Apple : Here's the secret behind 8K AI upscaling technology |
- Here's the secret behind 8K AI upscaling technology
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| Here's the secret behind 8K AI upscaling technology Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:47 PM PDT Samsung’s 2020 business strategy for TV sales is simple: 8K or bust. With its QLED 4K TV sales being undercut by budget 4K TVs, Samsung plans to shift the market again, to a format that has (so far) very few competitors, but also very little native content. Yet as we saw in our 4K vs 8K comparison test earlier this year, you don’t actually need video shot in 7680 × 4320 (8K) resolution to take full advantage of those millions of pixels—Samsung’s 8K TVs use AI upscaling to convert any video type (SD to 4K and everything in-between) into 8K resolution. Upscaling, of course, isn’t anything new. For years, 4K and even HD sets found ways to stretch lower-resolution content to fit the greater pixel-per-inch ratio of modern TVs. But with 8K TVs needing to fill four 4K TVs worth of pixels, conventional upscaling methods just don’t work, for reasons we’ll get into below. Now, after visiting the Samsung QA Labs in New Jersey and speaking with its engineers, we have a better idea of how Samsung uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to make 8K upscaling possible—and how its AI techniques compare to other TV manufacturers’ early AI efforts. Why conventional upscaling looked so terribleBefore 1998, television broadcast in 720x480 resolution, and films shot in higher quality were compressed to fit that format. That’s 345,600 pixels of content, which would only take up a tiny window on modern TVs with higher pixels-per-inch (PPI) ratios. That SD content? It must be stretched to fit over 2 million pixels for high definition, over 8 million for 4K or over 33 million for 8K. The baseline for upscaling is maintaining the proper pixel ratio by simple multiplication. To convert HD to 4K, the TV’s processor must blow up one HD pixel to take up four pixels of space on the higher-res screen. Or 16 pixels during an HD-to-8K conversion.
Without any image processing the picture ends up, to quote Tolkien, “sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” Each bit of data becomes unnaturally square-shaped, without a natural gradient between details and colors. The result is a lot of blocking, or noise, around objects on screen. You’ll also likely see something called “mosquito noise”. To compress a video to work for your limited internet bandwidth, broadcasters and websites must fill the stream with intentional color flaws, or “compression artifacts”. The purposefully flawed pixels will swarm around parts of the screen where there are sharp contrasts, like the brown bridge before blue sky in the image above. The math behind upscalingIn the face of these issues, TV programmers taught their TVs to analyze and digitally process the images in real time to fill in or repair missing or damaged pixels. And they accomplished this using mathematical functions, which you can tell your loved ones the next time they say that too much TV rots your brain. Specifically, engineers taught the TV processor to interpolate what each missing pixel’s color value should be, based on its surrounding pixels. To do so, it had to define its kernel: the function that assigns color priority to a pixel’s neighbors, based on their proximity. The most basic kernel used in TVs is nearest neighbor kerneling, which simply calculates which pixel is nearest a vacant pixel and pastes the same color data into the empty pixel. This method causes the picture to take on a blocky zig-zag pattern, or aliasing, with poor edging. Picture a black letter “A” on a white screen; a missing pixel just outside the letter may be filled in as black, while a pixel on the edge of the letter could display as white. The result will either be a gray blob around the letter or a jagged staircase of black and white going up and down.
This chart shows the process for calculating an empty pixel (the green "P" dot) based on bilinear interpolation. Bilinear interpolation requires more processing power but is more effective. In this method the blank pixel is compared against the nearest two neighbors to form a linear gradient between them, sharpening the image. This produces smoother visuals but can be inconsistent. So other TVs use bicubic interpolation, which pulls from the 16 nearest pixels in all directions. While this method is most likely to get the color as close to accurate as possible, it also typically produces a much more blurry picture, with edges taking on a distracting halo effect. You can likely guess the problem already: these TVs fill in pixels based on mathematical formulas that are statistically most likely to produce accurate visuals, but have no way to interpret how they’re thematically supposed to look based on what’s actually on the screen. So, after explaining how these algorithms consistently came up short, Samsung’s team explained how their AI overcomes these shortcomings. Samsung’s secret: Machine learning, object recognition and filters
Samsung’s secret weapon is a technique called machine learning super resolution (MLSR). This AI-driven system takes a lower-resolution video stream and upscales it to fit the resolution of larger screen with a higher PPI ratio. It’s the equivalent of the old ridiculous TV trope of computer scientists zooming in and “enhancing” a blurry image with the tap of a keystroke, except done automatically and nearly instantaneously. Samsung’s reps explained how they analyzed a vast amount of video content from different sources—high- and low-quality YouTube streams, DVDs and Blu-Rays, movies and sporting events—and created two image databases, one for low-quality screen captures and one for high-quality screen captures. Then, it had to train its AI to complete a process called “inverse degradation” by the AI industry. First, you take high-resolution images and downgrade them to lower resolutions, tracking what visual data is lost. Then you must reverse the process and train your AI to fill in the missing data from low-resolution images so that they mirror the high-resolution images. Samsung’s team calls this process a “formula”. Its 8K processors contain a formula bank with a database of formulas for different objects, such as an apple or the letter “A”. When the processor recognizes a blurry apple in an actor’s hand, it’ll restore the apple edges, repair any compression artifacts, and ensure that blank pixels take on the right shade of red based on how apples actually look, not based on vague statistical algorithms. Plus, along with specific object restoration, the AI will adjust your stream based on whatever you’re watching. According to Samsung, it has dozens of different “filters” that change how much detail creation, noise reduction and edge restoration is needed for a given stream, based on whether you’re watching a specific sport, genre of movie or type of cinematography. The edge restoration shown in the slideshow above—an insane amount of text to restore in real time—isn’t even the most difficult task for the AI, according to Samsung's engineers. Instead, replicating the proper textures of an object in real time remains a difficult challenge. They must ensure that the processor augments the appearance of objects without them taking on an artificial appearance. What the processor won’t do (according to Samsung) is miscategorize an object. “It won’t turn an apple into a tomato”, one engineer assured us, though without giving any details. Very likely the processor is trained to avoid any drastic alterations if it doesn’t recognize what an object is. You also won’t see the AI alter the “directorial intent” of a movie, as Samsung’s team put it. So if a director uses the bokeh effect, the blurred background will stay blurred, while the foreground gets dialed up to 8K crispness. They also claimed they don’t specifically analyze more popular streams for their object categorization, aiming more for general quantity and diversity of content. So, no word if they have a “dragon” or “direwolf” formula for your Game of Thrones binge-watches.
The latest lineup of QLED TVs New Samsung 8K (and 4K) TVs ship with the most recent formula bank installed, and then new object data is added via firmware updates that you must approve. Samsung says that it will continue to analyze new visual streams to expand its object library, but that it does that locally on Samsung servers; it doesn’t analyze data from people’s TVs. Just how many object formulas has Samsung accumulated from its endless stream analysis? One of its engineers gave an off-the-cuff amount that sounded impressively large, suggesting the processor will typically recognize a huge number of objects on screen. But a PR rep cut in and asked that we not print the number, saying that they’d rather that consumers focus on how well Samsung’s MLSR works than on arbitrary numbers. AI upscaling: the new normal?Samsung isn’t the only TV manufacturer that currently uses artificial intelligence and image restoration for its TVs. Sony’s 4K ad page goes into obsessive detail about its AI image processing solutions. Its new 4K TVs contain processors with a “dual database” of “tens of thousands” of image references that “dynamically improv[e] pixels in real time”.
LG also announced ahead of CES 2019 that its new a9 Gen 2 TV chip would feature image processing and machine learning to improve noise reduction and brightness—in part by analyzing the source and type of media and adjusting its algorithm accordingly. Beyond the AI elements, however, it seems as though these TV processors do still depend somewhat on automated algorithms. When we previously interviewed Gavin McCarron, Technical Marketing & Product Planning Manager at Sony Europe, about the AI image processing in Sony TVs, he had this to say: "When you're upscaling from Full HD to 4K there is a lot of guesswork, and what we're trying to do it to remove as much of the guesswork as possible. [Our processor] doesn't just look at the pixel in isolation, it looks at the pixels around it, and on each diagonal, and also it will look up the pixels across multiple frames, to give a consistency in the picture quality.” Sony, along with LG and Samsung, very likely use some form of bilateral or bicubic algorithm as its baseline upscaling system. Then they analyze the near-4K content and determine which pixels should be augmented with image processing and which should be deleted as noise. In that sense, most TV manufacturers are relatively close to one another in the AI upscaling race. The exception is Samsung, which uses the same techniques but fills in four times the number of missing pixels to fit an 8K screen. We’ll have to wait and see if other manufacturers’ AI efforts will allow them to leap into the 8K market as well.
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| Posted: 26 Aug 2019 01:39 PM PDT What if we told you that the best gaming routers will ensure that your online gaming is never interrupted? If you spend plenty of time playing the best PC games online, you’ve probably encountered a huge lag spike sooner or later. And, investing in the best gaming router is help avoid those spikes. The best gaming routers will prioritize network traffic for your games, courtesy of a neat little feature called Quality of Service (or QoS) that helps ensure your gaming session isn’t disrupted by your roommate downloading games or watching Netflix. You’ll also want to keep an eye out for MU-MIMO, so that everyone in your home can get some gaming done without getting in each other’s way.
Now, wired connections are usually considered the best way to connect your online games, and we wholeheartedly agree. However, you want to make sure your gaming router is a good router, as well. So, not only will the best gaming routers be packed to the brim with Gigabit Ethernet ports, but they’ll also come with the latest Wi-Fi standards – currently Wi-Fi 5. Having multiple antennae that you can manipulate to boost signal strength won’t hurt, either. Keeping the needs of gamers in mind, we here at TechRadar have found all the best gaming routers money can buy.
If you’re looking for the latest router technology but you still enjoy that old school design, the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 might just be an ideal fit. This is one of the best gaming routers that combines enthusiast grade features and an easy setup, packing them into a package that’s appealing to just about anyone. Factor in the Alexa support, and you have a router that can adjust to any situation, whether you’re trying to win the latest match in Apex Legends, or you have guests that are connecting to your network. Read the full review: TP-Link Archer C5400 V2
The Asus RT-AC5300 is one of the best gaming routers – it has an assortment of advanced features, making online and network gaming as lag and frustration free as possible. This includes a straightforward yet powerful interface, as well as comprehensive QoS settings. The spider-like look is a bit of an acquired taste, but the eight antennae are there for a reason since they can be used to direct your Wi-Fi signal throughout your home, giving this router impressive range. Read the full review: Asus RT-AC86U
We know we’ve already covered the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 earlier, but the manufacturer added an ‘X’ at the end of this model, signifying the extreme boost in performance. It’s considerably pricier, but that price tag is justifiable as it might be one of the highest-end and best gaming routers out there. With eight ethernet ports around the back, it’s ideal for hardwiring a fleet of gaming equipment. And, the MU-MIMO and Tri-band support means that wireless connections are also top of the line. You’ll top the leaderboards regardless of where you are in the house. Read the full review: TP-Link Archer C5400X
If you’re a hardcore gamer, it can be annoying when your roommates are watching Netflix or downloading games of their own at the same time. You’ll want to look at something like the Netgear Nighthawk XR500. Not only will this elite gaming router deliver an embarrassingly fast 2.2Gbps speed, but with MU-MIMO support – not to mention, unique gaming features like location-based connection filtering and QoS, you can do some gaming all night without hitting a crippling lag spike. Just be prepared for the high sticker price and make sure you can deal with such a gamer aesthetic. Read the full review: Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500
The Asus RT-AC5300 is an excellent high-end gaming router that is brimming with a bunch of impressive features. This includes an effortless yet powerful interface, on top of comprehensive QoS settings. The spider-like look isn’t for everyone, but the eight antennae serve a purpose, as they can be used to direct your Wi-Fi signal throughout your home, giving this router excellent range. Read the full review: Asus RT-AC5300 Tri-band Gigabit Router
This might look like it’s going to abduct a close friend or family member, but we promise the Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 isn’t as alien in function as it is in appearance. Packing the latest MU-MIMO support, which boosts speed when multiple devices are connected to the same network, this gaming router prides itself on its performance capabilities. Because it can handle several devices, while prioritizing bandwidth depending on the needs of each device, it’s one of the best gaming routers you can purchase today. Read the full review: Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600
The Asus RT-AC88U is a pricey gaming router. However, it justifies the price with crazy 802.11 wireless performance. Sporting four antennas and NitroQAM tech, which pushes speeds even further, this gaming router enables wireless performance that can break the 1GB/sec limit. There’s a catch – you’ll have to grab a NitroQAM wireless adapter, like the Asus PCE AC88, to approach these mighty speeds; but with speeds like this, it’s not hard to see why this is one of the best gaming routers available.
