Apple : False start: the Tokyo Olympics dates shift to 2021 due to coronavirus concerns |
- False start: the Tokyo Olympics dates shift to 2021 due to coronavirus concerns
- Walmart's best online sales: cheap deals on TVs, Roku, Xbox One, Fitbit, and more
- General Electric suffers data breach after service provider hack
- Mouse support for iPad? Apple launches iOS and iPadOS 13.4
- Coronavirus is a critical event and needs to be treated as such
- Best comic book apps
- The best indoor TV antennas 2020: 7 great digital TV antennas for inside your home
- Is Argos still open after the coronavirus lockdown - and can you order home delivery?
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| False start: the Tokyo Olympics dates shift to 2021 due to coronavirus concerns Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:19 PM PDT If you planned on buying an 8K TV to watch the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, you might want to hold off: Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says that the Olympics will officially be postponed until 2021. The agreement was struck between the Prime Minister and the International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who say the games must be postponed to avoid the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, but say that the games should happen no later than the summer of 2021. "In the present circumstances and based on the information provided by the WHO today, the IOC President and the Prime Minister of Japan have concluded that the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in Tokyo must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021, to safeguard the health of the athletes, everybody involved in the Olympic Games and the international community", the pair said in a joint statement on Tuesday. "The leaders agreed that the Olympic Games in Tokyo could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present. Therefore, it was agreed that the Olympic flame will stay in Japan. It was also agreed that the Games will keep the name Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020". The Olympic Games are the latest event to be either postponed or outright cancelled due to the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, joining many tech and music-specific events like the SXSW festival, E3 2020, the Game Developers Conference and Mobile World Congress. A bittersweet decisionThe Olympics are important to many on a personal level – think of the athletes and coaches that trained to compete, the communities that prepared to host and the international audience who had committed to attending the games in Tokyo. For them, postponing the games will likely be both a relief and a real disappointment – a bittersweet decision that was made to keep people safe in a troubled time. To a lesser extent, it's also bittersweet for the at-home viewers who planned on streaming the games - some of whom may have bought an 8K TV for the occasion. Thankfully the extra time gained by the delay could give NHK, the BBC and other broadcasters time to continue to test their 8K delivery infrastructure. As Abe and Bach said in their statement, the Olympics would’ve been a time to celebrate the world coming together after a crisis, an almost cathartic response after a time of trauma, but now that time will have to be put on hold for awhile until countries can better contain the virus.
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| Walmart's best online sales: cheap deals on TVs, Roku, Xbox One, Fitbit, and more Posted: 24 Mar 2020 02:01 PM PDT You can find fantastic deals right now at Walmart with discounts available in every category. To help you sort through all the offers, we've rounded up Walmart's best online sales that we think are worthy of your time. The bargains include discounts on TVs, Roku streaming devices, Xbox One consoles, Fitbit activity trackers, appliances and more. Walmart's top online sales include the Roku Express on sale for just $24, the Samsung 55-inch 4K Smart TV on sale for $327.99, and the Xbox One S console on sale for $159.99.
Walmart's best online deals:You can shop more of the best cheap TV deals from Samsung, LG, Sony, and more. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| General Electric suffers data breach after service provider hack Posted: 24 Mar 2020 01:51 PM PDT General Electric (GE) has revealed that one of its service providers has fallen victim to a data breach which resulted in the personally identifiable information of current and former employees as well as beneficiaries being exposed online. In a notice of data breach filed with the Office of the California Attorney General, the multinational company explained that Canon Business Process Services (Canon), a GE service provider, had one of its employee email accounts breached by an unauthorized party last month, saying: "We were notified on February 28, 2020 that Canon had determined that, between approximately February 3 - 14, 2020, an unauthorized party gained access to an email account that contained documents of certain GE employees, former employees and beneficiaries entitled to benefits that were maintained on Canon’s systems."
The documents obtained by the unauthorized party may have contained the names, addresses, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, bank account numbers, passport numbers, dates of birth and other information of GE employees and their beneficiaries. Service provider hackAccording to the notice of data breach, GE's systems were not affected by Canon's security breach, though the company has indicated that it is taking preventative measures to prevent a similar incident from taking place in the future. For the GE employees and subsidiaries affected, Canon is offering identity protection and credit monitoring services for two years at no cost through Experian. However, they'll have to sign up by June 30th to take advantage of Canon's offer. GE has also set up a support hotline which affected individuals can call for more information on the incident.
Via BleepingComputer This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Mouse support for iPad? Apple launches iOS and iPadOS 13.4 Posted: 24 Mar 2020 01:26 PM PDT Apple's iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 update brings new features to your existing iPhone and iPad, and chief among the perks is enhanced mouse and keyboard support. Any iPad compatible with iPadOS 13.4 will be able to use a mouse with a real pointer icon on-screen. Yes, Apple demoed mouse support with the iPad Pro 2020 along with its ‘floating’ Magic Keyboard peripheral, but it's not limited to the new iPad. Moreover, iPadOS 13.4 mouse support also works third-party bluetooth and USB keyboards and mice, not just the highlighted Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. And all of today’s Apple software updates, including iOS 13.4 and macOS 10.15.4, bring long-awaited iCloud folder sharing from within the Files app. With sharing comes controls to limit access, either only to accounts that were specifically invited or to anyone with a link, as well as who can make changes. Buying apps for iOS, iPadOS, macOS and tvOS should be easier in the future, as the new suite of software updates introduce something called Universal Purchase. This allows app developers to bundle apps across multiple platforms.
But that’s not all: MemojiIt's not all productivity tools and file configuration changes. iOS 13.4 and iPadOS 13.4 introduce some fun, too, with nine new Memoji stickers that offer fresh poses in the guise of your cartoonish Apple persona. Other iOS 13.4 updates are a bit perfunctory: making reply/delete/compose controls always visible in the Mail app, encrypting email responses automatically (just remember to set up S/MIME first), and finally lending Apple CarPlay support for third-party navigation apps (read: Google Maps and Waze). And then there are a bunch of fixes for existing iOS 13 problems – though it isn't yet clear if Apple was able to successfully troubleshoot the Hotspot issues we've been encountering. Via MacWorld This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Coronavirus is a critical event and needs to be treated as such Posted: 24 Mar 2020 01:00 PM PDT The coronavirus is a critical event. For most companies this is unchartered territory and management of it will be very disjointed and take valuable time to work through. A crisis management program is necessary but not always within an organisation’s experience, so companies need to consider how they can use technology to help them manage the impact on the business and a remote working strategy. This will help them to be prepared, provide them with the ability to monitor risk intelligence, and give them the means of communicating with employees, wherever they are. Here’s is a quick guide, based on our own wide experience dealing with emergencies, to how a combination of best practice and crisis management technology can help: Coordination – Set up a team that is dedicated to exercising control during the coronavirus, so that it can ensure the necessary decisions can be made quickly and in a goal-oriented manner. Assess - Assess the threat to you and your employees from coronavirus. Determine where it is occurring and whether the source of risk information is reliable. There will be a lot of data to sort through, including social media. It is important to ask: how many different sources of risk data are we using to monitor threats to our company? How effective is that? Is any of it automated or filtered? Locate – Based on the assessment, you need to locate the impacted people or assets or operational functions. This could involve your employees, remote workers, executives, contractors and other stakeholders. Trying to correlate the two may involve accessing multiple systems and sources of information like HR systems, travel systems, building management systems, and so on. You must ask: how many different systems do you have that store information about your people and assets? Is this information integrated with your threat data to determine who or what might be impacted? Action - Activating response plans and communications. This will involve not just employees, but all those that are connected with the organisation who need to be kept updated. It is important to have your response plans and communications automated based on specific coronavirus incidents or scenarios as they unfold. Support – Consider support for employees who fall ill. To ensure that the well-being of those affected by illness is guaranteed as far as possible, companies can find out what help they can provide in terms of access to medical treatment. Analyse - Once you’ve activated your plans you need to analyse your situation to make sure the actions you took were effective and to gain a clear understanding of how you performed. This may involve post event reporting or additional actions required to understand how to improve next time. Often the systems that are used for this are manual or not even in place. Not knowing how long the coronavirus will impact businesses may necessitate analysis at various points to track the success of the response efforts. These tips are designed to guide companies through the unprecedented scenario presented by coronavirus, but they are equally appropriate to other emergency events. Right now, the clock is ticking and the more time that passes, the greater the impact of the virus on employees and operations and fewer options that might be available to businesses. The main benefit of IT platforms that are designed for critical events is that they allow companies to implement emergency measures rapidly, and largely automatically. They also help to collect critical information in real-time so that companies can get a realistic view on how the emergency is likely to affect them, allowing the coordination team to take action accordingly. We are undoubtedly in uncharted territory, but technology can help to steer companies through. Javier Colado is Head of International at Everbridge This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:39 PM PDT Excelsior! If you’re looking for the best comic book apps, those services that take your much loved trade paperbacks and story arcs and present them in all their digitised finery, then you’ve come to the right place. While there’s lots to be said for the purists’ traditional paperbacks, reading comics in the digital age makes them more accessible than ever. With full library back catalogues at your fingertips, curated reading lists and rare runs made easy to find, comic book apps offer everyone, whether a seasoned reader or comic newcomer, a great way to read some classic stories from across the decades. From all-you-can-read subscription services to apps that let your organise your personal libraries, these are our top picks. Devices for reading comics onAnything with a screen and web connectivity these days can usually be found to have some sort of comic book reading app, but for the best experience, you’re going to want a handheld mobile device, be that a tablet or smartphone. While the apps listed below will work on the majority of Android and iOS devices, these are our top tablet devices for both operating systems which we’d recommend for reading on if you’re after the best big-screen experience. And, if you want to take your comics in your pocket, we’ve listed our favorite smartphone below, too: Best comic book apps:
Marvel Unlimited ($9.99 / £7.99 a month) If you’re looking for the adventures of the Avengers, X-Men and many more of the most famous superheroes in comic books, look no further than Marvel Unlimited. For a monthly subscription cost, you get access to more than 13,000 Marvel comics, stretching right back to its earliest days and titles as new as 12 months old. It’s a fantastic reading experience, letting you save as many as 12 issues for offline reading on each and any device you use it with, and you’ll bag a discount if you subscribe for a year, too. It’s perfect for gobbling up entire runs, and its curation is particularly well-considered, with often well-timed introductions to characters as they make their silver screen debuts or returns. You’ll also enjoy the option of scrolling panel-by-panel through stories, great for reading on smaller smartphone screens, that helps to show just why these tales have translated to cinema so effortlessly. Read our full Marvel Unlimited review
DC Universe ($7.99 a month) Another all-you-can-eat service, but this one is for fans of the DC Universe – so that’s heroes like Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman and friends. Slightly cheaper than Marvel Unlimited, it actually also provides a more diverse offering than just comics. Along with its reads, DC Universe also gives its subscribers access to a rotating selection of DC TV shows and movies. That’s for the good reason however – it’s comic collection pales in comparison to its Marvel competition. But as a reading experience, it’s just as good, with well-reproduced artwork and an easily navigable UI. DC Universe is currently only available in the US.
