Ofgem is consulting energy suppliers over potential tweaks to their smart meter roll-out plans in a bid to force the companies to stick to the December 2020 deadline for their projects to be completed….

© Source: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/3002049/ofgem-turns-screw-on-energy-companies-in-a-bid-to-make-december-2020-smart-meter-roll-out-deadline
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The prolonged demise of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 has left something of a vacuum in the high-end Android smartphone arena. HTC seeks to fill that empty ecological niche with its U Ultra smartphone and its 2560×1440, 5.7″ display. The phone courageously omits the headphone jack , but packs HTC’s new Sense Companion AI assistant and a second 2″ screen above the primary screen, in a similar fashion to the Touch Bar on Apple’s newest Mac Pro laptops.
The Sense Companion is HTC’s competitor to Apple’s well-established Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, and Google’s Assistant artificial intelligence helpers. HTC says it can do things like remind the you to leave early for work if the weather forecast calls for snow, or make restaurant recommendations when it knows you’ll be taking a trip out of town.
The second screen idea is not an entirely new concept for a smartphone—LG’s V10 and V20 handsets have already sported this feature. The smaller display is intended to show things like frequently accessed contacts, messages, and alerts. If the second screen isn’t enough to scratch the “looks cool” itch, the phone also sports a “Liquid Surface” design with a glass back and aluminum side panels.
Additional usability features include a quartet of always-on microphones that help the Sense Companion react instantly to voice commands. HTC says the phone learns the users’ voice and can be unlocked by voice alone. The Ultra also packs the audio playback enhancement features from last year’s HTC Bolt.
The U Ultra is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC. The phone packs 4GB of system memory and 64GB of onboard storage. Storage capacity can be increased by adding a microSD card or waiting for the upcoming special edition with a Sapphire glass screen and 128GB of integrated flash. The primary camera has a 12MP sensor with optical image stabilization. The 16MP forward-facing camera can take wide-angle self-portraits. The handset’s battery has a capacity of 3000 mAh, and can be replenished quickly thanks to support for QuickCharge 3.0 .
The HTC U Ultra is available for pre-order today, but worldwide shipments are not expected to begin until March. The price is set at a commanding $750 , and buyers get the choice of blue, black, pink, and white finishes.

© Source: http://techreport.com/news/31278/htc-u-ultra-handset-offers-two-screens-in-a-pretty-package
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At CES this year, Digital Storm introduced its new compact PC design that weds a small form-factor with a specially-designed liquid cooling system. The BOLT X is designed to enable a significant overclocking potential of components even in a space-constrained form-factor, and it should benefit those who need to have maximum performance in a minimum footprint.
Over the past few years we have observed the culmination of several separate trends: compact computers with liquid cooling, with style and with serious overclocking capabilities. The new BOLT X from Digital Storm is the company’s next-generation SFF PC with a HydroLux LCS that features a number of upgrades aimed to advance its cooling performance as well as improve the system in general. First off, the BOLT X has two 140-mm top mounted fans (up from two 120-mm fans in case of the BOLT 3, the predecessor). Second, it comes with an integrated stand that helps to minimize the amount of dust it sucks in through openings for cool air on the bottom. Third, it features a simplified open layout to make it easier to upgrade and service the PC.
Just like the predecessors, the Digital Storm BOLT X can accommodate a Mini-ITX motherboard and one graphics card located beneath the mainboard to ensure proper cooling and compatibility with custom cards that have tall PCBs. With the BOLT X, Digital Storm will offer the Intel Z270-based platforms (so, they will support technologies like NVMe, Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 Gen 2, 802.11 ac Wi-Fi, etc.) along with various Intel Core processors powered by the Kaby Lake microarchitecture. As for GPUs, expect the PC maker to offer the latest graphics cards that will be available with its BOLT X — NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 10-series for now and whatever comes up next.
At present, Digital Storm does not discuss the exact number of SSDs/HDDs that can be housed by the BOLT X chassis, but the PC will definitely support one high-performance M.2 SSD with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface on the motherboard as well as a number of storage devices in a 2.5-inch form-factor. Following the latest trends, the boutique PC maker eliminated the ODD from the chassis completely, resulting in a perfectly flat front surface.
One of the intrigues of the new BOLT X system is its PSU. In theory, Digital Storm can install almost any SFX power supply inside (except, perhaps, the SFX-L versions) to improve overclocking potential and/or support power hungry components. However, with the BOLT 3 the company only offers 400 W PSUs.
Digital Storm will start selling BOLT X systems in the first quarter. Exact pricing will depend on actual configuration and will thus vary. At present, the company offers BOLT 3 systems starting at $1906, so the new versions are likely to start at approximately the same price-point.
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© Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/11036/digital-storm-bolt-x-kaby-lakebased-sff-pc-with-liquid-cooling
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