Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Apple : GE Lighting introduces new dimmer switches and smart bulbs at CES 2019

Apple : GE Lighting introduces new dimmer switches and smart bulbs at CES 2019


GE Lighting introduces new dimmer switches and smart bulbs at CES 2019

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 02:05 PM PST

While Philips has gotten a headstart in the smart lightbulb game, GE has added to its own C by GE line of intelligent bulbs at CES 2019. The company has introduced new dimmer switches that smarten-up your dumb bulbs, color-changing smart lightbulbs of their own and accessories.

Coming in Q1 of this year are two new products: C-Start dimmer switches to connect to lights, one for $50 and another for $75 with built-in light and motion sensors to add triggers to brighten or dim them. There’s an additional simple on/off C-Start model coming in Q2 for $40 for users who want a more basic switch. 

While all of these can synchronize with your C by GE bulbs via Bluetooth, you can also link these switches up with dumb bulbs and control them over WiFi.


Your connected world, in color

GE Lighting’s new color-changing bulbs include the traditional A19 smart bulb, which retails for $40, a BR30 smart floodlight for $45 and a light string (for placing under your cabinets, for example) that will cost $75.

Since signing up for the Made For Google program, these and future GE Lighting products should be natively compatible with Google Assistant via the Google Home app, per CNET, meaning you won’t need a C-Reach hub to integrate it. The app will even handle the pairing process, after which you can control it within the mobile software.

Those who want to control via Amazon Alexa will need to buy one of the plug-in C-Reach hubs to inferace between bulbs and smart speaker, and will have to go use the C by GE app to initially pair your bulbs . An update coming later this year will add Apple Homekit to the mix, allowing iOS users to control their bulbs with Siri commands, though they’ll also have to go through the C-Reach workaround.

The last GE Lighting news is accessories. C by GE will introduce a smart wall plug by Q2 of this year for $25, while a battery-powered motion detector is coming in Q4 for a yet-to-be-disclosed price.

  •  Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.  

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LIFX Tile smart lighting update unlocks secret tap-to-change color feature

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 12:46 PM PST

CES 2019 is usually about pushing brand new gear at consumers, but LIFX has just made that rarest of announcements – a significant update to an existing product that you don't have to spend a penny extra on to enjoy.

If you're the owner of one of its LIFX Tile smart lighting kits, you'll soon get an all-new feature that will bring touch controls to the lighting system.

'Surely that requires brand new equipment?" you may ask. Actually, no – the LIFX Tile was already secretly equipped with accelerometers embedded in each of its wall-mountable lighting units, meaning that all it requires to be activated is an over-the-air firmware update.

New lighting options

Simply tap one of the lighting modules, and the connected LIFX Tile units will cycle through different lighting option. There's also a new fireplace-simulating lighting style being added to the preset option.

“Next year is an exciting time for LIFX where we will expand our range and continue to add to the experience of home lighting. Tile Tap and Tile Fire are just the first steps in our plans to create a whole new set of lighting experiences for our customers," said LIFX Founder, Marc Alexander.

Want to see the Tap update in action for yourself? Click here for a video (which unfortunately we can't embed in this post.)

Expect to see the update roll out at some point in February 2019.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets. 

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The best CES tech: TechRadar’s 2019 CES Awards

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 12:01 PM PST

There’s no place quite like Vegas during CES: The crowds are buzzing with excitement while walking from booth to booth, the city seems to embrace (or at least tolerate) the influx of technophiles and the show floor is packed to the brim with great gadgets that are bound to change the way we live, work and play for years to come. 

To help highlight the products that stole our hearts this week - and our wallets sometime down the road - we’ve put together a list of the best tech at CES, listed below in alphabetical order. 

While there are certainly tons more great gadgets to be found here on the 2.75 million square feet of exhibit space, this is the tech that our editors adored and our readers (that’s you guys) cared the most about. 

Without further ado, here are the winners of TechRadar's 2019 CES Awards!

Asus ROG Mothership GZ700 

This is one of the most interesting takes on the desktop replacement gaming laptop that we've ever seen. Essentially a gaming laptop and desktop combined, this beast can kick out its stand, detach its keyboard and work as an all-in-one gaming PC as well. Asus has taken the term "desktop replacement" in an incredibly interesting direction that we can't wait to see pan out. 

Creative SXFI Air 

In a few short years, headphone holography will be the biggest thing in audio. Dolby’s working on it. Audeze has dabbled in it. And Creative, well, has already taken it to the next level. The Creative’s SXFI Air can replicate the soundstage of a full surround system in a pair of over-ear headphones that cost under $200 (£150, AU$275). It’s a bold step for the future of audio, and we got to see it for the first time at CES. 

HDMI 2.1

It’s hard to count on one hand all of the 8K TVs at CES 2019. Samsung, Sony, TCL, LG and a half-dozen others all showed up to Vegas with Ultra-HD screens, but without HDMI 2.1, 8K would be dead in the water. The latest iteration of the display standard allows for the transmission of 8K60 - and 4K120 - video, plus Variable Refresh Rate and Auto Low Latency Mode. No HDMI 2.1, no future for 8K TVs.

Honor View 20 

While we're still waiting for the 'official' launch of the Honor View 20, we finally got a chance to go hands on with it at CES 2019 and it was well-worth the wait. The combination of the world's first 48MP camera, the wider-screen display with punch-hole camera and visually arresting back make it a strong phone that could upset the flagship order this year. 

HTC Vive Cosmos 

While we're still left with a few questions about this headset, the Vive Cosmos promises to bring the best parts of HTC's VR experience in a more portable, distilled way and brings us that little bit closer to the tipping point where virtual reality is affordable and attractive to all. 

Huawei MateBook 13 

The next anti-MacBook Air is here, and it has managed to one-up not only Apple's latest model but a bevy of other competitors in style, substance and value. What's most notable about this laptop is that it brings full-power mobile Intel processors to a form factor that's dominated by lower-power Intel chips. This is bound to be a laptop to beat in 2019, and the absolute best we've seen from the show. 