It might look like it came straight out of Battlestar Galactica – the old Battlestar Galactica – but, the D-Link DIR 885L/R is a reliable mid-range gaming router with great range and speed. If you’re searching for the best gaming router, you may want to give this one a try. It comes with a good variety of ports, as well as a nicely designed UI. It also boasts DD-WRT open-source firmware, making this router as flexible as it is powerful. Bill Thomas has also contributed to this article
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| Motorola One Zoom leak reveals quad-camera specs Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:35 PM PDT The Motorola One Zoom’s rumored quad rear camera may get a 5x hybrid telephoto lens and depth-measuring Time of Flight sensor, according to a new leak. The phone will pack a 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display with FHD+ (1080p) and have an in-display fingerprint sensor, according to info courtesy of noted leaker Arshan Agarwal via MySmartPrice. He also passed along additional renders of the phone: Confirming earlier leaks, clarifying the nameWhile some of the details confirm what was first revealed in a previous leak, including running on 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage along with a Snapdragon 675 processor, the new report is the first we’ve heard about the telephoto and depth-sensing lenses. The phone will also reportedly have a 48MP main lens and a wide-angle lens of uncertain quality, rounding out the other two parts of the quad-camera setup. There’s also been confusion over the phone’s name, which was originally known as the Motorola One Pro. According to this new leak, that name will persist for the main version; the Motorola One Zoom will instead be a variant including Alexa integration and several other Amazon customizations. This model will only be sold in select markets and won’t be part of Android One – again confirming prior reports that the Zoom wouldn’t use the pared-down version of the operating system.
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| Intel's own benchmarks suggest it's still king in the face of AMD Ryzen 3000 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:16 PM PDT Intel is trying to hold onto its standing as the processor (CPU) champion after the launch of AMD's Ryzen 3000-series processors, and the company's latest attempt comes in the form of benchmarks comparing the Intel Core i7-9700K to the Ryzen 9 3900X, MSPowerUser reports. Intel's benchmark comparisons come in the form of a slideshow, and they show the Intel CPU winning in most cases. The benchmarks include SYSmark, MobileMark, WebXPRT and 16 video game titles. The choice of benchmarks appears aimed at "a realistic day-in-a-life" according to one slide and a "better indicator of mainstream PC experience" according to another. SYSMark runs actual applications like Microsoft Office programs, and both MobileMark and WebXPRT perform some typical computer tasks. Then, Intel claimed "on par or better" performance in a variety of video games, with the Ryzen processor only winning out in Ashes of the Singularity: Escalation and Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Intel claimed Final Fantasy XV, Far Cry 5, CS:GO, PUBG, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, among other games, for itself.
Missing or obscuring the pointWhile what Intel is claiming in its slides may well be the case, there's plenty of information absent, and some important considerations left unmentioned. For instance, in the video game benchmarks, Intel claims on par or better performance, but doesn't indicate which of the games were only on par, thereby giving itself a victory for what may only be a draw. It's also worth noting that many of the games it lists are older, like Grand Theft Auto V, CounterStrike: GO, and Crysis 3. Another important consideration is system configuration. We don't see a slide showing the exact configuration of the Ryzen machine, and while Intel likely built similar machines, Ryzen CPU performance can vary significantly depending on the RAM installed. Then there's the big elephant in the room: use case. Intel emphasizes realistic use cases, but fails to acknowledge the Intel Core i7-9700K and Ryzen 9 3700X aren't CPUs for typical computer users who just want to browse the web and crank out spreadsheets. They are high-performance components meant for folks with serious computing needs. Benchmarks like Cinebench show just how much raw performance people can get out of a machine, and core counts can really come in handy when it comes to creative workloads. There are extras for Ryzen 9 3900X to consider as well, like PCIe 4.0 support, an included cooler, and the possibility that future games and programs will offer improved support for more cores and threads as chip makers like AMD and Intel continue to boost those numbers. Intel may be posting a win for itself here, but we're still standing by our ranking of the best CPUs, which sees the Ryzen 9 3900X squarely at the top.
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| Disney Plus streaming service release date, price, and exclusive shows Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:09 PM PDT Disney Plus (stylized as Disney+) could be the biggest streaming service of 2019. That's saying something as this is the year Apple will launch its own streaming service called Apple TV Plus. It poses a real threat to smaller streaming services, and now that we know most of the Disney Plus show lineup, Netflix, too. When it launches, the service will include a portfolio of studios and catalogues ranging from the Star Wars franchise, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Pixar, and even the Simpsons – from a recent acquisition of 21st Century Fox. Not only will that mean a ton of new content like animated and live action Star Wars/Marvel shows, but it will be the definitive repository for any of the old Disney/Pixar films. So what do we know about it? Well, with a set launch date of November 12, 2019, we know how long we have left to wait until the platform lands – as well as how much it'll cost – and a vague picture of what we're getting. We even know that Disney Plus is joining Hulu on the Nintendo Switch, a console famously picky over its third-party apps, and that there will be a bundle with Hulu and ESPN+ for $12.99 per month. Where will you be able to watch it? Disney has announced the list of platforms that will support Disney Plus at launch, including Apple TV, iOS and Android, and Xbox One. There's no sign of Amazon's Fire TV Stick on that list, but we're hopeful it will come either at launch or soon after. Read on for all the latest news on Disney Plus pricing, subscriptions, and what movies and shows will be available on the service when it launches later this year. [Update: Star Wars Episode 9 and Marvel TV shows headline Disney's D23 Expo.]
Our first look at the Disney Plus interface Cut to the chase
Disney Plus will be an all-in-one video destination for movies, TV series, and cartoons spread across the Disney, Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel brands – packing plenty of existing movies and TV shows along with a stack of brand-new content. With Disney's acquisition of Fox now complete, we could also be seeing a host of other franchises – like X-Men or Avatar – come along to the service. Disney has been working on the plan for some time now, acquiring a controlling stake in streaming technology provider BAMTech in 2017 following a first investment the previous year. BAMTech spun out from Major League Baseball's streaming efforts and now powers platforms like HBO Now and ESPN+, so it knows a little something about on-demand video traffic. So what kind of quality can we expect from Disney Plus video streams? Apparently, Disney Plus will stream to up to four devices simultaneously in 4K HDR at no extra cost. (Currently you have to subscribe to Netflix's highest package to get that kind of quality.) Even better, according to Dolby, the service will support both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, making it great for cinephiles out there. Disney makes serious money (an estimated $300 million) putting its films and properties on Netflix and other services, but if Disney Plus is attractive enough to pull in millions of paying subscribers, then it could yield potentially much more income. And it gives Disney a new, exclusive platform for developing new content, whether it's with existing brands or original properties. Disney Plus release date
Disney Plus is set to have a whole load of Marvel movies The Disney Plus streaming service will launch on November 12, 2019 in five territories: US, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the Netherlands. There's no UK launch date confirmed, though we expect / hope it will be following soon after. Disney will be looking to bring the Disney Plus platform to "all major markets within the first two years", so it does look like the rollout will go wider over time (via ScreenRant). Disney Plus pricing and bundlesThough Disney Plus only put out its US pricing at first, we now have details about a lot more territories. Disney Plus will cost $6.99/m (around £6 / AU$10) in the US, $8.99 in Australia and Canada, $9.99 in New Zealand, and €6.99 in the Netherlands. No UK pricing has yet been announced. In the US, this means it looks like Disney has kept its promise about undercutting Netflix – at least for now. "I can say that our plan on the Disney side is to price this substantially below where Netflix is. That is in part reflective of the fact that it will have substantially less volume," said Robert Iger, The Walt Disney Company's chairman and CEO. "It'll have a lot of high quality [content], because of the brands and the franchises that will be on it that we've talked about. But it'll simply launch with less volume, and the price will reflect that." Iger also suggested that the price could rise gradually over time as the service expands, which is hardly surprising—Netflix's prices have risen alongside its pivot towards original content. However, Disney then turned heads with its plans for subscription bundle that will certainly rival Netflix in terms of price – while possibly offering closer to the site's volume of content. The US-focused bundle will include Hulu (with ads), ESPN+ and Disney Plus for $12.99 per month – the same price as Netflix's Standard subscription. It's a good deal if you want all three services or if you live in a home with multiple age ranges who could enjoy the full range of content on offer. If you're in the UK, journalist Tom Butler pointed out on Twitter that you can already get some of the content that's planned for Disney Plus on the Disney Life app for £5 (around $6 / AU$9). But that doesn't include some of the biggest draws of the new streaming platform, like Marvel and Star Wars properties – although it does currently have past seasons of The Clone Wars.
The Clone Wars is still on the Disney Life app, but will it stay there? Disney Plus: Marvel TV shows and films
Loki gets his own mini-series (Image Credit: Walt Disney Studios) Marvel fans, rejoice: not only will you get a huge back catalogue of MCU movies on Disney Plus, but you'll also get a number of original TV series and spin-offs with some of your favorite characters. The first will be Falcon and The Winter Soldier (starring Anthony Mackie), coming in Q3 / Fall 2020, around a year after the platform goes live – so we'll have some time to wait before exclusive content really gets going. Hiddleston-lovers will be happy to hear that next in the new Marvel line-up will be Loki, a six-episode miniseries featuring the iconic trickster and landing in early 2021 (via MTV News). We also know from San Diego Comic-Con that the series will kick off after Loki's sudden escape in Avengers: Endgame, via the Tesseract. Who knows what japes he'll get up to after that? 2021 will also see WandaVision, a spin-off following Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) that will tie into the events of the Doctor Strange sequel – and a Hawkeye TV show, with Jeremy Renner reprising the role.
The Defenders ended too soon, but Marvel is looking to bring more "street-level heroes" to the Disney Plus platform Marvel's head of television, Jeph Loeb, has said there'll be more "street-level heroes" coming to the Disney Plus service too, with Marvel TV shows set to replace or expand on the likes of Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, Daredevil, Iron Fist, and The Defenders – all of which were axed from their home on Netflix (via Deadline). Interestingly, there's also going to be a Marvel TV show that puts a different spin on the MCU. Called Marvel's What If...?, the animated series is based on a comics series and will give fans a glimpse into what might have happened if some of the universe's biggest stories went a little differently. Like how would Agent Peggy Carter have fared if she'd taken the super soldier serum instead of Steve Rogers? At Disney's D23 Expo in late August, Marvel President Kevin Feige announced three new series - She-Hulk, Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel - that would all debut on the service, too. When it comes to old Marvel movie properties, we can expect those to be pulled from Netflix as soon as contracts run out before being moved across to Disney Plus when it launches. In an earnings call with investors, Disney CEO Bob Iger clarified that 2019's Captain Marvel would be the first Disney movie exclusive to the service – and we know Endgame will follow the month after launch. Disney Plus: Star Wars TV shows and filmsOne of most exciting original announcement so far is that of a brand new live-action Star Wars TV series from Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Jungle Book) who will both write and executive produce the show. We've been waiting for details about it for what feels like years, but the title has finally been revealed as The Mandalorian. For those not in the know, Mandalorians are a race of jetpack-toting warriors with a lot of political baggage. Now unless you've watched Star Wars Rebels, the only Mandalorian you're likely to have met before is Boba Fett. But the new series will introduce us to a Mandalorian we've never met before and will follow his (or her?) adventures throughout the Star Wars universe.
