Remember how Intel was going to release Cannon Lake in 2016? And, then when it got pushed back to 2018? Well, according to Intel’s Q1 financial results we won’t see the long-awaited follow-up to Kaby Lake until 2019 – at least in a consumer-ready state.

But, before we get into all the juicy rumors surrounding Cannon Lake, we’re going to take a step back, because Intel’s recent releases have been kind of hard to follow. So, in the past, Intel followed a predictable ‘Tick-Tock’ release schedule, where generations would switch between introducing a new die process and architecture. This is why we all expected Cannon Lake to succeed Skylake in 2016.

Obviously, that didn’t happen. Instead, Intel switched things up by pushing Cannon Lake back and released Kaby Lake instead – an ‘optimization’ in a new ‘process-architecture-optimization’ release schedule. Ok, so the 10nm Cannon Lake would follow after Kaby Lake, right? Well, that’s what we thought too. Instead Intel launched its 8th-generation Kaby Lake R and Coffee Lake processors, the fourth and fifth releases using Intel’s 14nm process. 

If you find this to be confusing, trust us, you’re not alone. Now, the good news is that we’ve seen a listing for the first Cannon Lake processor. It’s just a 10nm laptop chip with no graphics, but, hey, it’s a start – Cannon Lake is actually real. Now we just have to wait until 2019. And, hey, maybe Intel will give us a hint at Computex 2018 – but we wouldn’t hold our breath.

Either way, there’s not a lot of solid information to run on, but that doesn’t mean we can’t speculate using our CPU expertise. But, be sure to keep this article bookmarked, as we’ll update it with all the latest and greatest Cannon Lake information that comes our way.

Cut to the Chase

• What is it? Intel’s next generation, 10nm CP1U lineup
• When is it out? Sometime in 2019
• What will it cost? TBD 

Release date

 We were supposed to get Cannon Lake twice already. The presumably 9th-generation Intel CPUs were initially supposed to follow Skylake in 2016, then Kaby Lake in 2018. But according to Intel’s Q1 2018 financial report, it’s “currently shipping low-volume 10nm product and now expects 10nm volume production to shift to 2019.” So, we’re not getting Cannon Lake in 2018. 

But, when in 2019 will we see it? Well, we can look back at past Intel releases for some guidance here. Coffee Lake was released back in October 2017, Intel is probably not going to make consumers wait two years for new processors, so we think we’ll see Cannon Lake CPUs pop up in Q1 2019, much like their Kaby Lake counterparts.

Price

Intel probably isn’t going to rock the boat too much here. We expect prices to fall in line with the current lineup of 8th-generation Coffee Lake processors. We’ve taken the liberty of listing some of the prices here.

• Intel Core i7-8700K – $350 (£290, AU$520) 
• Intel Core i7-8700 – $313 (£290, AU$430) 
• Intel Core i5-8400 – $190 (£183, AU$250) 
• Intel Core i5-8600K – $257 (£190, AU$325) 
• Intel Core i5-8600 – $213 (about £150, AU$277) 
• Intel Core i3-8100 – $130 (£99, AU$145) 
• Intel Core i3-8350K – $180 (£160, AU$240) 
• Intel Core i3-8300 – $138 (about £98, AU$180)

Unfortunately, we won’t know until Intel actually releases pricing information, but between generations, Intel doesn’t generally shift its pricing all that much. 

Specs

This is where things are going to get interesting. It’s been a very long time since we’ve seen a die process shrink at Intel, but when Broadwell succeeded Haswell (yeah, it’s been that long), we saw 30% gains in efficiency. This will mean that battery life in the best laptops will surge, and we’ll be able to overclock even harder while keeping temps manageable.

Tom’s hardware has reported that a dual-core Cannon Lake CPU was shipped last year according to a Spectre microcode guidance document, but it’s highly unlikely that consumer units will be the same. Otherwise AMD would eat them alive for that. We’ll likely see higher core counts, as Intel is going to want to go up against AMD in a major way.

This dual-core chip was likely that Intel Core i3 8121U processor that was just listed by Intel. According to the product listing the processor features two cores and fou threads delivering 2.2GHz of base performance and boost clock of 3.2GHz. It also has a TDP of just 15W and a 4MB cache.

We’ve also seen a leaked document that suggests a new X399 chipset in the works that would support existing Coffee Lake CPUs and possibly Cannon Lake processors as well, suggesting enthusiasts won’t need to upgrade their motherboard to get on the Cannon Lake train.