ComiXology (Free, with subscription option) The Amazon-owned ComiXology is a great choice if you want to read beyond the confines of the Marvel and DC universes, featuring manga, independent publishers and graphic novels from all sorts of creators. Comics can be bought on a per-issue basis, or you can subscribe to individual titles. It also features a panel-by-panel viewing option that makes it easier to read on smaller screens, and has a good selection of free comics to try out too – they’ll get you hooked, and you’ll be paying for more in now time. If you’d rather an all-you-can-read experience, ComiXology offers a subscription service to US readers too, priced at $5.99 a month. Sadly, that feature is not available globally.
Chunky Comic Reader (Free) (iPad iOS) If you’ve got your own library of digital comics ready to go, own an iPad, and aren’t looking to subscribe or buy more, then you owe it to yourself to get Chunky Comic Reader. An incredible free app, it supports CBR, CBZ and PDF formats, supports cloud imports from services like Dropbox and Google Drive, and even has smart AI features that can upscale poor scans, and adjust faded contrast and discoloured pages. It feels like the work of a super-villain that this one is being offered up for free, so take advantage.
Astonishing Comic Reader (Free) (Android) This one is the Android answer to Chunky and, unlike the iPad rival, can be found on Android smartphones as well as tablets. Also free, it too automatically organises your CBR, CBZ and PDF files, and has built-in support to grab your libraries stored on cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive. It’s perhaps the most customisable of all readers on this list thanks to Android’s open nature, letting you set hardware controls for page turns, as well as other welcome options for onscreen navigation. The fact that it’s free only sweetens the deal.
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| The best indoor TV antennas 2020: 7 great digital TV antennas for inside your home Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:30 PM PDT The best indoor antennas pay for themselves. By offering you dozens of free over-the-air channels in HD for no monthly fee, you're buying a basic portal into the world of sports, news, sitcoms and more from America's most popular networks. Unfortunately the fact that TVs can receive these channels is a fact that has largely been obscured by cable companies that are all-too-eager to sign you up for an expensive cable plan. Now sure, over-the-air broadcasts are much more limited than any cable package out there, but they're totally free and still usually carry the biggest sports match-ups (the NFL on Sunday, the NBA Finals and the Stanley Cup), plus sitcoms, dramas and comedy shows from NBC, ABC, CBS and more. So what's the best indoor antenna for your money? Well, that's exactly what we wanted to find out, so we called in a whole bunch from various manufacturers and put them to the test. What you'll find below is, in our opinion, the definitive round-up of the best indoor TV antennas on the market in 2020. Best indoor TV antennas at a glance
Best indoor TV antennas 2020
Best indoor TV antenna: AmazonBasics Ultra-Thin Antenna It's right there in the name: Amazon's own antenna option is basic indeed, with a very thin, paper-like slab of plastic that mounts to your wall with the included double-sided adhesive pads. This one isn't amplified, so there's no power plug needed—it simply plugs into the coaxial input on your television. In our testing location, we consistently saw stellar results with the AmazonBasics Indoor Flat TV Antenna, which is rated to reach sources up to 35 miles away. There were occasional discrepancies, though, such as struggling to get the local PBS channels. You may need to play around with positioning in your space to maximize the reach, but that's true with most indoor antennas. If you live close to a major city, for example, this could be all you need. And at an asking price of just $20, it's a great deal if it fits your situation. Amazon used to sell a longer-range, amplified antenna rated for up to 50 miles, but it is now discontinued. If you live further out from a major city or broadcast source, or you anticipate having reception issues, then you may want to opt for an amplified alternative instead.
Best indoor TV antennas: Antennas Direct ClearStream Eclipse 2 The ClearStream Eclipse 2 is similar to Amazon's thin, plastic antenna at its core, but this very distinctive figure-eight design is one of a kind. Whatever engineering Antennas Direct did to pin down this kind of design clearly worked, however, as this amplified long-range antenna does an excellent job of picking up channels. It's rated for 60+ miles and consistently delivered strong reception while pulling in all of the channels we expected to see. It also comes with curved double-sided tape pads that sit on the upper and lower backs of the design, ensuring a snug fit to your wall. It's a pricey option at $70, but that's an investment in a quality product.
Best indoor TV antenna: Antop HD Smart Bar AT-500SBS If you live far from a broadcast source and/or you've had trouble with other antennas, the Antop HD Smart Bar (AT-500SBS) could solve your issues—if you're willing to pay a steep price and tolerate the very large size. The Antop HD Smart Bar is a hard-plastic antenna that measures 2.5 feet wide and can be mounted on your wall like a soundbar, or you can use the included base stand to prop it up vertically. In any case, it's much more visible than nearly any other indoor antenna on the market, but the trade-off is a much longer promised range of 80 miles. It also has a 4G signal filter, an FM tuner, and the ability to connect to a second TV, plus the reception was excellent in our testing. However, with a $119 price tag, we recommend trying cheaper alternatives first to see if they'll meet your needs.
Antop's HD Smart Antenna (SBS-301) keeps most of the perks as the Antop model above, but does so with a slimmer design and slightly lower price. It's a flat plastic design like Amazon's antenna, but actually looks like two of them merged together. You can stick it to a wall with the included Velcro pads or prop it up using the simple plastic stand. In our testing, it pulled fewer channels on the stand next to the TV than when it was mounted higher up on the wall. This amplified antenna's range is slightly less than the Smart Bar at 70 miles, but it still has the 4G signal filter, FM tuner, and ability to connect to two TVs at once. The $89 price point is easier to stomach too, even if it's higher than all the other non-Antop antennas on this list. The signal looked great to us, but as with the Smart Bar above, this might be an option for those who are having reception issues using other antennas.
Best indoor TV antenna: Winegard FlatWave Amped FL5500A Winegard's amplified FlatWave FL5500A antenna checks all of the same boxes as the AmazonBasics model listed above. It offers a 50-mile range, is flat and nearly paper-thin with black and white sides, and delivers a strong 1080p signal. In our testing, it found just over 50 channels in both locations. We have no complaints about the device itself. Really, our only issue that the FlatWave FL5500A costs more than double the price of the AmazonBasics 50-mile option, and truth be told, we couldn't tell a difference between them in use. They are nearly identical across the board, but based on current pricing, you'll save more than $25 with Amazon's model. It's great, but there's no clear reason to pay extra that we could see.
Best indoor TV antenna: Mohu Blade Indoor/Outdoor Bar Antenna Mohu's new Blade antenna is a one-of-a-kind – instead of a floppy sheet, it's a thicker, rectangular plastic panel that you might not be compelled to hide. You could mount it on the wall below the TV like a soundbar, or there's a little attachable kickstand if you'd rather put it on a TV stand. In any case, it's stylish in a way that most antennas simply don't strive to be. And if you want, you can mount it in an attic or even outside. But that style comes with frustrations. We struggled mightily to attach a coaxial cable or 90-degree coaxial adapter to the back of the antenna, because its coaxial connector is wedged so tight to the backing. Ultimately, we used a screwdriver to remove the spongey support ring on the back to give our hands a bit more room, and then had to use pliers to tighten the adapter because it wouldn't budge using our fingers. It was a real pain. Once it was finally up and running, we searched multiple times and found fewer channels with the ground-floor TV – just 44 max, compared to 50+ with the others. None of the omissions were crucial, but it was still a difference. Upstairs, we had to play around with the location before hitting the same 50+ mark as the other antennas. The Blade is sleek and stylish, but the smaller size brings a couple of frustrations along with it.
