Friday, January 25, 2019

Apple : AMD Vega II release date, news and rumors

Apple : AMD Vega II release date, news and rumors


AMD Vega II release date, news and rumors

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 02:00 PM PST

It was a fairly quiet year for AMD’s graphics department in 2018, but now that AMD has announced the Radeon VII graphics card for gaming, 2019 is the year of the 7nm GPU. 

The wait for a new AMD graphics card has been long and arduous, but the Radeon VII may put AMD back on the map. Thanks to the new 7nm GPU architecture, AMD was able to pack its newest graphics card with more transistors than ever before, without increasing the power draw. 

Priced at the same point as the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, while potentially delivering comparable performance – albeit without Nvidia Turing’s ray tracing or DLSS features – 2019 is going to be an exciting year for the best graphics cards.

And, while AMD did announce the Radeon VII, which seems to be at least a bit related to Vega, it hasn’t been confirmed whether or not it’ll be part of the Vega II family – if Vega II is actually even a thing. Based on what we were hearing before its announcement, the Radeon VII lines up well with everything we expected, so for now we’ll be treating AMD’s newest graphics card as a Vega II GPU, even if it’s not official.

So, be sure to keep this page bookmarked, and we’ll dive into everything there is to know about AMD Vega II. 

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? AMD’s first 7nm consumer graphics cards
  • When is it out? February 7, 2019
  • What will it cost? $699 (about £550, AU$980)

AMD Vega II

AMD Vega II release date

At CES 2019, AMD announced the Radeon VII, the first 7nm consumer graphics card. Launching on February 7, 2019, what we believe to be the first of the Vega II graphics cards will arrive with Devil May Cry V, Resident Evil 2 and The Division 2. However, if you want to get your hands on this card, you might want to act fast. 

AMD is rumored to be producing less than 5,000 Radeon VII graphics cards, as they’re losing money on each card sold, according to a report from TweakTown. However, Tom’s Hardware reached out to AMD for clarification, and it reported that it “expect(s) Radeon VII supply to meet demand from gamers.”

Whether availability is going to be an issue remains to be seen, but we’ll be sure to update this article with whatever information comes out. 

AMD Vega II

AMD Vega II price

Right now there’s only one AMD Vega II card, the Radeon VII, and that will launch at $699 (about £550, AU$980), bundled with three games. We’re sure that AMD will fill out the product stack with lower priced GPUs in the future, but we don’t know what the pricing will look like quite yet. However, you can probably assume it’s going to compete with Nvidia’s Turing product stack directly.

AMD Vega II

AMD Vega II specs

The switch from a 14nm process to a 7nm process allows AMD to pack even more power into each GPU. For its graphics cards, this move means more transistors in each GPU without having to increase the die size or the power requirements.

And, the AMD Radeon VII is the fist 7nm graphics card for gamers, with 3,840 stream processors, 16GB HBM2 VRAM and 1TB/s of memory bandwidth. This goes directly against the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, which has 2,944 CUDA cores, 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM and 448GB/s of memory bandwidth. 

The Radeon VII will definitely outperform its competitor in some workloads thanks to sheer horsepower. But, it’s especially going to shine in creative workloads, meaning that it’s going to be the best graphics card for hobbyist video editors and content creators who don’t have the cash to drop on a professional product.

But, the AMD Radeon VII won’t offer the double-precision capabilities that the enterprise Radeon MI60 does, according to ExtremeTech, so it’s still very much a consumer graphics card. 

Aside from standalone cards, it seems all but guaranteed that the Vega II series will find its way into mobile and lower-power devices as integrated graphics processors. With a new generation of Ryzen processors expected, a new generation of Vega graphics to integrate into APUs is only fitting.

In fact, laptops will soon see a flurry of 2nd Gen Ryzen Mobile processors equipped with brand new Vega graphics.  time. Even the anticipated Xbox Scarlet Cloud could see Vega II built into its APU.  

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AMD Vega release date, news and features: everything you need to know

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 01:55 PM PST

AMD gave us a sneak peek at its new Vega graphics card architecture way back at CES 2017. What we didn’t know then, though, is that it wouldn’t end up in the hands of consumers until August 2017.

Back when cryptocurrency was a thing people cared about, AMD Vega enjoyed plenty of success as the architecture behind the best mining GPUs, but the mining craze is long over. Fortunately, that means AMD Vega cards don’t cost an arm and a leg anymore – although, we suspect many users will opt for the Radeon VII instead,anyway. 

Not that we necessarily need them, though. AMD’s latest Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition just unlocked a ton of new functionality for current graphics cards, so the Vega cards we already have are doing just fine. 

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? The follow-up to AMD’s Polaris GPU architecture
  • When's it out? August 14, 2017
  • What will it cost? $499 or £549 (about AU$630)

AMD Radeon RX Vega release date

AMD's affordable, consumer-oriented Radeon RX Vega 64 launched back in August 2017, with three versions including a standard edition model, an aluminum-clad limited edition version and a liquid-cooled design with higher clock speeds.

AMD’s lower-specced Radeon RX Vega 56, which is a direct competitor with the Nvidia GTX 1070, launched a little bit later in August. 

AMD then teamed up with Intel, of all companies, to create 8th Generation Kaby Lake-G processors with integrated AMD Vega graphics for laptops – on top of packing some of the best laptops with powerful GPUs, like the spectacular Dell XPS 15 2-in-1.

Later, in February 2018, AMD launched the Ryzen 3 2200G and Ryzen 5 2400GAPUs with discrete-class Vega graphics that will be a major help to anyone trying to build a great home-theater PC on a budget.

We wouldn’t see a new graphics card from AMD until it partnered up with PowerColor to introduce the Radeon RX Vega 56 Nano at Computex 2018

Then, at CES 2019, AMD announced the Radeon VII, marking a return to high-end consumer graphics. This is based off a 7nm architecture, and promises to compete with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 at a similar price point. You won’t have to wait long to get your hands on it either – the Radeon VII hits the streets on February 7.

And, if you can’t justify ponying up the cash for a Vega card, AMD put out the Ryzen 3 2200G and the Ryzen 5 2400G APUs, with Vega graphics, on February 12, 2018.

AMD Radeon RX Vega price

Back in August 2017, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 launched as a standalone card for $499 or £549 (about AU$630).

That's a big step up from the Radeon RX 500 lineup, which starts at as low as $169 (about £136, AU$219), but this is meant to be AMD's enthusiast-class grade graphics card. It's been a long-awaited sequel to the company's mostly defunct Radeon R9 Fury X, which was still going for a cool $389 (about £315, AU$505) up until the very end. 

What's more, at this price point it's competitive against the $549 (£539, AU$1,299) Nvidia GTX 1080 Founders Edition.

After the launch of the Vega 64 in the US, AMD offered two other editions of the card that could be bought exclusively as part of ‘Radeon Packs’, which bundled two free games, and discounts on a Samsung CF791 curved ultra-wide FreeSync monitor and a nice $100 discount on a Ryzen 7 processor and motherboard. The packs are unfortunately unavailable to purchase at time of writing, however.

Unfortunately, those hardware discounts only kicked in if users are buying the said monitor and CPU/motherboard combo at the same time as their Vega GPU. Of course, users could choose to not buy the extra components and peripherals while still getting the two free games, confirmed – in the US at least – to be Wolfenstein II and Prey.

The limited-edition AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 came as part of a Radeon Black Pack for $599 (£460, AU$750). Meanwhile, the liquid-cooled Vega 64 ran for $699 (£530, AU$875), and can only be purchased as part of AMD's Radeon Aqua Pack.

Lastly, you'll be able to purchase the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 by itself for $400 (about £284, AU$500) MSRP.

At the end of the day, Vega was – at least at launch – as competitive to Nvidia as Ryzen is to Intel. Thankfully, due to the cryptocurrency market cooling down, AMD Vega cards have fallen to a reasonable price. They’re not quite down to MSRP, but they’re pretty close – you won’t have to worry about spending 2-3x MSRP value to upgrade your GPU.

AMD Radeon RX Vega specs

Following its 2017 Capsaicin 2 livestream event, AMD revealed the exact specifications for its two new Vega GPUs, as well as its underlying Vega 10 architecture.

From the chart above, it's clear the most powerful of the bunch will be the liquid-cooled version of the Radeon RX Vega 64. The more expensive water-cooled version will operate at higher base/boost clocks, despite sharing identical specs to its air-cooled twin.

The RX Vega 56, on the other hand, is positioned against Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1070 at $400 (about £305, AU$505). However, early benchmarks have cited performance that greatly outweighed that of its closest competition while running triple-A games at 2560 x 1440. 

Like the Polaris 10 architecture that preceded it, AMD's Polaris 10 architecture is built on an 14nm FinFET process that should ultimately make it more power-efficient and robust in performance.

Vega 10 is also noticeably skewed towards delivering on more compute power than raw graphical strength like Nvidia's Pascal GPUs. This will likely mean Vega will be able to better handle the complex calculations of procedural surfaces, volumetric lighting and the overall quality of the in-game graphics.

This era of Vega GPUs also ditches GDDR5 memory altogether for a new format known as HBM2, or high-bandwidth memory. AMD believes its efficient memory offers a 75% smaller footprint than GDDR5 while also being 3.5 times more power-efficient.

AMD also claims that Vega’s high-bandwidth cache controller will improve maximum frame rates by 50% and minimum frame rates by 100% over GDDR5 memory. 

Interestingly, Vega 10 is also designed to support up to 16GB of HBM2 memory  – which we've already seen from Radeon Vega Frontier Edition – so Nvidia's Titan X may finally get some competition from AMD.

Stay tuned for more details regarding everything AMD Vega, as we'll be updating this page with the latest as it happens. In the meantime, be sure to update to the latest version of AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive for a generous helping of GPU control features.

Gabe Carey also contributed to this article

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Nvidia vs AMD: which should be your next graphics card?

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 01:55 PM PST

If you ask a console gamer, they’ll go on at length about the perennial rivalry between the Xbox One X and PS4 Pro, and which you should choose to play Fortnite on. However, PC gamers have a similar feud: Nvidia vs AMD. And, even if you’ve never heard about it before, the sheer amount of competition and innovation that’s resulted from this battle is nothing short of amazing.

Still, if you’re not willing to pledge loyalty to one of these tech behemoths, it can be hard to decide what the best graphics card for your needs is. Don’t worry though, we here at TechRadar have decided to sit down and figure out once and for all the true winner in the battle of Nvidia vs AMD. (Spoiler: it never ends).

These days, the Nvidia vs AMD battle is in an awkward position. Almost two years after the release of the Nvidia GTX 10 series, it released the Turing architecture with the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, RTX 2080, RTX 2070 and RTX 2060 –  GPUs that are much more expensive than their predecessors. 

And, while AMD launched Vega back in 2017 and AMD Navi is off in the distance, AMD’s new Radeon VII will be directly competing with the RTX 2080. But, that doesn’t mean it’s forgotten about the budget market –  AMD keeps releasing new Polaris cards, like the Radeon RX 590, aimed at the budget-focused 1080p segment. 

No matter how you slice it, neither Nvidia or AMD graphics cards all over the place, so that’s why we crafted this guide – to dive in and figure out how they differ. From their exclusive features to their price-to-performance ratio, even down to their drivers, and you can’t forget all those pesky exclusive features, either.

nvidia vs amd

There are graphics card choices for days

Price

Anyone who browses Reddit or comment sections on tech websites will tell you that AMD is widely known for its affordability, and Nvidia for its high-end performance and high prices. But, are they actually right?

Well, kind of. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti is listed at $1,199 (£1,099, AU$1,899), which is almost twice the price of the last-generation GTX 1080 Ti. This price bump continues down the line, with the RTX 2080 at $799 (£749, AU$1,199) and the RTX 2070 at $599 (£569, AU$899). 

During the reveal keynote, Nvidia claimed that they would start at lower prices, for instance, the 2080 Ti should be starting at $999 (about £760, AU$1,385) – but we haven’t seen any cards offered at these prices. 

Right now, the most affordable RTX card is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, which is available at $349 (£329, AU$599). While that’s a far cry from the high price of the 2080 Ti, it’s still expensive for a mid-range card. 

As for AMD, you can find a Radeon RX 500 card for a pittance in comparison. But, AMD is competing with Nvidia again at the high end, with the AMD Radeon VII, which will be available for $699 (about £550, AU$980), which is about the same price as the RTX 2080 for about the same level of performance. 

At the end of the day, the better price is going to depend on where you’re lucky enough to find a discount.

nvidia vs amd

Performance

When you’re trying to build a PC that’s more powerful than your arch-enemy’s, buying a graphics card isn’t a matter of price but performance. Packing the best performance for the lowest cost is the arguably the most pertinent factor in driving GPU sales. 

Right now the RTX 2080 Ti completely blows away every other consumer-grade graphics card with 11GB of GDDR6 memory and high-end Tensor and RT cores that will enable AI-controlled super sampling and real-time ray tracing. AMD right now doesn’t have anything in the same ballpark – but does that even matter?

AMD has always been known for being the clear value champions, whereas Nvidia usually has more powerful hardware. But, at CES 2019, AMD revealed the Radeon VII. And, while we haven’t been able to test it yet, AMD claims that it will compete with the RTX 2080, at about the same price. So, if you’re looking for solid 4K performance, but you don’t care about gimmicky RTX features, you might want to wait for the Radeon VII.

The lowest end current-generation graphics card in Nvidia’s stable is the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060, with performance that outmatches the AMD Vega 56 at the same price point. And, while the prices for these two GPUs are mostly comparable, AMD is currently dominating the budget-to-mid-range product stack with cards like the AMD Radeon RX 580.

At the end of the day, AMD and Nvidia are occupying completely different sides of the marketplace right now, so the best choice is going to rely on what games you’re trying to play and at what resolution. 

If you’re trying to play games like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at 4K, you’re going to want to go with Nvidia. But, if you just want to play Overwatch at 1080p with a high refresh rate – go with AMD. However, that Radeon VII is looking promising for 4K performance, too – especially with that 16GB of HBM2 memory.

