Apple : Without iOS 12.1.2 on iPad, some users can't import iCloud backups |
- Without iOS 12.1.2 on iPad, some users can't import iCloud backups
- macOS 10.14 Mojave release date, news and features
- The best projectors 2019: 8 projectors to consider for your home cinema
- 11 best open world games on PC today
- Philips TVs with Android TV and Google Assistant finally coming to the US
- Best wireless routers 2019: the best routers for your home network
- Best TV 2019: which TV should you buy?
- CES 2019: here's what you can expect from the annual tech-stravaganza
- Microsoft reveals first Middle East data centre
- ExpressVPN launches new Mac and Android apps
- The best Samsung Galaxy S8 cases
- Best phone in the US for 2019: the top 15 smartphones we've tested
- Magic Leap One release date, price and features
- Hackers threaten to leak 9/11 documents
- Fingerprint scanners are now being used to unlock and start your car
- USB-C to get improved security in fight against malware-laden USB sticks
- Best Canon camera 2019: 10 quality options from Canon's camera stable
- AMD's Ryzen 9 3800X flagship processor may feature 16 cores
- The best free iPhone apps of 2019
- You'll soon be able to shut down your Chromebook USB ports
| Without iOS 12.1.2 on iPad, some users can't import iCloud backups Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:15 PM PST Getting started with the new iPad 9.7 and iPad Pro is hitting a technical snag, according to some frustrated users and verified by our own testing. It's impossible to import existing backup data on an updated iPhone through iCloud or iTunes, because Apple hasn't updated the iPad to iOS 12.1.2 yet. This is especially maddening for brand new iPad owners who only have iPhone data to import. The latest version of the iPhone operating system is iOS 12.1.2, a minor tweak aimed at solving eSIM issues and other iOS 12 problems. The latest version of the iPad, meanwhile, is stuck at iOS 12.1.1. The iPad doesn't need the phone-focused iOS 12.1.2 update... Only it does because now you can't import iCloud or iTunes backups from an iPhone into a new iPad if you've already updated to iOS 12.1.2 on the phone. Apple confirmed this to us: "You're correct. You would not be able to restore a backup from an iOS version later than what's currently installed," according to Apple Support in a Twitter direct message to TechRadar. The fact that Apple nags you to update to iOS 12.1.2 on the phone and now defaults to auto-updates means that many iPhone owners who bought a new iPad are likely to have iOS 12.1.2 on their phone already without knowing it. What to do if you're really stuckWe tested this problem out on three different iPads, including a new iPad owner who didn't have any iCloud backups besides those from their iPhone. They didn't own an iPad previously, and bought the new iPad 9.7 due to the deeply discounted price over the holidays. A lot of novice users may be in the same boat. They weren't able to load up apps, photos, and messages from the get-go. Importing all of your old data between devices right from the start via iCloud is one of the best features Apple's mobile operating system has going for it. We did find a loophole that eventually solved this frustrating problem, but it required tapping into our $99 (about £79, AU$142) Apple Developer tool kit. We updated the iPad to the iOS 12.1.3 developer beta, leapfrogging the iOS 12.1.2 iPhone version, and we were then able to complete the iPhone data import to the iPad that way. That's obviously not a solution for everyone. Most people will have to wait for Apple to launch an iPad software update to match the iPhone software version number. Until then, they can set up their newly unwrapped iPad as a new device and re-download everything manually.
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| macOS 10.14 Mojave release date, news and features Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:15 PM PST Apple’s macOS Mojave has been available on the best Macs for a few months now, and with it we have access to core iOS apps, like News and Stocks. We also have a system-wide Dark Mode and increased productivity straight from Finder – there’s a lot to love about macOS 10.14 Mojave. And, while we should be seeing more iOS apps make their way over to the Mac over the coming years, there is plenty to macOS Mojave to love right now – even if there are some macOS Mojave problems out there. We’ve had macOS Mojave on our Macs for a few months now, and its various problems are slowly being patched out. For instance macOS 10.14.2 fixes some problems with third-party USB-C monitors. So, now that macOS Mojave is here, we’ll dive into all the features the new OS offers, so you can decide whether it’s worth the upgrade in 2019. The best part? It’s completely free.
Cut to the chase
macOS 10.14 Mojave release dateApple announced macOS Mojave back in June 2018 at WWDC 2018, where most of the features were detailed. This was followed by a Public Beta launch back in July, then finally the macOS Mojave launch on September 24 2018. Apple’s macOS 10.14.2 has been released, and with it you can expect your standard stability and security fixes, alongside some awesome News improvements. There’s also support for real-time text (RTT) when using video calling. And, earlier, Apple released a supplemental update to macOS 10.14.1 to boost the reliability for the new MacBook Air. Then, Apple has seeded the developer’s beta for macOS 10.14.2. And, while we don’t have any idea what’s actually in the beta, we figure that it will be mostly bug fixes and stability. Hey, maybe Apple will fix that slow login screen. Keep it tuned, because we will keep this section updated with all the newest updates as they release. macOS 10.14 Mojave featuresSo, now that macOS Mojave has been out for a while, there are a ton of new features available to your Mac. And, we’re going to dive into a detailed overview of everything your Mac can do. From Finder improvements to more rigid security, the best Macs are about to become a lot better. Read on to discover all the new features coming to your Mac when you update to macOS Mojave. Dark ModeApple’s macOS Mojave introduces a system-wide dark mode, which will extend to every first-party program on your Mac. Even Xcode gets a full makeover, completely in black, making those extended programming sessions more comfortable for your eyes. Third party programs will also be adopting this new theme, with changes happening automatically for any app that uses standard colors through AppKit. Even developers that don’t use AppKit are working on bringing Dark Mode to their programs. For example, in a recent bug report, Google Chrome developers confirmed they’re working on a way to implement Dark Mode into the hugely popular web browser – they just have some issues to iron out first. Group FaceTimeInitially shown as part of the initial release of MacOS Mojave, Group FaceTime has finally been released as part of macOS 10.14.1. This feature allows you to have FaceTime conversations with up to 32 people across iOS and macOS devices. This feature is implemented in a way that makes it extremely intuitive in macOS Mojave. You can start a group FaceTime chat from any group iMessage thread, and invites will be sent via a ringless notification, so you won’t be disruptive. Once you’re in a Group FaceTime Chat, it will automatically detect whoever’s speaking and bring them front and center, so that you’re always looking at the person actively speaking. StacksIf you’re anything like us, your desktop starts to look like a virtual hurricane blew through it after a full day of work. With macOS Mojave, those days are over. With Stacks, macOS Mojave will sort similar files together so that you have a less cluttered desktop – photos with photos, pdfs with pdfs – it’s great. You’re even able to scrub through thumbnails with a two-finger scroll, so that you can make sure the file you’re looking for is actually in the stack. Gallery ViewIn macOS 10.14 Mojave, Apple has added a new Gallery View to Finder. This will let you quickly browse through, annotate and edit files. No matter what kind of file you select, you'll be able to quickly and easily find exactly what you're looking for. This is made even easier, thanks to Apple adding a very detailed metadata display to the Preview pane. This makes it easier than ever before to take note of all the information of any file on your Mac. And, thanks to the inclusion of Quick Actions in the Preview pane, you won’t even need to leave Finder to work on files. You should be able to edit images, add protection to files and more. You can even assign Automator tasks as Quick Actions to make browsing through files even easier. Continuity CameraHave you ever found yourself working on a project, and you needed to implement a document or a photo? Well, with Continuity Camera, it’s easier than ever to do just that. Across a multitude of different apps, like Numbers and Pages, you’ll be able to simply Control + Click in the body of the document, and select “Take Photo” or “Scan Documents.” It’ll then open the camera on your iPhone or iPad, where you’ll be able to take a photo and instantly pop it right into what you’re working on. It’s smooth, it’s convenient, and it’s going to be a boon for anyone that needs to save some time while doing schoolwork or that next big project. Markup in Quick Look and ScreenshotsQuick Look is already an easy way to look at files quickly, and in macOS Mojave, you'll be able to quickly and efficiently use Markup to edit files you open in Quick Look. Markup is also implemented into screenshots. You’ll be able to bring up any screenshot and instantly edit any content within. Being able to quickly crop screenshots in macOS Mojave without any third-party photo-editing software is going to be a huge time-saver. Once you capture a screen, you’ll see a preview image open up, similar to iOS 12, which you can click to preview and edit your screenshot. That's not all though, Screenshots are still a simple shortcut away, but with macOS Mojave, a new easy-to-use menu includes screen-recording tools, so that you can capture animated content. And, perhaps most importantly, you can choose to save the screenshot to your clipboard, saving time if you just need to send someone a quick screenshot. AppsApple News, Stocks, Voice Memos and Home are all brought over from iOS to macOS Mojave, with special care given to reformatting them to fit your computer. These apps leverage the power of the best Macs to deliver an awesome experience. Voice Memos, for instance, will automatically transfer any memos you take between your iOS and macOS devices – rewarding anyone who utilizes the ‘Apple Ecosystem’. This isn’t a full iOS app migration, however, but Apple did say it’d be bringing more iOS apps to the Mac in 2019, so we’ll just have to wait. SecurityApple is concerned about your device security, and now macOS Mojave asks for permission with more features, now including the camera and microphone. Mojave’s security also provides more robust protection for your file system. Safari also has its own share of security enhancements, shutting down cookies that track you across websites, making sure Safari asks permission before it allows cookies of any kind to access your browsing data. This even includes those annoying social buttons that mysteriously appear on every page – Facebook and Twitter can’t track your activity outside of their own websites unless you grant them permission to. New Mac App StoreThe App store has been a macOS staple for years now, but it always seemed a little out of place. That all changes with macOS Mojave. Apple has completely refreshed the Mac App Store, and it’s now designed exclusively for the best Macs. Not only does it look great, but it also lets you browse through apps depending on what you’re trying to install. If you’re looking for an affordable alternative to Logic Pro X or Adobe Photoshop, it’s simple to find the best Mac apps for you. The new Mac App Store also adopts the iOS App Store’s approach to editorializing its content. It’ll now have a much more modern interface with featured apps getting tutorials, spotlights and other such content. It really does bring the Mac App Store into the modern age. And, perhaps more exciting is that a ton of third-party developers, like Adobe and Microsoft, are bringing their apps to the Mac App Store, so you don't’ have to go through dodgy websites to get the apps you need. macOS 10.14 Mojave specificationsUnfortunately, with all these new features, some older Macs will have to go without updating to macOS Mojave. This is a departure from macOS High Sierra, which basically had the same requirements as macOS 10.12. First off, macOS 10.14 requires at least 14.3GB of hard drive space for the installation, as that’s what was required last year. To keep it on the safe side, make it 20GB. However, macOS Mojave requires more powerful hardware than High Sierra. macOS 10.13 required at least 2GB of RAM and OS X 10.8 or later – that’s not the case anymore. These are the Macs supported by macOS 10.14 Mojave.