The Clear TV HDTV Antenna reimagines the classic design as a USB stick-sized antenna with extendable rabbit ears. It's small, it's simple, and it's incredibly cheap (we picked ours up from Walmart for a mere $10). But if you're thinking that a design like this is too good to be true, then you're on to something: While we experienced good reception in one location that we've used to test many antennas, we struggled to pull as many channels or as consistent of reception in another area that has been fine with larger, more powerful rivals. We saw very different results on two floors of a house about 15 miles north of downtown Chicago. On the top floor, the antenna performed similarly to many others that we have tested in the location, picking up 55 channels and providing strong reception on most of them. We tested the antenna both directly behind the TV and a couple feet away from it on the same surface, and the results were similar in both instances. Downstairs in the living room, the Clear TV was much less successful. We ran multiple channel scans with the antenna behind the TV, both resting on the stand and on the back of the set itself, and only pulled in about 20 channels. Those channels looked clear and were stable, but it was a fraction of what we had pulled one floor higher. If you have experienced troubles with interference or live farther away from a source, then you'll probably want to invest in something more powerful. Read the full Clear TV HDTV Antenna review Antenna scams you should know aboutRecently there have been a number of misleading product pages on Amazon that have promised customers outrageous features like a 120-mile range and 4K resolution. Do not take them at their word. These claims are misleading and, with our current technology, impossible. You can read a great breakdown of lies antenna manufacturers tell you over on TechHive, but suffice it to say that the curvature of the Earth prevents more than an 80-mile range for broadcasts and no broadcast station in America currently puts out a 4K OTA signal. That is going to be part of the next set of ATSC standards that's currently in development and is called NextGen TV. That should start rolling out by the end of 2020. Best indoor TV antenna: how we testedFor this piece, we tested indoor antennas that remain near your TV, both standard antennas that connect solely via coaxial cable, and amplified ones that add a USB connection or must be plugged into a wall outlet for a powered-up range boost. We tested several current indoor TV antennas from the top makers in the business, watching to see how many channels each antenna could find, how easy it was to set up, how crisp the signal looked, the style and size of the device, and the price and overall value. Our testing environment was a two-story house just outside of Chicago, less than 15 miles from downtown. Each antenna was tested on two televisions: one on the first floor, and another upstairs on the second floor. Even if modern antennas are more reliable than the old versions, they can still be fickle: your distance from broadcast towers is important, but so too is where you place the antenna, where you are in your home, and what's around it. Your experience may vary to ours, as a result, and you may need to experiment with location to yield the most channels to watch. These are the best indoor TV antennas that we've tested so far, and we'll be adding more to the list once we try more models. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Is Argos still open after the coronavirus lockdown - and can you order home delivery? Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:19 PM PDT Argos has announced the closure of its physical stores in a bid to protect its customers and staff from coronavirus. The veteran catalogue retailer, which has almost 50 years of history under its belt, is shifting focus to its online store, which currently remains open for business. Argos online offers a vast selection of goods - and it claims to still be providing fast delivery too. So while you can't currently stroll down to your nearest Argos for a browse, you can still grab yourself an excellent Argos deal online and take advantage of the retailer's handy same-day delivery service. Argos online: quick links
Argos delivery starts at £3.95 for small items, which automatically entitles you to same-day delivery as long as you order before 6pm. If you're ordering larger items, you may be able to get free delivery, depending on what you're ordering and when you want it. So if you're currently at home wondering how to entertain the kids, keep fit, or while away the hours with some games or shows - you’re in luck, as you can still buy all the things you need on Argos online. We've included some helpful links below to get you to where you need to be quickly, as well as some advice and information regarding Argos delivery and store closures. Argos home deliveryQuick delivery is what really sets Argos apart as a retailer as you can get same-day delivery for just £3.95 and Argos will even deliver 7 days a week - super useful if you're trying to fit delivery around a busy working from home or home schooling schedule. If you're buying small items, which can be delivered by one person, then you're entitled to same-day delivery as long as you get your order in by 6pm. All small items cost £3.95 for delivery, so make sure you're taking advantage of the fast track same-day service that's on offer. If you're buying large appliances then you'll get the added bonus of free delivery, although be aware that the fast track same-day delivery doesn't apply to these items. You can of course still go for the next-day delivery option, which also means you can pick the delivery time slot that's best for you. For more information on Argos's delivery times and charges, you can visit their delivery FAQ here. Are any Argos stores open right now?Certain Argos stores that are part of Sainsburys supermarkets remain open for business currently, meaning you can make use of their click and collect policy if you’re on your way to pick up essential food items. We'd of course strongly advise against this, as it's essential that everybody puts the health of themselves and others above any other considerations right now. Thankfully Argos has some of the best home delivery in the business - it's fast, cheap, and above all else convenient - so there's no reason to not use it under current circumstances. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Best website defacement monitoring service of 2020 Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:14 PM PDT In July 2001, the Code Red worm infected over 359,000 hosts which were running a vulnerable implementation of Windows NT. Visitors to compromised websites were greeted with the message: "HELLO! Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked By Chinese!" Code Red and the phrase "Hacked by Chinese!" have long since passed into internet legend but the danger of website defacement is clear and present. Hackers can target your site at any time, so unless you are viewing a page as its been changed, it's hard to respond quickly. In this guide, you'll discover an elegant solution to the issue of website defacement in the form of the very best security tools on the web today. These automate the task of regularly checking your domains for anomalies and make sure to notify you if any unauthorised changes are detected. There are options to match all budgets from free services suitable for the occasional blogger to premium platforms for large business owners.
Visualping Visualping is a deceptively simple tool which offers powerful protection against website defacement. Users of the website or iOS/Android mobile apps need only enter a URL and their email address to receive regular updates of any changes made. The tool works by making regular snapshots of the page in question then comparing these on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. It can also be customized to trigger an alert for tiny, medium or significant changes. Visualping is not designed specifically for website defacement. As the developers' website mentions, it will work equally well for checking on the release on concert tickets or a new product launch. However its ability to display superposed 'images' as well as the fact you can control the frequency Visualping checks for changes means it's certainly fit for purpose. The basic free version of Visualping allows you up to 2 free checks per day. Costs vary after this on a very reasonable sliding scale depending on the number of checks required. For instance, to have Visualping check your site 40 times a day (every 36 minutes) would cost just $13 (£9.72) a month. If you need to monitor multiple domains consider installing the Visualping Chrome web extension. Once installed just click the Visualping button to start monitoring the current page. Through to its name Visualping may not be able to detect invisible to changes to pages such as modifications of source code. If malware is a concern consider one of the other tools in this guide.
StatusCake StatusCake is a many-layered treat for webmasters. This British-based site offers a way to check your pages for defacement and downtime from a variety of locations: the project maintains 48 monitoring centers in 28 countries around the world. Many centers support the more recent IPv6 protocol. This offers subscribers a much more refined experience over simpler competitors. Not only can you adjust the frequency of checks but you can also specify the location from which you want to monitor pages. StatusCake even offers a speed test to show how quickly a page loads when checked. There is a free package which can perform up to 10 checks at 5-minute intervals. This is fine for hobby bloggers and those with very monolithic websites but business owners can benefit more from a paid subscription. These are very competitively priced compared to other monitoring services. StatusCake's 'superior' subscription, for instance, costs only $24.49 (£18.50) a month and performs up to 100 checks at 1-minute intervals. You can lower that to $20.41 per month with annual billing. Regardless of which package you choose, StatusCake includes multiple notification options including email, text message and even push notifications via Android/iOS. This service also works with some third party apps such as PagerDuty.
Sucuri Sucuri began in 2010 under the guiding hand of developer Daniel Cid who envisioned a tool which could give webmasters better insight into the security status of their websites. It's safe to say that Mr. Cid has been successful. The cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) Sucuri works not only as a monitoring platform but contains many tools to help prevent malicious attacks by hackers such as a Firewall, anti-virus and DDoS protection. This may be why Sucuri was acquired by legendary hosting provider GoDaddy in March 2018. The Sucuri Website Firewall can handle malware prevention through use of a dedicated whitelist, so that only authorised parties can connect to your site. Sucuri also regularly monitors changes to your pages and can display appropriate warnings. Furthermore, there is a free website malware and security scanner that you can use at sitecheck.sucuri.net. The service also maintains a dedicated incident response team, who work 365 days a year to assist you with restoring your site if anything goes wrong. Subscribers to the 'basic' Sucuri package for $199 (£149.46) per year are guaranteed a response within 12 hours to all support requests of this kind. The basic tier also includes features such as the firewall (with support for whitelists and blacklists), continuous scanning for defacement and malware cleanup. Sadly, there is no free trial for Sucuri, however the main site offers a money back guarantee within 30 days if users aren't satisfied.
OnWebChange OnWebChange is one of the most versatile and useful tools when it comes to defacement protection. Since it was originally developed by Briton Tom Carnell in 2009 the service has exploded and can boast tens of thousands of users. This is due in part to the sophisticated monitoring features. In the first instance, users can select one or more areas to monitor within a web page. This is ideal if you maintain pages with dynamic content. OnWebChange will notify you each time a change takes place, either via email or via push notifications in Android/iOS. Power Users can also use a HTTP CallBacks with their own login data to adjust website content automatically e.g. to restore a defaced page. Furthermore, users can use multi-region tracking which allows you to visit the web pages as if you were visiting them from different geographic regions around the world. The generous free tier offers subscribers advanced CSS (Page Content Selection) as well as the ability to scan both PDF and plain text files for changes. Free tier users are permitted a maximum of 3 tracked sites a month. Checks are made up to 30 times (roughly once a day). Premium subscribers such as those who opt for the 'Standard' package for $3.10 (£2.55) a month, benefit from advanced features such as unlimited trackers and checks every 60 minutes. The highest tier of subscription called "Turbo-100", enables 5 minute tracking with some additional features.
IPVTec IPVTec was created in 2014 under the supervision of a founding member of cybersecurity firm IPVSecurity who was unhappy with the monitoring solutions available to clients at the time. Like Sucuri, the monitoring toll IPVmon is cloud-based meaning setup is minimal and you can start monitoring no matter how small the resources of your own network. The monitor routinely checks for website defacement but also contains a number of other handy features such as verifying your SSL certificates are in date, detecting if pages are unreachable, as well as scanning for malware. Emphasis has been placed on pro-active searches for anomalies to prevent problems before they occur. This includes actively scanning for domain hijacking and DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks as well as defacement. If any irregularities are detected, users are notified with details via text message and email. Messages include a recommended 'call to action' to remedy the issues. IPVTec also has a dedicated dashboard for viewing notifications. Sadly there is no free version but the IPVTec website offers subscribers a free 30 day trial to accustom themselves to the platforms features. The basic (Pro 5) package costs $24 (£17.94) a month ($19 a month annually) and permits monitoring of 5 pages and a single domain. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons (Peter Angritt)
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| Surfshark has the best cheap VPN deal around and is now free for some businesses Posted: 24 Mar 2020 12:04 PM PDT If VPN service Surfshark could already be counted on to have some of the world's best VPN deals, the provider has gone above and beyond for its customers in light of the current global situation. Surfshark is now offering six free FREE months of its VPN for small companies . With so many people now retreating to their homes to work, VPNs have been extremely useful in the battle against cybercriminals trying to take advantage of unsecured home connections. By encrypting all traffic, they make all sensitive information much more difficult to get hold of - that means a much more secure online environment. Surfshark is letting companies of 10 employees or less in countries subject to lockdown apply for the six months free VPN at this link. And if you're not a business but still like the idea of protecting your online life with a VPN, don't turn away just yet as Surfshark's has got some great value for money offers. Sign up now and you'll effectively be paying $1.99/£1.69 a month for the two year plan - that's a whopping 83% discount. Paying less than $50/£50 for two years of coverage is an incredible deal, making Surfshark one of the very cheapest VPN deals around. But that doesn't mean you have to compromise on quality, as it's also one of the best services in the world (we rank it in our top five best VPN services overall) noasting loads of features, unblocking Netflix and has a speedy and helpful live chat support.