Software, drivers and features

One key draw to using Nvidia hardware over AMD is the Green Team’s GeForce Experience software. 

Because it delivers driver updates and optimizes games in addition to letting you broadcast gameplay and capture screenshots as well as videos directly from its easy-to-use interface, Nvidia GeForce Experience is posited as the one PC gaming application to rule them all. 

Meanwhile, AMD’s newly announced Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition aims to overtake Nvidia’s solution. The latest update is  stacked features including automatic overclocking (that doesn’t need tensor cores) and stream games to your mobile device.

AMD’s latest GPU software will even let you stream VR games to your phone or standalone VR headsets. So, you can leverage the power of your AMD graphics card to play the best VR games without slowdown. Radeon Software’s underlying benefit, of course, is also more consistent updates driver updates to account for every major game release.

As of December 2016, you could already livestream via Radeon Crimson ReLive, but now you can really customize your broadcast with a Xplit/OBS-style program from AMD and multi-channel audio control.

Nvidia vs AMD

Still, GeForce Experience has the game optimization features we’re all crazy for. So when you don’t know what settings are best for your computer in The Witcher 3, Nvidia takes care of the heavy lifting for you. 

AMD users can download and install Raptr’s Gaming Evolved tool to optimize their gaming experience. However, the add-on is less than ideal considering its biggest rival’s audience can accomplish nearly everything from within GeForce Experience. That includes using Nvidia Ansel to take way cool in-game photos at resolutions exceeding 63K (16 times that of which a 4K monitor can display).

Nvidia also has a leg up when it comes to streaming games whether it’s to another gaming PC with at least a Maxwell-based GPU, as well as the company’s self-made tablets and set-top box. Not to mention, Nvidia also has a cloud-based gaming service call GeForce Now available to Windows 10 and MacOS users.

Exclusivity

It was once rumored that AMD and Nvidia were enacting shady tactics, “paying off” game developers to show preferential treatment towards one or the other. Were this the case, it would certainly explain why certain games run better using GeForce graphics than Radeon and vice versa. 

Fortunately, besides new technologies like ray tracing and deep learning super-sampling in the new Nvidia Turing cards, we don’t see these concerns from PC gamers as much anymore – but they still exist.

Following its Capsaicin & Cream livestream event at GDC 2017, we spoke with AMD its to discuss its strategy in contending with Nvidia. The news that the company would partner with Bethesda Softworks to optimize its games for Radeon, Ryzen or both was worrying to say the least. And it still is. 

At the time, the potential for games operating more smoothly on AMD systems meant that Nvidia could fight back by partnering with an equally large publisher. Although the latter maneuver hasn’t happened yet, early Wolfenstein II performance comparisons, such as this one from TechEpiphany on YouTube have exhibited better performance and lower temps coming from the AMD Radeon RX 64 when pitted against Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 1080.

We’re not saying there’s a bias towards AMD in Bethesda’s technical design decisions, however we aren’t ready to take off our tin foil hats quite yet either.

Of course, Bethesda is hardly the only company to show favoritism to either team red or green. If you ever see an AMD or Nvidia splash screen ahead of the title page when you start a game, you can bet it will run better with that company’s hardware.

So, which is better? Neither

There’s so much to love, and in some instances “dis-love,” about both Nvidia and AMD graphics. In the end, both of these companies rely on competition with each other to thrive. Suffice to say, the Nvidia vs AMD debate requires that you understand there’s a reason Radeon and GeForce GPUs are so similar in performance right now. 

Each company is doing its best to keep up with the mindshare of the other, and that’s good for us. They’re basically fighting for our money, learning from each other’s mistakes and legislating marked improvements along the way. 

It’s up to you who wins the fiery contest of Nvidia vs AMD, although we will say this: Nvidia is unmatched in the 4K market right now. If it helps any, the RTX 2080 Ti is probably your best bet if you want your PC to keep up with your Ultra HD display – as long as you can afford it. If you’re on a budget, though, Nvidia and AMD graphics cards will be about the same, at least until lower-end Turing cards make their way to the public.

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AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation release date, news, and rumors

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 01:55 PM PST

Now that AMD has revealed its its first 7nm Ryzen 3rd Generation processors, what will the future look like for Threadripper 3rd Generation – its next line of HEDT processors?

Now that AMD Ryzen is nearly two years old at this point, and we’ve seen Team Red come out with winning CPU after winning CPU, we’ve been asking ourselves where things go from here. 

At CES 2019, AMD revealed its 7nm Zen 2 architecture, and it should dramatically improve performance, while keeping power consumption low. This is definitely exciting news for the Ryzen 3rd Generation chips, but we’re here specifically for what’s coming next for Threadripper. So, be sure to keep this page bookmarked, and we’ll keep it updated with all the latest Threadripper 3rd Generation news and rumors.  

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? AMD’s next line of HEDT processors 
  • When is it out? Likely Summer 2019
  • What will it cost? TBD

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation release date

While AMD hasn’t come out and announced the release date for its next Threadripper chips, the last two Threadripper generations have been pretty consistent, so we have a basis for speculation. 

Both the original Threadripper and Threadripper 2nd Generation launched in August of 2017 and 2018, respectively. We’re fairly sure that AMD is going to follow the same general release schedule this time around, but, obviously we don’t know that for sure. 

The Zen 2 architecture shown of at CES will launch in mid-2019, probably in Q2 or Q3, in the form of consumer-focused Ryzen processors. We didn’t get any kind of clue about when we might see Threadripper, but it’s safe to assume it will at least be teased at Computex 2019, with a release in the late Summer or early Autumn.

We’ll update this article as soon as we hear more substantial rumors about the release date.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation price

Now, so far ahead of AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation’s launch, we don’t have any official pricing information, but we can look at past generations to get an idea of what AMD’s next HEDT chips will cost. 

The original lineup of Threadripper topped out with the $999 (£999, AU$1,439) AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X, but the second generation introduced surprisingly lower priced replacements. There were also two higher specced – and higher priced – additions. We believe Threadripper 3rd Generation will follow the latter model.

The prices of AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2nd Generation chips are as follows: 

  • Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX: $1,799 (£1,639, AU$2,679)
  • Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX: $1,299 (£1,159, AU$2,039)
  • Ryzen Threadripper 2950X: $899 (£809, AU$1,415)
  • Ryzen Threadripper 2920X: $649 (£583, AU$1,019)

AMD could very well surprise us and introduce an even higher-end SKU, but we don’t think that’s likely. Stay tuned, and we’ll update this page as soon as we hear any Threadripper 3rd Generation price information.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation specs

With AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation, we expect to see a huge bump in core counts, efficiency and per-core performance with Threadripper 3rd Generation. If you need a refresher on last year’s Threadripper lineup’s specs they’re as follows:

  • Ryzen Threadripper 2920X: 12-cores, 24-threads, clocked at 3.5GHz to 4.3GHz
  • Ryzen Threadripper 2950X: 16-cores, 32-threads, clocked at 3.5GHz to 4.4GHz
  • Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX: 24-cores, 48-threads, clocked at 3.0GHz to 4.2GHz
  • Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX: 32-cores, 64-threads, clocked at 3.0GHz to 4.2GHz

We’re sure that with the move to 7nm, AMD is going to massively improve specs. But, with Threadripper 3rd Generation, or Castle Peak, rumors are thin on the ground. However, there is plenty of buzz about the AMD Ryzen 3000 series, not to mention the 64-core AMD Epyc server CPU.

While we’ve seen speculation that suggests a 16-core Ryzen 3000 processor, that hasn’t been confirmed. What has been confirmed, though, is a new 8-core Ryzen processor that matches the Intel Core i9-9900K’s Cinebench score, getting 2,023 points.

AMD also showed off the system power in its test, the whole system ran at just 130W during the Cinebench run, compared to the Intel system’s 180W. We don’t know what frequency this chip was running at, but this high performance combined with the high efficiency is promising for whatever Threadripper chips come from Zen 2. 

What’s more, the chip AMD showed off revealed that 8-core chiplets are smaller than the IO die. What this means for Threadripper is many more cores in the same amount of space. It’s possible that we could see a 64-core Threadripper chip in 2019.

It wouldn’t even be the first 64-core processor in AMD’s lineup. AMD recently showed off its latest Epyc processors, based off its Rome microarchitecture, with up to 64-cores. 

If AMD is able to bring those high core counts to Castle Peak HEDT processors, we could see AMD absolutely dominate Intel’s Basin Falls Refresh. And, if Intel can’t answer with anything but 14nm silicon, AMD might claim the HEDT throne like it did when it topped Intel’s mainstream sales.

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Microsoft To-Do integration with Cortana rolls out to everyone

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 01:52 PM PST

Cortana and the Microsoft To-Do productivity app are getting together to help you manage your tasks like a boss.

Microsoft To-Do was previously available for insiders, but now it's officially being integrated with Cortana  for regular users. Thanks to these updates, anyone will be able to summon Cortana to set up reminders – for anything from getting milk to making a call at 6:00pm sharp – and the voice assistant will pin those tasks to Outlook Tasks and Microsoft To-Do.

The system is designed to sync to all of your devices, assuming you have the necessary apps installed of course, and send you reminders when it's time to complete the tasks.

Microsoft To-Do was already a gorgeous, easy-to-manage productivity app, and now this Cortana integration brings it up to par with other management systems like  Google Assistant with Google Calendar or Siri with Apple's Calendar.

How to pair Cortana to Microsoft To-Do

To connect your smart assistant to Microsoft To-Do, you need to head to hit the Cortana button on your Windows 10 taskbar, click the notebook icon on the upper left, and then click on Manage Skills. From there, you’ll need to check your Connected Services and ensure you’re logged into your Outlook or Office 365 account.

After you’re all signed in and connected, Cortana, Microsoft To-Do, and Outlook will automatically start syncing.

For now, integration between Cortana and Microsoft To-Do is only available in English in Australia, India, the U.S., and the U.K. Users outside of these territories can still enable the feature by region and language settings. Unfortunately, it may take a while for Microsoft to make this feature universally available for everyone around the world.

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Best SSDs 2019: the top solid-state drives for your PC

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST

For too long, we were stuck buying one of the best hard drives when we wanted to expand our computer’s storage. However, with their spinning disks and slow transfer speeds, they haven’t aged well. In 2019, however, the best SSDs or solid state drives, are fast enough to free you from the mechanical shackles of hard drives.

And, you don’t even need to rock one of the best PCs to take advantage of the best SSDs. The best Ultrabooks are practically designed to take advantage of the best SSDs, thanks to their unrivaled durability and speed. You can even slot one of the best SSDs into a PS4 Pro to seriously slash loading times.

When you’re on the market for one of the best SSDs, you’ll probably notice that there are a lot of them out there. This is great for anyone on a budget, because there’s a wide spread in price points. However, because there are so many SSDs out there – literally hundreds of them – it can be hard to find the best SSD for your needs. Luckily, we took the time to curate a list of the best SSDs you can buy today.

Samsung is no stranger to creating some of the best SSDs, but when it launched the Samsung 970 Evo Plus with higher-than-ever speeds and new silicon, even we were surprised. The Samsung 970 Evo Plus is simply one of the fastest drives on the market, but the fact that Samsung is selling this drive at such a bargain price is just the cherry on top. Because of how affordable this drive is, it’s hard not to recommend it as the best SSD for anyone. 

Read the full review: Samsung 970 Evo Plus

Western Digital has been busy making a name for itself among the best SSDs over the last few years, and with the WD Black SN750, it’s finally claimed the throne of the best SSD for gaming. This NVMe SSD has insane random reads speeds of 412.5MB/s, which will make games load before you get a chance to sip your drink. And, when you consider how affordable this SSD is, it’s hard not to proclaim it as the best SSD gamers can buy today. 

Read the full review: WD Black SN750 NVMe SSD

For years, Samsung has been behind some of the best SSDs on the market, and even though other manufacturers like Western Digital and Adata are creeping up on its turf, the Samsung 970 Evo is still the best SSD you can buy if you’re after raw speed. And, while the read speeds haven’t improved over the previous generation’s 960 Pro, the write speeds see a significant bump – up to 2,700MB/s – which is how it retains its ‘fastest SSD’ crown. If you’re after the best SSD, with no compromises, you can’t go wrong with the Samsung 970 Pro. 

Read the full review: Samsung 970 Pro 

If you're looking for plenty of options, the Toshiba OCZ RD400 series of drives come in 4 sizes and three different form factors: M.2, M.2 2280, and add-in card (AIC). Not all sizes are in all form factors, so if you're looking for a fast 1TB drive, make sure you have room in your computer case. 

If you’ve been waiting to jump on the M.2 train for an SSD that’s both fast and affordable, we have some good news for you. The Adata XPG SX8200 isn’t one of the best SSDs because it’s the fastest drive on the market, but because there isn’t a single drive out there that can match the raw price to performance ratio that the XPG SX8200 offers. Sure you can get any of the much faster, much more expensive SSDs on the market, but this is the drive we can recommend to anyone.to anyone.

Read the full review: Adata XPG SX8200 

People might not be going crazy about SATA 3 anymore, but the Samsung 860 Pro proves that there’s still plenty of life in the aging interface after all. With storage up to 4TB and transfer speeds that approach the theoretical maximum of the SATA 3 interface and top-of the-line reliability and security – the Samsung 860 Pro is the best SSD for anyone still clinging to SATA 3.

Read the full review: Samsung 860 Pro 

The U.2 standard allows for bigger SSD capacities and uses your computer's PCIe x4 slot to send all that data back and forth. The Intel 750 series includes a cable so you can mount the drive in the bay on your case and still plug it into the PCIe slot on your motherboard.

Samsung had a hard act to follow – the Samsung 850 Evo was beloved for its stunning performance and affordability. And, the Samsung 860 Evo absolutely succeeded. Though limited by the SATA3 interface, the Samsung 860 Evo delivers performance that iterates on its predecessor with improved read/write speeds and an array of form factors, while still maintaining its budget price. The 860 Evo is the best SSD for anyone looking for an entry-level SSD without having to break open their piggy banks. 