Unfortunately, while the required models rarely change year over year, they have with macOS 10.14, so if you have an older MacBook, you might need to upgrade to enjoy this new version of the OS.
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| The best projectors 2019: 8 projectors to consider for your home cinema Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:15 PM PST Best Projector Buying Guide: Welcome to TechRadar's guide to the best home cinema projectors - featuring both 4K and HD models. Projectors have long held a vaunted position in the home cinema. That's because while TVs are more than adequate to deliver 4K HDR content, you'll likely need to refinance your house if you want a picture larger than 75-inches. But 75-inches is just the beginning for the cinema world. Whether you want to splash Blu-ray movies across a large white wall, magnify your gaming experience, or throw photos and slides from a mobile device onto a 100-inch plus screen, a home cinema projector should be your first choice. Unfortunately while most AV enthusiasts dream of the day they bring home a beamer for their living room, few tend to follow through. They have the misconception that projectors are hard to setup (they're not), hard to maintain (they're not) and cost significantly more than a TV (they don't). To that end we want to dispel the myths perpetuated by non-cinephiles out there and help you pick a fantastic-looking projector without breaking the bank. To that end, we've rounded up the best projectors we've tested throughout the last year or two and have ranked them below. Looking for something cheaper? Don't miss our guide to the best projector deals that gets updated each and every month! The BenQ TK800 is the best projector of 2018 The main selling point of the BenQ TK800 is that it supports 4K and while this is true, it’s worth pointing out that the projector’s DLP chip is not 3840x2160 pixels. It uses XPR technology, which essentially takes a 1920x1080 pixel DLP chip and flashes the image four times in incredibly fast succession to create an image with a perceived resolution of over eight million pixels. Amazingly this actually works, and even with test patterns the images appear to be 4K in terms of resolution. It doesn't hurt that the projector is also really bright, which means that even with SDR content it can deliver images that have genuine impact, even in less-than-ideal conditions. As such you can use the TK800 in a room with white walls or big windows, and still enjoy a huge projected image. Also expect excellent motion handling, which is great for gaming, and it has a low input lag which is also good news for gamers. (The BenQ even supports 3D, although you will need to buy the glasses separately.) On the debit side, the black level and the shadow detail are both poor, and the TK800 also uses a color wheel, which restricts its range of colors, especially where HDR is concerned. It also means that certain people will see ‘rainbows’, but that’s just a limitation of single-chip DLP projectors. On top of all that, it's quite noisy thanks to both the color wheel and a fan, although the latter is necessary given the amount of heat generated by the bright bulb. Read the full review: BenQ TK800 For the last 10 years, JVC has been the projector brand to follow for black levels that will beat your local cinema screen. It's all thanks to JVC's D-ILA technology, which rival DLP and SXRD models just can't touch. Native contrast of 40,000:1 makes blacks looks truly black. That is, if you treat your cinema room to a nice, dark paint job. This year one of the main upgrades is HDR performance. The punchiness of HDR won't challenge an ultra-bright LCD TV, but here you'll get an image several times the size. One thing to note before buying is the JVC DLA-X5900 does not have native 4K projector panels inside. Instead it uses JVC's eShift technology, which projects two different 1080p images sequentially at 120Hz frequency, making up the detail of a native 4K display. Clever, right? And in person you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between this and 4K. The UHD65 is a hugely enjoyable projector that manages to deliver very good images in both ambient light and blackout conditions. Most projectors commit to one or the other, halving their versatility. Though the UHD65 sacrifices both ultra-high brightness for daytime viewing and completely convincing black levels in a blackout, it's actually giving as close the 'best of both worlds' as any projector could: From upscaled HD TV channels and DVDs to Netflix 4K and a Ultra HD Blu-ray discs, few users will have complaints about the cleanness, detail or colour of the UHD65's images. However, we did miss a few luxury touches that a projector this price should include. The remote control is the same as you’d find on a projector a sixth of the price (and includes some button that have no function), and there’s no motorised zoom, focus and lens shift. All of these would've added a more polished, professional feel, which high-priced products like the UHD65 should always offer; it shouldn’t just be about new technology. Read the full review: Optoma UHD65 Smart, voice activated controls for a home cinema projector may sound like the kitchen-sink approach to feature lists at first glance, jumping on the buzz-word (or should that be ‘wake word’?) bandwagon of Amazon’s Alexa, Apple’s Siri or Google’s Assistant. But think about the environment and scenario that your average projector viewing session takes place in, and it starts to make a lot of sense – you’re in a dark room where seeing buttons isn’t always easy, possibly with your hands loaded up with popcorn and other treats. Being able to shout “play the movie!” at a voice activated projector, potentially installed in a bracket high above your head, seems like a sound move. Ultimately, while the Alexa features are fun (if a little perfunctory) everything about this the Optoma UHD51A performs exceptionally. At this price you’re going to be hard pressed to find a projector that can deliver this level of picture quality and this feature set more confidently. The Optoma UHD51A represents a great shift in 4K projecting quality if you find yourself on a tighter budget. What’s on offer here allows even those with smaller living spaces and more modest bank balances a taste of the home cinema high life. Read the full review: Optoma UHD51A The BenQ HT2550 may look a bit pricey to someone used to seeing discount 4K TVs, for the price you can’t do much better. The projector boasts vivid, clear colors, plenty of detail, and a 4K resolution – all at well under $2,000. That’s no small feat. The projector isn’t perfect – the blacks on offer aren’t as deep as we might have liked, the projector still creates some fan noise and there’s also no lens shift – but those small downsides aside, we think the BenQ HT2550 is an excellent option for those that want a solid, no-frills projector with support for a 4K resolution and HDR content. Are there better options? Well, there’s the Optoma UHD50, which is $100 cheaper and offers many of the same perks (though color accuracy isn’t quite as good, and the BenQ projector is slightly better-built) but in the end, we think it’s better to spent the extra $100 for the BenQ HT2550. Read the full review: BenQ HT2550 If you want big screen home entertainment but don’t have the space, or funds for a large flatpanel TV or home cinema projector, then LG’s DLP LED Minibeam PH450UG Ultra Short Throw (UST) could be the answer. It needs only a dozen centimetres or so to cast a huge image onto a white wall or screen and, even better, it’s also ridiculously compact and relatively affordable at $650 (£529, around AU$864). There is a catch of course: The PH450UG has a resolution of just 720p. If you need more, LG has the PF1000U, a slightly larger 1080p UST model, that sells for $1,399 (£999). There are other projectors in this price range capable of 1080p – like the class-leading BenQ HT670 – but if you’re committed to the small form factor, the PH450UG is the way to go. Read the full review: LG PH450UG Minibeam Projector For those who think that home cinema is an occasional luxury that is just not affordable or practical, the ultra-affordable HD142X is serious food for thought. Despite its lean price tag, it has a full 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution, 3,000 ANSI lumens of brightness, 23,000:1 high contrast ratio and built-in 10-watt speakers. It even supports 3D video to boot. Optoma says that the lamp life for the HD142X is somewhere in the ballpark of 8,000 hours – and claims that it would last around 10 years if you watched a two-hour movie every single day. Input-wise the HD141X offers 2 x HDMI (1.4a 3D support) + MHL v1.2, perfect for hooking up a PS4 or 3D Blu-ray player. Read the full review: Optoma HD142X The era of 4K was once only ruled by TVs, with projectors only joining the fold with large and pricey models. The BenQ W1700 is a surprising new addition for the company, and what’s even more surprising is the fact that it puts 4K projectors at a much more accessible price point than ever before. Yes, there may be one or two flaws that projector purists will nag about (hence its location on our list), but if you’re looking to finally set up your own private cinema in the comfort of your home, this is the place to start. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| 11 best open world games on PC today Posted: 02 Jan 2019 01:00 PM PST Now that the best gaming PCs are more powerful than ever before, and the best PC games are creating worlds like we’ve never seen, there’s never been a better time to play the best open world games on PC. Even game franchises that used to be linear story experiences are embracing the open world format. Just look at the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt or Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and you’ll get where we’re coming from. Still, there are a ton of traditionally open-world franchises that are still killing the game. Titles like Just Cause 4 and Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey are the pedigree of open world game design. There are even a ton of indie games that adapt to this style in exciting ways. The best open world games on PC are just so plentiful in 2019, and they are very demanding of your time, so you should only pick up the best open world games. Fortunately, we’ve spent way too much time with these games, and have found the cream of the crop. So, read on to find the best open world games you can play in 2019.