Lenovo Smart Clock 

Google Assistant is coming to your nightstand in a screen-equipped smart speaker. Its 6W speaker plays music and the 4-inch display shows the time and alarms. When you wake up to shut off the alarm, it automatically gives a daily rundown: weather, estimated commute time, and appointments overview, and the news. The Lenovo Smart Clock the 21st century version of a bedroom alarm clock.  

LG 8K OLED (OLED88Z9) 

The LG 8K OLED (OLED88Z9) is peak CES. It’s two future-facing technologies merged together to create a product that is both revolutionary in its engineering and awe-inspiring to behold… which makes it all the more unfortunate that LG has yet to confirm pricing. You can bet your already outdated 4K Blu-ray collection that it’s going to cost way more than many of us will be able to dream of affording, but it’s as cutting-edge of a TV as we’re going to see in 2019. 

LG Signature Series OLED TV R (OLED65R9) 

At one time, seeing a TV appear out of thin air would’ve been something straight out of a magic act. But LG’s new rollable Signature Series OLED TV R isn’t magic - it’s engineering and display technology risen to the nth degree. While some other 2019 TVs can do 8K and sit flush on the wall, only the 65R9 harnesses OLED’s natural flexibility to roll up on itself when you’re done watching it. Star Trek eat your heart out. 

Panasonic GZ2000 4K OLED TV 

Just like the Las Vegas strip itself, the TVs of CES 2019 have been all about the glitz. Whether its 8K resolutions of rollable displays, the 'wow' factor may have been upped, but there's a sense that it's been a game of all-surface, no-feeling spec chasing and headline baiting. The Panasonic GZ2000 4K OLED on the other hand is a pure movie lover's dream – there's no gimmick here, just a commitment to the highest possible picture quality.  

Panasonic S1R Full-Frame Mirrorless Camera

While it wasn't here in the flesh and instead enjoyed a shout out in Panasonic's keynote, we're really excited for Panasonic's first go at a full-frame mirrorless camera. The brand has always been a pathfinder in the field of video but was held back by its smaller micro-four thirds, well that all changes as the S1R features a camera sensor that four times bigger to capture 4K 60P video. 

Royole FlexPai Foldable Phone

The Royole FlexPai is seriously cool and it's one of the hottest products at CES 2019. Its flexible, folding 7.8-inch display allows you to go from tablet to phone and back again with a simple bend of the screen. It's may not be perfect - the software is slow and buggy - but it's the innovation in the screen technology that has us truly excited. The future of smartphones starts here. 

Withings Move ECG 

Apple may have had the pleasure of debuting an ECG monitor on a smartwatch, but Withings is the company that's bringing the tech to the masses in an affordable device that works with both iPhone and Android. The Withings Move ECG is also a good looking hybrid watch that features step and sleep tracking, so this may be the watch with hidden tech features you crave in 2019. 

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets. 

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UK trade head mocked at CES over Brexit

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 11:02 AM PST

The UK's top political trade figure has been heckled at CES 2019 over the UK's stance on the world stage following Brexit.

Appearing on stage as part of the opening CES 2019 keynote, Dr Liam Fox, the Secretary of State for International Trade, was met with cries of "Brexit" when asked what sets the UK apart from the rest of the world when it comes to innovation.

Fox was on stage to collect an award from Consumer Technology Association President Gary Shapiro recognising the UK's presence at the show and the nation's continued high-level work in the tech space. 

He was joined by representatives from Estonia and the Netherlands, but when asked what makes the UK a key player in the tech space, was heckled a cry of "Brexit", causing widespread laughter among the crowd.

Brexit at CES

"The UK, I think, is understanding that innovation is key to our commercial success and our prosperity, and also the well-being of our people," Fox had said before the crowd response.

"The UK has natural advantages - our legal system, the flexibility of our workforce, our permissive regulatory and taxation environments, four of the top ten global universities, we're a great timezone for trading, we speak English, and we perform standard IT protection." 

His appearance comes as new figures show that the UK and London are outperforming the European tech investment landscape, with Britain’s tech sector attracted more venture capital investment and tech IPOs than any other European hub in 2018.

According to research published today by London & Partners and PitchBook, London’s tech companies provided a major boost to UK investment in 2018, with the capital’s firms receiving £1.8 billion (72 per cent) of the total £2.49 billion raised by British tech firms.

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Pimax’s ‘8K’ ultra-wide high-resolution VR headset is slated to ship in February

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:37 AM PST

Pimax’s ‘8K’ headset seemed too good to be true, but after some delays post-successful Kickstarter, the company is ready to start shipping next month, the company told us at CES 2019

But given that the ‘8K’ moniker is deceptive – it’s actually two 4K lenses (one for each eye), and each is technically 3,840 x 2,160 upscaled from 2,560 x 1,440, according to VentureBeat and LinusTechTips – we should remind everyone what they’re actually getting for the whopping $899 pricetag.

Let’s be clear on one point: when we tried on the headset, the ‘8K’ did seem to deliver on its claims for a 200-degree field-of-view. Pimax’s website doesn’t specify which axis of FOV, so it’s likely measuring the diagonal, but that’s still far ahead of the 145-degree FOV of the HTC Vive or the 120-degree FOV of the Oculus Rift. 

This expands your peripheral vision in the ‘8K’ headset beyond what you’d see in competing devices. When I loaded up a mountain scene within Valve’s VR sandbox game The Lab, I actually gasped. The view is spectacular. 

It wasn’t perfect, mind you: in my unit, I eventually saw an ever-so-faint miscoloration, like a slight yellow filter, in the middle third of my view. 

And, sadly, that was the closest I could get to giving the 4K claims a test run: the highest-resolution content ready to test on the computers running Pimax’s headset only had The Lab. It was sharp...but not 4K-film-running-on-a-4K-TV sharp.

It was, however, very smooth. The ‘8K’ runs at 80hz, which is under the 90hz baseline most VR headsets run at to present constant motion pleasant to the human eyes, but it ran smooth enough for me not to notice. To the headset’s credit, it ran without a hitch when broadcasting Doom VR gameplay in a separate play session.

