Android/ChromeOS/Google Leftovers

• China's ZTE seeks resolution of U.S. export ban

  China’s ZTE (0763.HK) (000063.SZ) is seeking a resolution to a U.S. ban on selling it parts and software that it has said threatens its survival.

• Google Chat and RCS, Linux apps on a Chromebook, end of ZTE, and new Moto phones (MobileTechRoundup show #430)

  Did you also know that Kevin started up a new website, About Chromebooks, where he writes about his passion for Chromebooks, Chrome OS, and Chrome tablets? Make sure to check it out if you are interested at all in news, how-tos, views, and reviews. He knows his stuff and has been a Chrome user from day one.

• 8 Best Android Wallpaper App List To Improve Looks Of Your Phone In 2018

  Wallpapers give a unique look to our smartphone’s home screen. We use our phone for a hundred times every day, and the wallpaper is the first thing we lay our eyes on. Instead of searching images through the web and downloading them one by one, you can use the apps that are tailored for this purpose.

• Android Easter Eggs from Gingerbread to Oreo: A History Lesson

Games: SC-Controller 0.4.2, Campo Santo, Last Epoch and More

• SC-Controller 0.4.2 Brings Better On-Screen Keyboard

  For those using the independent, open-source SC-Controller user-mode driver and GTK3 GUI for the Steam Controller, a new release is available in time for any weekend gaming. SC-Controller 0.4.2 is now available for this popular user-space driver/program for using the Steam Controller and similar devices outside of Steam as well as managing the buttons/profiles and other tunables.

• Valve Acquires Campo Santo Game Studio

  While still hoping to see their new Artifact game this year, it seems Valve is serious after all about getting back into the gaming spirit. News coming out this weekend is that Valve has acquired the Campo Santo game studio and its developers will be joining Valve.

• Campo Santo News

  The twelve of us at Campo Santo have agreed to join Valve, where we will maintain our jobs as video game developers and continue production on our current project, In the Valley of Gods.

• Campo Santo, developer of Firewatch has joined Valve

  It seems Valve are quite serious about getting back into making games, as Campo Santo the developer of Firewatch has joined them.

• Loot-based action RPG with time travel 'Last Epoch' will be on Linux

  Not enough RPGs on Linux for you? Last Epoch [Official Site], a loot-based action RPG that involves time travel is coming to Linux. It's currently on Kickstarter, where the developer is hoping to get at least $210K in funding with $53K already pledged. They have around 24 days to go so they have plenty of time to gather funding.

• Linux versions of classic title The Dame Was Loaded and Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight now on GOG

• War for the Overworld has a huge patch and DLC release

Android Leftovers

• Android Easter Eggs from Gingerbread to Oreo: A History Lesson

• Android Auto adds ability to view full contacts list

• Installing apps from other sources under Android 8

• Huawei P20 Pro vs. Galaxy S9+: What's the Better Android?

• US-China Trade War Is Bad News for Google's Expansion

• What do you think Android P will be called?

Ryzen 7 2700X CPUFreq Scaling Governor Benchmarks On Ubuntu Linux

With this week's Ryzen 5 2600X + Ryzen 7 2700X benchmarks some thought the CPUFreq scaling driver or rather its governors may have been limiting the performance of these Zen+ CPUs, so I ran some additional benchmarks this weekend. Those launch-day Ryzen 5 2600X / Ryzen 7 2700X Ubuntu Linux benchmarks were using the "performance" governor, but some have alleged that the performance governor may now actually hurt AMD systems... Ondemand, of course, is the default CPUFreq governor on Ubuntu and most other Linux distributions. Some also have said the "schedutil" governor that makes use of the kernel's scheduler utilization data may do better on AMD. So I ran some extra benchmarks while changing between CPUFreq's ondemand (default), performance (normally the best for performance, and what was used in our CPU tests), schedutil (the newest option), and powersave (if you really just care about conserving power).