Shortly after announcing the AYA Neo Next handheld gaming PC that would be powered by Ryzen 5000U series processors, the folks at AYA clarified that most models would ship with AMD’s recently introduced Ryzen 7 5825U chips rather than the older Ryzen 7 5800U… even though review units that have already been sent out have the older chip. But they’re close enough that any performance differences will likely be small. Meanwhile, hands-on videos are starting to pop up.

In other recent tech news from around the web, Razer has scaled back some of the claims it had made about its high-tech Zephyr face masks, Samsung has closed the app store for smartphones running the Linux-based Tizen operating system, the chip shortage might have at least one printer maker rethinking the idea of putting DRM chips on their toner cartridges, and a new build of open source, cross-platform video transcoding tool Handbrake is here.

AYANEO NEXT – Benchmarks / Input-Build Quick Impressions / Gameplay / Unboxing [The Phawx / YouTube]

The AYA Neo Next handheld gaming PC with Ryzen 7 5800U/5825U hits crowdfunding next month for $1315 and up. This video from @carygolomb has a first look, unboxing, benchmarks, gameplay and build quality impressions.

Handbrake 1.5 release notes

Handbrake 1.5 released with the latest version of the open source video encoding tool bringing bug fixes, Intel Quick Sync oneAPI support, support for GNOME 41 on Linux, and more.

Tencent Nears Deal for Smartphone Maker in Major Metaverse Push [Bloomberg]

Chinese gaming company Tencent is said to be nearing a deal to acquiring gaming phone maker Black Shark, which could begin making VR headsets for Tencent if the deal goes through.

Black Shark 4 Pro

Samsung Permanently closed Tizen Store [TizenHelp]

If you’re one of the handful of folks who bought a Samsung phone running the Linux-based Tizen operating system back in the day, it looks like you may no longer have an app store – Samsung shut down the Tizen Store in December.

Samsung Z2 with Tizen

Canon can’t get enough toner chips, so it’s telling customers how to defeat its DRM [Ars Technica]

The chip shortage has led Canon to ship some printer toner cartridges without the DRM chip that the printer expects… so Canon is telling users in Germany how to circumvent the usual lock-out.

Razer Plays a Dangerous Game With Its Misleading Mask Marketing [PC Mag]

After initially promoting its Zephyr and Zephyr pro high-tech face masks as having “N95 Grade Filters,” Razer has updated its website to remove those references, following publicity from a @PCMag article and @RealSexyCyborg.

Keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter and Facebook and follow @LinuxSmartphone on Twitter and Facebook for the latest news on open source mobile phones.

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8 replies on “Lilbits: AYA Neo Next, Handbrake 1.5, Razer’s misleading face mask marketing, and printer DRM”

  1. I’m going to try that new version of Handbrake. I’ve been using 1.3 for a while. I wonder how much better Intel oneAPI Video Processing Library is. They previously supported Quick Sync via DirectX.

  2. “We can’t get DRM chips anymore, so here’s how to defeat our DRM, which just proves it was entirely arbitrary and all about profits to begin with.”
    That would be funny if it wasn’t for the sad fact that no one really cares.

  3. I always wondered if the Razor mask was really N95 since they never really said they were officially rated by NIOSH or equivalent.

    I wouldn’t be surprised these are as effective as a mask made from a bandana with holes in it.

    Also Aya’s already at it with upgrades. I wonder if they’re going to pull another “pay us more to upgrade to the AYANEO NEXT 2022”.

    1. The razer mask accepts N95 filters. They’re installed into the intake area.

      1. Didn’t you read the articles? Razor didn’t even get any sort of official certification for it including their filter inserts. They just called it N95 by themselves.

        Now that they got called on it by larger media, they’ve removed their claims. From the linked to article on Razor’s new wording:
        “The Razer Zephyr and Zephyr Pro are not certified N95 masks, medical devices, respirators, surgical masks, or personal protective equipment (PPE) and are not meant to be used in medical or clinical settings.”

        1. They previously called it “N95 grade filters”. In legalese, “grade” means those were not N95 certified masks. It was deceptive, but technically they may not have lied. This happens all over the place.

    2. Judging by my non-pro model that had gaps between the removable silicone and plastic body of the mask, a bandana would be more effective. Why they made that part removable I do not know, it was asking for trouble sealing.

      1. Wow, even if the filters were N95 certified (certified alone only knowing Razor at this point), it wouldn’t matter since air leaks through even if someone actually properly wears the mask (a semi-rare occurrence).

        I would have expected more from a largish company even if it’s a gaming company making a not really gaming related mask (besides RGB).

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