(The ‘8K’ spec sheet on Pimax’s website also notes the headset has ‘Brainwarp Support;’ The company doesn’t clarify what that is, but it’s apparently a process to present only one eye with a 4K image at once and flip between them extremely quickly, according to Road to VR. How this may supplement the lower frame rate is unclear.)

Other advantages for its high cost

No matter how amazing the product, its $899 pricetag is very, very high. Fortunately, the ‘8K’ supports existing tech, like HTC Vive controllers and Steam 1.0 and 2.0 Lighthouse tracking gadgets. Pimax also designed its own controllers (in both touchpad and joystick versions) for $300 a pair, but we didn’t get to test them out. 

The ‘8K’ also hasn’t changed much externally since it was first introduced: it’s still a very wide device. Thankfully, it isn’t much heavier than a typical VR headset, though anyone seeing you play it will likely smirk: you’ll look like a cyber hammerhead.

Pimax claims '8K' runs content from SteamVR and Oculus Home. If you're planning on running this device, you should run it on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti (or AMD equivalent) or above, per the company's website.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets. 

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Tom Clancy's The Division 2 isn't coming to Steam

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:28 AM PST

Tom Clancy's The Division 2 will not be released on Steam, as publisher Ubisoft has opted to make the PC version of the title a semi-exclusive release on the Epic Games Store.

According to a report by Polygon, Ubisoft and Epic Games are teaming up to bring select future Ubisoft PC titles to the Epic Games Store – including The Division 2. Alongside selling the title on the Epic Games Store, Ubisoft will offer it (and future PC titles) on the Ubisoft Store.

"We have no plans currently on releasing Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 on Steam", a Ubisoft representative told Polygon. In addition, the publisher revealed they will "also partner on additional select titles to be announced during the coming year".

Don't worry if you've already ordered Tom Clancy's The Division 2 from another online store: Ubisoft has guaranteed it will honor all purchases of the title. 

Epic Games announced the launch of its own digital games store back in December, 2018. The Epic Games Store aims to compete with the likes of Steam and GOG, offering hand-curated PC titles to purchase – and it seems to be working. Ubisoft joins Supergiant Games in moving their PC releases to the Epic Games Store rather than Steam.

And i's not hard to see why. Steam has grown into a goliath, one that seems almost unmanageable. Meaning that Valve has essentially stopped trying, allowing controversial material onto the gaming platform. 

But perhaps the biggest draw to Epic Games over Steam is the percentage of  revenue share: Epic Games offers a much larger percentage for developers (especially those that sell fewer units) than Steam, meaning they'll make more money in the long run. 

We'll be interested to see if other publishers and developers choose to launch their PC titles on the Epic Games Store over Steam in the future.

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IoT devices now top priority for cybercriminals

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:25 AM PST

Internet of Things (IoT) devices are now cybercriminals' top attack target and have managed to surpass web, application services and email servers according to new research from F5 Labs.

The fifth volume of the security firm's The Hunt for IoT report that thirteen Thingbots, IoT devices that have become part of a botnet, were discovered during the first half of 2018.

During the past 18 months, Spain was the top country under attack and it endured a remarkable 80 per cent of all monitored IoT attack traffic between January 1st and June 30th of last year. Russia, Hungary, the US and Singapore were also under consistent pressure from IoT attacks.

A majority of the attacks in the first half of last year originated in Brazil (18%) with China being the second biggest culprit (15%) followed by Japan (9%), Poland (7%), the US (7%) and Iran (6%).

Rise of the Thingbots

While DDoS attacks remain the most utilised attack method, hackers began adapting Thingbots to perform additional tactics including installing proxy servers to launch attacks from, crypto-jacking, installing Tor nodes and packet sniffers, DNS hijacks, credential collection, credential stuffing and fraud trojans.

Hackers commonly used global internet scans searching for open remote administration services to discover and then infect IoT devices.

Telnet and Secure Shell (SSH) protocols were the most popular followed by Home Administration Protocols (HNAP), Universal Plug and Play protocols (UpnP), Simple Object Access Protocols (SOAP) and various other Transmission Control Protocols (TCP) ports used by IoT devices.

Senior EMEA Threat Research Evangelist at F5 Networks, David Warburton explained why organisations should prepare themselves for future IoT attacks, saying:

“We are stuck with over 8 billion IoT devices around the world that, for the most part, prioritise access convenience over security. Organisations need to brace themselves for impact, because IoT attack opportunities are virtually endless and the process of building Thingbots is more widespread than ever. Unfortunately, it is going to take material loss of revenue for IoT device manufacturers, or significant costs incurred by organisations implementing these devices, before any meaningful security advances are achieved. Therefore, it is essential to have security controls in place that can detect bots and scale to the rate at which Thingbots attack. As ever, having bot defense at your application perimeter is crucial, as is a scalable DDoS solution.”

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Dish TV network packages: monthly fees slashed plus more bonuses

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:19 AM PST

If you are thinking of upgrading your basic cable to Dish TV, then you've come to the right place. January is a great time to find deals and savings from satellite providers, and Dish Network is currently offering several different promotions for new customers. Before you can find out how to save, you should know what services and channels are included by becoming a Dish subscriber.

Dish TV offers over 300 satellite channels with a majority of those channels in HD. You'll also receive three free months of HBO, STARZ, Cinemax and Showtime. In addition to the premium channels, you'll also have access to local broadcast programming, pay-per-view movies, and 70+ music channels. Dish also provides free installation and a guaranteed two-year price lock.

Now that you know everything included in Dish Network services, it's time to find out how you can save money from their current promotions. Dish has already discounted their TV bundles with packages that start at only $59.99 a month (they used to start at $79.99 not so long ago), so the coupon codes below make the deals even sweeter. The promotions listed below are limited-time offers, so make sure you figure out which promotion is best for you and take advantage today.

Dish TV Promotion and Deals:

If you're wanting to learn more about Dish TVs pricing and packages, we have our Dish TV packages and deals page that's always updated with any current and new Dish TV promotions.

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AMD 7nm Ryzen 3rd Generation processors will come mid-2019

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:18 AM PST

AMD has announced its first 7nm processors will be Ryzen 3rd Generation and they are a doozy.