Check out our Linux vs Windows vs Mac - OS comparison video below. Love it or hate it, the Just Cause franchise has always been about causing random violence and destruction with barely any plot to justify it. And, well, the same is true with Just Cause 4 – we wouldn’t have it any other way. Just Cause 4 puts you in the middle of Solis, a gigantic South American island to overthrow an oppressive local government, by destroying everything in your path. You’ll take to the sky, sea and more with a wide variety of vehicles and weapons to create mayhem however you want. It’s not a particularly deep game, but if you’re looking for some mindless entertainment, it’s not hard to see why Just Cause 4 is one of the best open world games on PC in 2019. Yeah, we hear you ‘Forza is a racing series, it doesn’t belong here’ but you’re only half right. Yeah, it’s a racing series, but the Forza Horizon series has always been among the best open world games. And, Forza Horizon 4 takes the winning formula of this off-shoot of the Forza Motorsport franchise and perfects it. Not only are all of the systems that were in place in 2016’s Forza Horizon 3 present here, but they’re refined to create one of the smoothest open world racing games we’ve ever had the pleasure to play. The map is a little bit smaller than the previous offering, but Forza Horizon 4’s world changes seasons every week, changing how each track plays every time you play it (or, at least until you’ve played it on 4 separate weeks). Simply put, Forza Horizon 4 is one of the most fun racing games on the market, and with all the added open world content – like collectable cars and randomly placed ramps – it’s one of the best open world games on the market. The first two Witcher games were compelling, complex and difficult, but only enjoyed minor success. However, all the word of mouth about the first two games finally paid off when the Witcher 3 came out and absolutely blew up. It was a massive step up in quality, too, and probably one of the best RPGs of all time. You step in the role of Geralt, a mutated monster hunter, or witcher, and search the world for your adopted daughter in a medieval world ravaged by war. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will be turning 4 years old in 2019, but it stands the test of time. It’s still one of the best open world games you can play in 2019 because the well-realized world blows the likes of Skyrim out of the water. Geralt can walk, ride or sail across the war-ravaged lands of Novigrad and Velen, or sail across monster-riddled and frosty islands of Skellige in the North. And, in Blood and Wine, the second expansion, you get to take on a clan of Vampires in the colorful land of Toussaint. You can forage for herbs, explore under the seas or the back alleys of cities and encounter all kinds of folk and creatures. And the other elements of the game are spectacularly polished as well - limber, agile combat, a deep levelling system, and a storyline with some unusually-smart storylines. Grand Theft Auto V has been out for quite a while now, but because we still don’t have Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC, it’s still the best open world game on PC from Rockstar. It’s a huge pastiche of L.A. that you can fly, run or drive across. It’s an amazing achievement and the fact that it works in multiplayer is astounding. What makes it such a success is the freedom it gives you. When you’re not running around and robbing banks during the campaign, GTA V basically lets you do whatever you want – even if it breaks the game. You can go anywhere, do anything and commit however many atrocities as your wicked heart pleases. There are also a ton of side activities available. So, in your downtime from creating all kinds of mayhem, you can take up some tennis, yoga, or even kick your feet up and watch some TV. There’s a reason this game is so beloved. The plot may have made less sense than a mumbling monkey with a mouthful of marbles, but Hideo Kojima's swansong was a masterpiece of layered open world mechanics. In the twin deserts of Afghanistan and Angola, Big Boss, or Venom Snake, has a range of objectives to achieve. He traverses the areas on foot, horseback, or in a variety of ground vehicles. You can take either lethal or non-lethal weapons, and a variety of AI companions. The world itself is believably bleak, weather-torn and heavily-guarded. Uniquely, it learns from your behaviour - overuse a particular tactic, and enemies will adapt. For example, rely too much on headshots and they'll start to wear metal helmets. Away from the frontline, you can develop Mother Base by building new facilities and airlifting enemy soldiers, prisoners, resources, vehicles, animals and anything else you want to from the battlefield to beef up your armory. Bethesda has made a name for itself over the last couple of decades for making some of the best open world games, and Fallout 4 is a fantastic example of why. You’ll be able to traverse a post-apocalyptic Boston, where you’ll explore the ruins of the city in all it’s retro-futuristic glory. While the plot ultimately revolves around rescuing your child from their kidnappers, you’ll ultimately forget about it altogether as you do side missions and plunder a ton of loot from super mutants and bandits. And, even once you get everything done (if you ever get everything done), Bethesda’s games have a tendency to be immensely replayable thanks to the way different character builds can interact with the world around you. When Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor released nearly five years ago, it was praised for its portrayal of Tolkien’s Mordor, alongside with its unique nemesis system. The sequel, Middle Earth: Shadow of War takes this concept and turns it up to 11, setting you loose in the last human stronghold in Mordor – and is thus one of the best open world games you can play in 2019. And, especially after the removal of the microtransactions that plagued the game at launch, the Nemesis system still feels fresh, and the combat is just as good as ever, with a wealth of new skills that you can unlock during its lengthy campaign. Later on in the game, it will start introducing some RTS elements as you command an army of dominated orcs to retake and hold different strongholds. The Middle Earth series has shown some real innovation, and we can’t wait to see what Monolith Studios will be capable of in the future. Last year, Ubisoft took one of the most venerated squad-based shooter series in its arsenal, Ghost Recon, and turned it into an open-world delight. You’re set loose in Bolivia, and you’re tasked with taking down a drug cartel that has taken power over the region. You’re then free to pursue this goal however you feel like. Ghost Recon Wildlands may be one of the best open world games when you’re playing by yourself, but where it really shines is when you’re playing with friends. This is because Ghost Recon, at its very core, has always been a tactical shooter that’s built around working with a team of AI companions. So, naturally, when you team up with your friends, this gameplay is elevated to another level entirely. Just keep in mind that this game is gorgeous, and demands a pretty beefy setup to run properly, so make sure you keep an eye on those system requirements. Far Cry 5 might just be a benchmark of what the best open world games on PC will look like in 2019. Far Cry 5 is unique in the fact that it allows you to truly go anywhere on the map – and do anything. And, it doesn’t water this freedom down by limiting the amount of space you have open to you either, it’s perhaps one of the biggest game maps we’ve ever experienced. Far Cry 5 takes place in the middle of the Montana wilderness, and while it does feature a plot that involves cultists or something, that all falls into the background as you wander around and get lost in the massive world. We haven’t finished Far Cry 5, but we don’t think ‘finished’ exists here. And, we’re obviously not the only ones that love Far Cry 5. At the Game Awards 2018, Ubisoft announced Far Cry: New Dawn, a direct follow-up – a first for the classic shooter series. Now that a ton of Yakuza games are coming to PC, PC gamers can finally experience the insanity that is so unique to the Yakuza series. Yakuza 0’s map isn’t as capacious as some of the other games on this list, but it is dense with activities. Everywhere you turn either has a mini game, a side quest, or some other kind of content that you can interact with. If you’ve never played a Yakuza game, do yourself a favor and try Yakuza 0 on for size – it’s unlike anything else you’ve ever played, we promise. Last year’s Assassin’s Creed: Origins already felt like a revelation of what an Assassin’s Creed game could be – replacing many of the gameplay mechanics with what felt more engaging, organic and even fun. However, Ubisoft wasn’t done – it has refined everything that made Assassin’s Creed: Origins so great and molded it into the best game in the series so far – Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. Placing you in the middle of ancient Greece as either Kassandra or Alexios, you take on the role of a mercenary trying to find their family. Everything else you do is completely up to you – you choose your alliances, you choose your missions, the world is your oyster. The fantastic RPG mechanics from Origins make a return in Assassin’s Creed odyssey – with some much-needed improvements. In so many ways, this game perfects the legendary series’ formula – making for one of the best open world games of all time. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Philips TVs with Android TV and Google Assistant finally coming to the US Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:59 PM PST After years of using its proprietary NetTV platform and a small foray into Roku TV, two new 2019 Philips TVs will offer Android TV with Google Assistant, according to Funai, the owner of the Philips brand here in the US. The two series, the 5704 and 5904, will be available in five screen sizes ranging from 43- to 75-inches and will be on display next week at CES 2019. While Android TV is already a pretty big enhancement over Funai’s old NetTV platform - as it brings Chromecast Built-in functionality along with it - it’s Google Assistant that will imbue the TVs with the ability to talk to Philips Hue, Nest thermostat and other Google Assistant compatible products. As for the screens themselves, Funai says they'll come equipped with HDR10 support and Bright Pro, a backlight boost that brightens the image by up to ten percent compared to standard LED displays. More interestingly, the 5904 series will offer an integrated far-field microphone solution allowing users to access Assistant anywhere in the room. So when will you be able to get your hands on the new-and-improved Philips TVs? The 5704 will be available starting today in some club stores throughout the US, while the 5904 will be available in the second half of 2019.