Read the full review: Samsung 860 Evo 

If you need an SSD that will last through multiple computers, the HP S700 Pro is exactly what you want. Its life will far exceed its warranty, offering up to 2 million hours of use and up to 650 terabytes written. This is one of the best SSDs you can buy if you need something that’ll last, but the SATA interface may slow things down a bit in the read/write department, which technically helps it last even longer. 

  • This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Samsung 860 Evo 

The best NVMe SSDs used to be way too expensive for most users. But, those days are coming to an end – the Intel 760p Series SSD changes everything. This SSD features awesome performance that’s only slightly behind the beloved Samsung 960 Evo, boasting speeds of 3,056 MB/s read and 1,606 MB/s write. But, what makes the 760p stand out is the fantastic price to performance ratio. Yeah, there are faster NVMe drives on the market, but you’ll be paying a premium that, frankly, isn’t worth it. This is one of the best SSDs out there, not just because it’s fast, but because the Intel 760p makes us excited about the future.

Read the full review: Intel 760p Series SSD

If you’re a creative or a professional, and you need an external NVMe SSD that’s going to save you time rather than waste it, you might want to give the Samsung X5 Portable SSD a look. Thanks to its use of Thunderbolt 3, rugged magnesium build and AES 256-bit encryption, it’s fast, secure and durable – everything you want in an external SSD. However, this isn’t a cheap accessory, this is one of the best SSDs and it’s priced as such. Everyday users may want to look elsewhere, this is all about sheer speed.

Read the full review: Samsung X5 Portable SSD 

Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article

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AMD vs Intel: which chipmaker does processors better?

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST

Although the battle between Coffee Lake Refresh and AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation is still raging on, the war between Ryzen 3rd Generation, Ice Lake and Sunny Cove is about to begin. It’s also time for us to dive into the perennial deathmatch: AMD vs Intel.

Essentially acting as the brain of your computer, the best processors are behind everything your PC does. This is why it’s so important to find the one for your specific needs – you don’t want to pay for features you don’t need. 

If you’ve been following the frantic war of Intel vs AMD as closely as we have over the years, you probably already know that AMD and Intel have traditionally focused on different segments of the CPU market. Where Intel has focused on higher clock speeds and efficiency with low core counts, AMD has focused on upping its core counts and boosting multi-threaded performance.

Still, AMD and Intel can still coexist – they cater to different audiences, with some direct competition in between. If you’re not quite sure which side of the fence you sit on, continue to the next slide for a constantly updated look at the AMD vs Intel battle.

Gary Marshall originally contributed to this article

For bargain shoppers on the prowl for the next hottest deal, it used to be assumed that AMD’s processors were cheaper, but that was only because the Red Team did its best work at the entry level.

Now that Ryzen processors have proven AMD’s worth on the high-end, the tide has ostensibly turned. Now Intel reigns supreme in the budget CPU space, with its $64 (about £46, AU$82) MSRP Pentium G4560 offering far better performance than AMD’s $110 (about £80, AU$140) MSRP A12-9800.

Even among mid-range, current-gen chips, Intel is leading the pack by offering 8th-generation Coffee Lake CPUs as low as $117 (about £83, AU$152) for the Core i3-8100T. 

Much of this is due to the Advanced Micro Device company’s reluctance to move beyond simply iterating on its antiquated Bulldozer architecture and onto adopting the current-generation ‘Zen’ standard it’s already introduced with pricier CPUs. 

Still, on the low end, Intel and AMD processors typically retail at about the same price. It’s once you hit that exorbitant $200 (around £142, AU$252) mark where things get trickier. High-end Intel chips now range from 4 up to 18 cores, while AMD chips can now be found with up to 32-cores.

And, thanks to some recent price cuts you can find the AMD Ryzen 5 2400G and the Ryzen 3 2200G for $160 (around £129, AU$208) and $105 (around £84, AU$135), respectively.

While it was long-rumored that AMD’s Ryzen chips would offer cutting-edge performance at a lower price, benchmarks have demonstrated that Intel is remaining strongly competitive.

If you can get your hands on one, the Core i7 9700K is  is $409 (£499, AU$659), while the still more-capable Ryzen 7 2700X is priced at $329 (about £230, AU$420). And, if you’re looking to get your hands on the new hotness, the Intel Core i9-9900K is available for $579 (£599, AU$859.)  

For anyone looking to dip their toes into the realm of the HEDT processors, AMD and Intel are very close right now, especially on the heels of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX CPU, at $1,799 (£1,639, AU$2,679). That might seem like a lot, but compared to the $1,999 (£1,649, AU$2,729) Intel Core i9-7980XE, it’s a downright bargain – especially given that AMD’s offering has nearly double the cores. 

If you're building a gaming PC, truthfully you should be using a discrete graphics card, or GPU (graphics processing unit), rather than relying on a CPU’s integrated graphics to run games as demanding as Middle Earth: Shadow of War.

Still, it’s possible to run less graphically intense games on an integrated GPU if your processor has one. In this area, AMD is the clear winner, thanks to the release of the Ryzen 5 2400G that packs powerful discrete Vega graphics that outperforms Intel’s onboard graphic technology by leaps and bounds. 

Yet, as we mentioned before, Intel has officially started shipping its high-end H-series mobile CPU chips with AMD graphics on board. In turn, this means that hardier laptops powered by Intel can now be thinner and their accompanying silicon footprints will be over 50% smaller, according to Intel client computing group vice president Christopher Walker.

All of this is accomplished using Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology, along with a newly contrived framework that enables power sharing between Intel’s first-party processors and third-party graphics chips with dedicated graphics memory. Even so, it’s too early to tell whether this is a better solution than the purebred AMD notebooks slated for the end of this year.

Intel might be aiming to shake things up though as it has announced that it’s planning on releasing a GPU aimed at gamers by 2020. And, if we could see Intel putting some of that effort into improving integrated graphics.

Still, if all you're looking to do is play League of Legends at modest settings or relive your childhood with a hard drive full of emulators (it's okay, we won't tell), the latest Intel Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake or AMD A-Series APU processors for desktops will likely fare just as well as any forthcoming portable graphics solution.

On the high-end, especially in cases where you don’t need to worry about on-board graphics, Intel’s processors are typically on top – its Core i9-9900K handily beats out the workstation-class Ryzen Threadripper 2970WX for less than half the price. 

AMD typically provides better multi-threading performance, as a result of higher core and thread counts. Ryzen CPUs also offer more PCIe lanes, which come in handy if you want multiple NVMe SSDs alongside  SLI and CrossFire multi-GPU performance.

While there is no clear winner in the graphics department, survey says AMD is the better option for integrated graphics, while hardcore gamers who don’t mind shelling out the extra cash for a GPU will find that Intel is better for gaming alone – although with Ryzen 2nd Generation AMD is closing that gap. Meanwhile, AMD is superior for carrying out numerous tasks at once.

If you're building a gaming PC, truthfully you should be using a discrete graphics card, or GPU (graphics processing unit), rather than relying on a CPU’s integrated graphics to run games as demanding as Middle Earth: Shadow of War.

Still, it’s possible to run less graphically intense games on an integrated GPU if your processor has one. In this area, AMD is the clear winner, thanks to the release of the Ryzen 5 2400G that packs powerful discrete Vega graphics that outperforms Intel’s onboard graphic technology by leaps and bounds.

Yet, as we mentioned before, Intel has officially started shipping its high-end H-series mobile CPU chips with AMD graphics on board. In turn, this means that hardier laptops powered by Intel can now be thinner and their accompanying silicon footprints will be over 50% smaller, according to Intel client computing group vice president Christopher Walker.

All of this is accomplished using Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) technology, along with a newly contrived framework that enables power sharing between Intel’s first-party processors and third-party graphics chips with dedicated graphics memory. Even so, it’s too early to tell whether this is a better solution than the purebred AMD notebooks.

Still, if all you're looking to do is play League of Legends at modest settings or relive your childhood with a hard drive full of emulators (it's okay, we won't tell), the latest Intel Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake or AMD A-Series APU processors for desktops will likely fare just as well as any forthcoming portable graphics solution.

On the high end, such as in cases where you'll be pairing your CPU with a powerful AMD or Nvidia GPU, Intel’s processors are typically better for gaming due to their higher base and boost clock speeds. At the same time, though, AMD provides better CPUs for multi-tasking as a result of their higher core and thread counts.

While there is no clear winner in the graphics department, survey says AMD is the better option for integrated graphics. However, Intel is working on improving its own integrated graphics in 2019, with its Gen11 graphics – we’ll have to see how well they work when they actually ship. Meanwhile hardcore gamers who don’t mind shelling out the extra cash for a GPU will find that Intel is better for gaming alone. Meanwhile, AMD is superior for carrying out numerous tasks at once.

When you buy a new computer or even just a CPU by itself, it's typically locked at a specific clock speed as indicated on the box. Some processors ship unlocked, allowing for higher clock speeds than recommended by the manufacturer, giving users more control over how they use their components (though, it does require you know how to overclock).

AMD is normally more generous than Intel in this regard. With an AMD system, you can expect overclocking capabilities from even the $129 (about £110, AU$172) Ryzen 3 1300X. Meanwhile, you can only overclock an Intel processor if it's graced with the “K” series stamp of approval. Then again, the cheapest of these is the $180 (£160, AU$240) Intel Core i3-8350K.

Both companies will void your warranty if you brick your processor as the result of overclocking, though, so it’s important to watch out for that. Excessive amounts of heat can be generated if you’re not careful, thereby neutralizing the CPU as a result. With that in mind, you’ll be missing out on a few hundred stock megahertz if you skip out on one of the K models.

Intel’s more extravagant K-stamped chips are pretty impressive, too. The i9-9900K, for instance, is capable of maintaining a whopping 5.0GHz turbo frequency in comparison to the 4.3GHz boost frequency of the Ryzen 7 2700X. If you’ve access to liquid nitrogen cooling, you may even be able to reach upwards of 6.1GHz using Intel’s monstrous, 18-core i9-7980XE.  

In the end, the biggest problem with AMD’s desktop processors is the lack of compatibility with other components. Specifically, motherboard (mobo) and cooler options are limited as a result of the differing sockets between AMD and Intel chips.

While a lot of CPU coolers demand that you special order an AM4 bracket to be used with Ryzen, only a handful of the best motherboards are compatible with the AM4 chipset. In that regard, Intel parts are slightly more commonplace and are often accompanied by lower starting costs, too, as a result of the wide variety of kit to choose from.

That said, AMD's chips make a little more sense from a hardware design perspective. With an AMD motherboard, rather than having metal connector pins on the CPU socket, you'll notice those pins are instead on the underside of the CPU itself. In turn, the mobo is less likely to malfunction due to its own faulty pins.

When it comes to availability in the latter half of 2018, it gets complicated. While both Coffee Lake and AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation processors are widely available, Intel is going through supply shortages, and AMD is starting to catch up to Team Blue’s titanic market share. In fact, financial analysts have downgraded Intel’s stock in the face of both 14nm shortages and Cannon Lake’s constant delays, according to a report from CNBC. AMD really has a chance to steal the crown here.

Still, you can pick up processors from both companies today, though Intel chips like the Intel Core i7-8700K might have some increased pricing. AMD APUs like the AMD Ryzen 3 2200G are still great options for anyone on a budget, though.

Future speculation 

It really shouldn’t come as a surprise that AMD had a great year in 2017 with its Ryzen processors – especially the high-end Threadripper processors. And, now that the Ryzen 2nd Generation CPUs have been released, AMD is claiming more and more of Intel’s market share, up to 50% at the time of writing.  And, if AMD keeps putting out processors as good as the Ryzen 5 2600X and the Ryzen 7 2700X, we think this trend will only continue.

As for Intel, it continues to struggle with 10nm production, which has seen its Cannon Lake processors pushed back again and again. We’re not sure when Cannon Lake is going to come out at all as Intel recently announced its 10nm Sunny Cove architecture, which will be behind whatever Ice Lake, Lakefield and a host of other chips we hope Intel will launch in 2019. 

The first of these appears to be Ice Lake, rather than Cannon Lake. Ice Lake will be behind the next generation of Ultrabooks, and will feature built-in Thunderbolt 3, WiFi and Gen11 graphics. Intel is making some promising claims for Ice Lake, like that it will be able to search for images twice as fast as Whiskey Lake. As with all Intel’s on-stage demonstrations, take that with a grain of salt though. 

AMD, on the other hand, has announced the Ryzen 3000 series of CPUs, based on the new Zen 2 architecture. And, while we don’t know any specifics beyond the nameless 8-core processor it showed off at CES 2019, there are plenty of rumors floating around. For instance, we’ve seen a 12-core, 24-thread chip show up in a leaked UserBenchmark result.

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AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation release date, news and rumors

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 12:50 PM PST

AMD changed the world with its first Ryzen processors and impressed us even more with its sophomore release of CPUs. But, Ryzen 3rd Generation (aka Ryzen 3000) will introduce its first 7nm mainstream processors and even more profound change. 

Considering Intel’s well-documented struggles to introduce 10nm Cannon Lake chips, AMD has swooped in and upstaged its rival completely even before it had a chance to launch Sunny Cove or Ice Lake, while also introducing some of the most impressive consumer processors ever made.

Cut to the chase

  •  What is it? AMD’s next line of mainstream processors
  •  When is it out? Mid 2019
  •  What will it cost? TBD

AMD Ryzen 3000

AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation release date

At CES 2019, AMD announced its first Ryzen 3000-series processor will arrive some time in the middle of 2019. Unfortunately, the chipmaker didn't give us an exact date, but Ryzen 3rd Generation does seem to be releasing a little later than previous launches. 

The first generation of Ryzen processors hit the market in March 2017 and Ryzen 2nd Generation arrived a month later in 2018. With that in mind, it's a bit surprising Ryzen 3000-series chips will be coming a bit later – our best guess is they'll arrive in May to July at the latest (we hope).

AMD Ryzen 3000

AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation price

AMD didn't announce any pricing information on its upcoming 8-core, 16-thread Ryzen 3000-series processor so don’t have any empirical proof what it'll cost unfortunately. 