At its CES 2019 keynote, AMD debuted an unnamed octa-core, 16-thread part based on the company’s new 7nm Zen 2 architecture. The new CPU seems to be made specifically to go head-to-head with Intel’s flagship Core i9-9900K.

On stage, AMD benchmarked its secretive processor with Cinebench and it achieved a score of 2023 – by our own benchmarks the Intel Core i9-9900K and AMD Ryzen 7 2700X scored 1,873 and 1,798 points, respectively.

Basically, you're looking at a 12% increase in performance with this AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation processor. AMD wasn't ready to disclose frequencies as they haven't been finalized yet sadly.

What's even more amazing is it seems AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation is even more power efficient than Intel Coffee Lake Refresh. During its Cinebench demo, AMD also displayed the maximum power draw of the Intel system running at 179.9-watts while the new Ryzen system maxed out at 133.4-watts – which makes it about 30% more power efficient.

All about Zen 2

Going a little deeper into the architecture of the processor, it’s built out from two pieces of silicon on packed into one package: one eight-core 7nm chiplet made at TSMC and a second 14nm input/output chiplet – that includes the dual memory controllers and the PCIe lanes – made by GlobalFoundries.

Ryzen 3rd Generation will also be the first mainstream CPUs on the market to support PCIe 4.0, which is said to double the available bandwidth found on PCIe 3.0 from eight gigatransfers to 16 gigatransfers.

Another big of good news is Ryzen 3rd Generation is sticking to the same AM4 socket, so its new CPUs will work with existing 300 and 400-series AMD motherboards.

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AMD debuts 7nm Radeon VII graphics card to combat Nvidia RTX 2080

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:00 AM PST

During its CES 2019 keynote, AMD has announced the Radeon VII graphics card, AMD's latest and most powerful of its kind for consumers. As expected, this is AMD’s first 7-nanometer (nm) graphics processor (GPU), and improves upon AMD’s previous best graphics card in every way.

Built upon AMD’s Vega 20 GPU using its Graphics Core Next 5 architecture, this GPU boasts a boost clock speed of 1,800MHz – about 14% faster than the Radeon RX Vega 64. However, the GPU’s base clock speed is unknown at this time.

Otherwise, the GPU touts twice as much video memory as the previous model at a whopping 16GB of HBM2, brings up its pure throughput to 13.8 teraflops (TFLOPS) compared to 12.7 TFLOPS before, thanks in part to now 13.2 billion transistors inside – over another billion more than the previous generation.

All that power translates to smooth 4K gaming well above 60 frame per second. On stage, AMD demoed the Radeon VII playing Devil May Cry V running at 4K and a frame rate counter on the top left stayed well above 100fps. We also saw The Division 2 running smoothly at 4K, but there was no frame rate counter displaying fps.

AMD Radeon VII

The power of 7 nanometer

That amount of transistors inside the GPU is only possible through the 7nm process, which has been a bit of a unicorn of the computing world for a few years. Only within the past four months have we seen 7nm processors in the wild, particularly from ARM through the Apple A12 Bionic and Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx.

AMD is the first to 7nm graphics processing, and it could see the company quickly close the gap between its GPUs and Nvidia’s latest RTX GPUs, which are still way back on 12nm but are offsetting that with machine learning techniques.

Ultimately, the 7nm process allows this GPU to increase performance by 25% overall, by AMD’s measure, over the previous model without impacting power draw. Yes, this GPU is likely to have the same 295-watt thermal design power (TDP) as the previous model, meaning little to no change to your system should be necessary to upgrade.

Speaking of which, AMD says that Radeon VII will launch on February 7 bundled with Devil May Cry V, Resident Evil 2 and The Division 2 for $699 (about £550, AU$980). That’s 100 bucks more than the previous generation, so we’ll be the judge of whether the price hike is worth entry into our 7nm future in a full review.

Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.

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Baidu brings first open source edge computing platform to China

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:00 AM PST

At CES 2019, Baidu announced its new open source intelligent edge computing platform OpenEdge that allows developers to build light, secure and capable edge applications and solutions with greater flexibility.

The company's new platform is also China's first open source edge computing platform.

Developers can leverage OpenEdge to build their own edge computing systems and deploy them on a wide variety of hardware. These locally deployed systems will have data collection, message distribution, function compute, AI inference, cloud synchronization and other essential features.

OpenEdge is the local package component of the company's commercial software product Baidu Intelligent Edge (BIE). BIE also includes a cloud-based management suite which provides functions to manage edge nodes, edge apps and resources such as certification, passwords and program code. This means that BIE installed applications will be able to take advantage of both cloud reliability and edge locality. 

Baidu's ABC strategy

Baidu's President Ya-Qin Zhang explained how the growth of IoT devices and AI is leading to greater demand for edge computing, saying:

“The explosive growth of IoT devices and rapid adoption of AI is fueling great demand for edge computing. Edge computing is a critical component of Baidu’s ABC (AI, Big Data and Cloud Computing) strategy. By moving the compute closer to the source of the data, it greatly reduces the latency, lowers the bandwidth usage and ultimately brings real-time and immersive experiences to end users. And by providing an open source platform, we have also greatly simplified the process for developers to create their own edge computing applications.”

BIE also works seamlessly with Baidu Cloud and supports models trained on mainstream AI frameworks such as PaddlePaddle and TensorFlow. Developers can train their AI models on the company's cloud platform and then deploy them on local devices.

Additionally Baidu announced that it will partner with Intel to jointly launch the BIE-AI-Box and with NXP Semiconductors to jointly launch the BIE-AI-Board.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.     

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What is 5G? Everything you need to know

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 10:00 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

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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Samsung TV catalog 2019: here’s every new Samsung TV coming in 2019

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 09:39 AM PST

What does 2019 look like for Samsung TVs? The South Korean manufacturer is, as always, firing on all cylinders. 

We’re seeing Samsung driving new modular panel technologies, pushing the limits of 8K resolution, and expanding the scope of its in-house Bixby AI, without forgetting to offer some of the best mid-range televisions out there.