Read more about this Surfshark VPN deal:Is Surfshark a good VPN provider?Absolutely! We rank it as our second best VPN service, which given all the thorough tests and analysing we do on VPN services, is pretty pretty position to sit in. If your concern is streaming, Surfshark easily unblocks Netflix and has 1000+ servers in over 60 countries meaning that if you've found yourself increasingly spending more time at home, there's a whole new world of content for you. Or if privacy is your main reason for a VPN, the provider has plenty of technical features such as AES-256 encryption, OpenVPN and IKEv2 support, a no-logs policy, and a kill switch to protect you if your connection drops. If you need more information on the provider, make sure you check out our full Surfshark review.
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| Every movie delayed by coronavirus, from Wonder Woman 1984 to Fast 9 Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:52 AM PDT As coronavirus panic spreads, entertainment companies are quickly changing course on releasing the year's biggest movies. Containing the virus and ensuring the safety of other people has to come first. That's why everything from Black Widow to new Saw-themed movie Spiral are being taken off the release schedule. Wonder Woman 1984 has moved back a few months, too. Numerous industries have altered plans because of Covid-19 – MWC 2020 in Barcelona was canceled, and GDC and E3's cancellation mean gaming faces a quiet year for events. Movies, too, will be hit in much the same way. Cinemas are closing worldwide. In TV and film, the effects are accelerating, with movies like Fast and Furious 9, No Time To Die, A Quiet Place Part 2, and Peter Rabbit 2 all changing release dates to either later in 2020 or 2021. Mulan, Black Widow and The New Mutants have also been delayed for the time being, with no new release dates set by Disney just yet. This isn't just about release dates moving, though – TV show productions are shutting down as well, and in the coming months, we're only going to see more examples of this as coronavirus spreads. Here's a summary of how coronavirus has affected TV and movies so far, including every movie delayed by the effects of the virus to date. Movies delayed by coronavirus so far
Movie release dates are dropping quickly, as the reality of reduced theater attendance is beginning to hit. No Time To Die's release date moved from April to November and A Quiet Place Part 2 has been delayed as well. Meanwhile, the less exciting Peter Rabbit 2 moved from March to August. The biggest move yet came with Fast and Furious 9, though, which will now release in April 2021, almost a year after its original May 22 release date. Next came word that Disney-distributed movies The New Mutants and Mulan are being delayed until a later, unknown date. Finally, May's Black Widow was delayed too. This is a developing situation, obviously, and the world could look very different in a few weeks. Theaters are communal spaces, more likely to be avoided for the time being to stop the spread of the virus. China, a massive market for blockbusters, is basically closed for business. China closed all of its 70,000+ theaters in late January.
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| Laptops vs Desktops: Which computer is better when you work from home Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:36 AM PDT People all have different impressions of what it actually means to work from home. Some think it’s all just lounging in bed, binging TV shows, doing chores around the house, and watching the “work” fall by the wayside. That can certainly be what some days of working from home look like, but for anyone that wants to keep working from home, there needs to be some serious productivity now and then. If you want to be sure you’re set up right to work from home, it’s fair to ask whether a laptop or a desktop computer will serve you better. But, each type of computer has its perks and drawbacks. We’ll explore various aspects of working from home and see how laptops and desktops fit into the picture. So, whether you’re new to working from home or have been doing it for years and just want to optimize your setup, we’ve got the info you should take into consideration.
Your workstationWhen you’re trying to get into your workday, it’s important for you to be able to get in the zone. A desktop work setup is going to more readily enable that. Part of what makes a desktop less appealing is also what makes it ideal for work. It’s going to be in one spot all the time. Once it’s set up, it’s set. You’ll be able to get to work and have a consistent setup. If you have two monitors one day, you’ll have two monitors the next day. That consistency makes it easier to have a more complete workstation. You can put a better keyboard, nice headphones, multiple monitors, a comfy chair, and whatever other creature comforts you want at your desk. From one day to the next, they’ll be right there, ready for you to work. You won’t have to worry about spending a bunch of time getting your workstation set up at the start of each day, saving you a bit of time. Bonus points go to the ability to have one of the best monitors. Since you’ll be spending more time staring at a screen when you’re working from home, it’s good to do your eyes a favor and increase your screen space and font sizes – don’t strain looking at a small screen all day. However, the desktop’s merits stem from one of its greatest detriments. After enough days in a row working from home, a single workspace can start to seem like a prison cell blended with a little solitary confinement. A laptop frees you up from that. With a laptop, you can start your day in the kitchen, looking over emails while you brew coffee or prep some breakfast. You can go to your living room and spend time with your pets while you check the news. That’s a helpful way to avoid going stir crazy. If the weather is nice, you can even take your laptop out on a porch/balcony or whatever semi-outdoor location you have available to you – a convenience not so easily afforded to a desktop setup. And, of course, you can always set up your laptop in a desktop configuration. It might require a hub to connect a modern laptop to multiple monitors, a keyboard, a mouse, and all. But, once you’ve made those connections, your workstation can be just as good as any desktops with the added benefit that you can pick up and move whenever you need. When you do move, all your work will come with you, too. Bonus points go to the laptop because you don’t even need to get out of bed to start your work day. While there may be psychological drawbacks to doing this regularly, it can be nice to get every last minute of sleep possible before needing to clock in for work.
Your work capabilitiesIn many ways, a desktop is going to exceed a laptop in capabilities. The larger form factor means you can stick a more powerful processor and graphics card in, you can add more RAM, and you can have substantially more storage. The front panel of a desktop alone tends to have more I/O than a laptop, and then the motherboard back panel can easily quadruple that. The anchored nature of a desktop also makes it a more suitable device to keep plugged into the internet over an Ethernet cable, giving you a more consistent, high-speed connection. All of that combines to make the desktop PC more capable for high-tab-count browsing, any visual work with photo or video editing, or design work. So, when it comes to sheer performance and connectivity, a desktop setup is going to score an easy win. But, performance isn’t all the matters. If you just need a window into your workspace to interact with your coworkers, a laptop may have a few advantages over a desktop. While you can add a webcam and microphone to your desktop PC, odds are good that your laptop already has both built-in. When you’re working from home, those can be a big bonus. Being able to get some face time with co-workers, even if it’s just on a screen, can be a lot more productive than just chatting on Slack all day. And, when it comes to cabin fever and social isolation, a video chat is a much better supplement than any phone call or group chat.
Your ability to focusThe point of working from home, of course, is actually to work. To that end, it matters that you’re able to be productive. Unfortunately, there’s a landslide of distractions you can get buried in at home, whether it be family and roommates or all the things you needed to do around the house but put off because you weren’t quite bored enough to do them before. Neither desktops or laptops have any guaranteed advantages over the other when it comes to focusing. A desktop can keep you away from other distractions, like your TV. And, family might better recognize that you’re trying to work when you’re at a desktop as opposed to sitting on the couch with a laptop. But, anchoring yourself to a desktop computer can also be a problem for focus. If the room your desktop is in suddenly gets noisy, whether from outside noise or roommates coming in, you might lose the ability to focus. If you’re using a laptop in the same situation, you may be able to pick up and move to a quieter location.
Other considerationsThere are a few other things that may be worth thinking about when you’re working from home. While a desktop may offer more raw power, that power doesn’t come from nowhere. A desktop PC will likely rack up a higher power bill at the end of the day than your typical laptop will. So, unless your work needs the extra power, you may not benefit from using a desktop. Even if you need the power of your desktop, you don’t have to anchor yourself to it. You can enjoy the portability benefits of a laptop while still using your desktop’s internals by employing a remote connection to your desktop. And, if your laptop and desktop are on the same network, you should have exceptionally low latency for that remote connection. Another perk your laptop will have over a desktop is one that hopefully won’t come up often. In the event of a power outage, your laptop can keep running on its battery for some time. That means you won’t suddenly lose all of your work. A desktop would shut down straight away if the power went out. And, even with an uninterruptible power supply in place, your desktop likely won’t stay powered up for very long compared to your laptop if the electricity goes out. And if your internet cuts out, forcing you to run down the street to use a cafe’s Wi-Fi, you can’t bring your desktop along with you.
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| Audible offers hundreds of free audiobooks for homeschooling due to coronavirus school closures Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:33 AM PDT Audible has just announced that they are now offering free audiobooks on their stories service - becoming the latest in a slew of companies offering help for parents who have found themselves affected by the recent coronavirus school closures. Offering over 300 free audiobooks in six languages, Audible has stated that "For as long as schools are closed, we're open" - giving isolated parents a huge array of books to read their children and to use as educational material - all free of charge for the foreseeable future. Categories that are currently free include littlest listeners, elementary, tween, teen, and literary classics - and include such titles as Winnie-the-Pooh, Beatrix Potter, and Alice in Wonderland. The six languages that are currently available are - English, Spanish, French, German, Italian and Chinese Mandarin. To check out what's on offer simply head to the Audible stories page - sign up is currently needed to access these free audiobooks, and you can listen on whatever device you please - laptops, mobiles, and tablets are all catered for. Other great Audible and Kindle dealsIf you're an avid reader but more into the adult genres then there are still some great deals on audiobooks over at the kindle store today, as well as Audibles' excellent offer on a 30-day free trial - a great proposition if you're cooped up inside and want to indulge your imagination for free. Audible was rated our best audiobook site in 2020, where we praised its vast selection of titles, excellent multi-device support and wonderful array of exclusive titles. Currently there are over 200,000 books on their store page, ranging from the hottest new releases to old-school literary classics - both for fiction and non-fiction. There's something for everyone on Audible, whether you're brushing up on your history, learning how to bake the perfect cake, or catching up on your favorite wizard's adventures. If you're not into audiobooks, then Amazon has another online book service in the form of Kindle and they're keen to make sure it's users aren't feeling too left out this week. They've put out a great sale on a list of bestsellers for as little as $1.14 on their official store page, which could potentially save you $14 on select books. Titles include Gregg Olsen's If You Tell: A True Story of Murder and Colleen Hoovers' Regretting You - both listed as official Amazon bestsellers with thousands of five-star reviews. You can check out the full range of Kindle deals here.