However, thanks to a curiously detailed report from a YouTuber named AdoredTV, we have model names and prices for nearly every possible Ryzen 3rd Generation processor.

Here’s how much Ryzen 3rd Generation processors may cost:

  • Ryzen 9 3850X: $499 (about £400, AU$700)
  • Ryzen 9 3800X: $449 (about £350, AU$600)
  • Ryzen 7 3700X: $329 (about £260, AU$450)
  • Ryzen 7 3700: $299 (about £230, AU$400)
  • Ryzen 5 3600X: $229 (about £180, AU$320)
  • Ryzen 5 3600G: $199 (about £160, AU$270)
  • Ryzen 5 3600: $178 (about £140, AU$240)
  • Ryzen 3 3300X: $129 (about £100, AU$180)
  • Ryzen 3 3300G: $129 (about £100, AU$180)
  • Ryzen 3 3300: $99 (about £80, AU$140)

Although, this list of prices seems compelling and on track with the prices of AMD’s current lineup of Ryzen 2nd Generation processors, we would buy into them until Team Red officially announces prices.

Now what’s interesting here is AMD has a track record of lowering the prices of its processors going from Ryzen to Ryzen 2nd Generation. The AMD Ryzen 7 1700X originally launched with a $399 (£389, AU$569) price and it was succeeded by the more affordable $329 (£349, AU$515) AMD Ryzen 7 2700X. 

With that in mind, we couldn’t imagine/would be disappointed if the Ryzen 7 3700X were to cost more. For now, it seems AMD will hold onto the same pricing scheme from its current slew of chips going into the next generation.

AMD Ryzen 3000

AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation specs

So far we only know of one Ryzen 3000-series processor and that is a 8-core and 16-thread chip designed to go toe-to-toe with Intel's flagship Core i9-9900K.

On its CES 2019 keynote stage, AMD On benchmarked its secretive processor with Cinebench to achieve a score of 2023. Comparatively the Intel Core i9-9900K  and AMD Ryzen 7 2700X scored 1,873 and 1,798 points, respectively, in our own testing.

Even more impressively, AMD's new Ryzen 3000 chip seems to more power efficient than Intel's current Coffee Lake Refresh series. During its Cinebench demo, AMD also displayed the maximum power draw of the Intel system running at 179.9-watts (W) while the new Ryzen system maxed out at 133.4W.

Overall it seems that, Ryzen 3rd Generation's 7nm architecture affords it 12% more performance while making AMD chips about 30% more power efficient than Intel's latest 14nm CPU architecture.

This is all thanks to Ryzen 3rd Generation much smaller 7nm Zen 2 platform, which introduces a die shrink to eclipse all others that came before it. Previously, Ryzen 2nd Generation processors were built on a 12nm Zen+ architecture that introduced a slight die shrink from the original 14nm Zen architecture. 

Despite being built on a new architecture, Ryzen 3000 CPUs will still fit into the AM4 socket used by Ryzen 2nd Generation and the original Ryzen processors. That said, Ryzen 3rd Generation is introducing something new with PCIe 4.0 support.

Before you get too excited about unlocking even more power from your Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 or AMD Radeon VII, PCIe 4.0 will only enhance your storage solutions for now.

AMD Ryzen 3000

Aside from the single unnamed processor AMD introduced, we've also seen a multitude of leaks that have pretty much outlined what Ryzen 3rd Generation processors there will be and they are as follows:

  • Ryzen 9 3850X: 16-cores, 32-threads, clocked at 4.3GHz to 5.1GHz
  • Ryzen 9 3800X: 16-cores, 32-threads, clocked at 3.9GHz to 4.7GHz
  • Ryzen 7 3700X: 12-cores, 24-threads, clocked at 4.2GHz to 5.0GHz
  • Ryzen 7 3700: 12-cores, 24-threads, clocked at 3.8GHz to 4.6GHz
  • Ryzen 5 3600X: 8-cores, 16-threads, clocked at 4.0GHz to 4.8GHz
  • Ryzen 5 3600G: 8-cores, 16-threads, 12 GPU cores, clocked at 3.2GHz to 4.0GHz
  • Ryzen 5 3600: 8-cores, 16-threads, clocked at 3.6GHz to 4.4GHz
  • Ryzen 3 3300X: 6-cores,12 -threads, clocked at 3.5GHz to 4.3GHz
  • Ryzen 3 3300G: 8-core, 12-thread, 12 GPU cores, clocked at 3.2GHz to 4.0GHz
  • Ryzen 3 3300: 6-cores, 12-threads, clocked at 3.2GHz to 4.0GHz

We heard the first murmurs of what Zen 2 processors could do as early as October 2018. In the report suggested that AMD Radeon Technologies Group received its first engineering sample for the unreleased architecture in the form of an 8-core chip capable of reaching frequencies up to 4.5GHz. Whether this rumored processor and the one AMD officially announced are one and the same remains to be seen.

In December 2018, the rumors began to really head up as we received an almost complete breakdown of this new series of CPUs. This nearly complete set of listings came from a YouTuber named AdoredTV and while they seemed unlikely to be true, a Russian retailer would later back up the influencer’s report with nearly identical specs on all its product pages for the whole series of chips.

We’re not sure if the Russian retailer was just cribbing AdoredTV’s video like a cheat sheet, but so far no other rumors or reports have contradicted what we know so far. In fact, notorious leaker Tum Apisak revealed a leaked UserBenchmark entry for a 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 3000 processor. This leaked processor didn’t have any kind of product name attached to it, but it’s still exciting. 

This is all we know so far, but we’re certain that AMD will show off the specifics of Ryzen 3rd Generation later in the year. 

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Free-to-play PUBG Lite is coming to PC, but only in Thailand at first

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 11:27 AM PST

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is already on the PC, consoles and smartphones, but now the company behind the popular battle royale shooter is testing a free-to-play version.

PUBG Lite is a new free version of the PC game with scaled-down graphics designed for to play on computers and laptops equipped with lower-end specs, like integrated graphics cards. Despite the reduced graphics, the game promises to deliver the same realistic gunplay and full-scale experience of the paid-for version of the game.

PUBG Corp, the company behind the game, announced an open test beta for the new version of the game is open to play today, but before you get too excited, it’s only going to be available in Thailand for the foreseeable future.

That said, we can’t imagine PUBG Lite will be limited to such a small playerbase for long. It’s more likely this free-to-play version of the game will see worldwide distribution to compete against Fortnite, which has been free from the start.

Will it allow crossplay?

Recommended PC specs for the game suggest using an Intel Core i5 processor with Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 or AMD Radeon HD 7870 for an optimal experience. However, users with at least an Intel Core i3 CPU and integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 – in other words, at least an Ivy Bridge chip from 2012 – should also be able to run the game.

This is fantastic news, as these minimal PC specs mean those with even a relatively new, low-end laptop will be able to play PUBG without having to pay a dime. We just hope PUBG Lite players will be able to play with gamers running the full-fat version of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds at some point. 

PUBG hasn’t been a shining example of cross-play, in fact only the Android and iOS allow for any level of cross-platform competition. Meanwhile, the PC, Xbox One and PS4 communities are all scattered and isolated. 

With every version of Fortnite being free and the entire community being able to play with each other whether they’re on PC, either console or any smartphone, it’s no wonder the blockbuster game continues to outpace PUBG. 

Hopefully, PUBG Lite will be able to follow in Fortnite’s example or at the least give more users a chance to play together on PC.

Via The Verge

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Nintendo to hit the reset button on Metroid Prime 4

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 11:11 AM PST

Nintendo announced some disappointing news this morning: it will completely restart development on Metroid Prime 4 this month after the current version of the game “failed to meet its expectations”. 

The news came by way of YouTube and Nintendo’s Senior Managing Executive Officer Shinya Takahashi who announced that development duties would transfer from an internal development team led by Kensuke Tanabe to Retro Studios, the developers of the original Metroid Prime Trilogy games.

So..when can we play it?

How soon are we likely to see the next entry in the Metroid Prime series? Unfortunately, neither Nintendo nor Takahashi gave an accurate release window for the game, only saying that “development time will be extensive” - in other words, sometime after 2020.

While it’s disappointing news for fans of the series, Nintendo’s transparency into the situation should be appreciated - knowing that a game is being delayed for another few years is better than waiting with bated breath for the next big update. 

The silver lining in all this is that Nintendo is heeding Shigeru Miyamoto's sage advice: "A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.”

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Google IO likely returning to Shoreline Amphitheatre on May 7-9

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 11:04 AM PST

Google IO is likely happening from May 7-9 and it’ll probably return to the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, where it’s held the event since 2016.

The Google Developers Twitter account tweeted out “#io19 is on the horizon…” with a cryptic missive, and the race was on. But independent developer Till Kottman claims to have solved it already mere hours later - and they provided some evidence that the event will be held May 7-9 at the Shoreline.

How? By allegedly spotting a Google-linked test account (since deleted) and sifting through the JSON file. Though that code’s gone, Kottman screenshotted it, revealing an image with the alt text “Join us for I O 2019 at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on May 7th through 9th.”


In the same Twitter thread, user @jlelse tweeted another copy of the JSON text.

 The game might be spoiled, but it’s still worth playing 

Soon after, the Google Developers account tweeted out what could be a vague confirmation: “You’ve found my message, but can you follow the path? #io19”

We’ll wait for Google to confirm whether these are the actual dates, though they line up with last year’s Google IO, which took place on May 8-10.

But as 9to5Google pointed out, it’s still worth playing Google’s little game: solving the puzzle as intended will likely net you free tickets to the event.

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Phishing attacks on the rise in 2018

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 09:52 AM PST

Phishing attacks, social engineering and credential compromise all increased during 2018 according to new research from the cybersecurity firm Proofpoint highlighting the fact that cybercriminals continue to target end users.

The firm's fifth annual State of the Phish Report uncovered phishing attack trends across more than 15 industries and examined the cybersecurity knowledge of over 7,000 working adults in the US, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK.

Proofpoint analysed data from tens of millions of simulated phishing attacks sent over a one-year period and its report was compiled using survey responses from nearly 15,000 cybersecurity professionals including its own customers and outside organisations to provide an in-depth look at the state of global phishing attacks.

According to the report, 83 percent of global infosecurity respondents experienced phishing attacks in 2018 which is up from 76 percent in the previous year. Security awareness training had an impact on preventing attacks and nearly 60 percent saw an increase in employee detection once their staff was better trained to identify possible attacks.

People-centric defense strategy

Social engineering attacks were also on the rise with more organisations affected by phishing, spear phishing, SMS phishing, voice phishing and USB drops. Last year was also the first time that compromised accounts bypassed malware infections as the most commonly identified impact of successful phishing attacks.

Proofpoint's General Manager of Security Awareness Training, Joe Ferrara stressed the need for increased security training at organisations to prevent phishing, saying:

“Email is the top cyberattack vector, and today’s cybercriminals are persistently targeting high-value individuals who have privileged access or handle sensitive data within an organization. As these threats grow in scope and sophistication, it is critical that organizations prioritize security awareness training to educate employees about cybersecurity best practices and establish a people-centric strategy to defend against threat actors’ unwavering focus on compromising end users.” 

Surprisingly baby boomers outperformed all other age groups in fundamental phishing and ransomware knowledge, underscoring why organisations should not assume a younger workforce has an innate awareness of cybersecurity threats.

  • We've also highlighted the best antivirus to help protect you from the latest cyber threats

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Arsenal vs Manchester United live stream: how to watch FA Cup football from anywhere

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 09:51 AM PST

The two most successful sides in FA Cup history are going head-to-head in a fourth round tie that has us salivating. Arsenal vs Manchester United is an engrossing grudge match at the best of times, but a Friday night FA Cup clash on free-to-air TV in the UK feels like it's even more of an occasion than usual, and we'll tell you how to get a free Arsenal vs Man United live stream wherever you are.

Those who say that the FA Cup has lost its magic shouldn't need much persuasion to cast their minds back 20 years (yes, 20 years!) to one of the all time great FA Cup goals. That mazy Ryan Giggs run and thundering finish past David Seaman to take United through to the 1999 Cup Final deep into injury time after Peter Schmeichel's penalty save. It was the kind of moment to give goosebumps to even neutral football fans.

Skip forward two decades and both clubs are in very different places to back then. Manchester United have gone from a treble winning side to club in crisis. Although Ole Gunnar Solskjær's prolific start to his time as manager has helped to steady the ship and get the best out of the likes of Paul Pogba, Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford. While 2017 FA Cup winners Arsenal are finally starting to emerge from the post-Arsene Wenger era into a team to be reckoned with. They may sit at fifth in the Premier League, but the potent duo of Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are turning their fortunes around.

Considering their league positions, it feels like this year's FA Cup is as important as ever to Arsenal and Manchester United. Below we're going to talk you through the best ways to watch the FA Cup action in the UK and the rest of the world so you can ensure you can easily live stream the match.

How to live stream the FA Cup in the UK for free:

Live stream Arsenal vs Manchester United from anywhere in the world

In the US? Then keep scrolling, as we have your viewing options below. But if nobody in your country is showing the game, then there's a clever little trick you can use to watch it anyway.

How to watch the FA Cup: live stream in the US for FREE

Main image courtesy of arsenal.com

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First look: Philips The One (7304 Performance Series)

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 09:31 AM PST

Sick of being the person all your mates go to for tech help? Tongue-tied after rattling off a load of TV model numbers and HDR standard differences? 

Philips wants to take the pain out of buying a new television with its new all-killer, no-filler LCD screen, Philips The One. Taking direct aim at the mid-range of the market, we had a very brief look at the screen at a hands-on event in Amsterdam this week. Here are our very early first-look impressions.

A new range of 4K LCD screens set to be available in 43, 50, 55, 58 65 and 70-inch sizes, The One (7304 Performance Series) is what Martijn Smelt, CMO Philips TV & Audio Europe, reckons will be “the TV you will recommend to a friend” – and you can see why. From where it’s set to be positioned price-wise to its simplified naming convention, Philips is looking to cut through the noise of the TV market with a demystifying set that ticks many of the boxes your average consumer is after.