The first image from the Star Wars live action show The Mandalorian (Image Credit: Lucasfilm) Favreau will also be joined by other great directors, including Star Wars alum Dave Filoni, who’ll direct the first episode, as well as Bryce Dallas Howard, Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok) and Deborad Chow (Jessica Jones). It's not the only new Star Wars episodic content that'll be on the service early on, either. Rogue One's Cassian Andor (played by Diego Luna) will also get his own prequel TV series exploring his life before the events of the 2016 film. We also now have word of an Obi-Wan Kenobi TV series, with Ewan McGregor to reprise his role from the prequel movies (The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, Revenge of the Sith), a surprise that was met with a standing ovation at D23. At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, Disney announced that a new, concluding season of animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars will also be on the service. We have to imagine that the existing episodes, currently on Netflix, will also join the fray. Disney Plus: 21st Century Fox
Disney and Fox join forces (Image Credit: Disney Plus) Disney's acquisition of Fox was a very, very big deal – especially for Disney Plus. Fox own the rights to a huge amount of classic television, including The Simpsons, which will see every episode in its 30-year history come to the Disney Plus streaming service. Fox also oversees the X-Men IP, which was made for some very strict stipends about what can and can't be shown in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (such as the word 'mutant' never being used onscreen). The merger could pave the way for mutants appearing in the MCU, or at the very least having some form of reboot for the Disney Plus service. Given the disappointing box office returns of the last couple of X-Men movies, it may be just what the franchise needs. Keep in mind that Sony still owns the rights to Spider-Man and a number of associated characters like Venom and Black Cat (with some of the above being somewhat lent to Marvel). What you waiting for, Disney? Other Disney Plus movies, shows, and exclusives
Will X-Men movies come to the service, or Disney reboot the franchise instead? It won't all be superhero and space flicks, though. Many additional new shows and TV series have also been announced, including a new Monsters Inc. project called Monsters at Work, and a fresh take on the once-popular High School Musical franchise that, no joke, is called High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. For classic Disney lovers there'll be a live-action remake of Lady and the Tramp, while '90s kids will get a new live-action Mulan that will likely come to both theaters and the streaming service. Deadline suggests that projects based on Don Quixote, Sword and the Stone, and 3 Men and a Baby are in the works, along with other projects titled The Paper Magician, Togo, and Timmy Failure. If you want to rewind the clock all the way, however, Disney says it will include every movie that's ever been locked away in the Vault, and could possibly include some of the first, harder-to-find Mickey Mouse flicks. For younger kids there'll also be plenty of television programming from the Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. Disney Plus will also be a home for DisneyNature documentaries, including Dolphin Reef – which will be narrated by none other than actress Natalie Portman (Jackie, Black Swan). Disney Nature works both in documentary films and animation, and will also be bringing animated feature Penguins to the Disney Plus service. All told, you can expect "thousands of hours" of Disney TV shows and films on the service, including existing content, and that new Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars films will be available to stream at some point following their theatrical releases. Will Disney Plus have classic Disney movies?Oh yes. We have word that every Disney film ever made will be coming to the service, so everything from the original Lion King to... er... the new CGI Lion King should be available on the service soon after launch. What will Disney Plus be missing?The Disney streaming service won't have content from outside of the Disney ecosystem, as far as we know. That might seem obvious enough, but services like Netflix and Hulu have such diverse offerings because of their wide partnerships and licensing deals. But, of course, Disney has plenty of content to draw from, especially if all Fox content comes onboard as well, but this will still be a very Disney-centric offering. On top of that, there won't be any R-rated or adult-oriented content on the service. That stuff will go to Hulu instead, according to a report from Deadline. Though Disney has now closed its acquisition of Fox, it's unlikely then that the R-rated Deadpool will come to Disney Plus.
R-rated titles like Deadpool should head to Hulu rather than Disney Plus, which will be somewhat family friendly (Image Credit: 21st Century Fox) Also, the Marvel TV original series on Netflix won't be crossing over to the new Disney Plus service – as far as we know. That means the likes of Daredevil, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones won't be rebooted on Disney Plus in their current iterations. They've all been cancelled from further seasons, but we're assuming previous seasons will continue to stay on the Netflix platform. That's not to say Hulu might not pick up these series and run with them, or maybe they'll get a more family-friendly re-imagining for Disney Plus? Should I subscribe to Disney Plus?We haven't tried the platform ourselves yet, so even though more information is revealed every day, it's hard to make a solid recommendation. But now details have been revealed about pricing, the early signs are certainly promising. Disney plans to tap into its estimable vault of franchises to create exclusive and potentially compelling new content, along with creating a single streaming service for watching all of the latest and greatest movies and TV shows from across the Disney creative ecosystem. Disney Plus will have less content than Netflix, but the price is lower – and Disney Plus may prove more appealing as an add-on to your current subscriptions, rather than a full-on replacement for Netflix or Hulu. The Disney streaming service won't be as comprehensive or wide-ranging as some rivals, but Disney, Star Wars, and Marvel fans might have trouble resisting some of the original shows and movies coming down the pipeline. We're certainly excited to see what Disney Plus has in mind for the live-action Star Wars series, above all, but other projects sound compelling as well.
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| AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation release date, news and features: everything you need to know Posted: 26 Aug 2019 12:03 PM PDT Intel used to be the de facto king of the CPU world, designing the best processors out there – hands down. However, with AMD Ryzen, everything changed. These days, AMD is dominating the market with not just AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation and Threadripper 2nd Generation, but also its recently released Ryzen 3rd Generation. In fact, AMD has more than doubled Intel’s sales, according to a German retailer. As far as this generation goes, however, we’ve been able to put a wide range of Ryzen 2nd Generation processors to the test, from the Ryzen 5 2600X to the powerhouse Ryzen 7 2700X, we know AMD isn’t pulling any punches when it comes to power and value. There were rumors of a Ryzen 7 2800X, which might have given the recent Coffee Lake Refresh processors a run for their money – but, with the advent of AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation, announced at Computex 2019 and released July 7th, 2019, we doubt that particular processor will ever surface. Additionally, AMD has brought Zen 2 to the mainstream, the architecture behind the 3rd generation of Ryzen. And, according to the latest rumors, we could see up to 16-cores on the flagship, and clock speeds up to 5.0GHz. If there’s any weight to this, the processor world will shake when these next-gen chunks of silicon drop sometime in 2019. Microsoft has also announced that its next-generation Xbox console, known as Project Scarlett, will utilize a custom-designed SoC based on Zen 2. Cut to the chase
Image Credit: AMD AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation release dateThe first-generation Ryzen processors launched in March 2017 and continued to roll out throughout 2017. Ryzen 2nd Generation chips launched at around the same time the following year, on April 19, 2018, after being made available for pre-order a few days before. Beyond the first few AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation chips, AMD continued to roll out some Ryzen Pro and Ryzen Threadripper chips through the rest of 2018. Ryzen Pro chips are designed for business and IT use cases, with up to 8-cores and 16-threads. Ryzen Threadripper 2nd Generation, the ‘big daddy’ of AMD’s 2nd gen offerings with up to 32 cores, is for die hard creative types. AMD also announced a Ryzen 5 2500X and Ryzen 3 2300X, but at this point we don’t expect to see these mid-range chips make it to market. Intel’s Coffee Lake Refresh has been out for a while now, and Ryzen 3rd Generation chips have also hit the streets, having been announced at Computex 2019. Even though AMD Ryzen 3rd Generation have been released, AMD may be releasing 50th anniversary editions of some of its parts, including the beloved Ryzen 7 2700X.
Image Credit: AMD AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation priceAMD made its second generation of Ryzen chips to be just as affordable as the first batch. Granted, offering more reasonably priced CPUs has always been AMD's edge. However, for the first time in years, the cheaper Ryzen chips could truly compete with, if not surpass, Intel's offerings. AMD has decided to continue its course with the 2nd Generation models. It was important that it delivered affordable, high-performing CPUs. And, the price tags we’ve seen for the mid-range chips keep in line with the pricing for the first generation.
In 2017, the quad-core Ryzen 3 1300X debuted at $129 (£112, AU$169), while Intel's Core i3 7350K went for $149 (£169, AU$299). Bump up to the hexa-core Ryzen 5 1600X, and we saw it offered for $249 (£249, AU$359) – compare that to the quad-core Intel Core i5-7600K at $239 (£219, AU$339), although you drop a couple of cores in the process. We saw the biggest difference in price with the Ryzen 7 1800X, which at $499 (£500, around AU$650) was almost half the price of Intel's Core i7-5960X/6900K. Of course, this lead Intel to introduce a more affordable Intel Core i7-8700K and Intel Core i7-7820X. Meanwhile, the AMD Threadripper 1950X came in at $999 (£999, AU$1,439) and delivered even stronger performance than Intel's like-priced Core i9-7900X. Of course, AMD had slashed its Ryzen prices across the board when they announced the 2nd Generation, keeping things competitive with Intel as the two companies fight for your CPU-buying dollars. AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation specsRyzen 2nd generation processors offer an impressive generational leap over their predecessors. They're built using an updated 12-nanometer process, which will pack in even more transistors and thus provide more raw speed along the way. According to AMD 12nm process results in an approximately 16% performance increase and 11% better lower power draw over the original Ryzen's 14nm process. We finally came across rumors swirling around about the Ryzen 2nd Generation APUs, which will succeed the Ryzen 5 2400G and Ryzen 3 2200G. According to PCGamesN, the next generation APUs should be coming out in the next year, and will feature the same Zen+ 12nm architecture as the Ryzen 2nd Generation CPUs. This could mean APUs will see a similar performance boost as we saw when the first generation Ryzen chips were superseded. AMD states that the Ryzen 2nd Generation chips will be the smallest and fastest desktop processors to date – lofty promises. However, they’ll definitely excite PC enthusiasts and users of all stripes. Ryzen 2nd Generation chips should deliver higher clock speeds and introduce the enhanced Precision Boost 2 technology to boost performance during high-drain scenarios. And, now that we’ve been able to play with the Ryzen 7 2700X and the Ryzen 5 2600X, we know that AMD has succeeded in pushing its specs. The 2700X with its 8-cores, 16-threads and speedy boost clock of 4.3GHz outperforms the Intel Core i7-8700K, AMD has fully embraced the enthusiast market. Even the lower-end Ryzen 5 2600X pushes performance into the next generation with 6-cores, 12-threads and a 4.2 GHz boost clock. We also saw leaked benchmarks for the Ryzen 3 2300X and Ryzen 5 2500X. The former is a four-core, four-thread processor clocked at 3.5GHz and a 4.0GHz boost clock. Meanwhile the Ryzen 5 2500X is a four-core, eight-thread chip, featuring a 3.6GHz core clock, boosting up to 4.0GHz. Since these chips came out, they’ve been excellent entry-level and mid-range options, respectively, but seem to only be available in prebuilt systems. We also saw a leak from ASRock pointing to the existence of some low-power E-series Ryzen 2nd Generation chips, the Ryzen 5 2600E and Ryzen 7 2700E. These chips will have a much lower 45W TDP and feature an 8-core design for the Ryzen 7, and 6-cores for the Ryzen 5 – according to the rumor reported by Wccftech. These rumors have since been proven true when they both launched in September of 2018. However, it doesn’t stop with the desktop chips. AMD has also rolled out Ryzen 2nd Generation mobile chips in the Ryzen 7 2700U, Ryzen 5 2500U, Ryzen 3 2300U and Ryzen 3 2200U. These all have Vega graphics packed in, which means you can do some light gaming on them. The two higher-end chips are four-core, eight-thread processors with boost clocks of 3.8GHz and 3.6GHz for the Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 5, respectively. The Ryzen 3 2300U and 2200U are four-core, four-thread chips with 3.4GHz boost clocks. The main difference between these two chips is that the former features stronger Vega graphics, while the 2200U has a higher base clock of 2.5GHz. AMD Ryzen 2nd Generation is the culmination of everything AMD wanted to do with Ryzen. And, if the specs of the Ryzen 2nd Generation CPUs are anything to go off of, we’re very excited about what this lineup can do. AMD has a very technical primer on Precision Boost 2 from its Ryzen Mobile Processor with Radeon Vega Graphics, in case you want to dig into the specs. We've seen some SenseMi improvements in AMD's recent Ryzen-based desktop APUs, so it stands to reason that there are similar performance and efficiency increases in the Ryzen 2nd Generation line. That could include optimized power usage through Pure Power smart sensors and improved overclocking potential from Extended Frequency Range 2.