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| Disney Plus UK is here: Free trial, movies, app links, Sky Q and more explained Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:27 AM PDT Disney Plus UK has launched – and you can now download the app and start streaming. Finally! With Disney Plus, you can watch all the Star Wars, Disney, Marvel and The Simpsons you can handle. It's a little like Netflix, but focused specifically on Disney-related and Disney-owned content. Here's the full list of Disney Plus UK movies and TV shows, so you can see if it's worth trying out. The launch line-up is very healthy, even compared to the existing libraries in the US and Australia. Now we're getting stuck into the app, too, we can see it retains the Disney US feature of explaining when content is coming to the service in the future. That's how we know Frozen 2 will be on Disney Plus UK on July 17 2020, for example. If you were hoping we'd get every episode of Star Wars show The Mandalorian at launch in the UK, episodes have only started to 'roll out'. Still, you can watch two episodes of the live-action Star Wars show right now, with new episodes of all originals being added at 8am every Friday. Subscribe here, at monthly or yearly tiers: Below, we'll talk you through everything we know about Disney Plus now that the launch is here, including the price, compatible devices, free trial, shows, movies and more. Disney Plus UK release date: it's live!Disney Plus is now live in the UK! You can start watching it now. Disney Plus free trial UK: how to sign up to Disney PlusIf you don't want to subscribe to Disney Plus right now, grab a 7-day free trial of Disney Plus. It's easy to cancel if you don't want to commit (here's how you cancel Disney Plus). Disney Plus app links: how to download Disney PlusBelow, we've added app links we've found so far for the UK launch, and we'll add more as they appear. Disney Plus: UK price and subscription tiers explainedDisney Plus costs £59.99 for an annual subscription, or £5.99 per month. These are the two available tiers, and you can cancel at any time. Unlike in the US, where it's bundled in with ESPN and Hulu, in the UK Disney Plus is a standalone service. Either tier gets you four concurrent streams, unlimited downloads with a maximum of 10 devices and the option to create seven profiles. In the US, you can gift a year of Disney Plus either digitally or in the form of physical cards, but no such option has been announced for the UK yet. Disney Plus supports 4K and HDR streamsDisney Plus indeed supports 4K and HDR. When you're in the app, head over to the 'details' tab of a given movie or show and you'll see a section that says 'available in the following formats', which will explain if the content in question features 4K Ultra HD and HDR. You now have every Star Wars movie to watch in 4K with HDR. Enjoy! Disney Plus UK: compatible devices and appsDisney Plus has launched on pretty much any device you can name in the UK, including mobile devices, games consoles, streaming media devices and smart TVs. You can take Disney Plus shows on the go, too, downloading as many movies and shows as you can fit on your device, as long as you have an active subscription and connect to the internet every 30 days. Disney Plus UK has launched on LG TVs, Sky Q, Apple TV, Roku streaming devices, Android (5.0 and later), iOS (11.0 and later), PS4, Xbox One, LG WebOS smart TVs, Samsung Tizen smart TVs, Google Chromecast and Amazon's Fire range of streaming devices. One notable exception is the Nintendo Switch, which is still pretty poor at supporting streaming services. Phillips' Android-based smart TVs support Disney Plus too. Your Samsung TV may be able to get Disney Plus, as well. Read our guide and discover if your TV can support it. Disney Plus UK: shows and movies, including The Simpsons
Click to see the full list of Disney Plus UK movies and shows at launch, and see what you can stream right now. Every Star Wars movie minus The Rise of Skywalker is on there, as well as a near-complete list of Pixar movies and Marvel movies. You'll also get 2019's Aladdin and The Lion King movies on day one. Frozen 2, which just launched in the US, doesn't arrive until 17 July in the UK according to the app. Looking for recommendations? Check out our list of the best Disney Plus TV shows and best Disney Plus movies. Star Wars series The Mandalorian is the clear highlight of Disney Plus originals. Episodes are rolling out weekly, and the first two are available now. In the UK, all new episodes of original shows on Disney Plus will be released at 8am each Friday. Expect one new episode for each Disney Plus original show per week, except The Clone Wars, which will get two episodes per week until the show catches up with the US. Other originals include the live-action Lady and the Tramp, High School Musical: The Series, Encore!, The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Togo, Diary of a Future President, Forky Asks a Question and The Imagineering Story at launch, too. Expect one episode for each original at launch. Disney Plus: future shows and movies
In the future, Disney Plus is getting plenty of big exclusive shows. From the Marvel Cinematic Universe side of things, new shows include The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (August), WandaVision (November), Loki (2021), Hawkeye (2021) and animated show What If?. Further off, expect TV shows based on Moon Knight, Ms Marvel and She-Hulk. Unlike Marvel's Netflix shows, too, these will canonically be part of the MCU, and feature actors crossing over between the movies and these TV series. Lucasfilm has a second season of The Mandalorian coming in October 2020, then further off it's making shows featuring Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi and Diego Luna's Cassian Andor from Rogue One. It's likely you can expect recent Disney-associated movies like Pixar's Onward, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Maleficent: Mistress of Evil on there before the end of 2020. In the US, Onward arrives early on April 3. Hopefully we'll see it in the UK before long. Disney Plus has launched with Sky Q and Now TV is coming at a later dateDisney Plus has made a deal with Sky to host Disney Plus on its Sky Q platform at launch. That means you can watch Disney Plus as well as your other Sky content – it'll just be added to your Sky bill. According to Pocket Lint, full integration into the Sky Q platform won't come until April, but you can watch Disney Plus through an app on your Sky Q box. Disney Plus will be available on Now TV in the coming months, too.
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| It's the perfect time to make sure your PC is up to date Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:19 AM PDT Deciding when to upgrade your PC is as tough a decision as any. There is a constant flow of new PC components coming to the market, each leapfrogging the last, and computer upgrades aren’t always easy to afford. But now is a pretty good time to give upgrading a shot. There are a lot of great parts on the market, with good prices on some of the best items, and there isn’t too much reason to hold out. Let’s take a look at some of the particularly strong reasons for you to make sure your gaming PC is up to speed.
The competitiveness of RyzenWe’re not just going to say that the latest Ryzen 3000-Series are reason enough to upgrade your computer. But, they’ve introduced a killer new platform and have helped bring down the prices on Intel’s products as well. From AMD’s highest-end Zen 2 chips down to the lower end, like the Ryzen 5 3600, the new ecosystem offers incredible performance that scales up well with the number of cores. It’s even better for gamers, who can get great game performance even from the cheaper Ryzen 5 chips. AMD’s new X570 chipset also works with the new CPUs to enable PCIe 4.0. This can double the data bandwidth for add-in cards, enabling much faster storage. Best of all, many of AMD’s great, consumer-targeted Ryzen 3000-series chips have been on the market long enough that they’re starting to get great discounts. A perfect example is this Ryzen 5 3600X deal that doesn’t seem to have an end in sight. Though AMD’s processors have been bad news for Intel, they’re good news for shoppers who want to buy Intel parts. We’ve seen some of the latest Intel chips get lower prices than their predecessors as Intel has real competition once again. Intel’s Coffee Lake Refresh chips are offering plenty of power, especially when it comes to individual cores. We’ve even seen Intel drop the prices of its HEDT chips, as the Intel Core i9-10980XE launched at half the price of its predecessor. So, if you’re looking to pick up a new CPU and motherboard, you’ll find great options from both Team Red and Team Blue right now.
RAM and storage prices are fairly lowWe’ve come a long way from the flash shortages of 2018. Now, it’s about as affordable as ever to load your computer up with memory and solid state storage. We’ve even seen 1TB of PCIe SSD storage cost little over the price of a new video game. If your computer is running on a hard drive and has 8GB of RAM, now is a great time to make the upgrade. You can find some cheap RAM to load up your computer, giving you plenty of memory for games or for Chrome to hog. Or you can go with the best RAM, giving your PC faster memory to work with. The best upgrade would be to get your operating system and favorite programs running on an SSD. And no, we’re not even talking about an old 2.5-inch SSD. While those can offer a good boost in performance over a hard drive, a PCIe NVMe SSD offers even more throughput by skipping past the dated SATA interface used by hard drives and older SSDs. You can find the best SSD at surprisingly reasonable prices. So, if you held out on adding an SSD (or three) to your computer because the price had always seemed too high, check again.
The affordability of performance monitorsWhen you’re using your computer, you’re looking at your monitor. So, it’ll be a service to your eyes to make sure you’ve got a good one. This is especially true if you’re doing a lot of working from home or gaming to maintain social distance. While just a couple years ago 4K and high-refresh monitors were expensive and niche, they’re starting to become much more commonplace. And that means they’re also getting much more affordable. Gamers can find many gaming monitors offering 1440p and higher resolutions while also smooth crisp 144Hz refresh rates. There are even affordable 240Hz monitors showing up. High-end monitors are also starting to push the limits with 4K and HDR. You can be sure you’re getting a brilliant monitor by looking out for certifications like G-Sync Ultimate, FreeSync Premium Pro or VESA’s DisplayHDR 1000, though VESA also has some lower level certifications that indicate a reduced level of quality. With all of these upgrades you’ll be looking at a high-performance work-from-home machine or a modern gaming rig that’s ready to carry you through all of the exciting PC games coming out in 2020.
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| Mozilla adds ad-free browsing to its anti-tracking protection in Firefox Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:17 AM PDT Mozilla has announced a new initiative called Firefox Better Web with Scroll that combines the tracking protection of its Firefox browser with Scroll's ad-free browsing experience. Last year, Mozilla enabled Enhanced Tracking Protection in Firefox for all users by default to block third-party cookies and cryptomining. Scroll on the other hand, is a startup whose new subscription service allows users to read news from a number of outlets online without ads as the revenue is split among publishers. Before launching the Firefox Better Web with Scroll beta, Mozilla worked with Scroll to collect feedback on this approach.
According to the two companies' research, users see ads as distracting to their online experience but they also want to support online journalism which is why many consumers choose not to use ad-blockers as a result of this. Mozilla also found that users want to support it directly because the company is a non-profit which puts its users first. Firefox Better Web with ScrollNow that Firefox Better Web with Scroll is in beta, anyone in the US that's interested in browsing the web without ads and improved anti-tracking protection can sign up for a Firefox account and install the Better Web with Scroll extension. This ad-free browsing experience will cost you though and Scroll is currently charging an introductory price of $2.49 per month, though its plans will eventually increase to $4.99. Mozilla provided more details on how its new initiative will benefit both consumers and publishers in a blog post, saying: “Your membership is paid directly to the publishers in Scroll’s network based on the content you read. Our hope is that the success of this model will demonstrate to publishers the value of having a more direct, uncluttered connection to their online audience. In turn, the publisher network will continue to grow to include every site you care about so that your money can go directly to pay for the quality journalism you want to read.”