For now though, there’s little by way of concrete product names or release dates for 2019 – with one or two exceptions. At the CES 2019 tech expo we caught sight of a new 75-inch MicroLED TV named ‘The Window’, as well as a 98-inch version of its existing Q900R 8K QLED television. 

Samsung is pushing its designer series of televisions like The Window, The Wall, and The Frame, and we’re likely to see upgrades and enhancements to existing models over the coming year.

We’re also expecting upgrades to last year’s range of high-end QLED (quantum dot LED) televisions, which included the Q9F, Q8F, Q7C, Q7F, and entry-level Q6F, which we’ve listed for you below. There’ll certainly be more of Samsung’s UHD models – now prefaced with the letters ‘NU’ – and, at the cheaper end, some more traditional HD TVs.

With so many models to take in, we thought it'd be beneficial for to see the entire line-up, from the high-end QLED to the entry-level TVs, all on one page. Most are sets released in 2018, but we’ll update this page as their new variations get announced.

It’s worth noting that a lot of the specs listed below could potentially change as we get closer to the retail release of these screens, but for the most part the specs you see here should be the components that make it in the final product. 

Samsung MicroLED

Samsung's MicroLED is modular, meaning it can be built in a variety of different shapes and sizes

Samsung 2019 TV technology

Most of the technical advances we see in 2019 will be iterative, rather than anything wholly new from Samsung.

Samsung is pushing forward with its MicroLED panels, which feature millions of microscopic blue, red, and green LEDS for an incredible level of color and light control. On the large end, there's the new 219-inch model of Samsung's The Wall, and on the less-large-but-still-large end, the 75-inch The Window – made possible by smaller, more compact clusters of LEDS – with both looking ahead to a flexible future where you can customize your TV shape for any size or aspect ratio you please.

The virtual assistant Bixby will be one of the few common features across Samsung's MicroLED, QLED, and Ultra HD lineups – alongside various Samsung smart appliances, phones, and speakers. 

An 'improved AI algorithm' will make your Samsung TV better at recommending and displaying relevant TV content and apps, with expanded use of Bixby voice controls through your Samsung remote – as well as compatibility with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant smart home devices. Not to mention some smart Remote Access features for connecting to other devices through your TV.

The addition of Bixby will also allow the TVs to be compatible with Samsung’s SmartThings smart home platform. Together, Bixby and SmartThings will allow you to control your home from the comfort of your couch, giving you voice control over everything from smart lights to your Samsung SmartThings-enabled refrigerator. This may not be as beneficial for those folks who aren’t quite ready to buy into smart home tech yet, but it’s a nice addition to those of us who already have.

Samsung QLED TV

On the software side, Samsung sets will be getting AirPlay 2 support for streaming iTunes content from Apple devices. 2019 will also be the first time Apple has offered a dedicated iTunes app for movies and TV shows for a non-Apple manufacturer – for now exclusively on Samsung TVs.

Of course, the star of the show for Samsung in 2019 is still the QLED TV screen – essentially a variation on traditional Quantum Dot LED-LCD panels that feature a peak brightness between 1,500 and 2,000 nits. For a reference point, that’s about twice as bright as the competition from 2017 and four to five times as bright as the HD/SDR TV you’re used to watching. 

We're likely to see wider expansion of Samsung's Ambient Mode. When the TV is turned off, Ambient Mode helps the TV mimic the color and pattern of the wall on which the TV is displayed, so that it blends seamlessly into home décor. 

It can also play music and display information about the news, weather, and traffic as well. While at first limited to QLED TVs, we're hoping to see the mode trickle down into more affordable devices too.

Many high-end Samsung sets also feature the OneConnect box, which outsources all of your HDMI, power inputs and the like into a piece of hardware separate from the TV, preventing a mess of cables hanging down from your new display.

Ambient Mode and Samsung's signature Invisible Cable will help these TVs seamlessly blend into their surroundings.

Samsung Designer Series

The Wall (available in 143, 219 inches): Almost too big to be true? The Wall may not fit on most living room walls, but it's a testament to Samsung's desire to impress – featuring millions of microscopic LED for a huge level of color contrast and brightness control over each pixel. Made of a modular series of panels, the size is technically variable, though Samsung is still selling it in general size configurations as a starting point.

The first 143-inch model released in late 2018, though we now know a whopping 219-inch version is coming this year. Whichever you're looking at, you can be sure to expect an absolutely insane price tag.

The Window (available in 75-inches only): A smaller, but still objectively huge variation on The Wall television above. It's still modular, meaning you'll be able to vary the size somewhat at installation – and we're expecting it to hit some time in 2019.

The Frame (available in 43-, 55- and 65-inches)

US model numbers:  UN43LS003AFXZA, UN55LS003AFXZA, UN65LS003AFXZA    
UK model numbers:
UE43LS003AUXXU, UE55LS003AUXXU, UE65LS003AUXXU   

Samsung’s classiest TV got another upgrade last year, and we've heard word that a version of The Frame with a QLED panel is on the way – which feels necessary, given that the picture quality was the only thing letting this gorgeously made hunk of metal down. Blending form and function, this style-focused television may be the most attractive television Samsung has put out.

Samsung QLED 2018 Models

Samsung Q900R QLED TV (available in 65, 75, 85, 98 inches): Unbelievably, Samsung’s monstrous, 85-inch 8K TV is still considered a QLED TV. It’s the top of the list for numerous reasons – size and resolution being the most obvious two – but also its ability to use artificial intelligence upscale SD content to 8K HDR. 

The 65, 75, and 85-inch sizes will put you back a pretty penny – check our review link below for more pricing info – and the price tag will only be higher for the incoming 98-inch model...

Samsung Q9FN QLED TV (available in 65-, 75- and 88-inches)

US model numbers: QN65Q9FNAFXZA, QN75Q9FNAFXZA  
UK model numbers:
QE55Q9FNATXXU, QE65Q9FNATXXU, QE75Q9FNATXXU   

The first reasonably affordable TV in Samsung’s QLED line-up is the Q9FN. This year you can expect Ambient Mode and better black levels alongside the screen’s insanely iridescent peak brightness. Also new last year was the switch from an edge-lit design to a Direct Full Array panel which – we assume – will offer that improved contrast ratio Samsung’s touting.