Image Credit: AMD Anyone wanting to upgrade from Ryzen Gen 1 should be happy to know that AMD has kept the same AM4 socket intact, so you don’t have to buy a new motherboard to slot one of these CPUs into your machine. There is also an enhanced X470 chipset that’s optimized for Ryzen 2nd Generation with lower power consumption. Keep in mind that AMD calls the heart of Ryzen 2nd Generation the Zen+ architecture, rather than Zen 2. What’s the difference? Well, Zen 2 is a completely new architecture built on a 7nm process, which – as you can imagine – offers a world of difference when it comes to power and performance.
Image Credit: TechRadar AMD's roadmap shows the Zen 2 and Zen 3 (listed at "7nm+") cores coming somewhere between the release of the Zen+ and the year 2020, which we expected to appear in 2019. And it looks like Zen 2 has arrived along with Ryzen’s 3rd generation. Zen 2 design is, naturally, complete at this point, and it "improves on Zen in multiple dimensions" according to AMD. And the Zen 3 is "on track," as well. AMD could be primed to shake up the CPU industry all over again with the Zen 2. However, Zen+ is what's powering the Ryzen 2nd Gen chips. Even so, there are many reasons to be excited for the Ryzen 2nd Generation chips, especially if you’re in the market for a PC upgrade this year. And, even with Intel on the defensive, it’s safe to say that AMD has knocked it out of the park. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Dell Labor Day sale: save up to 40% on laptops, 4K TVs, monitors and more Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:26 AM PDT Labor Day is fast approaching, and aside from a long holiday weekend, it also means massive savings from your favorite retailers. Dell is kicking things off with its Labor Day Early Access sale that starts today and lasts through September 4. You can save up to 40% on laptops, TVs, desktops, headphones and more with new doorbuster deals added every day. Shop more of Dell's early access Labor Day sale below and keep this page bookmarked as we'll be adding new doorbuster deals throughout the week. Dell Labor Day deals:You can shop more TV deals with our roundup of the best cheap TV sales and 4K TV deals happening now. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| OnePlus ushers in Rs 1,000 crore investment for its biggest global R&D facility in Hyderabad Posted: 26 Aug 2019 10:10 AM PDT OnePlus, on Monday inaugurated its first global research and development (R&D) center in the Indian city of Hyderabad. The R&D facility was inaugurated by Pete Lau, Founder & CEO of OnePlus along with Former Minister of Telangana, K. T. Rama Rao and Principal Secretary for IT and Industries, Jayesh Ranjan. Over the course of the next three years, OnePlus intends to put as much as Rs 1,000 crore into creating its biggest R&D center, right here in Vamsiram's Sohini Tech Park, Nanakramguda, Hyderabad. Why Hyderabad?OnePlus decided to establish an R&D centre in Hyderabad as it is a major centre for startups and MNCs. It wouldn't be wrong to call it one of the biggest IT hubs in India. Moreover, the Chinese electronics maker believes that the city attracts a lot of talent in the area of emerging technologies and as such, it will help generate more employment opportunities. The company already has a workforce of 200 people for its Hyderabad R&D center and Lau mentioned that some of the Product Managers are being relocated to Hyderabad to assist in a more inclusive development. OnePlus also conducts a campus hiring program in major premiere universities and institutes of India like the IITs, to provide opportunities and nurture young talents. The R&D centre will warpcharge this program with an aim to generate more interest amongst youngsters. What will the OnePlus R&D center do?Lau also revealed that the R&D facility will be home to three OnePlus Labs. These include the camera lab, networking and communications lab and automation lab. The new R&D facility will headline development of India exclusive features for OxygenOS and drive 5G network deployment for India, Europe and the UK. But, that's not all. The centre will also work on global product development, improving cameras, AI and performance tests. OnePlus has a dedicated camera lab in Taiwan and the company now wants to set up a second and an equally compelling lab in India. Vikas Aggarwal, General Manager OnePlus India, stated that the company will be taking part in the 5G spectrum trials sometime later this year. The Hyderabad R&D center is expected to play a major role in testing 5G connectivity for its products but we don't have a definite timeline for the same, yet.
What's more for India?OnePlus currently holds the top position in the premium smartphone segment in India. It has captured 43% of the segment in India and 2% globally, which is enough for it to be listed amongst the top five premium smartphone companies of the world. While discussing the company's plans for India, Pete Lau said, “In three years, we plan to grow the new R&D centre in Hyderabad into our biggest globally. We plan to re-focus our R&D efforts on a large scale and drive innovations in India for the global product, especially on the software side with special emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, 5G and IoT.” Apart from its online exclusive partnership with Amazon India, OnePlus is also present in the offline space with 15 OnePlus experience stores and over 1500 partner stores. The company is also looking at large format experience stores as a viable option in its expanding offline strategy. The first OnePlus experience store is also being constructed in Hyderabad and is expected to be fully functional by the next quarter. OnePlus plans to take this concept of large format super experience stores to major metro cities in the next 2-3 years. Besides, now that the R&D centre is operational, OnePlus wants to produce and source more components locally, in line with the Indian government's Make in India strategy. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| New Rise of Skywalker trailer, Marvel TV shows headline Disney’s D23 expo Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:59 AM PDT The Disney D23 Expo has become a font of information for breaking Disney news, and this year’s event - which took place over the weekend - was no different. In fact, D23 2019 might’ve been one of the biggest ever in the company’s history as it brought us new trailers for Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker, The Mandalorian and tons of Marvel shows, plus new details on Disney Plus, the company’s streaming service that launches on November 12. Want a quick recap of the weekend’s biggest Disney announcements? Here’s a handy guide to Disney D23 2019. Disney Plus detailsThe star of Disney’s D23 Expo was most definitely Disney Plus. The House of Mouse announced that attendees would be among the first to be able to subscribe to the service at a discount (if they didn’t mind signing a three-year agreement) before giving us some details on the quality and quantity of the streams at a special panel. We know now that the service will support up to four simultaneous streams in 4K / Dolby Vision at the base monthly package price of $6.99. In terms of timing, we learned that Disney Plus will release new episodes of its shows weekly rather than in one season chunks like Netflix, which could give the service time to catch up with competitors who already have massive catalogues (cough, Netflix) and keep users coming back for more. In some less good news, Disney reiterated that the service will be available in the US, Canada, The Netherlands and Australia on November 12, but still didn’t mention a UK release date - sorry folks. The Mandalorian trailerThat said, you can’t talk about Disney Plus without talking about its flagship Star Wars title, The Mandalorian, which got its first trailer during this year’s D23 event. The series will be set after the fall of the Empire post-Return of the Jedi (aka Episode 6) and stars a lone bounty hunter donning traditional Mandalorian armor, looking like a color-swapped Boba Fett. The series was created by director/producer Jon Favreau (director of Iron Man and Chef), which bodes well for an interconnected Star Wars TV universe, and stars Pedro Pascal (Oberyn Martel from Game of Thrones and Javier Peña on Narcos). Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailerThe Mandalorian wasn’t the only piece of Star Wars content that came out over the weekend - we also got a new trailer for Star Wars Episode 9: The Rise of Skywalker that’s set to debut in December. You can see the full trailer down below, but in it we see a quick recap of the Skywalker storyline throughout the last eight episodes that concludes with Rey battling Kylo Renon atop the remains of the Death Star II that was destroyed in Episode 6. It’s a scene that hearkens back to the battle between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan in Episode 3, and it’s going to be awesome. Speaking of old Ben, actor Ewan McGregor confirmed that he will reprise his role in an untitled Star Wars series that will debut on Disney Plus with filming set to begin next year. Marvel TV ShowsThe end of the last Avengers film might have wrapped everything up in a nice little bow, but don’t worry, Disney Plus will unravel everything with a slate of new shows that will introduce new villains - and heroes - to the Marvel cinematic universe. Among these shows are The Falcon and The Winter Soldier which will debut in 2020 and star Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, respectively, as well as WandaVision, Loki and What If…, which will all make their debut in 2021. Disney also announced new series for She-Hulk, Moon Knight and Ms. Marvel, which will debut on the service at some point in the future. Marvel MoviesWhile Disney’s slate of serialized content is growing in scale, it hasn’t forgotten about its movie-going fans. To that end, Disney divulged new details about Black Panther 2 (that’s now set to release on May 6, 2022) and a new film called The Eternals at D23. According to Disney, the cast of Marvel Studios’ The Eternals includes "Richard Madden, who portrays the all-powerful Ikaris; Kumail Nanjiani, who plays cosmic-powered Kingo; Lauren Ridloff, who portrays the super-fast Makkari, the first deaf hero in the MCU; Brian Tyree Henry, who plays the intelligent inventor Phastos; Salma Hayek, who plays the wise and spiritual leader Ajak; Lia McHugh, who portrays the eternally young, old-soul Sprite; Don Lee, who plays the powerful Gilgamesh; and Angelina Jolie, who stars as the fierce warrior Thena." The President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige revealed concept art images of each character, before announcing three additional cast members: Sersi, to be played by Gemma Chan; aloof loner Druig, to be played by Barry Keoghan; and non-Eternal Dane Whitman, who’ll be played by the King in the North, Kit Harington. We’ll get a full look at the film when it comes out on November 6, 2020.
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| Amazon Kindle Paperwhite vs Kindle Oasis: which Amazon ereader should you buy? Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:30 AM PDT If you’re looking for a great ereader, you've probably scoped out the Amazon Kindle range, a diverse series that touches a lot of price points. Amazon is one of, if not the, biggest name in ereader market with the largest virtual library around, so you’re definitely not making a mistake by checking out its Kindles. If you're hunting for a great reading experience and want to save all your money for ebooks, perhaps the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is what you’re looking for – it sits far shy of the top of Amazon’s Kindle range, but is still a great reading experience at a relatively low price. But if you’re a serious reader with money to burn, you’re probably looking towards the higher end of the series to the Amazon Kindle Oasis, with its premium design and broad array of features. To help you work out the difference between the two Kindle ereaders, and point you in the right direction for your new book-centric tablet, we’ve run through the differences between the slates.