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| Best free blogging site of 2020 Posted: 24 Mar 2020 11:17 AM PDT Free blogging sites have come a long way in recent years, and it’s now easier than ever to create a professional-looking blog to share a hobby with likeminded people, express your opinions, and establish an online presence. These free blogging sites are aimed at hobbyist bloggers – blogs are created and managed online, and hosted on the blogging platform’s own servers. If you want to create a self-hosted blog, the downloadable version of WordPress is an excellent option, with total flexibility, support for third-party plugins, and as much storage as your hosting plan allows. If you're interested in making a static website rather than an online journal, take a look at our guide to the best free website builders.
Wix makes it dead easy to design and realize your blog, and you can do a lot more besides Wix has a range of paid-for subscription plans, but also a free offering, although it’s best to note upfront that this has some caveats. With the free product, your site will have Wix branding, and you’ll be limited to 500MB of data transfer per month, so it’s not for heavily trafficked sites. You also only get 500MB storage, too, so bear that in mind. You are, however, free to build a blog with an unlimited number of pages, and where Wix really shines is with its powerful blog functionality. The editor may be simple, but you get access to all the stuff you need – from image galleries through to videos and music – and there are a ton of ways to customize a post. There’s also a lot of flexibility in the way you can schedule posts, and neat touches like being able to set things up so that posts are automatically pushed to Facebook when they’re published. For instance, you have a feature called WiX Bookings, that allows customers to schedule appointments and classes right on your website. And what makes Wix truly compelling is on top of this, you get the run of the rest of what this website builder offers aside from blog support. That includes using Wix’s ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) editor to make building your site a snap even for novices, plus impressively diverse support for various different types of media, and quality customer support to boot (yes, even on the free plan). As of recently, Wix introduced Wix Turbo, which increases the speed and performance of websites considerably. When you consider what you’re getting for nothing, the bandwidth and data limits don’t seem like such a heavy set of shackles. And you can always upgrade at a later date if you want to break free of them in the longer run. Try it online: Wix
Powerful and highly customizable, WordPress is a brilliant platform for blogs of any size, and bloggers of any level of experience. Creating your first blog is very straightforward, with a simple wizard that guides you through the process of choosing a name and suitable theme. You can leave it there and begin writing posts immediately, but the real fun lies in the more advanced editor, which lets you customize virtually every aspect of your blog’s appearance. Unlike some blogging sites, WordPress isn’t a drag-and-drop affair, and you’ll have to familiarize yourself with its system of menus. It’s well worth the effort, though, and enables you to create something truly personal. The editor also lets you create static pages – like a writer’s biography, for example. The post-writing interface is much like an ordinary desktop word processor (though some options are presented in a toolbar at the top, while others are in a menu at the side, which can be a little confusing at first). Again, time spent getting to know the interface is rewarded with advanced features like customizable social media sharing buttons, geotagging, and the ability to pick a custom style for individual posts. Sometimes you might want to create a photo gallery, for example, and other times a more text-focused style would be more appropriate. You can also view and edit the HTML source. As your blog grows, WordPress lets you track its stats, including page views, visitors, likes and comments over time. You can also see how readers reach your site, which content they viewed, and where they are in the world, so you can tailor your content accordingly. Your site is hosted on WordPress servers, with an address in the format yoursite.wordpress.com. Users of the free service don’t get email or live chat support, but the WordPress community forums are very active and questions are usually answered within a few minutes. Additionally, privacy protection for domains that are registered at WordPress.com is free. WordPress displays ads on free blogs, but provided you can live with that, it’s a top-notch solution for a free blogging site. Try it online: WordPress
Blogger has been around for many years, but has kept up with current trends and technology, including responsive blog templates Blogger is another superb blogging platform. It’s not quite as powerful as WordPress, but more accessible for new users, which comes as no surprise when you learn that it’s owned by Google. Blogger offers an excellent selection of templates, all of which include mobile versions optimized for smaller screens – a very sensible addition with so many people accessing online content through smartphones. Blogger’s post-editing tool is much like WordPress, but offers fewer options. As a result, its toolbars are less confusing – a trade-off between power and usability. One of Blogger’s best features is its integration with other Google apps and services. For example, it uses your Google Drive account to store images and other files for your blog. Google Drive gives you 15GB of space free, so Blogger is a good choice if you’re planning to share a lot of high-res photos. Spam comments are a big problem on blogs, so Blogger’s automatic spam filter can help save your sanity. You can monitor comments via Blogger’s dashboard, which also lets you see visitor stats. There are some handy visualizations here, including a world map to show the global distribution of your readers. Your blog will have an address in the format yoursite.blogger.com, and, like all Google services, will include ads. Support is available through the Blogger user forum, which is very active but has a strange layout that can be a little off-putting. In all other respects, Blogger is brilliant – one of the best free blogging sites if you prioritize ease of use over flexibility and are a fan of the Google ecosystem. Try it online: Blogger
Weebly takes a modular approach to blog building, with a drag-and-drop editor that lets you choose which elements to add to your site, and where. Pick a basic template, then plonk various types of content onto the page, including social media links, text, images, maps, and sections of code. It’s a refreshingly simple way to build a blog that feels unique to you, but doesn’t require any messing about with menus. It’s worth noting, however, that certain content blocks can only be positioned in certain areas; it isn’t a total free-for-all. This makes sense – forcing you to stick within the confines of your chosen template stops the page looking messy – but you might find it limiting. Blog posts are made in the same way: drag text boxes, picture frames, buttons and page breaks into position, then click to edit them. One particularly nice feature is the ‘secret draft link’, which lets you preview your unpublished post, and even share it with others via email before releasing it into the wild. Weebly has some other interesting tricks up its sleeve too, including an area for pasting in Google Analytics tracking code (though it doesn’t offer analytics itself). You’re only given 500MB for uploaded content, so photographers might want to look elsewhere. Weebly puts an ad in your site’s footer, but it doesn’t obscure any of your content. Try it online: Weebly
Penzu is a personal blogging tool that lets you create your own private diary Whereas the other free blogging sites are designed to get as many eyeballs on your posts as possible, Penzu is the equivalent of a locked diary stashed in a safe. Penzu is a journal platform that makes your posts private by default and locks them down with at least one password (even after you’re logged in, you need a second one to read or edit your posts). That’s because it’s designed for private thoughts and personal reflection. There are free apps for iOS and Android that enable you to update your Penzu diary anywhere, but the contents are for your eyes only. Penzu isn’t a tool for self-promotion, so although it’s far from ugly, it understandably focuses on function rather than looks. Custom colors and backgrounds come at a price – currently $20 (about £14, AU$25) per year. It’s a shame that 128-bit AES encryption is also limited to the paid-for version, and there’s a fair amount of pressure to upgrade. Extra options are often dangled under your nose then yanked away, but the core offering is a good one, and if you simply want a place to record your thoughts and practise writing, Penzu could be just what you need. Try it online: Penzu
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| Best cloud storage of 2020 online: free, paid and business options Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:42 AM PDT Businesses and consumers are increasingly reliant on cloud based storage solutions instead of in-house, on-premise local storage hardware. Your files are stored in the cloud, which is a simplified view of what is essentially someone else's infrastructure (data center, server, hard drive, connectivity etc). Ever since Amazon popularised storage online with S3 (Simple Storage Service), 13 years ago, Google data shows that interest for "Cloud Storage" alone has increased by 40x over the past decade. So much so that people less frequently refer to it as "online storage". Given the multitude of cloud storage providers out there, one has to wisely choose a provider who will offer the maximum amount of low-cost storage and bandwidth, while still keeping your data safe. This list represents our top picks for cloud storage: most offer a free tier allowing you to see if they're right for you before handing over any hard-earned cash. And it's iDrive that leads the way thanks to how fast, thorough and easy to use it is. And it's an added bonus that its Cyber Monday sale pricing is still going strong (for a limited time only): Business users will need to consider carefully what their needs are as terms and conditions as well as quality of service is likely to differ significantly from their consumer alter ego. Go straight to your desired option through the jump links below: Best cloud storage of 2020 at a glance:
IDrive secures servers, desktop system and mobile devices with equal aplomb (Image credit: IDrive) IDrive offers continuous syncing of your files, even those on network drives. The web interface supports sharing files by email, Facebook and Twitter. Cautious or click-happy users will be pleased to hear that files deleted from your computer are not automatically deleted from the server, so there's less danger of removing something important by accident. Up to 30 previous versions of all files backed to your account are retained.
Another thing to note is that IT admins have access to IDrive Thin Client application, which allows them to backup/restore, manage settings, and more for all their connected computers via a centralized dashboard. For photos, you have a neat facial recognition feature that helps you to automatically organize them as well as syncing them across all your linked devices. IDrive also offers IDrive Express which sends you a physical hard disk drive if you lose all your data, allowing for the swift restoration of all your backed up files. That applies to the newly introduced disk image backup feature. A business version exists and offers priority support, single sign-on as well as unlimited users and server backup. Furthermore, IDrive Cloud, an enterprise-class cloud object storage is also available.
pCloud delivers an affordable Cloud storage facility with a selection of apps (Image credit: pCloud) While some bandwidth limits apply, there seems to be no limit to the size of files you can upload, so feel free to sync large media files with pCloud. The service is available for all desktop and mobile platforms – users can also log in via the website. The company itself is registered in Switzerland which has strong privacy laws and you can also pay a premium of $4.99 a month for pCloud Crypto to lock (and unlock) individual files with passwords. Note that it is one of the very few cloud services that offer lifetime subscriptions. The latter come with 30 days trash history and unlimited remote upload traffic (you only need the URL of the file); you are - as expected - limited on the download link traffic: 500GB for the Premium package and 2TB for the Premium Plus package.
Image credit: Zoolz There are lots of things to like about Zoolz Cloud Backup for both personal use and business deployment. It offers an easy to follow interface with excellent web management options, and the ability to combine cloud operations with local external storage. This UK-based company leverages Amazon’s Glacier infrastructure to deliver a compelling price/performance ratio, with prices far cheaper than the competition. With 20PB of data stored for three million users for more than a decade, Zoolz is also not as ephemeral as some of its rivals.
Image credit: Degoo Swedish outfit Degoo is not a household name, and therefore it comes as a surprise that it has managed to carve itself a niche inside the ultra-competitive cloud storage market. With only two offerings, this outfit has managed to attract more than 15 million users globally since its inception earlier in 2019 – an estimated 20,000 people join Degoo every day. It is one of the few cloud storage companies worldwide that encrypts stored files and disperses them across four different continents. It also supports two-factor authentication via the Google sign-in.