Ultimately, we won’t know what performance advantages Cannon Lake CPUs will offer until Intel shares some more information about it, but because it’s been pushed back until 2019. It’s likely we won’t hear anything from the tech behemoth until CES 2019. But, don’t worry if anything changes, we’ll update this page. So, keep your eyes glued to this page.

http://www.techradar.com/news/intel-cannon-lake

The Nest Hello video doorbell is coming to the UK, after having a North American launch at the end of 2017.

The smart video doorbell from Google-owned Nest will be available from June 13, and there are two different prices: £229 for just the doorbell, £329 for the doorbell plus professional installation.

The doorbell is what’s commonly referred to as wired-wireless, with its power coming from wires but the connection to the internet happening over Wi-Fi.

Smarter than your average doorbell

Nest’s entry isn’t exactly hitting the market hot on the heels of its biggest competitor, as (Amazon-owned) Ring is already generations into its product cycle, so it’ll be interesting to see if Nest is able to carve itself a niche in an already-establishing market.

When we were briefed about the Hello, we asked what would make a consumer choose Hello over its competition, and a Nest spokesperson said: I’m going to be blunt. We deliver a better experience. It’s a security guard that won’t sleep because we’re powered all the time. The video is [optimised] for your front door. You can have a conversation without speaking. All-in-all we’ve developed an experience that is more complete.“

What he’s referring to are the features that make Nest stand out. The aspect ratio of the image is 4×3 rather than 16×9 so you don’t have to turn your phone on its side to look at the image, plus you get a full image of the person rather than just the face. Layered on top of this wide aspect ratio is computer effects that counter the warping you get with a standard fish-eye lens.

The ‘conversation without speaking’ element is a feature that allows you to select from a set of pre-recorded soundbites (think along the lines of ‘Just leave it by the door’ for delivery people) so that if you’re in a meeting and your doorbell goes at home, you can respond to it with a tap of the app.

Currently these are fairly limited and there’s no option to record your own messages, although we get the impression this feature may come at some point.

As part of the Nest family, if you are a subscriber to the club services, the Nest Hello will be able to use the portfolio of recognised faces in your account, and will actually be able to tell you who is at the door over your Google Home speaker or the app.

They are certainly some interesting (and genuinely useful) features, and if Nest does manage to take some market space, it wouldn’t be the first time that Google had pulled off a move like this, with the Google Home smart speakers steadily gaining ground on Amazon’s Echo range.

http://www.techradar.com/news/nest-hello-video-doorbell-is-finally-coming-to-the-uk

Good news! You’ll be able to watch the World Cup in 4K HDR thanks to the BBC and its iPlayer platform. Bad news! It’s a limited trial run, meaning that it’ll be serving up the Ultra HD football streams to a select number of viewers.

All 29 of the matches the BBC is broadcasting will be available in 4K, with the broadcaster hoping to deliver “tens of thousands” of high-resolution streams. Though 4K screens in homes aren’t quite as common as HD ones, there may still be some viewers left without access to the UHD content.

“The BBC has brought major live broadcasting breakthroughs to UK audiences throughout the history of the World Cup,” said Matthew Postgate, BBC Chief Technology & Product Officer.

“From the very first tournament on TV in 1954 and England’s finest hour in 1966, to the first colour World Cup in 1970 and full HD in 2006. Now, with these trials we’re giving audiences yet another taste of the future.”

The trial will be used to fine tune the delivery of large-scale 4K events in the future, with the Beeb making use of the Hybrid Log-Gamma version of HDR it helped to develop alongside Japanese broadcaster NHK.

You can find out if your screen is compatible with the Beeb’s 4K streaming option by clicking here.

Virtual reality action

It’s not just 4K getting some love from the BBC though – it’s also invested some money, time and development in delivering virtual reality content for the 2018 World Cup too.

The BBC Sport VR – FIFA World Cup Russia 2018’ app will be free on iOS, Android, Gear VR, Oculus Go and PlayStation VR platforms, and lets fans watch live matches from a “private box” in the Russian stadiums.

Live stats will pop out of a virtual coffee table too, while there’s also the option to watch the action from cameras placed behind each goal. In addition, when live coverage isn’t available, the app will continue to offer highlights and analysis.

All in all, despite holding its cards close to its chest in the run up to the tournament, it’s a comprehensive offering from the BBC. Just make sure to start those streams early if you want in on the 4K action.

• The best 4K TVs: the best screens to watch the footy on

http://www.techradar.com/news/4k-hdr-world-cup-matches-coming-to-bbc-iplayer-but-theres-a-catch