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| Best wireless routers 2019: the best routers for your home network Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:54 PM PST Every day we do so many things online, and that’s only going to become more true in 2019. And, that’s why wireless routers are more important than ever right now. After all, you don’t want that Netflix stream to start buffering because your roommate started downloading that new game. So, you should keep an eye out for the best wireless routers. In our ever connected lives, having a smoother online experience is the goal. Many people might just want to call their ISP to combat slow wireless speeds, instead of picking up the best router they can muster. However, whether you need a gaming router or a wireless mesh router, the best wireless routers are extremely important – even the fastest internet connection won’t do much good if your router isn’t up to the task. With so many wireless routers on the market, finding the best one for you and yours can get stressful. Luckily, we here at TechRadar have you covered with the best wireless routers 2019 has to offer. And, we’ve even included our exclusive price comparison tool, so you can find the best deal every time. The days of traditional wireless routers are over – 2019 is the year of the best wireless mesh routers. Google Wifi is the best proof we can think of for this mesh revolution – you can finally say goodbye to the days when the only way to achieve wireless freedom was to install a bunch of wireless extenders. The premise of Google Wifi is simple – buy a set of points and place them in key locations around your home. Then, just scan a QR code and you’re good to go – it’s not just the best wireless router you can buy, it’s also the easiest to set up. Read the full review: Google Wifi If you’re familiar with Asus, and specifically its more gamer-centric products, you’ll know what to expect from the Asus RT-AC86U. This wireless router looks like what would happen if you poured Mountain Dew and Doritos into a wireless router-manufacturing machine – it’ll definitely stand out wherever you put it. Beneath its ‘unique’ design is hardware that, for its price, defiantly stands against the competition. You’re not paying a premium here for a ‘gaming’ wireless router, and if you’re looking for a fast connection at a good price, the Asus RT-AC86U is a great choice. Read the full review: Asus RT-AC86U When the original Netgear Orbi came out, it shook the world, virtually revolutionizing the wireless router game. And, now, Netgear has released the Orbi AC2200 RBK23, a cheaper, more attainable router for casual users. It features less antennae and ethernet ports than the original, but it's still enough to offer very solid network coverage, especially if you have an average sized home. Plus, it’s smaller now, which means it will be less conspicuous – you won’t feel the need to hide the Orbi. Read the full review: Netgear Orbi AC2200 RBK23 These days, we’re living in a time when many everyday appliances are being controlled by a smart home hub. Now, while this does wonders for convenience, having all those wireless routers, modems and hubs can start to clutter up your home. Luckily, the Samsung Connect Home does away with the need to have 20 different devices. It’s not the most feature rich wireless router on the market, but it’s competitive enough with the Google Wifi, while still packing in the SmartThings hub that it’s still one of the best routers – especially if you have a ton of smart devices. Read the full review: Samsung Connect Home
If you’re in the market for a high-end wireless router that looks like it was a prop in some 90s Sci-Fi flick, you may want to look at the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2. Sure, it’s not a trendy mesh wireless router, but it’s unique in its ability to bridge consumer and enterprise users by featuring high-end functionality at an affordable price point – with easy setup to boot. It might look weird, but if you’re looking for a wireless router that’ll cover a large home, you can’t go wrong here. Read the full review: TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 If you’re ready to bring your office’s networking into the modern age with one of the best wireless routers, you need to take a look at the Netgear Orbi Pro. It’s a modular Wi-Fi mesh router, but it takes some design and performance cues from business-grade products. It’s not cheap, but if you run a business where you can’t afford anyone slowing down due to poor Wi-Fi, it’s worth every penny. Read the full review: Netgear Orbi Pro In 2019, the best wireless routers need to be mesh devices – the level of coverage they offer is beyond what traditional routers can handle. And, with devices like the TP-Link Deco M9, we can see how the best wireless routers keep evolving. By integrating support for IoT smart-home devices, on top of industry standard speeds and coverage, the TP-Link Deco M9 is easily one of the best routers for smart-home fanatics. It’s a little expensive, but it has plenty of features that make it worthwhile, like built-in parental controls and anti-virus. Read the full review: TP-Link Deco M9 If you’re looking to jump on the mesh wireless router trend, but you’re trying to save a few bucks, and don’t really care about some advanced tech mumbo-jumbo – the D-Link Covr-C1203 might just be the best wireless router for you. It offers the same type of coverage as something like the Google Wifi at a lower cost, but with slightly slower speeds – it’ll still be fast enough for most users, though. It also features an attractive triangular design, which should fit in nicely with your decor – you won’t need to hide it in shame. Read the full review: D-Link Covr-C1203 If you’ve been looking at wireless mesh systems, but wanted to keep the control over your network that the best wireless routers allow, you’re in luck. While it’s more expensive than the competition, the Eero Home Wi-Fi system allows its users complete control over their network, while also providing an extremely secure connection thanks to its use of AI. To sweeten the pot and make the price more approachable, Eero includes subscriptions to 1Password, MalwareBytes and Encrypt.me VPN – which should help keep everyone on your network safe. The only downfall here is it doesn’t cover quite as much area as something like the Google Wifi or Netgear Orbi, but if you’re looking for sheer horsepower, look no further. Read the full review: Eero Home Wi-Fi System It might be even more expensive than the Google Wifi for similar performance, but the Amplifi HD has a modern, clean look to it. Aesthetic doesn’t matter to everyone, obviously, but it does help prevent users from installing this wireless router behind objects that will obscure its signal. This is a wireless router that features excellent performance with stylistic flair to match – as long as you have the cash. Read the full review: Amplifi HD Joe Osborne, Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article
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| Best TV 2019: which TV should you buy? Posted: 02 Jan 2019 12:20 PM PST Best TV Buying Guide: settle in for TechRadar's round-up of the best TV sets you can get your hands on in 2019. As 2018 fades into the distance, 2019 is going to offer us some of the best TVs we've yet to see. We'll catch our first glimpse of these futuristic flatscreens in early January at CES 2019 and, if all goes according to plan, have review samples ready to check out by the end of March. That said, if you can't wait until mid-2019 to pick up a new TV we can certainly help you pick from last year's stock. After all, we've spent years reviewing TVs on TechRadar and have seen the vast majority of the TVs on the market. To sort things out in a digestible format, we've divided our guide into two pages. The first page details the best TVs out right now, along with their key specs, while the second page will teach you more about what makes a TV tick and why those specs matter so much. If you're looking for a buying guide that deals with TVs that only support a 4K Ultra HD resolution, check out our page on the best 4K TVs. Or if getting a flatscreen on the cheap is your main concern, check out the best 4K TV deals and best Cyber Monday TV deals guide, which contain boatloads of savings. "Should I buy a TV now or wait it out?"This is a question we get a lot. Like most technology (cough, iPhones) TVs are getting incrementally better all the time – which means, yes, if you wait a year there will probably be a bigger, flashier TV out there for less money. But while doing so will certainly net you a larger screen at a better price, some of the best panels are already being manufactured today. While tomorrow's screens might be a bit larger, a bit brighter and a bit cheaper, today's screens are just as competent in their own right. We can say that with confidence knowing that most manufacturers have finally embraced the three most important standards in TVs: Ultra HD, Wide Color Gamut and HDR (HDR10 and Dolby Vision). If a TV you're looking at doesn't support at least one of these, you should probably look somewhere else. Not sure where to start? Here are the best TVs we tested this year. Samsung Q9FN QLED (2018) After an underwhelming debut, Samsung’s QLED technology really needed to bounce back in style in 2018. It didn't surprise us in the least, then, to discover Samsung threw the kitchen sink in with its new Q9FN QLED Series of TVs. As well as being even brighter and more colorful than last year’s equivalent model, Samsung's 2018 flagship screens use a completely different lighting system to combat its predecessor’s contrast problems: Full Array Local Dimming rather than edge-lit LED lighting. The FALD panel works in tandem with Samsung QLED Quantum Dots to produce a picture that's brighter and more colorful than near any we've seen come from the South Korean manufacturer. Do those features alone make Samsung Q9FN the best TV on the market? No, but throw in technology like HDR10+ and Q HDR EliteMax – what Samsung bills as its maximum High Dynamic Range experience that’s exclusive to the Q9FN – and there's very little doubt in our mind that this is Samsung's best TV ever. Read the full review: Samsung Q9FN QLED TV (65Q9FN) LG C8 OLED Series (2018) At the top of our list for 2018 is the LG C8 OLED – available in both 55 and 65-inch iterations. It's here because it combines an impressive picture, an