Image credit: Mega With an insanely generous free tier and a simple drag-and-drop interface, New Zealand-based Mega is one of the cloud storage heavyweights. There's a handy mobile app to allow you to upload files and photos, as well as sync clients with desktop machines. The company also has business tailored plans. Mega claims that all data stored in its cloud is encrypted on your device before it reaches the firm’s servers. As the company has released the source code to its sync client, experts can check that there are no vulnerabilities. Price: 50GB free. 400GB for $6 a month (£4.50, €4.99, around AU$7.50). 2TB for $12 a month (£9, €9.99, around AU$16). 8TB for $23 a month (£17, €19.99, around AU$30). 16TB for $35 a month (£26, €29.99, around AU$46).
Image credit: Microsoft OneDrive is integrated into Windows 10's File Explorer. You don't have to download an additional app – it's there to use out of the box, which is obviously very convenient for those who have made the jump to Microsoft’s newest operating system. Microsoft's Photos app can also use OneDrive to sync pictures across all your devices. As of late March, Autodesk AutoCAD has been integrated with OneDrive which is good news for anyone using the software's drafting tools. In addition, you have a feature called Personal Vault, which gives you an added layer of protection. There's an app for Android and iOS devices, and there's even one in the App Store for Mac users (although it has received mixed reviews). Price: 5GB free. 100GB for $1.99 a month (£1.50, around AU$2.9). 1TB for $7 a month (£5.99, around AU$11). Unlimited (as part of Onedrive for Business) for $10 a month (£7.99, around AU$14)
Image credit: Apple If you want to back up your iPhone to iCloud, you'll need more than the free 5GB allowance Apple gives you, but compared to rivals iCloud prices are very reasonable. The Mac Finder app integrates iCloud Drive, where you can store any files you wish. Documents created in the iWork office suite are also saved to iCloud and can sync across your devices. Windows users can also sync their files with iCloud Drive using the official client, and access the iWork apps on the iCloud website. Price: 5GB free. 50GB for $0.99 a month (£0.79, AU$1.49). 200GB for $2.99 (£2.24, AU$4). 2TB for $9.99 (£8, AU$13)
Image credit: Google Google Drive is a natural choice for owners of Android devices as it's already integrated, but users of other platforms may appreciate the generous free storage too. You can also store high definition photos on your mobile phone with companion app Google Photos, and make use of Google's own office suite (now known as G Suite). Also, upgrading to paid Google Drive plans is now called Google One (although it might not yet be available, depending on the region). Downsides include the fact that the web interface isn't very easy-to-use, although Windows and Mac users can download a desktop app to drag-and-drop files easily. Price: 15GB free. 100GB for $1.99 a month (£1.59, around AU$2.50). 200GB for $2.99 a month (£2.35, around AU$4.10). 2TB for $9.99 a month (£8, around AU$13). 10TB for $99.99 a month (£74, around AU$130). 20TB for $199.99 a month (£148, around AU$260). 30TB for $299.99 a month (£236, around AU$426).
Image credit: Box Box's website currently seems to be pushing its Business plans as clicking ‘sign up’ takes you to the pricing page where for $15 per user (£11, around AU$19) you can benefit from advanced collaboration options and unlimited storage. But there is a 10GB free option, too. As Box has been around for a while, it is supported by a number of mainstream apps such as Google Docs and Office 365. It's also integrated with G-Suite, which means Docs, Sheets and Slides are automatically saved and managed in Box. Additionally, like OneDrive, it's also been integrated with AutoCAD. Box is also integrated with Slack. The Box Sync client is available from the Downloads page for Mac and Windows, plus there's also an official Android client. Price: 10GB free. 100GB for around $10 a month (£7.50, around AU$13)
Image credit: NextCloud NextCloud isn’t an online cloud storage provider itself, but offers free software to download and install a cloud storage service on your own server. Using a server on your home network for cloud storage is much faster. You can also enable encryption and make sure the information never leaves your home network, which is far safer. If you've no server or IT experience, you can even purchase a preconfigured NextCloud Box (if you can find one) which comes with a 1TB hard drive and will work with an inexpensive Raspberry Pi board to keep your data synced. Unfortunately, NextCloud Box is sold out but you can check out the alternatives on their website Price: Free to install and use. Self-hosting so storage costs vary.
Image credit: SpiderOak SpiderOak is part of a new trend of zero knowledge cloud storage providers. The website claims that after installing the client your data is encrypted before syncing. Unfortunately since SpiderOak hasn’t made the client source code public, there's no way to confirm this. The SpiderOakOne client is available for Windows, Mac and Linux as well as Android and iOS (although, both Android and iOS are read-only apps, meaning you can only view files, and can't upload or sync anything). You can also log in via the web interface but privacy lovers may prefer not to as it exposes your password to SpiderOak employees. Price: 21-day free trial. 150GB for $6 a month (around £4.5, AU$8.25). 400GB for $11 a month (around £8.4, AU$15). 2TB for $14 a month (around £10.7, AU$19.25). 5TB for $29 a month (around £22.1, AU$39.9)
Best free cloud storage
Image credit: Google Free storage allowance: 15GB (expandable) If you're a Google user, you already benefit from Google Drive integration, such as the ability to save email attachments from Gmail. However, anyone can sign up for the free cloud storage, even if they don't have a Gmail address, by creating a new Google account. Google is also in a process of releasing Google One as a sort of substitution for Google Drive, although depending on your region it might not be available yet. With 15GB of space for new users, Google Drive is one of the more generous cloud offerings, and there are occasional ways to boost this capacity free of charge. The catch is that this Google storage space is also shared with a user’s other Google services including Gmail and Google Photos. Mobile apps are available to allow easy access for iOS and Android users, and Google’s Backup and Sync desktop app lets you synchronize files from your PC to the cloud. Google Drive also includes online office tools for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations which can makes sharing files with others effortless.
Image credit: pCloud Free storage allowance: 10GB (expandable) You might not recognize the name, but if you're looking for a decent chunk of cloud storage free of charge, pCloud could be just the ticket. To kick things off, you're given a fairly generous 10GB to play with, and there's a bandwidth allowance of 50GB of downlink traffic per month. While we're primarily interested in the free version of pCloud, note that you can upgrade to 500GB of space for a monthly plan of $4.99 (£3.70), or 2TB for $9.99 (£7.50) a month – both of which are great deals for storage. You also have annual and lifetime plans, which are a cheaper option in the long run. The initial 10GB free offering can also be expanded up to 20GB via an additional 4GB for completion of offers, as well as referrals that add 1GB each. It’s also worth noting that pCloud offers well-designed desktop and mobile apps that supplement the website for seamless integration into a user’s workflow. With no limit on file sizes, and simple sharing options, pCloud is a great way to send large files to friends and colleagues – it's even possible to share with people who aren't using the service themselves. Add in decent streaming options and a neat online interface, and pCloud is well worth a look.
Image credit: Microsoft Free storage allowance: 5GB Coming from Microsoft – a company with plenty of money to throw at the cloud – it's a little disappointing to find that OneDrive doesn’t include more space free of charge. Free users get a mere 5GB of storage, although it's relatively inexpensive to increase this to 50GB. If you have Office 365, you'll automatically get boosted to 1TB of space, but not everyone wants an Office subscription. Like Google Drive's appeal to Google users, OneDrive will be a good fit for anyone who is committed to using Microsoft's services. There's neat integration with Outlook.com, for instance. It's also integrated with non-Microsoft services like AutoCAD. OneDrive also ties in nicely with Windows 10, and there is a selection of reasonable mobile apps to facilitate access on the move. It's possible to share files with other people even if they aren't OneDrive users (complete with customizable permissions), and the ability to edit files online without downloading them is a welcome touch.
Image credit: Dropbox Free storage allowance: 2GB (expandable) Dropbox is a stalwart of the free cloud storage world, with a web interface that remains streamlined and easy-to-use. Despite its popularity, Dropbox actually has one of the least generous free packages for new users (just 2GB), but there are various ways to boost this space without paying, including inviting friends to join (you get 500MB per referral up to 16GB), completing the Getting Started guide (250MB) and contributing to the Dropbox forum (which elicits 1GB per 'Mighty Answer' provided). DropBox really comes into its own when you start delving into the service’s extra features. There's a great collaborative working tool called Dropbox Paper that acts as a group workspace, and – if you install the desktop app – you can back up photos automatically. The File Requests feature also allows you to request another user to upload a file to your Dropbox account. Additionally, a feature called Dropbox Rewind lets you restore folders or your entire account to a specific point in time. There are desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, and mobile apps including Android, iOS and even Kindle. This gives Dropbox broad appeal, as does the support for third-party apps and services. The web version of Dropbox lets you edit files without needing to download them, and really the only thing that counts against the cloud storage service is that most alternatives offer more space to free users.
Image credit: MediaFire Free storage allowance: 10GB (expandable) MediaFire has been around for over a decade, and those years of experience really show. You're given 10GB of free space initially, but you can boost this by an extra 40GB through activities like referring friends and following MediaFire's social media accounts. Few people would disagree that 50GB of free cloud storage is impressive. Free accounts carry ads, but this is a small sacrifice to make. There's support for large files up to 20GB, and the sharing options are very impressive, even allowing sharing with non-users. The web-based interface is excellent too, and MediaFire offers mobile apps for convenient uploading and downloading on iOS and Android. These make it easy to access files you're storing in the cloud, and include convenient features such as automatic photo syncing.
Best business cloud storage
Image credit: SpiderOak SpiderOak is a collaboration tool, online backup and file hosting service founded in 2007. The platform allows users to access, synchronize and share data using a cloud-based server. The company places a strong emphasis on data security and privacy. They offer a cloud storage, online backup and sharing service which they claim uses a ‘zero knowledge’ privacy environment. This means the client is the only one who can view all stored data. Not even SpiderOak themselves have access to your data. SpiderOak’s main focus is on privacy and security. As a result, the tool itself has a very basic design. This makes the admin console and all central device management very straightforward to use. They also include a handy drag and drop feature for organising files. From the centralized device management dashboard, users can access settings for all applications such as backup selection and sharing. The dashboard also allows users to manage their accounts, set group permissions and gain insight into usage. Prospective business clients will need to contact SpiderOak’s Sales Team directly to obtain a quote. 500 users minimum is required. Online commentators have observed that SpiderOak lacks many of the collaboration tools available from other cloud storage providers.