Samsung Q8FN QLED TV (available in 55-, 65- and 75-inches)

US model numbers: QN55Q8FNBFXZA, QN65Q8FNBFXZA, QN75Q8FNBFXZA     
UK model numbers:
No model numbers announced yet 

Moving down the line a bit is Samsung’s Q8FN QLED TV. Like the Q9FN, you’ll see a switch from last year’s edge-lit design to a Direct Full Array panel, Ambient Mode and the addition of Bixby. The Q8FN only uses around a tenth of the backlight dimming zones as its Q9FN sibling – which it can't compare with – but still looks a treat.

Samsung Q7CN QLED TV (available in 55- and 65-inches)

US model numbers: QN65Q7CNAFXZA, QN55Q7CNAFXZA
UK model numbers:
No model numbers announced yet  

The Q7C is, well, Samsung's Q7 QLED in a divisive curved form factor.

Samsung Q7FN QLED TV (available in 55-, 65- and 75-inches)

US model numbers: QN55Q7FNAFXZA, QN65Q7FNAFXZA, QN75Q7FNAFXZA   
UK model numbers:
QE55Q7FNATXXU,  QE65Q7FNATXXU, QE75Q7FNATXXU  

The Samsung Q7F was the golden ticket to 2017's QLED line-up. Offering one of the best price-to-performance ratios in the entire line-up, it was the Q7F that roped droves of AV enthusiasts into buying a QLED TV. The 2018 Q7FN then added Ambient Mode and the addition of Bixby.

Samsung Q6FN QLED TV (available in 65-, 75- and 82-inches)

US model numbers: QN65Q6FNAFXZA, QN75Q6FNAFXZA, QN82Q6FNAFXZA       
UK model numbers:
No model numbers announced yet   

Last up in the QLED line-up is the Samsung Q6FN QLED TV. It was a special edition that Samsung added around the holidays last year, and now it appears the TV has claimed a permanent spot in the line-up. We know the Q6F is a bit less bright overall than the rest of its Quantum Dot-equipped brethren but if you’re looking for some of the same spectacular colors at a spectacular price, it appears as though the Q6FN will be the best place to get it.

Samsung 2018 Premium UHD Models

Samsung NU8500 (available in 65- and 55-inches)

US model numbers: UN55NU8500FXZA, UN65NU8500FXZA       
UK model numbers:
UE55NU8500TXXU, UE65NU8500TXXU   

A sequel to last year’s MU8500, the Samsung NU8500 Curved Smart TV is almost identical to the NU8000 but features a curved screen instead of a flat one. The NU8500 uses an edge-lit LED LCD panel and a quad-core processor. Expect both HDR10 and HDR10+ support in addition to Bixby and Samsung’s Smart TV platform. This is Samsung’s premier curved TV that doesn’t have the QLED moniker.

Samsung NU8000 (available in 82-, 75-, 65-, 55- and 49-inches)

US model numbers: UN49NU8000FXZA, UN55NU8000FXZA, UN65NU8000FXZA, UN75NU8000FXZA,  UN82NU8000FXZA             
UK model numbers:
UE49NU8000TXXU, UE55NU8000TXXU, UE65NU8000TXXU, UE75NU8000TXXU, UE82NU8000TXXU       

Underneath the NU8500 is the flat Samsung NU8000. Available in a few additional sizes, you’ll find the same edge-lit LED LCD panel and quad-core processor as the NU8500, not to mention HDR10 and HDR10+ format support. If you can accept a plain ol’ flat TV instead of a curved one, you can save yourself about $100 by opting for an equivalently sized NU8000 model. 

Samsung 2018 UHD TV Models

Samsung NU7300 (available 55-inches curved or 65-inches flat)

US model numbers: UN55NU7300FXZA, UN65NU7300FXZA              
UK model numbers:
UE49NU7300KXXU, UE55NU7300KXXU     

Stepping down once more, we now come to the NU7300. This screen features Samsung’s PurColor picture technology, making this one of the last TVs in the series to feature Wide Color Gamut, but scales back its effective refresh rate to 60Hz (what Samsung calls Motion Rate 120). 

Samsung NU7100 (available in 75-, 65-, 55-, 50-inches)

US model numbers:  UN50NU7100FXZA, UN55NU7100FXZA, UN65NU7100FXZA, UN75NU7100FXZA                  
UK model numbers:
UE49NU7100KXXU, UE55NU7100KXXU, UE65NU7100KXXU, UE75NU7100KXXU    

The last entry in the 2018 NU Series is Samsung’s NU7100. Like the 7300, you’ll find PurColor and the edge-lit panel powered by a quad-core processor. What are you losing? Bixby. The good news is that you'll have your choice of screen sizes - the NU7100 will come in a 50-, 55-, 65- and 75-inch variation. 

Samsung FHD 2018 Models

Samsung J5000 (available in 43-, 48-, 49- and 50-inches) 

US model numbers: UN43J5000EFXZA, UN48J5000BFXZA, UN49J5000AFXZA, UN50J5000EFXZA     
UK model numbers:
No model numbers announced yet 

As far as we know, Samsung will just offer a single series of Full HD TVs in 2018, the Samsung J5000. The series will come in a few different sizes, puzzlingly three of which are between 48- and 50-inches. The FHD screen will have a 60Hz refresh rate and wide color enhancer, but no smart TV system of its own. 

That’s it! That’s the entire Samsung TV line-up for 2018. We’ll be grabbing as many hands on experiences as we can with these TVs as we can before they come out later this year, so come back to this page in a few weeks’ time to see how it’s progressed.

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German man admits to politician data breach

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 09:34 AM PST

A 20-year-old man has admitted to police that he was behind the recent data breach that exposed the personal data and documents of almost 1,000 German politicians and public figures online.

The man responsible for the breach said he acted alone and that his actions were not politically motivated. He is still in the education system and lives with his parents in the central German state of Hesse.