extensive set of features, an attractive design and its unrivaled smart platform, to deliver one of the best TVs we have seen to date. It’s not as bright as an LCD TV but those deep blacks make a huge difference to the dynamic range of the image. It’s also capable of vibrant and gorgeous colors, not to mention an astounding level of detail with native 4K content. There are other OLEDs worth considering this year (see: Sony's A1E and A8F OLED or LG's own E8 and W8 OLED models) but we think the OLED C7 offers the best price-to-performance ratio of any TV under the sun in the year 2018. Read the full review: LG OLED C8 (OLED55C8, OLED65C8) Samsung Q900R QLED TV With most people - *cough* content providers - only just getting to grips with 4K resolution, you’d be forgiven for thinking that Samsung had gone nuts by introducing the world’s first true 8K TV. And yet, while it's easy to be critical about the Samsung Q900R, it truly does usher in a new era of TV picture quality. Its native 8K pictures are incredible, looking just like the real world - only better. But even more crucially given the dearth of true 8K content for the foreseeable future, the 85Q900R makes all today’s lower resolution sources look better than they do anywhere else, too. Whether 8K delivers the same impact on smaller screens remains to be seen, but if you have a big enough room and budget, the 85Q900R is a vision of the future that’s actually spectacularly worth buying today. Sony’s second-generation OLED flagship, the A9F, is coming at a good time – just as Samsung and LG have stepped up their games with the Samsung Q9FN QLEDand LG E8 OLED, Sony has fired back with a phenomenal OLED of its own. Even better than the A1E before it, the A9F is unquestionably Sony’s best OLED offering to date, and arguably a strong contender for high-end screen of the year. While we experienced some minor issues (notably Black level crushing on Dolby Vision, and that Netflix Calibrated mode), niggles are to be expected on a set as ambitious as this. If you can live with the slightly idiosyncratic design, and afford the asking price, it’s a glorious UHD display. LG E8 OLED Series (2018) Having potentially pushed the hardware capabilities of its current OLED screen technology as far as they can go, LG has for 2018 turned its attention to the software that drives these screens - and this shift in focus has yielded surprisingly impressive results, improving and even removing many of the residual niggles associated with 2017’s already in truth outstanding OLED sets. The OLED65E8 loses a bit of ground sonically from its predecessor, and there’s some stiff competition this year from Samsung’s new Q9FN flagship LCD TV, but all the growing legions of OLED fans will probably need to hear is that the OLED65E8 is comfortably the best OLED TV LG has ever made. Samsung Q8FN QLED TV (2018) Although it’s clearly a step down from Samsung’s all-conquering Q9FN, the Q8FN is still a fantastic TV. Phenomenally bright, colorful and ultra sharp - it has all the right stuff for getting huge impact from today’s cutting edge picture sources. Worth calling attention to, this is a fantastic TV for HDR content as its direct lighting system manages to produce a whopping 2,100 measured nits of light from a 10% white HDR window. This sort of brightness is unparalleled for the TV’s price point, and ensures that it delivers the upper extremes of HDR’s extended brightness range with spectacular effectiveness and punch. So why isn't it higher on our list? If you watch the TV from an angle, color saturations reduce, and backlight blooming becomes much more noticeable. Also, Samsung’s Auto motion processing system is a bit over aggressive, causing too many distracting side effects for comfort. Sony Bravia X900F Series (2018) OK, so you don't want (or can't afford) Sony's new A9F OLED or the fantastic-but-pricey Z9F. So what should you buy? Check out the X900F series. With superb 4K image clarity, powerful SDR-to-HDR remastering, and a smooth direct LED backlight, Sony is offering something very different with the X900F. We loved the consistency of its images, the eye-popping vibrancy of its wide color gamut panel and its easy-to-watch HDR – you get spectral highlights without accompanying eye fatigue. Given this set’s high-but-fair price point, any niggles we have are negligible. The X900F is highly recommended and deserved our Recommended award. Read the full review: Sony Bravia X900F (XBR-65X900F) review TCL 6-Series (R615, R617) (2018) If you had deep pockets and checkbook filled with blank checks, we’d tell you to reach deep and shell out for only the best TVs on the market - LG’s crazy-thin OLED W8 or Samsung’s ultra-bright Q9FN QLED (both featured on this list). But that’s not realistic. For the vast, vast majority of us, our budget to spend on a TV is limited to somewhere under $1,000 - and often less than that. To that end, it’s absolutely fair to say that the TCL 6-Series is the best TV you can possibly get in this price range. Its performance per dollar is unmatched and its picture quality - despite a few minor flaws - will truly impress you. Read the full review: TCL 6-Series (R615, R617) Vizio's 2018 P-Series is a great choice if you're after a TV that performs at an above-average level with great pricing. It has a number of top-shelf features with good black levels, but has its share of problems, too, like some audio reproduction issues and a slower operating platform. Thankfully, there’s nothing to complain about with the TV’s 4K HDR performance. In fact, considering how much work it takes for other screens to come close to natural colors, the P-Series is supremely good right out of the box. Samsung Q7FN QLED TV The Samsung Q7FN QLED TV has most of what makes the class-leading Q9FN great: Its quantum dots help produce a colorful but not oversaturated image and local dimming has really improved year-on-year. That said, off-axis viewing is still an issue and motion handling isn’t as good here as it is on Sony’s similarly priced X900F BRAVIA series. That said, while the Q7FN is bright, colorful and beautiful, it loses many of those qualities the moment you shift a few degrees off-axis. This isn’t an area where some of Samsung’s competitors - like the LG OLED or Super UHD TVs - stumble, and that makes it tough to give a full unadulterated recommendation. But, overall, the Q7FN is a good compromise between price and performance offering a bright screen, HDR and incredibly accurate colors for $1,799. Continue on to page two to read about what to look for when buying a TV!
What TV technology is best? Which is the best LCD TV? Which screen size is best for your living room? What's the difference between LCD and LED TVs? The answers aren't always obvious. In fact, buying a new TV can be stressful even for the tech-savvy - there are so many brands, so many features, so many screen sizes, colors, technologies and flavors to choose from. So which one is right for you, your family and your living space? In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about buying a new TV. What types of TV are there out there?There are a lot of different screen types out there, all working in different ways to produce the same results. Each technology has its own unique strengths and weaknesses so here are some basics to consider: LCD TV: CCFL LED TV: Direct LED LED TV: Edge LED OLED TV Quantum Dot Plasma TV Curved TV What resolution tech should I go for?HD Ultra HD and 4K HDR What else should I consider?Buying a flatscreen television is a major investment and one that you can't afford to take lightly. Just popping into the closest store and grabbing the first plasma or LCD you see won't get you the best deal, the screen that suits your needs, or the gear you require to make the most of your new purchase. Size matters People tend to pick the size of their flat TV based on the amount of space they have for it, this isn't necessarily wise. Flat TVs take up much less space than you might think, so your new TV may end up a foot or two further away from your viewing position, making the picture appear smaller. Also, with hi-def, you can have a bigger screen and the same viewing distance without worrying about seeing blemishes inherent to the source. A 4K TV's lack of noise means that the ideal distance to sit from the screen is three to four times the height of the TV. How to calculate the right size HD TV:The trick here is to ensure that your TV is big enough to fill your line of vision, but small enough to be sharp and clear. Remember, if you intend to only watch standard-definition sources, the bigger the screen gets, the worse the image will look. The ideal screen size can be calculated by multiplying the distance that you intend to sit away from it by 0.535 and then rounding this up to the nearest size. So, if you sit 80in away from your TV, the ideal size is 42-inch (80 x 0.535= 42.8). What features should I look out for?Features are too numerous to go into here, but here are some things you should consider. Photo viewing: If you have a digital camera, a TV that has a slot for memory cards or a USB socket for a card reader will let you view your photos onscreen. Here are some of the things we look for when we review a screen, so you should, too... Contrast: Bright whites shouldn't have any signs of green, pink or blue in them, while blacks should look solid and not washed out, grey, green or blue. Colours: Look at how bright and solid they are; how noiseless their edges are; how 'dotty' richly saturated areas are and how natural skin looks, especially in dim scenes. Fine detail: How much texture does the screen give? Does a tree look like a green lump, or can you see the individual leaves Edges: Check for ghosting, bright halos and jaggedness, especially around curves. Motion: Check moving objects and quick camera pans for smearing or blurring, trailing, jerkiness and fizzing dotty noise. Image artefacts: Look for blockiness, colour bands, grain, smearing, dot crawl: anything that looks like it's added by the TV picture processing or a weak TV tuner. Tinker with a TV's picture settings before making a final decision. Factory settings are rarely good for everyday viewing. What about sound?To provide the best audio to complement the pictures, your TV should be hooked up to a surround sound system, but this isn't always an option. So, here's what we listen for when testing a TV's speakers: Bass: Deep, rounded rumbles that don't cause the set to rattle or speakers to distort, cramp