Amazon Kindle Oasis Amazon Kindle Paperwhite vs Kindle Oasis priceThe Amazon Kindle Oasis is Amazon’s highest-end ereader, so it goes for a fitting price. The baseline 8GB storage space costs $249.99 / £229.99 / AU$399, while the 32GB option is priced at $279.99 / £259.99 / AU$449. For four times the storage space that’s only an increase of $30 / £30 / AU$50, so if you’re planning to download loads of books at once, we’d recommend the latter option. If those prices make you weak in the knees, perhaps the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite is a better deal for you. An 8GB Paperwhite will cost you $129.99 / £119.99 / AU$199, and 32GB will set you back $159.99 / £149.99 / AU$249, making it a lot more affordable than the Oasis. Bear in mind, you’re going to be paying a bit more cash for Amazon Kindle Unlimited, or to buy your ebooks individually, so your expense doesn’t stop at the hardware itself. Design and displayWhen you think of an Amazon Kindle ereader, you probably envision the standard flat rectangle design found in most tablets these days - and that’s exactly what the Kindle Paperwhite looks like. It’s got a plastic body framing the display, and is a touch bigger than your standard smartphone, so it gives a different ‘feel’ than just reading on Google Play Books.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite The Amazon Kindle Oasis has a far more intriguing design: on the back of the body is a large ridge that offers a natural hand-hold to make the ereader easy to grip in a range of situations (like walking, or laying on your back). For its premium price tag you get a range of other improvements on the Paperwhite, like the metal body and physical buttons to help you navigate pages quickly. In terms of screens, the Paperwhite has a 6-inch display, which is short of the Oasis’ 7-inch screen but both have the same 300 pixel-per-inch resolution. The Oasis really shines (pun intended) through its range of extra display options, like a high max brightness and an optional orange ‘warm light’ intended to reduce eye strain when reading. The Kindle Oasis has the superior design and display over the Paperwhite, and this makes it a better device for certain audiences, like people who constantly bash or drop their device, or have sensitive eyes, but the design improvements might not be necessary for all users. Battery lifeWhile we don’t have exact battery sizes for the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite or Oasis, during the course of our review we made a few estimations based on how long they lasted and how quickly the battery dropped. This isn’t quite a scientific or empirical way of measuring the battery life of either device, but without specs it’s the closest we can do – and the winner is pretty clear.
The Amazon Kindle Oasis with its hand-hold ridge The ridge on the back of the Kindle Oasis isn't just a handgrip – it houses the ereader’s chunky battery, so you can expect the device to last a long time. In our review, we estimated the Oasis could last about six weeks if used for half an hour a day, which meets Amazon’s official estimations. The Kindle Paperwhite, on the other hand, seems to last about three weeks if used the same amount of time, depending of course on how bright the display is. So it seems like the Kindle Oasis lasts for twice as long; although both last for such a long period of time that the difference is kind of moot. It's far less annoying than having to recharge your smartphone every day. Other featuresBoth the Amazon Kindle Oasis and Paperwhite run Amazon’s Kindle operating system, which lets you rent or buy books on the Amazon Store, and there’s not much difference in terms of software. Neither ereader has a 3.5mm headphone jack though, so if you want to listen to an audiobook, you’ll have to do it with a wireless headphone.
Amazon Kindle Paperwhite Talking of ports, both the Kindle Paperwhite and Oasis charge up using micro USB. That’s quite an outdated socket, so the devices are quite slow to charge. In fact, the Kindle Oasis and Paperwhite have most features in common, and once you’ve looked past the surface appearances, they’re rather similar devices. VerdictThe main differences between the Amazon Kindle Paperwhite and Kindle Oasis lie in their designs and displays. The Oasis aims to be easy to hold in your hand, and even easier to drop without worrying about it breaking, thanks to its metal chassis. Screen versatility is a big difference too, and the Oasis’ warm light, as well as its increased max brightness, make it a better device for reading in the dark or in bright sunlight. Beyond that, the two devices are rather similar in terms of operating system and user interface, so you’re not going to get a terrible experience on the Paperwhite compared to its premium-priced sibling. So if you’ve got a lot of money to spend on a new device, or the design or display features of the Oasis are vital to you, it’s definitely the device to look for, but if you just want to buy an ereader tablet to get through all your books and comics, then the Paperwhite may be a more viable - and certainly more affordable - choice. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Best dedicated server hosting providers of 2019 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 09:18 AM PDT Opting for a dedicated server means that you get an entire server to yourself. There's no sharing of CPU time, RAM or bandwidth, which means your website stays responsive at all times. Shared web hosting can appear to be amazing value, with feature-packed products available for just a few pounds every month. But the reality is often very different, and they're not always the bargains they seem. Very low prices probably mean the host is cramming more customers onto each server, for instance. Performance will be poor as there aren't enough resources to go around, and the extra load could mean more server problems and downtime. Dedicated hosting implies that you also get far more control over how the server is configured. You can add and remove software, install updates or tweak all settings, allowing you to optimize the server for your specific needs. Best of all, dedicated hosting contracts often come with fast and knowledgeable support. The best providers will even monitor your server for issues, like failed services, and can often fix them before you've realized there was a problem. This kind of power doesn't come cheap, and although there are some good signup deals around, you can easily spend $50-$140 a month and more on just a basic package. With that kind of investment, it's important to make the right choice. In this article, we're going to highlight five top dedicated hosting providers who you might want to check out first.
German-based 1&1 (as October 2018 called 1&1 IONOS) is well known as a budget hosting provider, but the company doesn't just offer value for website newbies: its dedicated server range starts at a very low $45 a month for the first six months, then $65. As you might imagine, 1&1 has had to cut a few corners to hit that price point. The cheapest plans are relatively basic, with limited hardware, although network bandwidth got an upgrade with 1Gbit/s. Features like SSD drives and server management (1&1 updates, monitors and manages the server for you) cost extra. Oh, and there's also a setup fee of at least $50. But there are plus points, too, including unlimited bandwidth, bundled Symantec SSL certificates, and the Plesk Onyx server control panel thrown in for free. Overall, even the most limited 1&1 dedicated server plan has enough power to handle many tasks. Additionally, you get a personal consultant free of charge. Demanding users have plenty of paid upgrades to explore, including a faster CPU, more RAM and storage, a bundled backup service and more. Some of these add-ons include more than you might expect, too. Paying $14 a month for management doesn't just mean 1&1 will look after server admin: you also get a website builder, simple analytics, a photo slideshow service, automatic backup and restore for WordPress sites, and more. Sounds like a good deal to us.
Hostwinds is a capable hosting provider which crams a huge range of features into all its products, from the most basic shared hosting plans to its enterprise-level cloud-based range. Its dedicated server range may start at just $79.50 (£57) a month, for instance – $106 (£76) on renewal – but even these baseline products include features that are premium extras elsewhere. All systems have 1Gbps ports, for instance (some providers start at 100Mbps). Every server is fully managed, ensuring you're not wasting time running operating system updates or other basic maintenance tasks. Hostwinds monitors your server to detect problems as soon as they crop up, and automatic nightly backups ensure you can quickly recover from even the worst of disasters. Storage is extremely configurable, too. Some servers have four drive bays available, and they can be equipped with any mix of 1TB to 3TB SATA drives, or 120GB to 1TB SSDs. That's considerably more flexible than providers like 1&1, where you can only use SSD drives on some products, and even then they're often available in fixed configurations only (1TB SATA or 800GB SSD, for instance). There's more good news with the choice of operating system. Not only do Linux fans get a choice of CentOS, Debian, Fedora or Ubuntu, but Windows users can choose Windows 2008, 2012 or 2016 Server for a low $25 (£18.8) – we've seen charges of up to $50 (£35.70) elsewhere. Put it all together and the Hostwinds dedicated range is refreshingly honest. Servers aren't crippled by low specifications to hit a price point, and yet final costs remain low, with most updates very fairly priced. Well worth a look for anyone who needs a reliable, highly-specified server for a low price.
Opting for dedicated rather than shared hosting will speed up your website in itself, but there's still plenty of room for improvement. A2 Hosting's managed server plans blend multiple tricks and technologies to try and ensure you see the best possible performance. This starts with a powerful set of server components: OPcache and APC may speed up PHP processing by 50%. Memcached holds key MySQL data in RAM for faster retrieval, while mod_pagespeed uses multiple tricks to optimize site content. SPDY and HTTP/2 accelerate page loads even further, and support for technologies like edge side includes and websockets allow more fine-tuned optimizations of your site. A2 Hosting plans also include Cloudflare's free CDN and its Railgun Optimizer, which "compresses previously uncacheable web objects up to 99.6%" and may result in an average 200% performance increase. In reality you might not see anything like that – the boost will vary greatly, depending on your site – but it's still a technology worth having. Elsewhere, performance-boosting add-ons include RAID 1 SSD storage of up to 2 x 1TB. An optional Turbo Boost feature costing from $35 a month replaces Apache with the LiteSpeed server, apparently bringing up to 20x faster page loads, and another add-on can cache the HTML contents of a page, then speedily reload it later without needing to run PHP. We were happy to see cPanel is thrown in, too (it's often a chargeable extra with other hosts). These kind of professional features come at a cost, with even the most basic Sprint plan priced from around $99 a month. But if speed is your top priority then this company could be worth a try, especially as A2's ‘Anytime Money Back Guarantee’ will refund your fees if you cancel within 30 days of your order.
It may not have the profile of the big-name competition, but OVH is a hosting giant, with more than a million customers using 25+ data centers around the world. The OVH dedicated hosting range stands out for its long list of data centers, with hosting available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Singapore and the UK. Some of these locations offer cheaper hosting than others, and, unusually, OVH passes the savings on to you. For example, one of the UK server costs $86, but switching to Poland cuts the minimum cost to $79. Experienced users will also appreciate the many advanced options that OVH makes available. You don't just get access to SATA or SSD storage, for instance – the company also supports SAS and the supercharged NVMe (non-volatile memory-based storage, potentially five times faster than SSD). If you really know what you're doing, you could buy several servers, link them together in a private cloud, and maybe add a load-balancing IP to spread peak-time demand or keep your website running if one server fails. Novice users are likely to be confused by over 50 available server configurations, and figuring out exactly what's available can take a little time and effort. But the range of data centers alone could make OVH an interesting choice for many users, and if you're the demanding type, its array of expert-level extras are also worth a closer look.
Liquid Web is a popular provider of high-end business hosting products ranging from managed WordPress and WooComerce plans, to cloud VPS, dedicated servers and private clouds. The company's dedicated offerings may look expensive, with a starting price of $199 a month, but they're also far better specified than most of the budget competition. Even the cheapest dedicated server includes two speedy 240GB SSD drives, for instance. There's also a 1TB SATA backup drive provided, making it easy and convenient to run regular backups. The plan includes a dedicated IP. Support for Cloudflare CDN should boost your website speeds, and your server can be hosted in one of three data centers (Arizona, Michigan, or the Netherlands). Although, the special entry plans are only hosted in Michigan. Most importantly, all dedicated servers are managed by Liquid Web's professional support team. They monitor system health, proactively respond to notifications (for example, they’ll restart a failed service), alongside taking care of installing and updating the operating system. If you have any difficulties, support is available 24/7/365, and the company guarantees a 59 second response time via phone or chat, 30 minutes via ticket and email. Factor in the wide range of optional add-ons – load balancers, firewalls, VPN – and the range has more than enough power for almost any purpose. If you're managing a heavy-duty website, Liquid Web needs to be on your shortlist. You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:
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| Best cloud hosting services in 2019 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:55 AM PDT Signing up for a simple web hosting package will usually buy you a defined block of resources on a single server: this much web space, that much bandwidth, maybe a set amount of RAM or CPU cores. While this works well for many websites, having fixed resources can be a problem for larger projects. There's generally no way to temporarily allocate extra RAM or bandwidth if you experience an increase in traffic, and even a simple plan upgrade might require your website to go offline for a while. Cloud hosting plans look much like virtual private server (VPS) products, where you'll initially pay for a set amount of web space, RAM, CPU time and bandwidth. But these resources are spread across multiple devices instead of just one, and changing your plan later – adding another gig of RAM, for instance – is generally as easy as dragging a slider, with the extra power coming online within moments. This flexibility is great for delivering extra power when you need it most, and starting prices can be similar to regular VPS hosting (from £10 or $14 a month). Costs will rise as you add resources, but typically you'll only pay for the time in which you use these resources. DigitalOcean's monster 192GB RAM, 32 vCPU and 3,840GB SSD product costs $960 (£685) a month, for instance, but this pay-as-you-go approach allows you to try it out for $1.429 or £1.02 an hour. Cloud hosting still won't be for everyone, and small, simple websites are likely to be better off with regular packages. But the technology has a lot to offer anyone with larger or more ambitious projects, and many hosts run free trials which make it easy to explore their abilities for yourself.