So, for starters, you’ve got all the leading HDR standards catered for in the shape of HDR 10+, HLG and Dolby Vision, while the overhead audio standard Dolby Atmos is also supported. Note though that it'll be downmixed to Philips own built-in 20W soundsystem, unless you're outputting to a full Dolby Atmos speaker package.

Voice assistant support is ticked off in the shape of Google Assistant, with voice control enabled throughout the Philips The One Android TV interface. Alexa commands will also be supported.

Movie shortcuts

With video-on-demand content central to viewing habits, the remote control has a dedicated Netflix button and one for the Rakuten TV movie rental platform, which continues to grow in popularity in Philips’ native European market. 

In terms of design, the screens are framed by an attractive (if notably present) silver frame, with a centrally-mounted stand for those opting not to wall-mount the television. Picture processing is handled by Philips' latest P5 Picture Perfect Engine, while its immersive Ambilight 3 lighting tech, which sees the screen beam colors matching the on-screen action onto the walls around the TV, is also included.

Philips has yet to reveal pricing or a release date for the the 7304 Performance Series, but it's aiming this at the mid-market consumer, and so it shouldn’t break the bank despite the sizeable spec sheet. 

(Note that TP Vision doesn't distribute its Philips TVs, like The One, in the US – the sets you'd find Stateside are Funai TVs with Philips branding, and are quite different).

It's an interesting statement of intent for Philips, looking to take a chunk out of the lucrative middle end of the market with some simple branding and a spec sheet that speaks for itself. We look forward to seeing more of The One later on this year – expect more news on the set at some point around May.

  • Best TV: which screen should you splash the cash on?

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Washable, breathable and stretchable – the next generation of smart fabrics

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 09:19 AM PST

Until now, there have typically been two ways of making clothing conductive: either wrap fibers in fine metallic wire (or stitch it in), or apply adhesive circuits onto the surface. Both of these work reasonably well, and have been put to use by sportswear companies to create smart garments that monitor your activity and feed stats to your phone. 

However, these augmented fabrics don't behave quite like their ordinary counterparts. They can't always be washed at high temperatures (a major drawback for healthcare, where clothes need to be deep-cleaned), they don't stretch the same way (particularly if the circuits are printed onto the surface), and the handle and drape are different.

British startup Pireta has a solution: a new technique that involves coating each individual fiber with a layer of copper just 2nm thick. It can be done to pretty much any fabric (knitten, woven or non-woven; natural or synthetic) and had barely any effect on the way it flexes, stretches and bends like a normal fabric.

Coat every fiber

Pireta's CTO and founder Chris Hunt came up with the idea while working at the National Physical Laboratory

The process uses sintering, which involves applying heat and pressure to tiny particles of a material – in this case, silver nanoparticles – causing them to solidify. This happens at a much lower temperature than the metal would normally melt at, and once they are fused, they won't change until the material reaches its melting point again.

"We activate a textile surface, then immerse it in silver nanoparticles in solution," Hunt tells TechRadar. "They are bound by an electrostatic charge to the fibers. When we dry the garment, we end up with silver attached around every fiber. It’s not conductive yet at this point, but if we put them through a type of electroless reaction, the copper comes out of solution and you form a copper sheath around each fiber, around two microns thick."

Pireta textile

This process can happen at any stage in the manufacture of a garment, and has no effect on stretch or breathability. You can even solder components straight onto treated textiles.

"We can carry a 2.4GHz signal," Hunt explains, "so if you made a piece of apparel for someone in the emergency services, you could put antennas in different places, so there would always be a line of sight between them and the base station they are talking to – unlike hand-held units that clip onto jackets."

The biggest limitation of this smart garment tech comes down to what the fabric can't take even if it were untreated. Pireta has experimented with various textiles and learned that when a manufacturer says to wash at 40C, they typically mean it.

"We’ve also done stretch tests," says Hunt. "If you test to 20% extension and the fabric is happy with that, then our tech is happy."

Healthcare, sports and beyond

Hunt sees many more possibilities for Pireta's process, including healthcare, where a smart garment for an elderly person could detect sudden changes in heart rate, or a fall, without the need for them to strap on a smart watch. Smart garments could also be used in hospitals to detect pressure points and help prevent patients from developing bed sores.

There's also treated fabrics applications in professional sports. "The athletes are very expensive, and teams want to get the most out of them," says Hunt. "There are lots of sports wearables being used in events like the Tour de France, but they tend to be clunky and modular."

A smart jersey and socks, for example, would be able to detect factors like speed, cadence and heart rate, and feed them back without the need for a separate chest strap and sensors.

Pireta textile

The main limitation is the durability of the original textile

Garments using Pireta's process aren't yet available to buy, but Hunt and his team are in talks with several companies about using its process on a commercial scale. The details are under wraps for the time being, but he says it's an exciting time.

"Many other companies are selling garments like shirts, but Pireta doesn't really have any competitors in its field. That might be a good thing."

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What is GDPR? Everything you need to know about the new EU data laws

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 09:01 AM PST

GDPR is now in force, meaning companies of all sizes need to ensure they are compliant with the new data regulations.

But what exactly does GDPR entail? Here's our guide to everything you need to know.

What is GDPR?

The General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, (or EU Regulation 2016/679 if you want to be official) is one of the most significant and wide-ranging pieces of legislation passed relating to technology and the internet.

Approved by the European Union in April 2016, and having come into force in the UK on May 25, GDPR  looks to bring together several existing laws and regulations to harmonize rulings across the EU.    

Primarily, it replaces the UK's 1984 Data Protection Act and the EU's Data Protection Directive, which initially came into force in 1995, with new guidelines that are better suited to the modern, technology-dominated world.

The main points of GDPR concern the privacy rights of everyday users and the data they create online, and will affect businesses of all sizes due to their effect on how companies gather, store, and look after their data.

Under GDPR, companies will also need to give explicit notice when collecting the personal data of their customers. This will mean that consent will need to be explicitly given, and that companies will have to detail the exact purpose for which customers' data will be used.

This personal data will also need to be encrypted by default as part of a process known as pseudonymization, meaning that it can't be linked to a specific person without being accompanied by extra information.

Personal data applies to a wide range of information – effectively anything that could be used to directly or indirectly identify a person online. This could include names, email addresses, images, bank details, posts on social networking websites, medical information, or even a computer IP address.

Users will also have the right to know exactly what details a company or organization holds about them, and also request that any of this information be deleted if they feel their rights to privacy are being infringed as part of the new 'right to erasure'.

Companies that suffer data breaches, whether accidental or as part of a cyber-attack, will need to disclose this event to the relevant authorities within 72 hours of it happening, although there's no requirement to notify users unless instructed.

Who does GDPR apply to?

Put simply, if your business offers goods or services to anyone living within the European Union, GDPR will apply to you.  

This means that companies outside Europe will also need to ensure they're compliant with the rules, as they could also be subject to fines if found not to be up to speed.

If you have mailing lists for newsletters or promotions, and some of your prospects or customers are EU citizens, GDPR applies to you. 

Following several near misses, Google has become the first major company to suffer a GDPR fine, after the French data regulator fined it €50m following accusations that users were not sufficiently informed as to how the company collected data to personalise advertising on its search engine.

What do I need to do to be ready for GDPR?

As mentioned above, if you deal with customers within the EU, you'll need to ensure that the way you gather, store and use their data is GDPR-compliant.

For starters, you'll need to identify exactly what data you currently own, and the means by which you acquired it. Many organizations may be unaware of the sheer mountain of information they own on their customers – just as their customers might be unaware how much info they have shared.

All the data will need to be properly secured to ensure it remains protected, so it's definitely worth instigating new policies to limit access to the most precious data to a few key team members. 

You should also be frequently backing up your data, as under GDPR customers are able to request to view exactly what information you have on them at any time.

If your business carries out large-scale data practices, you will also need to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO).

A DPO will be able to take responsibility for much of the heavy lifting when it comes to GDPR, including overseeing compliance and data protection.

Lastly, you'll need to ensure that all your employees are clued up about what exactly GDPR means. The rules aren't just the prerogative of the IT department, but could affect everyone in your organization.

What happens if you're not GDPR-ready?

GDPR is a huge deal, and as such the punishments for non-compliance are significant.

Any organisation found to not be conforming to the new regulations after the May 25 deadline could face heavy fines, equivalent to 4% of annual global turnover, or €20 million, whichever is greater. 

It remains to be seen exactly how GDPR will be monitored, and if fines will be handed out to every company large and small, but for now the best course of action is to prepare as fully as you can.

GDPR latest news and advice

GDPR news and analysis

- GDPR sees cookies crumble on EU news sites - Cookie usage fell 22 per cent in the months following GDPR...

- Over 1,000 US news sites still unavailable in EU following GDPR - Don't worry though, EU users, Instapaper is back...

- Facebook's Cambridge Analytica fine could have been even bigger under GDPR - GDPR rules would have meant a billion-pound fine for Facebook...

- 5 unexpected consequences of GDPR - Now GDPR is full force, what are some of the potentially unusual results?

- How to encourage consumers to part with their data now GDPR is here - GDPR is now in force, but how will it affect your customer relationships?

- How will GDPR impact the mobile industry? - Mobile operators are confident that GDPR will be a good thing in their battle against OTT operators...

- GDPR and its impact on e-commerce providers - GDPR will mean big changes for many businesses - how can you make sure your company is ready?

- GDPR and the case for ethical data handling - Looking to finalise your GDPR compliance? Here are some top tips...

- AOMEI's free backup software will keep you on the right side of GDPR - Free and secure for individuals and businesses...

- The role of blockchain in GDPR compliance - Can blockchain be the key to helping your business conquer GDPR?

GDPR Tips

- GDPR: Turning the burden into an opportunity - The GDPR may actually improve the trust in your cloud storage app...

- The GDPR hangover: tips for making a website GDPR compliant - Now the GDPR deadline has passed, how can you make sure your site is up to the new regulations?

- GDPR and website operators – the final checklist - With just days to go, make sure your site is GDPR-ready...

- Turning GDPR into an experience benefit - A guide to how your business can take advantage of GDPR...

- GDPR compliance countdown: the final checklist - Is your organisation fully prepared for the upcoming GDPR?

- How to make a website GDPR compliant - Ensure your site is GDPR-ready with these tips...

- GDPR: Is your website compliant with the new regulation? - Make sure you don't fall foul of the new GDPR rules with this guide...

- GDPR compliance and Blockchain - How are two of the biggest technology issues of today linked?

GDPR information

-  GDPR: The foundation for innovation - How can GDPR help benefit your business?

- New UK data protection laws: everything you need to know for your online life - Taking control of the data flow...

- Changes in European Data Protection Regulation: A look at the GDPR - Overview of the EU initiative to simplify data protection...

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The best Xbox One X prices, bundles and deals in January 2019: where to buy the 4K Xbox

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 08:53 AM PST

We're officially into 2019 now, so that means the January sales are here which is super handy if you're looking for Xbox One X price reductions. Deal-hungry gamers looking for the most powerful console ever made have have been keen to pick up Xbox One X bundles since release but there's been a high cost to pay. Until now, prices have been quite high at most stores if you weren't sure where to look. That's where we come in as our dedicated team of Deal Hunters cut through the chaff to bring you only the very best Xbox One X deals every day, and we've got some excellent ones for you today.

In this article you'll find a comparison chart with the lowest prices on where to buy the 4K HDR Xbox One X console from a wide range of the best retailers. After the comparison chart we've put together a collection of the latest bundles in the States and UK. These Xbox One X bundles will save you money over buying the items separately.

If you're after information on the latest Australian deals, head over to our Australian page.

The best Xbox One X prices

US Xbox One X bundles are really stepping things up now after a quiet few months. there's never been a better time to buy actually as you're getting genuine discounts and free content for the first time in ages.

What is the Xbox One X price?

You might want to sit down for this one. The Xbox One X costs $499 in the US. UK gamers can expect to get their currency converters in a twist again, as you're paying £449 instead of the direct conversion of around £390. Naturally, these prices don't include any games, unless a retailer is feeling generous.

Why should I buy an Xbox One X?

Just to be clear, this is not what you'd call a 'next-gen' console. Instead it's a powerful upgrade over the current Xbox One lineup. To simplify things, it's akin to Sony's PS4 Pro. Both consoles are aimed at gamers with a 4K HDR TV who want the best graphical performance possible on their favored console. There will be modest performance boosts on non-4K TVs too, but you're kind of missing the point without a 4K HDR TV.

As things stand the Xbox One X will play all Xbox One games and we're not expecting to see any games released exclusively for the Xbox One X (or so we've been told), so there's certainly no reason to throw away your Xbox One S yet.

The Xbox One X is the most powerful console ever made though, even outshining some of the specs of the PS4 Pro. But given the huge asking price, you'd hope as much. The Xbox One X is making bold claims about true native 4K gaming though with its upcoming titles and if you have a 4K TV with High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology, the Xbox One X is ready to seriously impress with the likes of Forza Motorsport 7, Metro: Exodus and Anthem set to be true jaw-droppers in the graphics department.

Where can I buy an Xbox One X?

Most of the usual big name retailers are stocking the Xbox One X. Prices this close to launch are all very similar for now, but as we move forwards, we'll start to see stores chipping away at the price to try to get an edge over the competition. 

Keep an eye on the highlighted Xbox One X bundles above and our comparison chart, which we'll keep up to date on the latest prices for the Xbox One X on its own. So feel free to bookmark us and check in again soon to see if we've found the deal that's right for you. Fingers crossed the bundles get better soon, especially in the US where we're not seeing massive software discounts so far.

What is the Xbox One X release date?

It's here now! The Xbox One X came out on November 7 2017. That was a worldwide release date too.

Will there be Xbox One X deals are Christmas?

Unlike the first Xbox One X's first Christmas, we do expect there to be some deals this year. The 4K console was seemingly too new to discount last year, but Microsoft will be keen to catch up the the PS4 Pro this year and we're hoping for some decent discounts in what has been a slow year for deals in all honesty. In all likelihood, the PS4 Pro prices and bundles are still going to be much cheaper.

What if I don't care about 4K or want to save money?