or overwhelm the rest of the sound; but that expand when needed. Vocals: Voices should sound open, rich and clear, not boxed in, nasal or thin. Trebles: Treble effects should sound clean, rounded and smooth in loud scenes and shouldn't dominate the soundstage. Soundstage width/depth: A good TV should throw the sound away from the TV, to the sides, forward and back, to give an extra dimension to what's on screen, without losing any coherence. How many HDMI sockets do I need?For a living room TV you should be looking for a minimum of 3 HDMI inputs. If you want to attach a set-top box as well as games consoles etc, those HDMI ports will fill up fast. Do I want to hang my TV on the wall?First off, you'll need to consult a construction expert to check that the wall in question is strong enough to support a flatscreen. Then find out if the set you want is designed to be wall-mounted and, if so, ask if the relevant bracket is included in the basic package or as an optional extra. Will I be connecting it to a home cinema?If the answer is no, you might want to think more carefully about your set's audio performance. Look for a screen that can go as loud as you'll need without distortion or cabinet rattle. Consider how dialogue sounds and how much low-end rumble the bass is capable of. Conversely, it's pointless paying out more cash for exceptional built-in speakers if you already have a decent home cinema system. Happy shopping! This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| CES 2019: here's what you can expect from the annual tech-stravaganza Posted: 02 Jan 2019 11:10 AM PST CES 2019 is almost here – and while we're sure to see some surprises, we've also had a flurry of announcements from LG, Samsung and others about what they're planning or not planning to showcase at the huge Las Vegas convention. We've been keeping up with all the new announcements as they happen and our team has been working hard to prepare for this year's event. What we're expecting is an absolute deluge of news on January 8, followed by a non-stop scavenger hunt trying to find the best products of the show. It's exhausting work, but there's no place like Vegas during CES. Each year, Sin City plays host to the gadget extravanganza that is the Consumer Electronics Show, now officially shortened to its acronym, CES. It's the time of year where tech innovators from all over the world gather to announce the latest and greatest in smartphones, wearables, TV and audio tech. New laptops, tablets and smart cars fill row after row of booths at the Las Vegas Convention Center with all the tech coming in the next few years. Last January we saw innovation in droves at CES 2018, from Samsung's 146-inch modular MicroLED TV, The Wall, and the incredible HTC Vive Pro to LG's rollable 65-inch OLED TV and the Huawei Mate 10 Pro. It's the world's biggest tech show, and it's poised to become even bigger in 2019. Can't wait until opening day on January 8? Read on! We've got all the details, predictions and postulations for what you can expect to see at CES 2019. [Update: Not sure what to expect at CES 2019? In a recent interview with Tom's Guide, CTA President Gary Shapiro offered his predictions for the top trends of the show. The list includes artificial intelligence in more devices and industries, 5G for phones and an emphasis on digital health after Facebook's awful privacy mismanagement in 2018. Want to see what each manufacturer is up to? We've got a full list further down the page.] What and when is CES 2019?The 2019 International CES will begin on Tuesday, 8 January and end on Friday, 11 January. It's been taking place since 1967 and is staged by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), a trade organization that represents over 2,000 consumer tech companies in the U.S. Though it gets a lot of attention from the world’s media, this is not an event where the public can go see the latest tech. Unlike the IFA exhibition in Berlin each August, the CES is open only to the electronics trade, as well as journalists, bloggers and plenty of blaggers. (You know who you are...) How big exactly is CES? It's huge. If you're going for the first time, go on a few five-mile walks in the preceding weeks. Seriously, it's hiking boots-big. There are 2.75 million net square feet of exhibit space. Eleven venues. 24 product categories. Some company's booths are vast and complex, while other, smaller firms grab a table in one of the 25 marketplaces. In terms of footfall, the CES attracts about 180,000 people from 155 countries, as well as 6,500 media, who visit 4,500 exhibiting companies. All the biggest tech companies in the world gather ... well, except for Apple. Where will CES 2019 take place?Since 1978 the CES has been staged in Las Vegas. Why? Hotel rooms, all 150,000 of them, and counting. The main venue is the Las Vegas Convention and World Trade Center (LVCC), which is a short (and very busy) monorail ride from The Strip, where most of the hotels are. Along with the nearby Westgate Las Vegas and Renaissance Las Vegas, this is referred to as Tech East. This is where most of the major booths are. Tech West (comprising the Sands Expo, The Venetian, The Palazzo, Wynn Las Vegas, and Encore) is where you'll find hi-fi and audio. At Tech South (ARIA, Park MGM/Park Theater and Vdara) you'll see VR, AR, and gaming. There are shuttle buses between the venues, but it's best to stay put for the day at one of the three areas to avoid the traffic. When do all the announcements happen?Although the weeks before the CES are packed with rumors and reports of what may or may not be launched or announced at the CES, it's not until Sunday, January 6 and Monday, January 7 – the two days before the show opens – that there will be any concrete news. These are the two media days, and they're when the all-important press conferences are held, and consequently when a lot of the headlines are written. Sunday is typically light on news, and in 2019 it's Monday that will see the big companies' press conferences at the Mandalay Bay Hotel at the south end of The Strip. In 2019, confirmed press conferences include Hisense, Hyundai, Intel, LG, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Samsung, Sony, TCL, and Toyota. As for whom is actually giving these nail-biting presentations, the first will come from LG on Monday, 7 January; its President and Chief Technology Officer Dr. I.P. Park will discuss AI and 'self-evolving' products … and a foldable phone? January 8 will see keynotes from IBM Chairman, President and CEO Ginni Rometty (trust, AI and quantum) and Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg (5G), while January 9 has AMD's president and CEO Dr. Lisa Su discuss next-gen computing. CES 2019 predictions: what's going to be announcedJust give the attendance list a cursory glance and you'll see that a lot of bases are covered at CES - you'll find AR and VR, voice control, connected cars, robotics, smart home, smart cities, health, wellness, sleep, sports, accessories companies, and everything in between. However, in 2019 there are some trends that are likely to dominate. The most obvious will be voice control. "Well definitely see more smart speakers with screens," says Jack Wetherill, Principal Consultant: Home Electronics at Futuresource, who also thinks CES will see voice creep into more and more product categories, such as soundbars possibly from Samsung, Sony and LG. The TV remote control could finally begin its death throes. "There has already been one TV with far-field microphones in the set itself," says Wetherill, referring to Toshiba's upcoming OLED, 4K HDR, and Full HD smart ranges with Alexa built in. CES could also see the spread of Netflix Calibrated Mode beyond some Sony TVs. Headphones will also get chatty. "A new Alexa development kit from Qualcomm means we'll see more integration of voice into headphones," says Wetherill. "We're waiting for headphones that respond to a wake-word, and while that probably won't emerge at CES 2019, we will see true wireless earphones with longer battery life – it would be logical if Sony brought more ‘true wireless’ products at CES." Another trend will be foldable displays, with the Samsung Galaxy X likely to feature alongside LG’s foldable. However, foldables could go much deeper than mere phones. "Where we’re expecting real change is laptops and tablets," says Tom Morrod, Senior Research Director, IHS Markit. "We are expecting to see foldable laptops with OLED screens that extend across the entire keyboard area – this means you could open them up to monitor size, or to book format, or use them as a normal laptop format with the keyboard as half of the touch panel." But how, exactly, Android and Windows adapt their OS for foldable devices will be interesting. Last but not least, connected cars at CES 2019 could also see integrated OLEDs to replace wing mirrors. Want specific predictions for each company? We've got those, too! Aircharge at CES 2019Wireless charging is on the up, and the CES will definitely see three new products from Aircharge: a Fast Wireless Charger 10W, Fast Dual Charger 10W, and a PS4 DualShock 4 Wireless Adapter. Both chargers will deliver 10W fast wireless charging, including both Apple and Samsung fast wireless charging. AMD at CES 2019Semiconductor company AMD has already said that it intends to show-off its 3rd-gen Ryzen processors and new graphics products at CES 2019. According to a recent leak, that will include three new entry-level Ryzen 3 processors (3300, 3300X, 3300G), three mid-range Ryzen 5 processors (3600, 3600X, 3600G) and two Ryzen 7 processors (3700, 3700X). On top of the mainline processors, AMD might also surprise us with a few new mobile processors in the form of the 2.6GHz AMD Ryzen 3 3200U, 2.1GHz AMD Ryzen 3 3300U CPU and 2.1GHz AMD Ryzen 5 3500U. Beyond processors, CES 2019 might be the place that we see the company's next AMD Navi GPUs – though, that seems a little less likely than the 3rd-gen processors. There's also talk of a new Radeon graphics card, with 7nm Vega II GPUs possibly making an appearance. All the latest AMD CES 2019 news:
Asus at CES 2019How about a high-end 10-inch Chrome OS tablet? That's what AndroidHeadlines.com reports that ASUS will be using CES 2019 to announce. With last year's revamped Zenbook models and Alexa-enabled mesh router, the Asus Lyra Voice, we're excited to see what else Asus could show off this time around. Canon at CES 2019CanonRumors.co reports that CES 2019 could see the unveiling of a Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III – complete with a new image sensor and a longer zoom range – and possibly a G9 X Mark III. That rumor seems to be even more likely than ever now that Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark III product images surfaced online. All the latest Canon CES 2019 news: Intel at CES 2019Is Nvidia about to get a serious challenge in the high-end graphics card market? If reports from Anthony Garreffa at TweakTown are anything to go by, a discrete graphics card could be coming from Intel. In the world of processors, rumor has it that Intel is developing a new 10-core, 20-thread CPU codenamed Comet Lake that will be based on yet another iteration of Intel’s 14nm process. If the rumors are true, this will be the first time Intel has outpaced AMD in the CPU core war in a very long time. All the latest Intel CES 2019 news: LG at CES 2019It's confirmed, LG will definitely have TVs at CES 2019. We can safely say that because the Korean-based electronics manufacturer already announced the Alpha 9 (Gen. 2) TV processor that will power its 2019 OLED TVs. Details were sparse on how it would significantly improve this year's Alpha 9, but it could be saving that for CES. We've also heard a lot of buzz about LG's rollable OLED that was available to see behind closed doors at last year's CES. It's not confirmed yet, but there's a good chance it will be available to see on the show floor in 2019. (Actually, that's almost a given considering that it could be on sale in 2019.) We also know LG will be showcasing two new 'ultra' monitors for the worker bees and committed gamers out there: one being a super-sized 49-inch UltraWide monitor, the other a new 144 Hz UltraGear gaming monitor. LG will also be showing off a new range of high-end Dolby Atmos soundbars, all three of which are launching with Google Assistant built in. Will LG bring more 'ThinQ' branded smart home products? Probably. However, there are also rumors that LG's CES 2019 keynote will see the unveiling of a foldable phone – though, it might not be available to check out at the show. We may instead have to wait until MWC 2019 to hear about that, though in the meantime we're likely to hear more on the LG G8 flagship phone before it releases in March with a built-in 3D camera. Either way, look out for pre-Christmas, pre-CES announcements of B-lister products – it's an annual tradition from LG's predictable Comms team. All the latest LG CES 2019 news:
Nvidia at CES 2019According to a fresh rumor, Nvidia will reveal its GeForce RTX Mobility graphics cards at CES 2019, supposedly on January 6, which would be in the pre-show run-up to the official start of the event (on January 8). If the rumor from Wccftech turns out to be true, we'll see the RTX 2070 and the 2070 Max-Q parts along with the 2060, 2050 Ti and 2050 in Vegas early next month. Moreover, Nvidia may be preparing more than just RTX graphics for laptops at CES 2019, with a reference to MX250 graphics just appearing in an HP laptop listing. The supposed HP Zahn 66 Pro 14 G2 Notebook PC was reportedly listed somewhere by HP with an Nvidia GeForce MX250 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory, first shared by Twitter user Momomo. All the latest Nvidia CES 2019 news:
Royole at CES 2019The world's first foldable phone? That could well come at CES from Royole, which recently teased the FlexPai, the 7.8-inch AMOLED screen that folds in half. Samsung at CES 2019A CES launch for the previously announced Samsung Galaxy Home smart speaker – compete with Bixby – seems a shoo-in, but will Samsung launch its Galaxy X foldable phone? "While the full Samsung launch might be at Mobile World Congress we could instead see the Samsung Galaxy S10 launched at CES, which won’t be foldable but will have 5G and triple camera, plus a new notch design on the front panel," says Tom Morrod, Senior Research Director, IHS Markit. Looking to get ahead of the deluge of news, Samsung has announced two new versions of its Samsung Notebook 9 Pen 2-in-1 laptop. Scheduled for a vague ‘2019’ release and with no pricing to speak of, the laptops are both a rehash (13.3-inch) and an expansion (15-inch) of the late 2017 debut model. We will also almost certainly see Samsung refresh its TV line-up, which will mean more advanced QLED TVs (though probably not a new version of the recent 85-inch Q900R 8K QLED TV). However, if a recent patent filing is anything to go by, we could see a transparent TV. Since Samsung is often launching design-led screens, that wouldn't be a surprise – though if you're after some more practical features, the newly announced Remote Access should be able to source files, programs and cloud services from connected devices and computers direct to your TV. What we do know for sure at this point is that Samsung will enhance its Serif TV and The Frame designer screens with QLED tech. The new screens will make their debut at the show and, according to Samsung, will reside in the large lifestyle TV exhibition zone of Samsung’s booth. The last rumor we've heard concerning Samsung 2019 TVs is that they might include both Bixby and Google Assistant – giving users the choice over which assistant they'd like to use. All the latest Samsung CES 2019 news:
Sony at CES 2019There's likely to be an almighty rush to launch the first 5G-ready phones in 2019, and Sony’s desire to be first-to-market could mean that the CES 2019 sees the appearance of a 5G Xperia phone. It's also possible that Sony will use CES 2019 to launch its 5.9-inch XA3 and 5.7-inch Xperia L3 budget phones, according to KnowYourMobile.com. Sony may also launch a smart speaker-with-a-screen, following in LG's footsteps. Spotify at CES 2019The streaming service doesn't normally deal in hardware, but could Spotify use CES 2019 to launch its own voice search interface to compete with Amazon Echo and Google Home? Spotify has suites reserved at the Wynn Encore … One thing’s for sure, after CES 2019 the world of tech won’t ever be the same.
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| Microsoft reveals first Middle East data centre Posted: 02 Jan 2019 10:22 AM PST Microsoft has announced that it will expand its cloud services in Europe and the Middle East with the launch of new data centres. The tech giant plans to open its first data centres in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates while also expanding its cloud offerings in Europe. Qatar's cabinet has also approved the establishment of a Microsoft global data centre in the country which will further boost its offerings in the Middle East. Microsoft's decision to bolster its already substantial cloud presence in Europe comes in response to growing customer demand in the region. The company plans to be the first global cloud operator to introduce cloud regions in Switzerland, specifically in Geneva and Zurich. Microsoft will also aid German businesses in their digital transformation efforts by offering Azure, Office 365 and Dynamics 365 from new data centre locations in addition to the options currently available in the country. European expansionThe company's new cloud offering in Germany will complement existing options currently available in the country which include global services delivered from outside of Germany and the Microsoft Cloud Germany which is physically and logically separated from its global infrastructure and managed by a data trustee. Area Vice President of Microsoft Germany, Sabine Bendiek explained how the new offering will boost digital transformation efforts while helping businesses to remain compliant, saying: “The new cloud services enable customers to digitally transform their businesses empowered by Microsoft’s global network and the latest innovative services while meeting their compliance requirements to store customer data in Germany.” Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 are also now generally available in France and new data centres in Paris and Marseille show the company's commitment to the region. Via Microsoft
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| ExpressVPN launches new Mac and Android apps Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:51 AM PST Choosing a VPN that fits your needs can be difficult which is why TechRadar has highlighted the best VPN services of 2019. Our current top pick, ExpressVPN recently announced that it has completely redesigned its Mac and Android apps to make them easier to use and more convenient. Both apps have been rebuilt from the ground up with a slick new interface to make them easier to navigate. ExpressVPN has streamlined its apps so that users can quickly see their connection state and server location. In-app shortcutsAdditionally a new in-app shortcut feature has been added which allows you to quickly launch your favourite apps and websites after connecting to ExpressVPN. This saves you the trouble of having to open your browser to navigate to your favourite sites and ensures that your devices and accounts remain protected. ExpressVPN is now faster than ever and connecting to your chosen VPN location is lightning quick so that your ready to surf the web securely in almost no time at all. Staying safe online is becoming increasingly difficult which is why we recommend using a VPN to connect to the internet in public while using unsecured hotspots or hotel Wi-Fi.
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| The best Samsung Galaxy S8 cases Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:45 AM PST The Samsung Galaxy S8 is no longer the latest and greatest Galaxy phone out there now that the Galaxy S9 and Galaxy Note 9 are the company's leading flagships. But now that all the new phones have hit the market, this still-powerful smartphone is more affordable than ever. Even if it’s a cheaper option, it's still a good idea to put a case on your Galaxy S8. One of the nicer features of the Galaxy S8 is its stunning edge-to-edge display that stretches over the phone's sides. Naturally, that larger display is also more vulnerable to drops since the angled screen is more likely to make contact with the ground than other devices. A bad spill could doom your pristine screen. We’ve assembled a list of great Galaxy S8 cases to guard your phone so it will stay intact as possible, perhaps while you wait for the rumored foldable Galaxy X. While some of these case options are untested, they're reputed to be a cut above the rest thanks to their value and design, and are backed by positive consumer feedback.