Cloud hosting isn't just for big business. HostGator's cloud platform spreads your website load across multiple virtual server instances for more reliable and scalable hosting, but it's as easy to use as standard shared hosting, and only costs a little more. For example, the baseline Hatchling Cloud plan gets you support for one domain, unmetered bandwidth and storage, a share of up to two cores and 2GB RAM, and distributed Varnish caching to speed up the loading of static content. You can get started for as little as $4.95 (£3.50) a month if you buy three years upfront, although the price leaps to $8.95 (£6.40) on renewal. If you need something more powerful, the top-of-the-range Business Cloud plan supports unlimited domains, gives you up to six cores and 6GB RAM, and includes private SSL and a dedicated IP. Another chunky introductory discount means you can pay as little as $9.95 (£7.10) a month over three years, but after that you'll pay $17.95 (£12.80) per month. Benefits of the cloud plans include (up to) twice as fast load times, along with more site statistics, and because your site is mirrored across multiple devices, the ability to switch your site to another server in the event of a hardware failure. But the key advantage of all cloud hosting schemes is scalability. If your site can't cope with demand, you can scale up to eight cores and 8GB RAM with a click. There's no waiting around for someone to process your order and no downtime while your web space is reallocated – you get the extra resources right away.
1&1 IONOS Cloud Server Hosting is a powerful range of products which combine dedicated server resources with the performance, flexibility and scalability of the best cloud hosting technologies. Seven standard root access (self-managed) configurations aim to cover everyone from the individual user ($10 or (£10 for UK) a month for a single CPU core, 1GB RAM and 50GB storage) to big businesses (16 cores, 48GB RAM and 500GB storage for a monster $400 or (£400 for UK) a month). All plans have decent specifications, giving you unlimited traffic and email accounts, a bundled SSL certificate, DDoS protection, $100 (£100 for UK) starting credit for the first month and a choice of US and European data centers. A wide range of options includes Windows hosting, or managed hosting with your choice of stack: Apache + MySQL + PHP 7.2, Nginx + MariaDB + PHP 7.2, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress and more. The highlight of the range is probably 1&1's Cloud Hosting Flex package. Not only does this allow for adjusting cores, RAM and storage on demand, and adding up to 99 servers to the same contract, but billing is by the minute and you're only charged for what you use. Prices start at $20.84 (£15.84 for UK) a month including the management fee. There's no long-term contract and the first 30 days is free, giving you the chance to try before you buy.
At first glance, cloud hosting products seem to be divided into two clear groups: user-friendly but basic products from hosts like 1&1, and enterprise-level technology from Amazon, Microsoft, IBM and more, which is so complex that even experts might struggle to set it up. Cloudways represents an interesting middle path. The company offers managed cloud hosting which is powered by your choice of the top providers – Amazon, Google, DigitalOcean, Kyup, Linode or Vultr are supported – and comes packed with features, yet is configured from a simple web console which is just as easy to use as the more basic competition. It's an impressive platform. Cloudways' ThunderStack covers all your core performance needs: Nginx, Apache, Memcached, MySQL/MariaDB, Varnish Cache, PHP 7, PHP-FM and Redis. There's one-click cloning, backup and restore, integrated Git and team collaboration tools for developers, and no less than 60 data centers strategically placed around the world (over 25 locations). Despite all this high-end functionality, Cloudways products are generally simple to operate, and prices start at a beginner-friendly $10 (£7.15) a month for one core, 1GB RAM, 25GB storage and 1TB of bandwidth. It's all supremely configurable, and a free trial allows you to check out the product, with no credit card details required. Furthermore, a referral system is available, where both you and your friends can receive free hosting credits.
Founded in 2002, Bytemark is a UK-based cloud hosting company which has designed its own public platform using open source software. This in-house experience brings some unusual advantages. Bytemark has developed its own hosting environment to set up a server, email and more. It covers everything from installing and managing PHP, MySQL, Perl and Ruby on Rails to helping you configure your firewall, spam rules and backups. Experienced users can manage their account with a command line client, or even automate common tasks by integrating with Bytemark's API. Pricing seems somewhat fair. The baseline specification costs $28 (£20) for one core, 2GB RAM, 25GB storage, 10TB bandwidth and one IPv4. If you need more, everything is available via a simple flat rate: $14 (£10) per 1GB RAM, $2.50 (£2) per 10GB of SSD storage, $28 (£20) per extra 1TB of traffic. Unusually, you can even get a Windows licence for $2.64 (£2) per GB of memory. As ever with cloud hosting, there's plenty of flexibility. You can configure your servers with anything from 1 to 180GB RAM, 1 to 16 CPU cores, and 1 to 8 individual disks with either fast SSD or cheaper archive storage. If you're interested, Bytemark's free trial gives you seven days to find out more.
While cloud hosting schemes always involve pooling resources from multiple devices, most do their best to keep you away from the low-level details. You may be able to scale your plan by adding CPU cores, RAM or storage, for instance, but the console will present this to you as a single system. DigitalOcean's Droplets are based around similar resizable and customizable virtual machines, but that's just the start – the technology has much more to offer. For starters, the system supports Droplets of different types. If the standard plans aren't enough – priced from $5 (£3.55) a month for one core, 1GB RAM and 25GB storage – Optimized Droplets aim to ramp up your performance by using the best Broadwell and Skylake CPUs, and providing more RAM and storage space. Individual Droplets have more features than you might expect, including performance monitoring and alerts, snapshots and automatic system-level backups. There are various interesting ways to work with your Droplets as a group, including setting up a cloud firewall, and using a load balancer to distribute incoming traffic across your infrastructure. DigitalOcean's transparent pricing is a highlight. You're billed hourly, with monthly caps, ensuring you only pay for the resources you use. Many of the features come for free – monitoring, cloud firewall – while others follow very simple pricing rules. Snapshots cost $0.05 per gigabyte per month, for instance, while backups are priced at 20% of the cost of the virtual machine – easy. If all you want to do is host a scalable WordPress site, this will probably be overkill, but developers, sysadmins and other more demanding users will appreciate the power and flexibility DigitalOcean offers. Browse the lengthy list of tutorials (which numbers 2,200+ at the time of writing) on the DigitalOcean site to find out more. You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:
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| Best domain registrars in 2019 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 08:10 AM PDT Every great website needs a snappy, memorable domain name. Coming up with something new is a serious challenge, but once inspiration strikes, you'll need to register that name with a domain name registrar before you can use it online. Registration isn't difficult, but first you must choose from the hundreds of companies competing for your business, and there are several things for you to consider before signing the virtual dotted line.
How to choose the perfect domain registrar
With a name like Domain.com, the EIG-owned brand, means business, focusing primarily on small and medium businesses. It offers most popular top level domains and over 25 country code top level domains and also sells premium domains as a broker. With nearly two decades of online presence, the company - which is one of the world’s biggest domain name registrars - expanded in web hosting and now ranges a number of products including a website builder, a full design service and web hosting. Domain.com prices tend to be average but we have managed to blag a 25% discount off almost everything in your cart*. Non-premium TLD (.Club, .Men, .Win etc) start from $2.99 for the first year ($2.24 with our code). In line with the rest of the industry, they rise significantly after the second year). You need to pay for privacy protection, a reasonable $8.99, plus you can add email, web hosting, SSL certificates and malware protection, none of which is compulsory. You can stick with its basic website builder which is free with every domain: you get a drag and drop website builder, tons of mobile-friendly templates, up to six pages, SEO tools, Paypal integration and even access to stock image library. Support is more than adequate with 24/7 chat, email and phone support. Domain.com may not have the cheapest prices but it provides with a very balanced offering. *All renewals after the initial discounted period will be charged at the then current standard list price for the selected period. Coupon is not valid with sunrise registrations, landrush registrations, EAP registrations, pre-registrations, premium registrations, renewals, transfers, custom website design, other coupons, or special pricing.
Web giant GoDaddy is the world's biggest domain registrar, currently managing more than 75 million domains for 17 million customers around the globe. The company is well-known for its low headline prices, and it's the same story here, for instance, .co domain is available for $1.99 in year one. On the other hand .com and .org are less impressive (though still apparently cheap) starting at $12.17 and $10.17 respectively. Beware, though: these aren't the bargains they initially seem. The first catch is that GoDaddy's starting prices only apply if you pay for two years upfront, and the second year is significantly more expensive (.com rises to $18.17, .uk and .co.uk domains are $12, .org and .mobi are ridiculously high, $21.17 for .org and $26.17 for .mobi - at the moment, first year for .mobi is $7.17, due to an offer). The second problem is that there are no bundled extras, so adding something like Whois privacy – a valuable service often included for free with other providers – costs $8 a month for year one, and $10 on renewal. There's clearly much better value to be had elsewhere, but GoDaddy may still appeal to web beginners looking for a bundled hosting and domain registration deal. The company has an array of products covering every possible requirement, with telephone support if you need it, and buying your domain and hosting from the same provider will make life a little easier. Just keep in mind that other providers can also combine hosting and domain registration, and GoDaddy may not provide the best package for you. Check out our various hosting guides for possible alternatives.
Hover is a popular domain name registrar owned by Tucows, which also operates eNom and the domain reselling platform OpenSRS. Hover's website is clear and straightforward. A domain pricing page allows for checking registration costs before you start, or you can use the search box to immediately locate your preferred TLD (top-level domain). By default the results page displays every domain you can register and their prices, giving you a lot to scroll through and read. But a handy sidebar allows filtering domains by categories including Personal, Businesses, Audio and Video, Food and Drink, and more. It's a neat touch which could help you spot an appealing domain that you otherwise might have missed. Prices are very reasonable, with .com domains costing $12.99 for year one, .co.uk priced at $10.99, .org costing $13.99 and .mobi reaching $15.99. Shop around and you'll find slightly lower prices elsewhere, but Hover generally provides good value. There's a welcome bonus in Whois Privacy, which comes free for as long as the domain is managed by Hover. The company keeps upselling to a minimum, even in the final shopping cart stage. You're simply offered three email-related extras: email forwarding at $5 a year, a 10GB email account for $20, or you can opt for a 1TB inbox, file sharing, a calendar and more, for an annual $29. If you have any questions, support is available via email and chat, although it's not 24/7. Working hours are 8am to 8pm (Eastern Time) Monday to Friday, and 12pm to 5pm at the weekend.
Most domain name registrars offer a simple identikit service with little to separate them from the competition, but Dynadot is an interesting exception which has some unusual advantages. This starts right at the beginning, with your initial search. You can use the website much like any other – type your preferred domain, press Enter, read the results – but you also get Bulk and IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) search tools, and advanced options allow defining which domain extensions to include in your searches, as well as setting those as defaults for all future searches. These searches can optionally return results from domain auctions, Dynadot's Marketplace (where other customers sell domains they no longer need) and other sources. There's also a Backorder option to try and grab a domain that isn't currently available, if it's not renewed. Prices are on the low side, with Dynadot offering both special deals on some extensions and good value at renewal. .com sites are $6.99 initially, $8.99 on renewal. If you’re after a .co.uk domain, that’ll set you back $6.95, with .org costing $7.99 initially, $10.99 on renewal, and .mobi domains are $3.99 initially, $13.99 on renewal. That's just the start: Dynadot also piles on the free extras. A Website Builder allows you to build and host a simple one-page responsive website. There's free domain forwarding if you'd like to redirect visitors somewhere else. DNS support allows creating 50 subdomain records, 10 email addresses, and 5 each of MX and TXT records. There's even a Grace Deletion list which allows returning a domain if you change your mind. This requires a small fee and won't always be allowed (the details on how it works are here), but it's still a welcome extra you'll rarely find with other registrars. Dynadot's support wasn't always as impressive, with live chat being offline when we checked. But the website does have a publicly available forum, allowing anyone to browse common questions and see how happy (or otherwise) Dynadot's customers might be.