The standard Xbox One S is a fantastic games console and you'll easily be able to get one with a few games for around $250/£250 or less. There are cheap deals all year round on our Xbox One deals and PS4 prices, deals and bundles pages.

Only kidding. I want 4K HDR in my face right now.

4K TVs with HDR are nowhere near as expensive as you'd think. The prices have come down much faster than the original HD TVs, so you can get a decent model for a low price. Hell we've seen some nice ones for less than the price of the Xbox One X itself (what a ridiculous world we live in). For the best of the best, take a look at our best TV article. We've also rounded up the best cheap 4K TV deals too in the UK, and also a collection of US TV deals.

How big is the hard drive in the Xbox One X?

For now, the only option available is the 1TB option, that's 1000GB of storage. There are no official plans for larger versions, but we wouldn't be surprised to see these come along in 2018. 

With some 4K-friendly update patches to games coming in at over 100GB, we certainly wouldn't hold out for a cheaper 500GB Xbox One X, as it'd be a bit pointless to be honest. 

We think gamers are going to fill up the 1TB Xbox One pretty soon. Thankfully the Xbox One X is compatible with external hard drives using USB 3.0. So if you need some extra storage, check out our list of the best external hard drives.

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Top Tech Conferences: The Ultimate B2B tech events and show guide for 2019

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 08:51 AM PST

For information about adding your event to this list and featured listing opportunities please contact mike.moore@futurenet.com.

Love it or loathe it, events and conferences are often where wheelers and dealers in the world of technology meet to decide on the future of the industry.

Ironically, technology itself has accelerate the demise of some massive tech events (like CeBit) but the result is that the remaining ones are more focused, alive and bustling than ever before.

TechRadar Pro and ITProPortal have joined forces with the tech B2B PR industry to curate a list of national and international technology events, conferences and happenings.

Blockchain Economic Forum

January 24th-26th, Davos

BEF Davos 2019 gathers 100+ high profile economists, regulators, government officials, investors and bankers to discuss opportunities of the technological and potential structural change in the financial system, capital markets and states.

Why attend? Top speakers from across the finance and investment industry discuss the key issues surrounding the growing influence of blockchain.

Mobile World Congress 2019

February 25th - 28th Barcelona

The world's biggest mobile trade show marks another year in Barcelona with a stellar line-up of speakers and exhibitors.

Why attend? Over 2,300 exhibitors will gather in Barcelona to showcase the newest technologies and most innovative products available. Take your place among the companies that are shaping the connected future.

RSA Conference 2019

March 4th-8th, San Francisco

RSA Conference 2019returns to San Francisco - take this opportunity to learn about new approaches to info security, discover the latest technology and interact with top security leaders and pioneers.

Why attend?  Hands-on sessions, keynotes and informal gatherings allow you to tap into a smart, forward-thinking global community that will inspire and empower you. 

Data Centre World

March 12th-13th, London

Data Centre World brings together the world's leading minds, from industry leaders & practitioners to share their extensive wisdom and discuss the latest topics and concerns surrounding the data centre industry. 

Why attend? For more than a decade Data Centre World has been delivering the future vision for the industry.

Smart Home Expo

March 26th & 27th March, Birmingham

Smart Home Expo is the UK's ultimate event for the smart technologies revolutionising the way we live, featuring 150 seminars by the industry’s greatest minds, 200 world-class suppliers, interactive panel debates, networking opportunities, exclusive show offers, and much more.

Why attend?

From smart lights that help with energy saving, to smart assistants that control homes via simple voice commands; Smart Home Expo is not only the place where you can find a plethora of solutions on offer, but also where you’ll learn how to best utilise them, redefining what it means to feel at home.

INDUSTRY Europe

April 16th & 17th, Dublin

Building world-class software products is hard. At INDUSTRY you will see how others manage product in different environments, from fast-paced startups to complex large enterprises.

Why attend? Over 3 days, 400 attendees from over 30 countries will learn from renowned product leaders and share the latest methods, tools, and frameworks that they use to build, launch and scale world-class software products. 

Blockchain Expo Global

April 25th-26th, London

The world’s largest blockchain conference and exhibition focuses on the future of enterprise technology. The event showcases two days of top-level content from leading brands, embracing and developing cutting edge blockchain technologies.

Why attend? The agenda will present a series of expert keynotes, interactive panel discussions and solution-based case studies, all exploring the key industries that are set to be disrupted the most by this new technology.

Accountex

May 1st-2nd, London

Now in its eighth year, over two days visitors to Accountex will have the opportunity to gain insights from over 250 top exhibitors and immerse themselves in accounting expertise with a programme of over 250 keynotes and seminars delivered by leading industry experts. 

Why attend? Following a record-breaking attendance of almost 8,000 visitors at last year’s show, Accountex will be taking it up a level for 2019 with 10% more floor space, giving exhibiting companies even more room to showcase their latest accounting innovations.  

Open Source Data Conference

May 14th-15th, Berlin

Innovative strategies, forward-looking developments and new perspectives in dealing with complex data centers are the topics of OSDC.

Why attend? The international conference is especially adapted to experienced administrators and architects. Get in touch with international OS-experts. Benefit from their comprehensive experience, learn about the current developments and gain the latest know-how for your daily practice. 

Viva Technology

May 16th - 18th, Paris

VivaTech is the world’s rendezvous for startups and leaders to celebrate innovation. It’s a gathering of the world’s brightest minds, talents, and products.

Why attend? From top speakers and exhibitions to open innovation and live experiences, VivaTech is a celebration of today’s innovations and tomorrow’s possibilities for everyone who believes in the power of technology to transform business and society.

Gitex 2019

October 6th-10th, 2019

Join attendees from 120+ countries and global media outlets in unpacking the big conversations and latest solutions around AI, blockchain, robotics, cloud and other mega trends.

Why attend? GITEX takes you on a multi-sensory experience of Future Urbanism across 21 halls with 4,000 exhibitors across 24 sectors.  

Big Data LDN 2019

November 13th-14th, London

Big Data LDN is a free to attend conference and exhibition where delegates discuss the big questions and share ideas with forward-thinking peers and leading members of the Data community. Hear from 130 expert speakers in 8 technical and business-led conference tracks, including real world use-cases and discuss your business requirements with 100 leading technology vendors and consultants.

Why attend? Big Data LDN (London) will host leading, global data and analytics experts, ready to arm you with the tools to deliver your most effective data-driven strategy.

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Satya Nadella calls for global GDPR

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 08:50 AM PST

During a recent interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella praised the European data regulation GDPR and called for the US to follow suit.

Nadella shared his opinion on the new regulation which went into effect in May of last year, saying:

"My own point of view on GDPR is it's a fantastic start on really treating privacy as a human right. I'm hopeful that in the United States we will have something that is along the same lines."

Microsoft's CEO isn't alone in his beliefs and Apple's Tim Cook echoed similar ideas in his recent op-ed in Time Magazine in which he called for the US to rein in data brokers to help give consumers true privacy when it comes to their data.

Global data protection

Microsoft's President Brad Smith also brought up privacy at this year's World Economic Forum. He described 2018 as a “watershed” for the tech industry and stressed that new US federal privacy laws are inevitable.

Nadella believes that data regulation should be a global issue and not just limited to the US. He described a future where the US, Europe and China come together on the issue, saying:

"In fact I will hope that the world over, we all converge on a common standard. One of the things we do not want to do is fragment the world and increase transaction costs, because ultimately it's going to be born in our economic figures. I hope we all come together, the Unites States and Europe first, and China. All the three regions will have to come together and set a global standard.”

Microsoft has also reportedly been involved in the lobbying efforts to help shape any potential US federal legislation similar to GDPR.

Via Business Insider

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What is 5G? Everything you need to know

Posted: 25 Jan 2019 08:41 AM PST

What is 5G?

5G networks are the next generation of mobile internet connectivity, offering faster speeds and more reliable connections on smartphones and other devices than ever before.

Combining cutting-edge network technology and the very latest research, 5G should offer connections that are multitudes faster than current connections, with average download speeds of around 1GBps expected to soon be the norm.

The networks will help power a huge rise in Internet of Things technology, providing the infrastructure needed to carry huge amounts of data, allowing for a smarter and more connected world.

With development well underway, 5G networks are expected to launch across the world by 2020, working alongside existing 3G and 4G technology to provide speedier connections that stay online no matter where you are.

So with only a matter of months to go until 5G networks are set to go live, here's our run-down of all the latest news and updates.

5G - the latest news

25/01 - DEVICES - Huawei says it'll show off a foldable 5G phone at MWC 2019 - The world's first 5G phone with a foldable screen...

24/01 - HARDWARE - Huawei reveals 5G modem and base station chips - Huawei chips will ease deployment and widen support...

22/01 - NETWORKS - Vodafone and O2 team up on 5G network sharing - Two operators look at options for mast infrastructure as they extend network sharing deal to cover 5G...

17/01 - NETWORKS - Huawei faces US probe as Germany considers 5G options - US DoJ reportedly accuses Huawei of trade secret theft...

14/01 - NETWORKS - US government shutdown is threat to 5G rollout - Industry body warns about impact of FCC shutdown...

14/01 - HARDWARE - Intel wants to be your one-stop shop for 5G - Intel VP tells us that “5G runs on Intel”...

14/01 - DEVICES - Apple looks at Samsung and MediaTek modems for 5G iPhone - Latest revelations from Qualcomm's antitrust trial...

12/01 - DEVICES - iPhone 11 tipped to have faster Wi-Fi, but 5G might have to wait - Better speeds for the 2019 iPhones?

11/01 - NETWORKS - Ericsson tests strengthen wireless backhaul's suitability for 5G - Ericsson and Deutsche Telekom trials achieve 'fibre-like' performance...

10/01 - NETWORKS - T-Mobile continues US 5G crusade with 600MHz call tests - T-Mobile completes multi-band call tests with Ericsson and Intel...

09/01 - DEVICES - 5G and fixed displays to drive smartphone sales in 2019 - Research suggests 5G might be silver bullet...

09/01 - NETWORKS - AT&T claims advanced 4G is '5G' - Software update claims advanced 4G is 5G Evolution...

08/01 - DEVICES - 5G can be tonic for smartphone saturation - GSMA Intelligence finds 80 per cent of developed world owns a smartphone...

08/01 - HARDWARE - Intel targets 5G base stations with 'Snow Ridge' chips - Intel hopes edge computing advantage will pay off...

08/01 - NETWORKS - The Galaxy S10 isn't at CES 2019, but Samsung's 5G plans are here - Samsung Galaxy S10 is here in pieces if you look closely...

06/01 - DEVICES - Byton confirms M-Byte car will be available in 2019 with AI, 5G and 48-inch display - That's a whole lot of screen...

04/01 - ANALYSIS - What to expect from 5G at CES 2019 - 5G could be the star of the show at CES 2019...

24/12 - ANALYSIS - Three CEO: Capacity, not speed is the true 5G revolution - Dave Dyson talks up Three's 5G strategy...

21/12 - NETWORKS - O2 confirms 5G tests will use Huawei kit - London 5G tests will be carried out using Huawei equipment, O2 confirms...

19/12 - NETWORKS - 'Strong' business demand for 5G could be tempered by network transformation - Gartner says operator focus is on consumer applications...

19/12 - NETWORKS - AT&T is second US operator to launch 5G - AT&T gears up for limited 5G launch...

19/12 - DEVICES - Top Samsung Galaxy S10 could have a massive screen and support 5G - But it might not be available everywhere...

17/12 - ANALYSIS - The coming 5G revolution - How the next generation of mobile connectivity will bring emerging technologies to life...

17/12 - NETWORKS - Rivals claim Three's spectrum variation will hand it 5G advantage - Three now has 100MHz of continuous 3.6GHz spectrum...

14/12 - NETWORKS - 5G could add billions to world GDP - Unlocking the right 5G spectrum will make all the difference...

13/12 - NETWORKS - Huawei will do 'anything' to be trusted 5G partner - Huawei says if there's anything it can do to ease security concerns, it will do it...

10/12 - NETWORKS - Vodafone to use manhole covers to improve 4G and 5G - Vodafone hopes street level infrastructure will improve network...

10/12 - ANALYSIS - 5G is just the beginning for the future of smartphones - The future of mobile looks promising...

06/12 - ANALYSIS - Vodafone Business rebrand highlights strategic focus in 5G era - Vodafone Enterprise is now Vodafone Business...

06/12 - POLICY - EU approves new regulations to boost 5G rollout - EU passes new code despite industry opposition...

06/12 - PRODUCTS - OnePlus CEO confirms its 5G phone will cost $200 to $300 more than OnePlus 6T - But it isn't done with 4G devices...

06/12 - NETWORKS - We need rigorous 5G testing before we get in the driverless car - Autonomous vehicles will rely heavily on next generation networks...

05/12 - PRODUCTS - OnePlus will be the first to release a 5G phone in Europe - It's all thanks to some help from EE...

05/12 - NETWORKS - How 5G technologies can be implemented more efficiently - Knowing where to place 'small cells' will make all the difference...

05/12 - DEVICES - This Samsung 5G prototype phone has a notch... but it's in the corner - Updated with an official comment from Samsung...

04/12 - DEVICES - Here's the first 5G smartphone and, no, you can't buy it - It's a reference device from Qualcomm, but it promises a lot...

04/12 - NETWORKS - Nokia and Qualcomm complete 5G call interoperability tests - Another 5G testing hurdle is cleared ahead of launch...

04/12 - NETWORKS - Arqiva and CityFibre to build 5G small cell network in London - Hammersmith & Fulham will host UK's largest pilot to date...

04/12 - ANALYSIS - 2019 telecoms forecast: the year of 5G and open source - Canonical takes a look at some of the most important trends for next year...

04/12 - NETWORKS - MI6 chief warns UK on role of China in 5G networks - Alex Younger says there needs to be a conversation about Huawei's role...

03/12 - NETWORKS - Three Korean operators launch 5G networks - Operators bring forward South Korea 5G launch...

03/12 - DEVICES - Verizon and Samsung to launch 5G smartphone in 2019 - Companies will show off PoC this week...

29/11 - PRODUCTS - Toyota's new humanoid robot can be controlled remotely via 5G - A helping hand from afar...

