'Baze & Chirrut: Guardians of the Whills', 'Bodhi & Saw: The Pilot & The Revolutionary', 'The Empire', 'Visions of Hope: The Look of "Rogue One', 'The Princess & The Governor', 'Epilogue: The Story Continues' and 'Rogue Connections'.

Unfortunately, it seems the commentary track that Director Gareth Edwards revealed he's already recorded, along with all the deleted scenes we know exist, plus theatrical trailers won't be included this time around.

AMD has made its Ryzen CPU family official with three SKUs unveiled so far: Ryzen 7 1800X, Ryzen 7 1700X, and the Ryzen 7 1700. The media that attended received a Ryzen review kit, which includes:

I think the review kit is awesome, with a few notes: I want one... really bad. Second, the inclusion of VENGEANCE memory is a nice stab at Intel... nice work there, AMD.

Anyone who loves GPU technology, graphics cards, or gaming will mark February 28 on their calendars as the day everything changes. AMD is hosting their second annual Capsaicin event during GDC 2017 where we're going to see "exciting new details" on Radeon Vega, with NVIDIA choosing the same day to host their own Editor's Day to unveil the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti.

NVIDIA is now teasing the GTX 1080 Ti on their official GeForce.com website, teasing a video that runs in the background saying "It's Almost Time #UltimateGeForce" with the 'Ti' in 'Time' being highlighted. Ti = GTX 1080 Ti for the uninitiated.

VideoCardz.com checked out the HTML code of the website, and noticed that it was actually called "GTX 1080 Ti Countdown"... so, there you have it. GTX 1080 Ti will be unveiled in a few days time, as well as more details on Radeon Vega. I seriously, can barely contain my excitement.

AMD held their Ryzen Tech Day in San Francisco a few days ago, unveiling 3 new Ryzen CPUs in the form of the Ryzen 7 1800X, Ryzen 7 1700X, and the Ryzen 7 1700. It looks like we'll be introduced to more details on Radeon Vega, AMD's next-gen GPU architecture that uses HBM2 and the exciting HBC (High Bandwidth Cache) - as well as the Vega GPU architecture itself.

The company has now confirmed the second annual "Capsaicin Live" event in San Francisco during GDC 2017, which kicks off on February 28 at 10:30AM PT. In the press release, AMD teases: "Hosted by Radeon Technologies Group's Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Raja Koduri, the show will be a celebration of PC gaming, the technology steering its future, and the developers who work tirelessly to transform their imaginations into tomorrow's blockbuster games".

AMD continues: "The one-hour live event will offer PC gaming enthusiasts and developers around the world a preview of AMD's latest graphics and processor technologies, reveal exciting new details surrounding Vega, and showcase the summer's most anticipated PC and VR games from visionary game developers. Named after the legendary component in chili peppers that adds an addictive kick to spicy foods, "Capsaicin Live" explores the essence and creative power of the graphics processing unit (GPU), evoking the magic that game and VR developers create every day when they turn raw code into exciting, memorable, and addicting experiences".

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has revealed the first known system of seven Earth-size planets around a single star, called TRAPPIST-1. The system is named after The Transiting Planets and Planetesimals Small Telescope (TRAPPIST) in Chile, which first discovered three of these planets.

At their press event, NASA has confirmed that three of those planets are located in the habitable zone. All of the seven planets could have liquid water, meaning there is a chance that some form of life might have developed on them. Scientists believe that the highest chances of finding extraterrestrial life are the three planets in the habitable zone.

The discovery also sets a new record for greatest number of habitable-zone planets found around a single star outside our solar system.

Huawei has announced the Honor V9 smartphone just ahead of MWC in Barcelona.

The V9 comes with a 5.7-inch QHD display, and rocks a dual 12MP+12MP camera. For selfies, there is an 8MP selfie camera.

The Phone is powered by Huawei's Kirin 960 processor, the same that powers the Mate 9. The V9 comes with 6GB of RAM, and you can choose between 64GB or 128GB of internal storage, expandable with a microSD card.

Nintendo officially unboxing their fresh console-handheld hybrid reminds us of one thing: the system launches in nine days. It's really happening!

If you've been paying close attention to our Nintendo Switch coverage you'll realize the unboxing doesn't really tell us anything new. But it's still interesting to see the device out in the wild, and we do get to see the tablet and the JoyCons sized up in two different handsizes, giving use perspective on the actual size of the system itself.

Remember that the Nintendo Switch doesn't come with any games or actual game software pre-loaded onto it, so the $299 price just gets you the system by itself. The Switch comes with 25.9GB of usable storage memory, two JoyCon controllers, JoyCon straps, a JoyCon Grip that doesn't charge the JoyCons, the Switch tablet "console," a dock that's required for TV Mode play, an HDMI cord, and an AC adapter for charging the Switch on-the-go and supplying power to the dock.