Founded in 2000, Namecheap is a popular domain name registrar and web host which now manages more than five million domains. Namecheap's excellent website allows searching for individual domains, or in batches of up to 50. If the domain is taken, you can view the Whois record or offer to buy the domain (via DomainAgents) from the current user. If the domain is available, results are displayed across four tabs: Popular, New, Discounted and International. This is a neat approach which makes it easier to browse the list and find what you need. Prices are generally very good at $8.88 (£6.8) for .com domains - $12.98 on renewal, $7.58(£5.8) for .co.uk - $9.58 on renewal, $9.98 (£10) for .org - $14.98 on renewal, and $16.88 (£13) for .mobi (at the moment, you can get .mobi for $2.88 for the first year). There are some special deals available, and Namecheap has an Agent 88 set of domains which are almost always available at $0.48 (£0.35) for the first year (these usually include the following: .site .website .space .pw .press .host .tech .online and .fun – but there may be others as well). That would be good value all on its own, but Namecheap doesn’t stop there: you get WhoisGuard domain privacy thrown in for free. Namecheap's billing is straightforward and honest, with current and renewal prices clearly described in your Namecheap shopping cart, and Auto-Renew turned off. But if there's something you don't understand, helpful FAQ pages and live chat are just a click or two away.
Shopping around for a domain registrar can involve a lot of hassle as you research companies you've never heard of, try to separate genuine bargains from marketing tricks, and browse the small print looking for hidden catches. With potential savings only amounting to a few pounds or dollars a year, at best, you might prefer to simply sign up with a big-name provider that you know will give you a reasonable service, even if it does cost a fraction more. Enter Google Domains, Google's lightweight domain registration arm, a straightforward provider that puts speed and simplicity at the top of its priority list. Google Domains doesn't confuse you with endless sales, or 'special' deals that turn out to be not so special after all. Upselling is kept to a minimum. Instead, it's all about making the purchase process as easy as any other online shopping site: search, click, and check out. The difference is obvious from the moment you reach the site. There are no animated ads at the top of the page, no 'Sale!' banners, no low headline prices: just a search box where you enter a single domain. The results page is equally straightforward, with prices listed for nine common top-level domains, and an All Endings tab listing every option in alphabetical order (domain.academy, domain.bargains, domain.camera). One potential problem is that Google Domains doesn't support all the domain extensions you'll get elsewhere, and this includes some quite common examples (.mobi, .tv). If you think you might ever want to buy something beyond the most popular extensions, it’s a good idea to check that your likely choices are available before you buy. Prices are standardized to whole numbers, so for example .com, .co.uk and .org domains are all priced at $12. That's a little above average overall, but better than some, especially as Google Domains throws in free Whois privacy for as long as you're registered. That's a valuable extra which could cost $2.80 to $11.20 a year elsewhere. If you do have any questions, a Help link displays articles on common problems. If that's not enough, the Contact Us page enables talking to a support agent by email, live chat or telephone (Google calls you), the highest level of domain registrar support we've seen anywhere.
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| Best VPS hosting providers of 2019 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 07:25 AM PDT Standard shared web hosting packages are cheap and user-friendly, but they're also slow, inflexible, and don't have the power or functionality that professional and business users often need. If you need more than a basic host but can't afford a dedicated server or don't want to deal with the complexity of these beasts, VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting could be a smart choice. Buying a VPS plan means that you get your very own virtual server environment. You have full control over the operating system, the extensions and apps you install, and all their settings. Each physical server will still host multiple VPS customers, but not as many as with shared hosting, and typically each VPS will be allocated a share of key resources – RAM, storage space, CPU cores – for their use alone. This can be easier to manage than you might think. Many VPS plans include standard tools like cPanel to help monitor and configure your site. Some hosts will manage the service for you, monitoring for problems like a crashed service, and fixing them as soon as they're detected. VPS prices and specs vary from a few dollars a month to hundreds, depending on your requirements. There's a lot of choice out there, but don't panic – our list of five best VPS providers will point you in the right direction.
Namecheap's VPS plan might be affordable but they're all but "cheap". Shopping for a VPS host often means staring at some huge product comparison table and trying to figure out which of its many plans works for you. Namecheap makes life easier by providing only two plans, and making it extremely clear exactly what you're getting in each case. Prices start low at only $11.74 per month on the annual plan, but that still gets you 2GB RAM, two CPU cores, 40GB of storage, 1000GB bandwidth and one dedicated IP. Buying add-ons can improve these baseline specs. If you need more dedicated IPs, for instance, you don't have to upgrade to a new plan – Namecheap will add extra IPs to your product for only $2 each. The service isn't quite as cheap as it sounds. The starter plans aren't managed, for instance (the host doesn't look after them for you), and they don't include a cPanel licence. Adding both of those capabilities will cost you extra. Still, Namecheap does provide some exceptionally configurable VPS products for users who know what they're doing. Even if you're a beginner, checking out the various options on offer here will help you understand the factors you need to think about when choosing a VPS provider.
InMotion is one of the more popular web hosting providers out there and it is no surprise that they're secured a spot here Check out a few VPS hosting providers and it's easy to be tempted with low headline rates, but don't be fooled – companies use a range of tricks to keep their charges down. The hardware specs of a starter product are often kept unrealistically low, for instance, to keep the price right down. Important items – backups, cPanel – may be expensive extras. And even then, the headline rate may only apply if you pay for two or three years upfront, increasing dramatically on renewal. InMotion Hosting is refreshingly different. Its baseline VPS-1000HA-S plan doesn't have the most eye-catching price at $27.99 per month over two years, but it's easy to see why the company asks this much. The product has a better specification – 4GB RAM, 75GB storage, 4TB bandwidth, 3 dedicated IPs – than some high-end plans from other providers, backups and a cPanel licence are included for free, and there's a 90-day money-back guarantee. There's an unusual feature in what InMotion calls "unlocked CPU cores". Rather than having access to one or two cores only, you're able to spread your processing load across all cores on the server, a major performance boost for tasks involving a lot of simultaneous processing. Welcome bonus touches include a feature called Launch Assist, which essentially means you get two hours of free time with one of InMotion's server administrators. Whether you need to change domain settings, configure cPanel, migrate WordPress or database files, they can help you get the job done. Put it all together and you're getting a very capable set of VPS hosting plans. If you'd prefer a package which comes with unexpected surprises, rather than hidden catches, we'd give InMotion a try.
Some VPS hosts focus on first-time users, others go for big business, but Hostwinds does its best to appeal to everyone with no less than 10 different VPS hosting plans. The low-end Tier One plan looks a little underpowered to us, with just 1GB RAM, one CPU core, 30GB of disk space and 1TB traffic. But it's cheap at $9.89 per month for the initial term, $10.99 on renewal, and you can extend it significantly without spending a huge amount (adding basic server monitoring and cloud backups costs an extra $6 a month for both). The more realistic Tier Four includes 6GB RAM, 100GB drive space, two CPU cores and 2TB of traffic. It's also significantly more expensive at $31.49 a month for the starting term, $34.9 a month afterwards, but still competitive with other providers. Meanwhile the top-of-the-range Tier Ten product gets you 96GB RAM, 16 CPU cores, 750GB storage and 9TB of traffic for an initial $339.29 a month, $376.99 on renewal. You probably don't need anything like that, but this does show there's plenty of scope for upgrading your site over time. Every plan has some appealing configuration options. In particular, along with support for the usual Linux variants – CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian – you can choose Windows Server 2008, 2012 or 2016 for only a $5 a month premium. That's very good value, and if you're more familiar with Windows than Linux, it could save you from lots of management hassles later on.
Liquid Web is a premium web hosting provider which has been offering top quality managed solutions for more than 20 years, and now handles 500,000 sites for more than 32,000 customers worldwide. The company doesn't try to beat the competition on price, instead focusing on delivering comprehensive products which will deliver quality results. The cheapest Liquid Web plan may cost $59 (at the time of writing, you can get a 50% off) a month, for instance, but that gets you 2GB RAM, 40GB storage and a very generous 10TB of bandwidth. There are lots of configuration options. Instead of just telling you that you're getting CentOS 7, Liquid Web allows you to select CentOS 6, Debian 8, Ubuntu 14.04 or 16.04, and often with multiple options of their own: cPanel, Plesk, CloudLinux and more. This is a managed product, too. Liquid Web fully supports the base operating system, and the support team will proactively restore failed services as soon as they're detected. Getting a managed VPS with other providers could cost you an extra $30 a month, or more. If your VPS still has issues, there's speedy 24x7x365 support from knowledgeable professionals who will do their best to solve your problems at speed. Liquid Web may not have the most appealing headline prices, but it's still cheaper than many others considering the features you get, and the excellent support will help keep your site running smoothly down the line.
OVH is a budget web host which offers straightforward VPS products for some of the lowest prices around. The range starts with the VPS SSD 1 plan, which gets you one CPU core, 2GB RAM and 20GB of SSD storage for only $4 (£2.99) a month. The VPS SSD 2 plan doubles the RAM and storage allocation for $6.60 (£4.99) a month, and the VPS SSD 3 plan doubles it again and gives you an extra CPU core for $14.6 (£10.99) a month. As you might guess, there are reasons why the price is so low. Forget 24x7x365 support by any means, for instance: there's UK-based phone support, but it's only available from Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm UK time. Speeds are limited, too, with a 100Mbps connection. Many VPS plans will give you 10 times that as standard. OVH does offer some plus points, though. You can have your VPS hosted in the UK, US, Australia, Singapore or several locations in central Europe. A dedicated proprietary control panel allows for managing your VPS, without the cost of a cPanel licence, and there's simple DDoS protection thrown in. On balance, OVH isn't a service we would recommend for beginners or anyone who needs rock solid reliability and full-time support. But if you're a technical user looking for a cheap way to explore the VPS world, OVH will have a lot of appeal. You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:
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| New Apple Music and YouTube Music playlists might keep you listening for longer Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:33 AM PDT As music streaming services battle it out for more audience share, one of the key weapons in the fight are recommended playlists – those auto-generated lists of tracks that save you the trouble of picking your own songs, and introduce you to new artists. In order to better compete with Spotify, both YouTube Music and Apple Music have just rejigged the playlists that they offer users, so if you'd previously found their offerings rather stale, now might be the time to take another look. First up is YouTube Music, with a new playlist called Released, that seems to directly match Spotify's New Music Friday playlist. As its name suggests, it features newly released songs – 50 of them in fact.