29/11 - NETWORKS - 5G will require mobile operators to rethink the role of Wi-Fi - Operators may need to de-prioritise Wi-Fi in 5G era...

28/11 - NETWORKS - New Zealand 'blocks' use of Huawei 5G kit - Spark application rejected by New Zealand government...

27/11 - NETWORKS - 5G will have 'fastest ever' global rollout - Ericsson Mobility Report says Europe will fall behind without market changes...

23/11 - NETWORKS - O2 gears up for 5G with Massive MIMO trial - O2 trials technology in London head of 5G launch...

22/11 - NETWORKS - Huawei boasts of 22 5G commercial contracts - Head of Huawei carrier business touts end-to-end capabilities of its equipment...

22/11 - NETWORKS - Nokia creates Access Networks Division for end-to-end 5G - Nokia hopes organisational changes will give it 5G advantage...

21/11 - NETWORKS - EE and BT Sport plan UK's first 5G sport broadcast - EE Wembley Cup will be transmitted via 5G...

20/11 - HARDWARE - Huawei urges operators to trust its 5G vision as it shifts 10,000 base stations - Huawei Chairman Ken Hu details 'Cloud X' vision...

20/11 - NETWORKS - Three: 5G wireless broadband can be genuine alternative to fibre - Three-commissioned report touts price-saving benefits of 5G FWA...

20/11 - DEVICES - OnePlus could charge a high price for its upcoming 5G phone - Price tag for superfast device could be up to $100 more...

19/11 - NETWORKS - Faroese Telecom wants to bring 5G to Shetland - Shetland confirms talks with Faroese mobile provider...

16/11 - ANALYSIS - The week that UK 5G transformed from hype into reality - UK operators detail more about 5G launches in 2019...

16/11 - ANALYSIS - 2025: the year of 5G entertainment - Intel's Alex Gledhill tells us how 5G can benefit all areas of work and life...

15/11 - RESEARCH - Samsung invests $22bn in AI and 5G - Korean tech giant aims to control 20 per cent of the network equipment market...

15/11 - NETWORKS - US begins auction of 5G spectrum - US operators bid for high range spectrum to power mobile broadband services..

15/11 - HARDWARE - German government 'urged' to consider Huawei 5G ban - Reports suggest push could have come too late...

14/11 - DEVICES - Verizon connects a smartphone to its 5G network - Verizon is currently the world's only commercial 5G operator...

13/11 - PRODUCTS - Intel will launch 5G modem next year - Chipmaker speeds up plans for 5G modem launch in 2019...

13/11 - NETWORKS - EE to launch 5G as 'premium' mobile experience in 16 UK cities in 2019 - Operator to upgrade 1,500 sites in the busiest parts of its network...

12/11 - DEVICES - OnePlus 7 may not be the upcoming 5G phone from the brand - Is a whole new OnePlus line on the way?

09/11 - NETWORKS - What role will 5G play in NBN's gigabit broadband vision? - 5G can boost FWA broadband to gigabit levels...

08/11 - POLICY - Ofcom CTO: Spectrum and security are biggest 5G challenges - Ofcom CTO Mansoor Hanif discusses the barriers to fulfilling 5G potential...

07/11 - NETWORKS - EE announces UK 5G trial expansion - Nine east London sites are now linked up to EE's 5G trial network...

07/11 - NETWORKS - How 5G will enable the next generation of IoT deployments - Canonical head tells us why next-generation networks are the key to innovation...

07/11 - NETWORKS - Three reveals £2bn UK 5G investment - 5G set to be a "game-changer" in the UK says Three CEO Dave Dyson...

06/11 - DEVICES - UK operators urged to 'consider' 5G equipment suppliers - Government aims to ensure UK's telecoms infrastructure is secure...

06/11 - NETWORKS - GSMA: Operators need prime spectrum to fulfill 5G potential - Industry body publishes paper ahead of WRC-19...

05/11 - NETWORKS - 5G operator revenues to reach £230bn by 2025 - Research suggests £46bn in 5G R&D will be well spent...

03/11 - DEVICES - Apple tipped to launch a 5G iPhone in 2020 - Super-fast speeds on the way...

31/10 - NETWORKS - BT CTO: Convergence of fibre, 5G and Wi-Fi will create 'one network to rule them all' - Howard Watson believes convergence will be a key differentiatior in telecoms...

30/10 - DEVICES - Oppo wants to release the first 5G smartphone - Oppo wants to beat LG to the punch after successful 5G tests...

30/10 - NETWORKS - Budget 2018: More funding for rural fibre but no new 5G commitments - Digital infrastructure largely a footnote in 2018 Budget...

26/10 - NETWORKS - Trump lays out US 5G strategy - Order looks to ease progress towards 5G network deployment in the US...

25/10 - PRODUCTS - Qualcomm works with Samsung on 5G small cells - Qualcomm and Samsung look to establish 5G leadership...

25/10 - NETWORKS - Vodafone switches on 'full 5G' trial in Manchester - Salford's MediaCity UK gets 5G coverage as Vodafone shapes up next-gen network...

23/10 - DEVICES - OnePlus 7 or OnePlus 7T will be first from company to support 5G - 2019 is the year OnePlus adopts 5G...

22/10 - NETWORKS - EU could back Wi-Fi over 5G for connected cars - Draft proposals could see Wi-Fi rules set before 5G...

19/10 - DEVICES - Operators may have to subsidise 'expensive' 5G smartphones - Early 5G smartphones could be too expensive for consumers...

19/10 - PRODUCTS - Huawei 5G folding phone could take on the Samsung Galaxy X in 2019 - Huawei knows when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em...

18/10 - NETWORKS - Ericsson sales boosted by early 5G adoption - Ericsson feels flush from operator investment...

17/10 - PRODUCTS - Samsung buys Zhilabs to power 5G analytics - Samsung's 5G efforts continue with purchase of analytics experts...

16/10 - NETWORKS - European mobile giants urge pro-5G investment policies - Leading CEOs urge EU regulators to consider importance of connectivity...

15/10 - PRODUCTS - US senators urge Canada to 'ban' Huawei from 5G deployment - US senators fear Huawei kit could harm US national security...

12/10 - PRODUCTS - New Nokia kit promises more rapid and effective 5G FWA deployments - Operators can get new high gain antennas and gateways...

12/10 - NETWORKS - Deutsche Telekom plots 99 per cent 5G coverage by 2025 - German operator details plans for 5G rollout...

08/10 - ANALYSIS - Differences in early 5G services will make it a 'marketing headache' - Analysts predict difficulties in 5G marketing as mobile broadband will be key adoption driver...

05/10 - NETWORKS - EE switches on 'UK's first' 5G trial network at Canary Wharf - EE gears up for 2019 5G launch...

04/10 - NETWORKS - Huawei tells FCC that US ban could mean country falls behind in 5G - Huawei hasn't given up hope in playing US 5G role...

01/10 - INNOVATION - Samsung partners with AT&T to build a 5G tech lab - Facility will research ways 5G could improve manufacturing...

01/10 - NETWORKS - Verizon turns on the world's first 5G network - Launch across four US cities could be a major landmark in the development of 5G...

28/09 - NETWORKS - Digital Catapult switches on Brighton 5G testbed - UK's latest 5G testbed goes live on the South Coast...

26/09 - ANALYSIS - Could 5G networks herald the arrival of a four-day work week? Increased productivity as a result of 5G powered technologies could disrupt the traditional work week...

25/09 - DEVICES - Manufacturers hope 5G and foldable displays will drive smartphone growth - Analysts believe the smartphone will be unrecognisable by 2027...

24/09 - NETWORKS - WIG raises £220m for 5G infrastructure - WIG to use additional funding for small cells and fibre...

21/09 - NETWORKS - Vodafone targets cities and rural areas for 2019 5G launch - Cornwall and the Lake District will be first to get Vodafone 5G...

12/09 - NETWORKS - T-Mobile signs $3.5bn 5G network deal with Ericsson - T-Mobile secures second major 5G equipment deal...

11/09 - NETWORKS - EE could launch the UK's first 5G network in 2019 - EE reallocates 3G spectrum ahead of 2019 5G launch...

11/09 - NETWORKS - European mobile operators bring forward 5G plans - Global 5G connections to reach 340m by 2021 as European optimism increases forecasts...

11/09 - GAMING - Nvidia shows how GeForce Now 5G streaming could make high-end gaming hardware irrelevant - Hitting 60 fps in Full HD resolution with no need for a beefy gaming laptop...

10/09 - NETWORKS - CityFibre SDN rollout to speed up 5G deployments and enable 10Gbps - CityFibre agrees deal with Calix to smarten its network..

10/09 - NETWORKS - Ericsson radio updates and transport partnerships to accelerate 5G deployments - Ericsson says a series of developments will make it easier and quicker to deploy 5G...

08/09 - NETWORKS - How 5G will make our streaming dreams come true - Zero buffering, no waiting. Will 5G lead the way?

07/09 - FEATURE - Inside the 5G factory: How Nokia's research aids its own production - Nokia's Oulu facility has been involved in every generation of mobile technology...

05/09 - NETWORKS - San Marino will have Europe's first 5G network - Microstate will be a testbed for TIM...

05/09 - NETWORKS - China considers merging two major mobile operators in 5G push - Merger would create world's second largest mobile operator...

04/09 - PRODUCTS - UK''s 'first' large-scale 5G hub to test digital health apps in 2019 - West Midlands will become UK's first 5G hub...

31/08 - ANALYSIS - Golf's digital ambitions make it an unlikely 5G pioneer - Golf looks to new technologies - including 5G...

31/08 - NETWORKS - German operators will have no rural obligation for 5G - 5G spectrum auction will take place in 2019...

30/08 - DEVICES - Larger screens and 5G to drive smartphone growth through to 2022 - Smartphone market 'generally healthy' despite recent dip...

28/08 - NETWORKS - German regulator calls for fourth operator for 5G - Competition chief believes new entrant will kickstart German 5G...

28/08 - NETWORKS - Nokia secures €500m EU loan for 5G research - New funding will accelerate 5G technology R&D...

23/08 - NETWORKS - Major 5G trends become more apparent as first network launch nears - The past seven days have been a long time in the world of 5G...

23/08 - ANALYSIS - Huawei & ZTE banned from Australia 5G networks - Australian government says 5G architecture makes it too risky...

22/08 - PRODUCTS - Qualcomm to start shipping its 5G modems - However chipmaker says it doesn't expect 5G phones to launch this year...

22/08 - NETWORKS - Speed takes centre stage as operators ramp up 5G testing - Report suggests 82 per cent of mobile operators worldwide are testing 5G...

22/08 - DEVICES - Nokia expects to make €3 from every 5G smartphone - Finnish giant sets rate for its essential 5G patents...

20/08 - NETWORKS - Government to test 5G on UK railways - DCMS invites participants for pilot to see how 5G can improve transport sector...

20/08 - NETWORKS - Verizon and Nokia test 5G with a moving vehicle - Partners make progress in mobile broadband and connected car apps...

17/08 - NETWORKS - 5G network slicing could be worth £51bn to mobile operators - Researchers say efforts by operators and vendors could bear fruit...

16/08 - NETWORKS - Cisco posts healthy revenues ahead of 5G push - Cisco is happy with innovation roadmap as it prepares for next generation networks...

16/08 - NETWORKS - Telstra switches on 5G for the Gold Coast, but wider availability remains murky - Australian telcos Optus and Vodafone say there’s a long road ahead...

15/08 - NETWORKS - O2 tests light-based wireless transmission ahead of 5G tests - Li-Fi is pitched as a Wi-Fi alternative...

15/08 - DEVICES - LG to launch 'first 5G smartphone' in 2019 - LG and Sprint will release a 5G-ready device in the US next year...

13/08 - NETWORKS - Ericsson hopes US 5G investments will speed up deployments - Ericsson makes investments in 5G R&D...

08/08 - NETWORKS - Samsung invests billions in 5G and AI - Samsung's £17bn investment programme looks to guard against smartphone slowdown...

07/08 - NETWORKS - US set to lose out to China in 5G race - Deloitte report urges policymakers to promote investment...

02/08 - DEVICES - Moto Z3 is the world's first 5G-upgradable smartphone, say Motorola and Verizon - The first 5G-almost-ready smartphone...

02/08 - OPERATORS - Three focuses on 5G after revenue and customer rises - Three now boasts 10.1m customers across the UK...

31/07 - DEVICES - Lenovo says it'll be the first to launch a 5G smartphone - Could be here before the end of the year...

30/07 - NETWORKS - Nokia and T-Mobile ink $3.5bn 5G network deal - US operator presses ahead with 5G rollout plans...

27/07 - OPERATORS - Mobile helps BT Q1 results ahead of 5G trials - Consumer division continues to offset BT business decline...

26/07 - OPERATORS - O2 invites FTSE 500 to trial its 5G - O2 presses ahead with 5G tests as it adds more customers...

26/07 - OPERATORS - Nokia looks to 5G after sales slowdown - Nokia says drop is to be expected but is confident for second half of 2018...

26/07 - OPERATORS - Sky Mobile extends O2 MVNO agreement to cover 5G - Sky Mobile now has 500,000 customers across the UK...

23/07 - REGULATION - UK Government promises new regulations and investment for full fibre and 5G - Government report outlines plans to deliver fibre to entire UK by 2033...

23/07 - PRODUCTS - Qualcomm's mmWave antennas pave way for first 5G smartphones - The first 5G smartphones should arrive in 2019...

20/07 - NETWORKS - Barriers to 5G could stop UK being a global leader - BSG report identifies issues and resolutions...

18/07 - NETWORKS - South Korea plans 2019 5G launch - "Korea 5G Day" will see new networks introduced a year ahead of schedule...

10/07 - NETWORKS - China Mobile, Intel and Huawei complete 5G interoperability testing - Tests pave way for China Mobile 5G launch next year...

09/07 - NETWORKS - SSE Enterprise Telecoms unbundles BT exchanges to boost broadband and Three 5G - SSE Enterprise Telecoms doubles its reach...