Up until now Square Enix and PlatinumGames have been pretty cagey about NieR: Automata's PC release. All mention of the PC port was scrubbed from multiple official game sites, leading many to question a delay or cancellation. Now we can confirm the PC port is indeed coming, and we know the reason behind the silence: the PS4 may have timed exclusivity.

In a recent gameplay video, Square Enix accidentally revealed that NieR: Automata's PC version will launch on March 10, 2017 on Steam. The game will launch first on PS4 and then three days later on PC. Shortly after the video went up, Square Enix yanked it and replaced it a revised video that scrubs out any mention of the PC port. See a side-by-side below.

So what's going on here? It appears Square Enix and PlatinumGames signed a deal with Sony to not discuss the PC port's release date until after the game has shipped on PS4. I long thought that this was a marketing deal, especially since scrubbing any mention of a competing platform from a site just reeks of an exclusivity deal.

The Nintendo Switch will launch with Dragon Quest Heroes I & II in Japan, and if you want to play it digitally you'll have to invest in expandable Micro SD cards: the game is literally too big to fit on the system's onboard storage.

Nintendo's new Switch handheld-console hybrid has a paltry 32GB of onboard NAND flash memory, which converts to 29.8GB, and 4GB of that is taken up by the Switch's OS. This leaves gamers with 25.9GB of memory that's actually available for game downloads, saves, screenshots and other content.

Although most Switch games are small, if you plan to download your games digitally you'll want to make use of the Switch's supporting up to 2TB Micro SDXC cards and pick up some expandable memory.

We heard about the price of the Ryzen 7 1800X quite a while ago, where we reported the very early rumors of the $499 pricing - and I still remember AMD asking me "do I really think my report on $499 pricing is correct" - and I always backed it up.

Now we're here at the launch of Ryzen, with a 52% improvement in IPC performance - led by the flagship Ryzen 7 1800X. AMD's new Ryzen 7 1800X has 8C/16T of CPU performance with Base and Boost clocks of 3.6GHz and 4GHz, respectively.

We have their SenseMI technology, something we've gone into detail with - with AMD using a smarter CPU architecture that is actually smarter. It adaptively controls your CPU for lower power consumption, but will ramp right up with Precision Boost - overclocking your Ryzen processor in 25MHz increments (100MHz with Intel) on-the-fly.

Yesterday, AMD's CEO, Lisa Su, welcomed a room full of industry partners, analysts, and press with open arms and a cheerful attitude to officially introduce AMD's top three Ryzen SKUs. I was in attendance, and I will go over their slides and demos that I can share publically today.

For starters, AMD's goal for Ryzen IPC increase was 40%. AMD was happy to report they exceeded their goal, and improved IPC 52% over their previous generation products. That is a huge increase, and we probably won't see an increase like this ever again from either camp. AMD also shared the first die shot of the 8-Core Ryzen CPU.

AMD's "Ryzen 7" lineup will include three CPUs, the 1700, the 1700X, and the 1800X. The presentation started with the 1700X, and it will have a base clock of 3.4GHz, a boost up to 3.8GHz, and a 95-watt TDP. AMD claims that the 1700X offers 4% higher performance than the Intel i7-6900K and 39% higher performance than the i7-6800K.

Intel's upcoming Optane memory technology is one of the most exciting products of the last few years, with the company developing the technology with Micron.

Intel and Micron use 3D XPoint technology that promises super-fast speeds with high capacity, and now we're getting closer to Optane becoming a reality. Intel recently revealed you will need a new 200-series chipset motherboard with specific M.2 slots, and a Kaby Lake-based processor. You'll also need to make sure your motherboard has a BIOS that supports Intel's Rapid Storage Technology (RST) driver v15.5 or higher.

The required 200-series motherboard also need to have an M.2 type 2280-S1-B-M or 2242-S1-B-M storage connector linked to a PCH Remapped PCI-E controller with two or four lanes and B-M keys meeting Non Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) v1.1 standards.

Today HyperX announced that it has smashed the 2 million headsets shipped milestone.

HyperX audio headsets are a popular choice for gamers on a budget, with their HyperX Cloud II Pro headsets providing amazing audio for a fraction of the price of its competitors. The company's latest Cloud Stinger headset just won the iF Design Award for its quality build and audio performance in an attractive price ratio.

Due to this popularity the Kingston audio division reveals its shipped more than two million headsets in the last three years. "Since the original Cloud launched in 2014, HyperX has shipped over two million headsets around the world within three years," HyperX revealed in the latest Cloud Stinger press release.

Samsung will be unveiling something different at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain next week - from their in-house tech incubator C-Lab.

We should expect four devices shown off with Relúmĭno, Monitorless, VuildUs, and traVRer. These four different technologies are all intriguing, a nice direction for Samsung to see what could stick around in a few years.

Samsung's strangely named Relúmĭno is a "smart visual aid" for the Gear VR that will benefit the visually impaired so that they could read and watch TV with "new levels of clarity".