Image credit: Tresorit Tresorit is a cloud storage provider based in Hungary and Switzerland. It was founded in 2011. The provider emphasizes enhanced security and data encryption for businesses and personal users alike. If you are concerned with ensuring that your stored data is kept safe online then Tresorit is the service for you. This provider allows you to keep control of your files through ‘zero-knowledge encryption’ meaning that only you and the chosen few you decide to share with can ever see your data. Your Tresorit account can also be secured by two-factor authentication login and you can choose where to keep company data with Data Residency Options. Furthermore, you also have features like Document Scanner which securely scans and uploads documents directly to Tresorit. Tresorit’s ‘Small Business’ Packages starts at $25 (£19.60) per month (or $20 monthly for the annual plan) for teams with 2-9 users. This includes 1000GB encrypted storage, secure access on up to 10 devices and synching of existing folder structure. Tresorit’s ‘Business’ plan begins at $30 (£23.30) per month (or $24 monthly for the annual plan) for businesses with over 10 users. This comes with extras such as digital rights management, remote wipe and phone support. At the time of writing there is a 50% discount on "Business plan", so you can pay as low as $12 (£9.4) per month For Enterprise solutions, users will need to contact Tresorit directly. Extras included in this are personalized staff training, admin API and on-premises deployment. All tiers come with a 14-day free trial. The extra security offered by Tresorit makes it relatively expensive compared to other cloud backup solutions. However most users will probably appreciate the greater piece of mind and extra features offered by Tresorit.
Image credit: Egnyte Egnyte was founded in 2007. The company provides software for enterprise file synchronization and sharing. Egnyte allows businesses to store their data locally and online. All types of data can be stored in the cloud, whilst data of a more sensitive nature can be stored on servers on-premise. This makes for better security. Business teams can work how and where they want with an easy to use collaboration system through Egnyte’s content services platform. Egnyte integrates with popular industry applications such as Office 365 or Gmail. This allows both remote and internal employees to access all files with ease. Egnyte’s ‘Office’ plan starts at $8 (£6.21) per employee per month. This covers 5-25 employees, 5TB of storage and 10GB max file size. The ‘Business’ packages starts at $20 (£15.7) per employee per month. This includes 25-100 employees, 10TB online storage and 10GB max file size. In order to take advantage of their ‘Enterprise tier’, which includes over 100 employees, 25GB max file size and unlimited storage, you will need to contact Egnyte directly. Egnyte offer a 15-day free trial for all packages. Users have observed that some files, such as photos, can take a long time to load.
Image credit: Dropbox Dropbox is one of the oldest cloud storage providers. It was founded in 2007. To date it is one of the simplest storage providers to use. Dropbox can be installed on most computers or devices and syncs easily between apps. The app can store almost any kind of file while never having any issues with compatibility. You can drag and drop files into the desktop app with ease. You can also share files with other users easily through links. These can be shared with users who don’t have a Dropbox account. Also, teams can make use out of Dropbox spaces, which transforms folders into collaborative workspaces. Furthermore, with Dropbox Transfer you can send up to 100 GB of files in just a few clicks. As Dropbox has been around for a long time it integrates with most other apps such as MS Office and Slack. All files and folders can be shared with other users even if they are not part of your account. These users will be limited to their own plan's storage limits. Dropbox Business can be connected to your personal account so you can access all your files in once place. Personal account feature "automatic camera upload" is now also available to Business accounts, as of November 2018. The dashboard is simple and easy to use. From here, admins can see how many team members they have as well as any pending invites. You can restrict sharing, and allow/block commenting as you see fit. The dashboard allows you to access settings and to monitor usage. Dropbox offers a 30-day free trial which asks for your payment details. Your plan will automatically upgrade after the trial at which point your card is charged. The ‘Standard’ plan starts at $12.50 (£9.71) per user per month starting at 3 users and includes 3TB storage. The ‘Advanced’ package begins at $20 (£15.70) per user per month with unlimited storage. In order to subscribe to the ‘Enterprise’ tier, users will need to contact Dropbox directly. Some users have commented on the lack of online editing tools.
Image credit: Box Box is a cloud content management and file sharing service for businesses. It was founded in 2005. Box offers strong management capabilities and security features. The interface is made for ease of use and is simple to navigate. The dashboard allows access to settings, files and folders. Admins can manage all users, monitors activity and control sharing. As Box has been around for a while, it is supported by a number of mainstream apps such as Google Docs and Office 365. The Box Sync client is available from the Downloads page for Mac and Windows. There's also an official Android client. Box also has integration with Slack. In March 2020, additional features have been added like Premium support and Dropbox Rewind. Box offers a 14-day free trial for all packages. Their ‘Starter’ plan is priced at $5 (£3.88) per user per month. This includes 100GB secure storage, 2GB file upload with a maximum of 10 users. The ‘Business’ plan starts at $15 (£11.80) per user per month which includes unlimited storage, 5GB file upload and no maximum number of users. The ‘Business Plus’ package is $25 (£19.60) per user per month and comes with unlimited storage, 5GB file upload and unlimited external collaborators. In order to subscribe to Box’s ‘Enterprise’ plan, users will have to contact them directly for a quote. If you choose to share files external users are limited to read-only access.
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| The best cheap PS4 bundles, deals and prices in March 2020 Posted: 24 Mar 2020 10:39 AM PDT We've been hunting down all the best PS4 deals and bundles still lurking around in the last week of March, so that you can find all the lowest prices on Sony's consoles. With the PS5 firmly on the horizon, retailers are slashing prices on fantastic PS4 bundle deals this week, with big games available included in small price tags. We've found some excellent PS4 deals on the Pro and Slim models, so whether you're looking to play through Sony's library for as little cash as possible, or you want to wait out the PS5 in style with some 4K gaming, you'll find the perfect saving here. These cheap PS4 bundle deals look perfectly primed to see you through to the next generation of consoles. Whether you're looking for high octane fps action or the more contemplative pace of a game like Death Stranding, there are plenty of bundled games and accessories included in these prices to suit anyone. So, if you've been eyeing up that predicted PS5 price warily over the past few weeks, you'll be after a cheap PS4 deal to see you through the initial wave of the next generation. This week we have prices starting at just £249 on cheap PS4 bundles, with PS4 Pro deals coming in at just £329 right now. We're hunting for great PS4 prices all year, meaning we know how to separate a great bundle deal from a ripoff. Listed below are the week's best PS4 deals that can save you some serious cash if you pick up a bundle. If you're new to PlayStation, you're in for a great time. Some of the best PS4 games are super cheap nowadays, and with such a well-respected library of exclusives on offer, there's plenty of reason to pick up a cheap PS4 ahead of the next console's launch. This page lists the best cheap PS4 prices in the UK, but we also have dedicated guides for US readers and our Australian ones too. Below you'll find a comparison chart that automatically pulls in the freshest and cheapest PS4 deals from UK retailers, followed by our hand-picked selection of the best PS4 bundles that offer the best value discounts on the additional software or accessories. After those deals you'll find we've also covered the same options for the PS4 Pro prices.
The PS4 Slim is... slimmer, quieter and smaller The PS4 Slim launched (with no games included) in September 2016 for around £259 (500GB) or £310 (1TB) and has now replaced the original fatter PS4. The new console is smaller, lighter, more power efficient and cheaper than the remaining stock of the older PlayStation 4 deals nowadays, so you're not paying more for the refined tech. We'd advise you check out the cheap PS4 bundles further down this page as many of them are cheaper than buying the console on its own or you can get a lot more for a spending a bit extra on top. You'll often find that the most attractive way to get a cheap PS4 is with a bundle with extra hardware or extra games. These are the best PS4 bundle prices currently available in the UK – we update these deals on a regular basis. Extra PS4 retailer links:Want to look through some more cheap PS4 deals? It's ok, you're only hurting our feelings a little. The links below will take you straight to the PS4 console deals section of the following websites, just in-case you fancy digging out a bargain of your own.
The PS4 that offers 4K HDR gaming and Netflix Essentially, the PS4 Pro is a 4K upgrade of the current PS4, rather than a 'next-gen' console. The keywords to take in from the PS4 Pro are 4K and HDR. The new machine allows game developers to include 4K resolution and High Dynamic Range options in their games, so expect the like of Death Stranding, Red Dead Redemption 2, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, God of War, Uncharted 4, Horizon: Zero Dawn and more to look even better on a HDR-enabled 4K TV. You'll also be able to stream 4K content from Netflix and YouTube. Want to get the right TV? Then check out our cheap 4K TV sales and deals page. We've seen big discounts as Sony fights off the latest Xbox One X deals too.
PlayStation recently released this DualShock 4 back button attachment to add extra functionality to its collection of PS4 controllers. So far, the add-on has proven popular, so we're currently seeing stock shortages in the US. As soon as it's back on the shelves, you'll see the best prices below, so be sure to check back soon. If you're buying a PS4, you'll probably need a cheap PlayStation Plus deal too. PlayStation Plus (aka PS Plus or PS+) allows you to play PS4 games online, along with access to the Instant Game Collection, a bunch of free games for PS4, PS3 and Vita each month. The default price for a year is £50. We can do better than that though, so check out our selection of the best PlayStation Plus deals. If you've got your eye on a few PS4 bundles, but don't know if they represent good value for money, you can always find out how much the included game is separately. Most PS4 bundles retail for the same price as the console by itself or less - £249 for a PS4 Slim and £349 for a PS4 Pro, so if you see one on sale above that price point, make sure you're saving cash by comparing the value of the extra goodies included. That said, even at the £249 price point, there are some PS4 bundles that are better than others. If you're in full-on savings mode, you'll want to find the bundle that offers the most expensive game included at that price point. There are some about offering cheaper games at the standard mark that represent less value than a recent release. In that situation, you may be better off picking up the PS4 bundle with the most recent or most expensive game bundled in and simply grabbing the cheaper game separately. Need an extra cheap PS4 controller? Don't forget to check our Best DualShock 4 deals. Or maybe a cheap PlayStation VR deal? If you're still torn, maybe you'd prefer one of our Xbox One deals? This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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