03/07 - NETWORKS - Samsung, Cisco and Orange hold multi-vendor 5G FWA trial - FWA will deliver a fixed-like broadband experience when 5G launches...

29/06 - DEVICES - OnePlus 7 could support 5G and be sold by US carriers - But don't expect it for a while...

28/06 - NETWORKS - "World's first" 5G network launches - Finnish operator Elisa claims global first in launching a commercial 5G network...

27/06  - ANALYSIS - The World Cup and 5G: the trials you need to know about - 5G will change how you watch football forever...

25/06 - NETWORKS - UK 'needs shared spectrum' for 5G - Ofcom urged to rethink 5G spectrum auction to ensure fairer rollout...

20/06 - NETWORKS - Vodafone launches 5G trials in seven UK cities - Vodafone to hold trials later this year with plans for a 2020 5G launch...

19/06 - NETWORKS - Mobile signal woes 'strengthens' business case for 5G - Only half of mobile users in the UK are happy with their speeds, but willing to pay more for faster service...

15/06 - NETWORKS - First standalone 5G network standard approved - 3GPP finalizes 'Release 15' of 5G after three years of work, meaning networks are on the way this year...

14/06 - ANALYSIS - Three CEO: 5G capacity is a 'big opportunity' to lead UK market - Dave Dyson says Three's spectrum holdings mean it could be the UK's 5G leader...

13/06 - NETWORKS - Vodafone: 5G smartphone uncertainty means focus on core network and IoT - Vodafone UK CTO says 5G will be a gamechanger, but smartphone innovation in the 4G era won't be matched...

12/06 - NETWORKS - 5G networks still set to arrive this year - Ericsson report suggests Europe will fall behind US and Asia on 5G adoption...

11/06 - NETWORKS - 'First ever' UK 5G report paints rosy picture - UK's 5G ambitions rely heavily on startup and research community...

06/06 - ANALYSIS - EU telecoms rule changes will hinder rather than help 5G, claim industry - Telecoms groups label the new EU code a "missed opportunity"...

06/06 - NETWORKS - EE to switch on 'UK's first' 5G trial in London - Residents and businesses in Tech City will get chance to try out 5G...

05/06 - PRODUCTS - 5G PCs coming from Intel and Sprint next year - US telecoms giant Sprint has joined the race to bring 5G to the masses, announcing at Computex 2018 to start shipping Intel-powered 5G computers next year...

01/06 - ANALYSIS - 5G UK - How far away are we really? - 5G will deliver immediate benefits in 2019, but the true mobile revolution will take time...

25/05 - POLICY - Mobile industry 'shouldn't wait' for 5G to roll out small cells - Small cells will be essential for delivering the 5G vision but industry warns there is no time too wait...

25/05 - POLICY - Nordic Prime Ministers reach agreement to support 5G - Joint agreement is welcomed by Nokia, Ericsson and regional operators...

22/05 - NETWORKS - Qualcomm details 5G small cell platform - Qualcomm wants to help operators and network equipment manufacturers densify 5G networks...

18/05 - NETWORKS - Verizon to bring 5G to Los Angeles in 2018 - Verizon says America's second largest city will be its next 5G location...

16/05 - NETWORKS - Mobile IoT networks to be a 'core component' of 5G - GSMA says NB-IoT and LTE-M deployments are paving the way for massive IoT powered by 5G...

14/05 - NETWORKS - 5G and network convergence drives growth of carrier-grade Wi-Fi market - Fixed and mobile operators look to densify network infrastructure...

08/05 - PRODUCTS - Why self-driving vehicles could be the biggest winner in a 5G world - Telefónica tells us why autonomous vehicles are set to be a key 5G use case...

08/05 - NETWORKS - Verizon and Samsung get 5G regulatory boost - Verizon and Samsung make major headway towards 5G...

03/05 - NETWORKS - Deutsche Telekom holds live 5G NR trial in Berlin - German operator says test will see how 5G NR behaves in real world...

02/05 - ANALYSIS - Why T-Mobile and Sprint merger would give the US a 5G lead - A truly national 5G network could ensure the US retains its advantage...

01/05 - NETWORKS - Three futureproofs backend infrastructure for 5G - Three and SSE Enterprise Telecoms deal with start with data centre connectivity...

30/04 - NETWORKS - T-Mobile and Sprint merger promises 5G progress in the US - America's third and fourth largest mobile operators are to merge...

18/04 - NETWORKS - Huawei dampens 5G expectations - Huawei CEO says consumer might not notice the differences...

17/04 - NETWORKS - China has narrow lead over US in 5G race - Government support and industry momentum gives China slight advantage, report says...

16/04 - DEVICES - 5G anticipation set to slow smartphone sales - Manufacturers hope for 5G boost as worldwide smartphone demand slows...

13/04 - NETWORKS - What does the Ofcom 5G auction mean for the UK mobile industry? - The long-awaited auction is over, paving the way for 5G...so what next?

12/04 - NETWORKS - Vodafone hits major UK 5G milestone - Vodafone is first UK operator to test 3.4GHz spectrum in preparation for 5G...

09/04 - NETWORKS - Europe set be left behind in 5G race - US and Asia will lead the way in 5G development, claims report...

05/04 - NETWORKS - Mobile networks fork out £1.4bn for 5G spectrum - Ofcom publishes the results of its 5G spectrum auction, revealing that the UK's biggest mobile network operators spent almost £1.4 billion...

28/03 - NETWORKS - 'World's first' 5G public trial switched on in Australia - Australian telco Telstra flips the switch on the world's first public trial of 5G at the Gold Coast...

28/03 - NETWORKS - 5G RuralFirst looks at smart farming, spectrum sharing and broadcasting - Government funded project will use Cisco tech to help transform rural lives...

28/03 - POLICY - UK5G group makes bid for global 5G leadership - Government and industry backed UK5G looks to establish UK 5G community...

27/03 - NETWORKS - GSMA: 5G will be dominant mobile tech in USA by 2025 - Mobile industry body report shows US will be a 5G leader...

27/03 - NETWORKS - Telefonica tests tech that could boost 5G broadband - Telefonica spectral efficiency trials hope to pave the way for better fixed wireless access (FWA)... 

23/03 - NETWORKS - 5G networks are now just a year away - Korea Telecom plans commercial 5G launch next March...

20/03 - NETWORKS - UK 5G spectrum auction gets underway - Five bidders will battle it out for more of the UK's airwaves...

19/03 - NETWORKS - UK university makes major 5G breakthrough - University of Kent-based iCIRRUS consortium says Ethernet equipment can help deliver 5G networks...

16/03 - NETWORKS - O2 kickstarts the UK's 5G charm offensive to consumers - 5G hypetrain moves from industry into the mainstream...

15/03 - NETWORKS - Digital minister pledges to eliminate barriers to 5G deployment - Margot James says she wants to work with mobile operators and local government on 5G...

14/03 - NETWORKS - O2: 5G will save local councils and households £6bn a year - Report details how smart technologies powered by 5G can improve society...

12/03 - NETWORKS - Ofcom 5G spectrum auction will start next week - Ofcom confirms that bidding for 5G frequencies will begin on 20 March...

12/03 - NETWORKS - Government reveals £25m prize fund for UK 5G - £25m competition will see 5G testbeds located across the UK...

11/03 - DEVICES - 5G a key factor to seamless VR experience, says Lenovo EMEA President - Lenovo wants to create memorable experiences for its customers, but is that enough?

09/03 - NETWORKS - Ofcom plans new rural coverage obligations for 700MHz spectrum - Ofcom says 700MHz is an important opportunity to improve rural coverage as it plans for 5G future...

05/03 - NETWORKS - EU Parliament and US Congress take steps to accelerate 5G legislation - EU chambers reach provisional agreement while US Congress to vote on spectrum auction...

05/03 - DEVICES - HTC CEO: 5G will turn any VR device into the most powerful in the world - Cher Wang says the smartphone still has a role to play in VR...

03/03 - NETWORKS - Qualcomm hopes 5G vision will stand out from the hype - Qualcomm's influence in the industry is significant, so its 5G roadmap is worth listening too...

02/03 - NETWORKS - BT CEO: EE convergence even more important ahead of 5G - Gavin Patterson says BT never really left mobile and is preparing for converged network era...

28/02 - NETWORKS - Intel and NTT DoCoMo prepare 5G plans for Tokyo 2020 Olympics - After success at PyeongChang 2018, Intel is stepping up plans for next Olympics...

27/02 - NETWORKS - Satellite-supported UK 5G testbed will trial mission critical apps - Juniper Networks and Satellite Applications Catapult say satellite cannot be ignored...

27/02 - MOBILE - Qualcomm looks to make it easier to make 5G phones - Launch will help OEMs build 5G connectivity into more devices...

27/02 - NETWORKS - Ofcom confirms six bidders for 5G spectrum - All four mobile operators have been approved, with small cell operator and Hull fixed wireless firm joining...

27/02 - NETWORKS - Ericsson tells operators: 5G is ready - Ericsson has agreements with 38 operators around the world as 5G moves from idea to reality...

27/02 - PRODUCTS - Get ready for a 5G Internet of the Sky - Drones like the Ehang 184 will usher in a 5G-powered autonomous airspace...

26/02 - NETWORKS - Telstra plans to ramp up 4G speeds in the lead up to its full 5G rollout - Major cities in Australia to get increased bandwidth...

26/02 - NETWORKS - Cisco targets mobile operators with '5G Now' - Cisco wants to help operators prepare for the next era of networks...

25/02 - MOBILE - Huawei reveals 5G-ready modem - Test beds for 5G networks will be launched this year, Huawei reveals...

23/02 - NETWORKS - Why PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics are a 5G milestone - Athletes are making history at the Winter Olympics, but it's an important event for 5G networks too...

22/02 - NETWORKS - O2 reveals UK 5G test bed - Operator will test 5G applications at iconic London venue later this year...

19/02 - NETWORKS - Vodafone and Huawei successfully test IP Microwave backhaul for 5G - Vodafone and Huawei achieve 2Gbps on IP microwave link, claiming it shows the tech is viable for 5G...

16/02 - NETWORKS - Why startups and research can make the UK a 5G leader - Does the UK really need to be first to the mark or be an industry powerhouse to be a 5G leader?

16/02 - OPINION - No time to waste now 5G legal challenges are over - For an industry keen to avoid a repeat of the 3G and 4G auctions, Three's failed appeal removes a barrier to 5G...

14/02 - MOBILE - Fiber-like internet and a glimpse of our 5G future are coming to smartphones in 2019 - Qualcomm's new mobile modem offering speeds of up to 2Gbps...

14/02 - NETWORKS - 5G spectrum auction to go ahead after Three's legal challenge fails - Three's bid to decrease an overall spectrum cap falls on deaf ears and prevents further delay...

12/02 - NETWORKS - China Mobile plans 5G launch in 2019 - China Mobile joins a select few number of operators planning to beat original 2020 target...

08/02 - MOBILE - The first 5G smartphones are coming in 2019 - But you won't see 5G service everywhere by next year...

07/02 - MOBILE - 5G set to push mobile data use sky-high - Giffgaff research estimates customers will use nearly 100GB of mobile data a month by 2025...

05/-2 - NETWORKS - Telstra joins Optus on 5G bandwagon, also aiming for 2019 rollout - Australian carrier Telstra will trial new tech during Commonwealth Games...

05/01 - NETWORKS - AT&T set to run 5G trials - Company to adopt new 3GPP guidelines as it continues push for next-generation networks...

04/01 - NETWORKS - Samsung teams up with Verizon on 5G - New service to be launched in Sacramento later this year...

02/02 - NETWORKS - Optus 5G network rollout set to begin in early 2019 - Australian telco Optus announces its plans for 5G rollout...

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What will 5G networks mean for me?

  • Faster download and upload speeds
  • Smoother streaming of online content 
  • Higher-quality voice and video calls 
  • More reliable mobile connections
  • Greater number of connected IoT devices 
  • An expansion of advanced technologies - including self-driving cars and smart cities

How fast will 5G be?

It’s still not exactly known how much faster 5G will be than 4G, as much of the technology is still under development.

That being said, the networks should provide a significant upgrade to current download and upload speeds - with the GSMA proposing minimum download speeds of around 1GBps.

Most estimates expect the average speed of 5G networks to reach 10Gb/s, and some even think transfer rates could reach a whopping 800Gb/s.

This would mean that users could download a full-length HD quality film in a matter of seconds, and that downloading and installing software upgrades would be completed much faster than today.

Will I be able to get 5G networks on my phone?

Existing smartphones, tablet or other devices that were released when 4G networks were the standard may not be able to connect to 5G to begin with, or may incur extra costs to do so. 

However following the 2020 deadline for the initial rollout, we should soon see devices coming with 5G connection as default.

Don't worry though - although 5G should represent a major step up from current 4G and 3G networks, the new technology won’t immediately replace its predecessor - at least, not to begin with.

Instead, 5G should link in with existing networks to ensure users never lose connection, with the older networks acting as back-up in areas not covered by the new 5G coverage.

So-called “4.5G” networks (also known as LTE-A) are set to fill the gap for the time being, offering connections that are faster than current 4G networks, although only certain countries such as South Korea can benefit from them right now.

Once launched however, implementing 5G may be a slower process. Much like the gradual takeover of 4G networks from the previous generation, existing network infrastructure may need to be upgraded or even replaced in order to deal with the new technology, and homes and businesses may also need to get new services installed.

It’s not yet known how 5G networks will take over from existing networks, but again, much like the rollout of 4G, you may not be able to immediately connect to the new networks without upgrading your technology.

What will a 5G network need?

The GSMA has outlined eight criteria for 5G networks, with a connection needing meet a majority of these in order to qualify as 5G:

  • 1-10Gbps connections to end points in the field (i.e. not theoretical maximum)
  • 1 millisecond end-to-end round trip delay (latency) 
  • 1000x bandwidth per unit area
  • 10-100x number of connected devices 
  • (Perception of) 99.999 per cent availability 
  • (Perception of) 100 per cent coverage
  • 90 per cent reduction in network energy usage 
  • Up to 10 year battery life for low power, machine-type devices 

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