The hacker went by the pseudonyms “G0T” and “Orbit” and investigators were able to discover his identity by following his digital tracks online including his communications with a 19-year-old man using an encrypted messaging service.

He is accused of spying, leaking data and the unwarranted publication of personal data which could warrant a three-year prison sentence but due to his age it is likely he'll instead be sent to a young offenders' institute.

Wake up call for Germany

German interior minister Horst Seehofer responded to widespread criticism that the country's authorities had been slow to solve the case and that he had failed to keep the public properly informed on the matter.

According to Seehofer, the hacker would have had a harder time gathering data if his victims had used stronger passwords, saying:

“Bad passwords were one of the reasons he had it so easy. ILoveYou’, ‘1,2,3’. A whole array of really simple things.” 

Seehofer stressed that both politicians and the public need to improve their cybersecurity measures as attacks such as this one will likely become more commonplace. He also announced the recruitment of hundreds of cybersecurity experts to the police force and a full time IT team to prevent and identify future attacks.

Via The Guardian

  • We've also highlighted the best antivirus to help you stay safe online

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Cambridge Audio launches first turntable to support AptX HD wireless audio

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 09:01 AM PST

Cambridge Audio has unleashed the world's first turntable to support AptX HD Bluetooth audio, meaning you no longer have to make a choice between listening to your beloved vinyls and experiencing cutting-edge audio quality. 

Launched at this year’s CES 2019 convention in Las Vegas, the Alva TT supports 24-bit/48kHz audio streaming over Bluetooth to compatible amplifiers, speakers, and headphones, so you can listen to your records wirelessly, and in stunning AptX HD. 

This should provide an sound quality that matches wired high-resolution audio, while retaining the uniquely warm sound of vinyl playback thanks to the built-in noise-reducing phonostage.

The heritage British audio company says that the Alva TT, supplied with cartridge, will be available to buy from April 2019 for $1,700 (£1,500 / around AU$2,400). The high-output moving coil cartridge will also be available to purchase separately for $500 (£450 / around AU$715). 

A record year for vinyl

By removing the need for wires, the new turntable should provide you with more options in terms of placement in your home than ever before, making listening to your records a totally seamless experience. 

The Alva TT also features a single piece tonearm, designed to reduced friction and deliver high levels of detail from your record collection. 

Sales of vinyl records have surged in recent years, reaching a record high last year, with over 7.6 million LPs sold in the US by July 2018. The spending figures proved vinyl revival naysayers wrong – and with innovative new gadgets like the Alva TT bridging the gap between old and new audio tech, it looks like now is a great time to invest in a new turntable. 

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Best shared web hosting of 2019

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 08:55 AM PST

Shared website hosting means exactly what it says – you share a server with other users who are running their own websites from that hardware. Every customer gets a portion of that physical server for their own use.

The main strength here is that this is a cost-effective solution, and because you’re prepared to share hardware with other folks, you’ll naturally be playing less than the outlay for dedicated hosting.

By the same token, however, you’re also sharing resources with others, and that means that the performance you’ll get will likely be a fair bit slower (and indeed generally less consistent).

That might be fine for sites which don’t have a lot of traffic, but it could be a problem if your bandwidth needs are greater, or reliable and consistent performance is a priority for your website.

So, obviously bear all that in mind, but if you do want to go the shared hosting route in an effort to make some serious savings, which are the best providers to plump for? Read on and find out.

InMotion Hosting

Don’t fret that this popular web host’s plans are marketed as ‘business’ products, because they’re applicable to individual users as well as companies. There’s a good range of choice here, and shared hosting starts from just $3.99 (£3.1) per month (2-year plan).

What’s also good to see here is that InMotion incorporates features into its shared hosting plans which other providers charge extra for – like hack and DDoS protection, a system of basic backups, and a WordPress-based website builder.

Another strong suit here is the way that this web host provides full details of all its services at-a-glance on the website, and makes it easy to compare features, and make your decision when taking the plunge with a subscription.

You also get cPanel and Softaculous-powered hosting, a sterling level of technical support, and in our testing, we found this provider delivered some impressive performance levels when it came to site loading speeds. All in all, there are lots of reasons to go with InMotion, and a 90-day money-back guarantee doesn’t hurt, either.

1&1

1&1 IONOS (in the late October 2018, 1&1 changed their name to 1&1 IONOS) is a big web hosting player, vying with GoDaddy for world domination, and is the biggest player in Europe. Located in Germany, it offers a bewildering array of services with prices starting from as little as $0.99 per month excluding VAT (although that rises to $7.99 after the first year).

On top of that, this shared hoster provides some smart freebies (a free domain, SSL certificates across all plans, free web design software (NetObjects Fusion 2013), 24/7 phone and email support, a graphics archive, a 30-day money-back guarantee, transparent replication (the company calls it geo-redundancy) and a whopping 300Gbps network connectivity. Also, you get a personal consultant, free of charge

GoDaddy

The US-based web hosting company is one of the largest in the game and probably the best known one as well. It is also the biggest domain name registrar in the world with tens of millions of domain names in its portfolio. GoDaddy’s cheapest web hosting package is $7.99 per month.

This provider offers free backup and restore, an uptime guarantee (99.9%), unlimited storage (although there’s only 100GB for the Economy package), as well as unlimited bandwidth and a free domain with the annual shared hosting plan.

A pretty nifty feature provided by GoDaddy on all its packages is the ability to increase hosting capacity on demand (e.g. when you experience a sudden surge in traffic) from within your hosting account.

Namecheap

If you want to do web hosting on a budget, then as this provider’s name suggests, it aims to be inexpensive. You get some impressive value-for-money with Namecheap, particularly with an initial discount for the first year, and there are some heavyweight plans here.

However, note the starter ‘value’ plan only gives you 20GB of hard drive space and 30 email accounts, but you get that at the price of just $2.88 per month.

Namecheap offers a 99.9% connectivity guarantee, and is a very easy service to set up, with an initial welcome email that points you in the right direction for everything you might need (backed up by some impressive FAQs). It also plays host to an excellent searchable knowledgebase.