YouTube Music describes the playlist as "the hottest 50 songs this week, served up fresh to you every Friday", and it's separate from the New Release Mix that YouTube Music also offers (which is more geared towards your previous listening history). Play it againNot to be left out, Apple Music has rolled out a New Music Daily playlist that – you guessed it – serves up new tunes every single day, so you can start every morning with a selected pick of what's new on the music scene. Apple Music describes the playlist as "the latest must-hear songs" and the first one we got access to was 62 songs long. It replaces the Best of the Week playlist (though obviously will get refreshed more often). With new material out from Taylor Swift on both streaming services this week, it's a good time to introduce a playlist featuring new tracks, which is probably something both YouTube Music and Apple Music took into consideration. Bear in mind that as with any automatically refreshed playlist, you'll need to save the songs out to your own library if you want to remember what they are, as they'll be replaced every day or every week. Via 9to5Google / Digital Trends This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Redmi Note 8 e Note 8 Pro: Xiaomi conferma le caratteristiche a pochi giorni dalla presentazione Posted: 26 Aug 2019 06:08 AM PDT Redmi Note 8 e Note 8 Pro verranno presentati in Cina il 29 agosto con l'obiettivo di diventare i migliori modelli della serie economica di Xiaomi. Nel frattempo la stessa Xiaomi ha confermato le specifiche di entrambi. La serie Redmi Note ha da anni un grande successo in tutto il mondo per le sue caratteristiche evolute e per l'ottimo rapporto qualità-prezzo. Negli ultimi anni poi anche design e fotocamera sono stati migliorati e ora con la serie 8 le aspettative sono alte. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 ProIl Redmi Note 8 Pro è sicuramente il più potente grazie anche al nuovo chipset MediaTek Helio G90T nato per chi ama giocare con i suoi dispositivi. La batteria arriva a 4,500 mAh, una delle più grandi in assoluto e ci sarà il supporto per la ricarica a 18W via USB Type-C.
25x zoom teaser L'aggiornamento più interessante riguarda però le fotocamere, il Note 8 Pro sarà il primo dispositivo a montare una fotocamera con sensore da 64MP, il nuovo Samsung ISOCELL Bright GW1. Si tratta in realtà di quattro fotocamere, oltre a quella principale ci sarà quella tele, la grandangolare e il quarto sensore per la profondità. Xiaomi ha condiviso immagini che mostrano un tele 25x anche se si tratta di sicuro di una soluzione ibrida. Il design del Redmi Note 8 Pro dovrebbe essere simile a quello dei Redmi K20 con il retro in vetro curvo brillante. I render usciti finora mostrano come colori il verde e il bianco, ma ce ne potrebbero essere altri. Il rilevatore delle impronte è sul retro e questo indica che non verrà usata la soluzione sotto lo schermo presente in altri modelli top. Lo schermo dovrebbe comunque essere un Full HD+ con un notch a goccia. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8Il Redmi Note 8 è il modello più economico della serie e dovrebbe avere chipset, fotocamere e design differenti. Redmi Note 8 monterà lo Snapdragon 665, lo stesso già visto sul Mi A3, che è un aggiornamento del 660.
Redmi Note 8 teaser Anche qui ci saranno quattro fotocamere, ma la principale avrà un sensore da 48MP, non è certo però che ci sarà il teleobiettivo. La batteria dovrebbe essere da 4,000 mAh con il supporto per la ricarica veloce mentre lo schermo dovrebbe essere lo stesso. Le altre differenze riguardano la struttura che dovrebbe essere simile a quella di A3 con un retro in vetro ricurvo. Redmi Note 8 e Note 8 Pro saranno annunciati in Cina il 29 agosto insieme a una nuova Redmi TV e ad un portatile Redmi book. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| La Vuelta a España 2019 live stream: how to watch cycling online from anywhere Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:46 AM PDT 21 stages, 3,254 kilometres and some of the most punishing summit finishes in cycling, La Vuelta a España 2019 is underway with some of the world's top riders competing. At least watching the third and final Grand Tour of the summer cycling race season is really easy - our guide below will take you through the steps (or pedals?) you'll need to watch La Vuelta a España 2019 no matter where you are in the world. Growing in prestige with each edition - recent winners have included Chris Froome, Vincenzo Nibali, Nairo Quintana, and Alberto Contador - the Vuelta a España is far from the poor relation to the Tour de France or even the Giro d’Italia it once was. This year's Vuelta is set to be tougher than ever with eight summit finishes - five of which are new to the race, along with two time trials. There's also a detour into Andorra and France as well as a Gran Salida from Utrecht, in the Netherlands. Boasting Primoz Roglic and Steven Kruijswijk and a strong support squad, Jumbo-Visma look like the team to beat during this year's race with its two main riders likely to battle it out as overall winner. There's also likely to be plenty drama among the ranks of Team Movistar, with Richard Carapaz out for more glory following his triumph in the Giro, starting alongside former Vuelta winners Nairo Quintana and Alejandro Valverde. You can watch live all the action from the Mediterranean Coast to the peaks of the Pyrenees using our live streaming guide to the 2019 La Vuelta a España below.
Live stream La Vuelta a España from outside your countryWe have details of all the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand broadcasters further down this guide. Good news in Australia where it's on free-to-air TV. If you're obsessed by watching the cycling and refuse to miss a stage - even when you're away on business or on holiday - then you'll be disappointed to see your domestic coverage geo-blocked when you try to stream online from abroad. That's where utilising a VPN (Virtual Private Network) really helps. It let's you virtually change the ISP of your laptop, tablet or mobile to one that's back in your home country. Thus letting you watch as if you were back there. Live stream La Vuelta a España for FREE in Australia and SpainAll the action from La Vuelta a España is set to streamed via Spain's own free-to-air RTVE network on its dedicated Teledeporte sports channel. The TV channel itself can be viewed via apps like TruTV so you can enjoy all the cycling action from anywhere on your mobile smart device. The commentary will be in Spanish, but you'll still have the pictures at least. Aussie cycling fans can watch the action with English commentary for free thanks to SBS. The free-to-air broadcaster has the rights to show the Vuelta live on its Viceland channel. Don't worry if you're out of the country and want to catch that SBS broadcast - a VPN will let you watch as if you were back at home on your laptop, mobile or other TV streaming device.
How to watch the La Vuelta a España: UK live streamFor UK residents, Eurosport 1 is the channel to head to for your La Vuelta fix. Eurosport is available with basic Sky TV packages or with a Eurosport Player monthly or annual pass - a free trial for which is available here - that also gives you access across loads of devices. Not in the UK? Don't worry, you can download and use a VPN to take your laptop or mobile virtually back to the UK and watch as if back in blighty. If you haven't got Eurosport and aren't bothered about watching events unfold live, you can always fall back on ITV's highlights which will be broadcast nightly.
How to watch the La Vuelta a España: US live streamThe La Vuelta a España 2019 is being aired by NBC Sports Live Extra in the US. This will be streamed online so if you have the app then you can enjoy it anywhere. However for those that don't have access to this stream there are other options. For the most extensive coverage NBC has to offer, you can subscribe to NBC Sports Gold, which is offering a Cycling Pass for $54.99, delivering live, on-demand and commercial free coverage of the Tour. There's also the option of streaming the Vuelta live via Fubo.tv with apps for the service available for just about any device that can stream video. If you're new to the service, Fubo.tv are offering a week's free trial. With the Vuelta three weeks long, you'll need to subscribe if you want to watch the race in its entirety on the service - Fubo.tv’s basic package will set you back $54.99 per month.
How to watch the La Vuelta a España: Canada live streamCanadians will be able to get in on the La Vuelta a España 2019 action via FloBikes which streams online so you can watch from anywhere. A monthly subscription will cost you $30 while a yearly account will set you back $150 ($12.50 per month), which will give you access to coverage of major cycling events throughout the year. Not in Canada to catch that Flobikes stream? Well you know the answer by now...using a VPN is the way to make sure you don't miss a moment.
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| Fast charging tipped to be one of the key features of the Samsung Galaxy A90 Posted: 26 Aug 2019 05:10 AM PDT What will Samsung bring to the phone market with the Galaxy A90 series? Fast charging and 5G, if we can believe a listing that has popped up on Samsung's Hungarian site. The listing is actually for a fast 45W charger for the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, but if you look close enough you'll see that it says 45W charging is supported on the Galaxy A91, and that 25W charging is supported on the Galaxy A90 5G. Sounds like we can expect two new phones in the near future then. We'd already heard a few whispers about the upcoming A90 – like the lack of a pop-up, rotating camera – but this makes their existence (almost) official.
The phones are expected to act as follow-ups to the Samsung Galaxy A80, which did have a pop-up, rotating camera as one of its selling points. It seems as though the replacements might be a bit more... well... normal. Charge of the fast brigadePrevious rumors have hinted at the possibility of the Galaxy A91 arriving with a quad-core rear-facing camera, and maybe even a 108MP resolution for one of the camera lenses. Add in the suggestion that these phones are going to come toting the Snapdragon 855 processor, and it seems like these might be very well-specced phones indeed – not really the mid-rangers that Galaxy A series devices usually are. With 25W and 45W fast charging now added to the equation, it seems you'll be able to juice these phones up very quickly too. The Note 10 Plus was the first Samsung phone to hit that 45W mark, but it won't be the last. Considering the Galaxy A80 only launched in May, it might be a few months before the A90 and A91 models see the light of day – but now we know something about what to expect when they do. Via XDA Developers This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Redmi Note 8 and Note 8 Pro specifications confirmed by Xiaomi, days before the launch Posted: 26 Aug 2019 04:15 AM PDT The Redmi Note 8 and the Note 8 Pro are going to be unveiled in China on August 29 as Xiaomi’s top budget smartphones. Redmi has revealed some more bits about these phones in the hype-building phase. Xiaomi’s Redmi Note series has been a top-seller in multiple countries including India, thanks for its extreme value-for-money, great performance and reliable battery life. However, in the past few years, Redmi has upped its game by also improving the design and cameras massively. With the Redmi Note 8 series, things are shaping up to be even brighter. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8 ProThe Redmi Note 8 Pro is going to be the show stopper this time by bringing massive leaps in performance and photography. Powered by the gaming-centric MediaTek Helio G90T chipset, it should have no problems keeping up with user demands. It is likely to be the first device to be powered by this new chipset. Also seeing a big step up, the Redmi Note 8 Pro will ship with a 4,500 mAh battery, which is the biggest ever on a Redmi Note device. There will also be support for 18W fast charging over USB Type-C.
25x zoom teaser The most interesting upgrade comes in the form of the cameras, as the Note 8 Pro will be the first smartphone to sport a 64MP primary camera, implementing Samsung’s new ISOCELL Bright GW1 image sensor. This is going to be a quad-camera setup. While Xiaomi hasn’t mentioned how these cameras are going to be different from one another, we can expect a combination of a primary, an ultrawide, a telephoto along with a depth sensor. Xiaomi even shared teaser images that showed 25x zoom capabilities, which is likely to be a hybrid solution. In terms of design, the Redmi Note 8 Pro will build upon the new style that we saw debut on the Redmi K20 series with a curved glass back with smokey edges that dances with the light. Official renders suggest a green and a white colour variant, but we could see more options too. The back also has a fingerprint scanner, indicating that there will not be an in-display solution. The display is expected to be a Full HD+ panel with a dot notch on the top. Xiaomi Redmi Note 8The stage will be shared by the Redmi Note 8 which will be a slightly more affordable smartphone. It will follow the same philosophy but will bring in a few changes in departments such as the design, processor and camera. For starters, the Redmi Note 8 will be powered by the Snapdragon 665 chipset, which is the same one we saw on Mi A3, and is an upgrade over the Snapdragon 660.
Redmi Note 8 teaser We will continue to get a quad-camera arrangement, but the primary camera will be a 48MP sensor instead of 64MP. It wouldn’t be surprising if the Redmi Note 8 does away with the telephoto lens in favour of a macro lens or something. Other specifications are likely to be similar with a battery in the range of 4,000 mAh with support for fast charging. The display should also be the same. The other perceivable difference comes in the form of the design, as teased renders suggest a design similar to the Mi A3 with a curved glass back with cameras along the edge. The Redmi Note 8 and the Note 8 Pro will be announced in China on August 29, along with a new Redmi TV and a Redmi book laptop. Speculations suggest that these phones will launch in India in the coming months, right in time for Diwali.
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