To round things off, testing proved that this company generally offers above average speeds compared to rivals, making this a great hosting provider for those who aren’t keen on doing too much damage to their wallet.

UK2

Based in London, bang in the middle of startup territory (Shoreditch), UK2 offers an impressively cheap starting  shared hosting package at around $2.5 (£1.95) per month excluding VAT (although that rises to $7.8 (£5.95) a month on renewal). It also offers affordable unlimited packages with unlimited emails, bandwidth, a free SSL certificate (great for improved security and search visibility), a free domain and a dedicated IP.

Prospective customers will appreciate the lack of setup fees or hidden charges, the 30-day money-back guarantee, plus 24/7 UK-based phone support on a freephone number and UK-based data centres.

HostGator

This is another web host which caters for the more budget-minded, and of course that’s never a bad thing. Although do note that you only get the really cheap prices when signing up for longer contracts with HostGator, so something of a commitment is required for the best savings here.

For example, the cheapest shared hosting plan is $2.64 (£2) per month if you sign up for 36 months, but $4.48 (£3.38) per month if you sign up for one year.

The good news is that you get plenty for your money, and no annoying limitations, so even the basic plan allows for unlimited bandwidth, web space, email accounts and more. A 99.9% uptime guarantee is also good to see.

Customer support is generally pretty good – although it falls down in a few areas, for example the web help forums aren’t moderated by the company itself – and we found performance was better than average in terms of site loading times.

SiteGround

SiteGround offers some low-end shared hosting plans which may cost a little bit more than some budget rivals you’ll find on this page, but the upside is that they include all the core features that you’ll likely need.

The firm’s StartUp account is $3.95 a month initially (with the cost rising when you renew), and with that you get unlimited traffic, email accounts and databases, not to mention one-click installation of apps like WordPress. It also bundles features that rival firms often charge for as extras like daily backups or CDN capabilities (Cloudflare).

Another nifty touch is the provider’s SuperCacher system which caches frequently-accessed data in RAM, aiming to improve site performance. This could certainly help busy websites.

Not everything is rosy here, though – for example the basic account limits you to 10GB of web space. Also, website support via the company’s knowledgebase is a rather shoddy experience, but there are other avenues of tech support which perform much better.

iPage

This is a premium web hosting outfit with a well-featured ‘Essentials’ plan which offers a great deal of functionality, and is ideal for those looking to host multiple websites (or those who want plenty of room to grow).

With prices starting from as little as $1.99 per month for the shared hosting basic plan (via an offer at the time of writing), iPage gives you unlimited web space and bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, MySQL databases and even domains.

Not only that, iPage incorporates some very smart extras like a drag-and-drop page builder, with a basic shared SSL certificate thrown in for good measure. This provider also offers good quality tech support via live chat and email (although other support avenues aren’t as strong).

Performance levels seems solid, and this is certainly a web host to bear in mind for experienced users who are dealing with large numbers of sites.

PlanetHippo

One of the smaller web hosting outfits in this listing, PlanetHippo has managed to keep its prices at a lower level compared to most of the competition. Its One Account Linux shared hosting costs just $1.33 (£1) per month (excluding VAT), and it’s an appealing budget package. The firm’s Unlimited plan offers ‘unlimited everything’ for $8 (£5.99) per month (and that includes a free domain).

As with other web hosts, you get a 30-day warranty, 24/7 UK-based support (and it’s of a good quality – although there’s no option to use the phone) and all of PlanetHippo’s servers are based in the UK. Throw in a smartly designed hosting panel, and you won’t go far wrong with this particular provider.

Tsohost

This is another UK-based provider, and Tsohost also plays the value card, with an entry-level Startup shared hosting plan which starts at  $3.8(£2.92) per month (providing you sign up for two years – it’s  $4.15(£3.16) per month if you commit for just one year). That plan limits you to 15GB storage and you do get unlimited bandwidth, Let’s Encrypt SSL and a hundred mailboxes.

Tsohost’s technical support may not be the fastest out there in terms of response times, at least in our experience, but it did provide clear and accurate answers to queries. Performance levels are also solid, and the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:

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Nikon updates lens roadmap for Z system

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 08:52 AM PST

Following the announcement of the Nikkor Z 14-30mm f/4 S at CES 2019, Nikon has updated its lens roadmap for its full-frame mirrorless Z System. 

As well as the 14-30mm f/4, 2019 will also now see Nikon launch a 24mm f/1.8 lens that was initially scheduled for a 2020 release. We can also expect to see 85mm f/1.8, 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8 optics, as well as the mighty 58mm f/0.95 Noct that we had expected would be launched at CES.

In 2020, we should see a 20mm f/1.8 (which was originally planned to be released this year), a 50mm f/1.2 and a 14-28mm f/2.8, as well as four as-yet-unspecified lenses. 2021 has seven lenses pencilled in for launch (down from eight originally), although Nikon is yet to reveal what these will be.

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UK leading the way in AI jobs

Posted: 09 Jan 2019 08:41 AM PST

New data has revealed that the UK creates more AI jobs than any other European nation with more than half of them outside of London.

The robotic process automation company, UiPath analysed 30,000 job listings from the employment search engine Indeed to determine which countries and cities are hiring the most in the growing fields of AI and machine learning.

China continues to lead the way in the AI industry with 12,113 job postings followed by the US with 7,465.

The UK has the fourth highest number of jobs in the field and leads the way in Europe with 1,547 jobs, ahead of Germany (1,120) and France (763).

AI jobs in London

UiPath's research also showed that London is one of the world's leading cities for AI jobs creation with 744 job postings putting it ahead of New York and eighth overall in the world.

While London may have made the top ten when it comes to AI jobs, surprisingly the majority of vacancies are located outside of the capital. Of the 1,547 jobs, 803 are located outside of London with Cambridge (102 jobs), Bristol (62) and Manchester (47) being the best performing towns.

When it comes to the most popular AI jobs in the UK, data scientist was the most popular followed by software engineer, consultant, AI researcher and sales engineer.

Demand for jobs in both AI and machine learning is rising as these technologies begin to play an even larger part in the lives of consumers and now would be a great time to consider a career in the field.

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