Spigen has spread its low-cost Tough Armor series to plenty of phones, and it's at home here for a Samsung phone that has been surpassed by newer devices. It's an affordable case with a couple layers of protection, providing basic safety for those who don't need to splurge on their older phone. The Tough Armor has a flexible TPU body that wraps around the device along with a polycarbonate shell, which also houses the wee kickstand for propping up your phone to watch media. You can pick one up for just under $17 (£13, AU$23) on Amazon here. Vena's vCommute is a rugged take on the wallet case, offering more protection (and a grittier look) for anyone who wants to carry cards around with their phone. It's got a typical flexible TPU and polycarbonate combo frame to handle drops and scuffs. Unlike other wallet cases, the vCommute's card pocket can be completely enclosed by a cover. This layer is articulated, allowing you to turn it into an impromptu stand - and it's also magnetic, and allegedly works with appropriate car mounts. You can get the vCommute for just under $20 ( £15, AU$27) on Amazon here. This Samsung Galaxy S8 Super Thin case is for you if you're even the least bit reluctant to cover up your new S8. Coming in a few different colors, each adds a nice touch to the S8's forward-thinking design. Its easy application and low profile makes it an easy choice for minimalists, though at $25, it's not the cheapest case given its simple build. However, if form takes higher priority over function, Peel's case is exactly what you need. Check out the Super Thin case by Peel right here. This Samsung Galaxy S8 case has a translucent cover envelopes the entire phone and provides a see-through window for the time and date, incoming calls, music controls and lock screen notifications. On top of that, it doubles as a stand so you can easily watch movies in landscape mode. This is Samsung’s fun Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus case that shines LED lights through the translucent cover. There are 54 special icons and you can have limited control over the phone without having to open up the cover. This is the most standard case Samsung makes. It has a smooth, rubberized feel on the outside and a microfiber interior to keep your phone scratch-free. It protects your phone and gives you several bright color options. Samsung’s premium Alcantara case feels like suede with a soft, textured material that extends all the way around the phone. You even get a slight lip around the display in order to avoid scratching the front glass when the phone is face down. Let your Samsung Galaxy S8 true color and slim design shine through this clear case. It's 0.8mm thin, so there’s not much extra bulk to this bumper case. It's protection without the distraction.Samsung Clear Cover Otterbox makes heavy-duty Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus cases, so you’re getting drop protection from the incredibly rugged Defender and almost as durable Commuter series. Both have a polycarbonate shell and synthetic rubber slipcover. Incipio already has 22 Galaxy S8 cases available (and another 22 for the Galaxy S8 Plus), so here are our favorites: The Carnaby has a soft fabric back that reminds of us Incipio’s stylish backpacks; Stowaway gives you a pocket for up to three credit cards; and Haven provides protection from six-foot drops. Not enough? Incipio also sells two different glitter cases. There are four Caseology Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus cases, and they’re all fairly inexpensive. The Caseology Coastline is the company’s basic clear polycarbonate case for minimalists, the Parallax case provide stylish grooves in addition to protection, the Vault I case is meant to be ‘slim armor’ and the Legion case is all about offering rugged protection without compromise. Speck is best at offering Samsung cases with slim designs and just enough protection to get you through your first year or two with the phone (until you trade it in). We like the new Presidio case for exactly that reason. It takes on a slim design, yet offers drop and bezel screen protection. The Speck Presidio Grip, meanwhile, it meant for more impact and, with a no-slip back, hopefully fewer drops. You can find some fun cases among Casemate’s Galaxy S8 collection already. Skip the ‘Naked Tough Clear’ case and go for one of the three ‘Naked Tough Waterfall’ cases. They send glitter cascading through clear cases, just in case a 5.8-inch and 6.2-inch phone didn’t stand out already. Also fun are Casemate’s Karat cases that stick various shiny metal accents (like gold flakes or mother of pearl and silver) inside a case – they just don’t move around. Lifeproof’s Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus cases bring your Android phone up to army grade standards thanks to the military standard 810G-516.6. It’s ready for rough and tumble action and extends the device’s IP68 waterproof capabilities. The company even claims to give it snowproof and drop proof capabilities to boot. There are six Samsung Galaxy S8 cases from Tech21, with the cheapest being the Pure Clear case and three Evo cases: Evo Active Edition, Evo Check, and Evo Tactical. Tech21’s two card-carrying cases are more more expensive, the Evo Wallet folio case and Evo Go case that has a trap door for your card carrying needs. If you want your Galaxy S8 protected, the Spigen Slim Armor CS case will do the job. Soft and hard plastics combine to keep the phone safe from falls. Even though it’s a bit bulky, it can save you some pocket space by carrying two cards, so you may not need to always bring a wallet everywhere you go. This case can fully replace most wallets, more card storage than anyone should reasonably need. It has nine card slots and three cash slots, so you can keep this case loaded with ways to pay. And if you use Samsung Pay, keeping your phone in this case will mean it’s holding one more payment method. For anyone looking to ditch the wallet and carry just a few cards around with their Galaxy S8, the Maxboost Wallet Case is a good fit. It fits the phone into a simple holder, and closes up folio-style. The card slots are perfect for a credit card, debit card and license. The leather flip wallet case from Ocase will offer you protection for the Galaxy S8 while also letting you store multiple credit cards and cash. It includes a magnetic clasp to help it stay closed, and has the necessary cutouts for you to use your camera and fingerprint scanner. There are a variety of color options, and even models with a detachable phone holders. See the Ocase leather flip wallet case at Amazon here. Enjoying Samsung's visual design and protecting it from destruction are hard to balance. The Zizo Bolt Galaxy S8 case leans heavily in favor of the latter. It features multi-layer protection and a screen protector to make sure a simple accident won't do serious damage. Most importantly, it offers military-grade drop certification to protect your Galaxy S8 from up to 12-foot falls. See the Zizo Bolt case on Amazon here. We’ll continue to update this page with more cases as they become available to us. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Best phone in the US for 2019: the top 15 smartphones we've tested Posted: 02 Jan 2019 09:12 AM PST The new year has just begun, and with CES 2019 on the horizon, we've assembled our list of picks vying for the top spot as best phone in the US. Apple released the iPhone XS, XS Max and the more affordable iPhone XR. The new OnePlus 6T hit the market with a price well below its competition while its specs and design are highly competitive. Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and Note 9 continue to stand out. And, Google’s new Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL have been contenders for the best camera phone. It can be hard to keep track of all the great phones on the market, but we’ve thoroughly tested all of the best and determined which stand above the rest. We’ve got all the specs and details for you to compare and detailed accounts of how each phone performs. Whenever a new phone comes out, we’ll see how it stacks up against the current roster of top smartphones. So, whether you’re excited about a new iPhone or Android coming out or heard that a new phone has the best specs around, you can see where it ranks among the best smartphones right here. With all the phones ready to compare, we’ll make one thing clear. The best phone isn't simply the new iPhone, although our list is made up of familiar names: Apple, Samsung, Google and LG, all in the top 10. The good news is that our team of smartphone experts has tested the best phones released in the United States, and advocating the right one to buy is more than just a hunch for us. We'll tell you which phone is best and explain why on this page. We test out the latest and (sometimes) greatest phones in comprehensive mobile phone reviews. That's our job. We're here to separate the best from the mediocre. To drill down to a list of our favorites in the US for January 2019, we based our newly updated rankings system on a lot of geeked-out factors: design, performance, battery life, camera quality, and consistency software updates. The truth is they're all so close, but you want to walk away with the greatest phone for you. Why we have more than just a No. 1 pick: Your personal preference among iOS 12 and Android Pie could sway you to another device besides our top-ranked phone. No one in the US wants to get rid of iMessages, and we understand that. Likewise, Android is better for a lot of people who like to tinker with their settings – that's Google's speciality with its mobile OS. Likewise, your contract with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile is a preference. The best phone for AT&T may not be available on-contract on Verizon, and vice-versa. We have to take that into account when recommending phones. If you didn't catch it the first time, spoiler alert, our top pick isn't just Apple's iPhone XS or iPhone XS Max. We're not that predictable. Before you lock into a binding contract or spring for an expensive unlocked phone, consult our best phone guide, updated regularly. The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is the best phone you can buy today if you're not one to shy away from its $1,000 starting price for the 128GB version. The 512GB model is an eye-popping $1,250. But that version, when combined with a 512GB microSD card, gives you the first 1TB phone – bigger than many laptops sold in the US. Screen: Samsung's 6.4-inch Infinity Display is slightly bigger (taller, but actually more narrow than the Note 8) and wraps around the sides for a nice curved look and feel. Samsung is anti-bezel and anti-notch. What you may not see at first is the extreme brightness of this display and the color reproduction. It's impressive when you see it in person. Battery life: The Note 9 has a 4,000mAh battery and is the key reason we like it over the S9 Plus, the second best phone in the US. The capacity is 14.2% bigger than the S9 Plus and 33.3% bigger than the S9. It lasts all day with heavy use and deep into a day two with normal use. You can also charge over wireless easily, and fast charging boots in 17% battery in 15 mins. Camera: The Note 9 camera is impressive, just like the S9 Plus six month before it, and it has the added benefit of remotely capturing photos from up to 30 ft away via the Bluetooth S Pen. Samsung also added AI smarts to the camera that automatically adjusts the white balance and color based on the scene it detects. The camera does as well as the Google Pixel 2 in low-light (sometimes better, sometimes worse, but not by much in either direction), and the default camera app is robust (more so than Google's), yet remains streamlined and initiative. It does lack HDR video recording, seen on other Android phones from Sony and LG. Mini verdict: The Note 9 is bigger in all ways, including the price. It's one of the most expensive phones in the US, right up there with the iPhone X. But you're getting a better camera and more storage (and a microSD card slot) for your money. The battery is bigger, too. Samsung packs a lot into its all-day smartphone with a stylus. Read more: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is the second best phone you can buy today, and meant for anyone who won't use the stylus. It's slightly cheaper and marginally smaller than the Note 9. It's still a big phone with an expansive screen, top-of-the-line camera and all-day battery life. This is one of the best Samsung phones you can buy in the US if you're willing to pay the price and have large enough hands for its massive size. Screen: Its 6.2-inch Super AMOLED display that really sells this phone, and not because it has more pixels than before (it doesn't) than last year's S8. It’s the futuristic-looking curved edges, vibrant colors, and high contrast ratio that make the screen pop. It's hard to go back to any other size once you hold this large, beautiful light beam in your hand. Battery life: Samsung's 3,500mAh battery is large enough to last all day and a little bit more. It's better than the normal-sized S9, though other phones out of China are maxing out at 5,000mAh these days. It's the one area this handsets seems adequate and not Plus-sized. Luckily, it support Samsung's very quick fast charging standard. Camera: Low-light scenarios are no match the the Galaxy S9 Plus dual-lens, dual-aperture. It does a fine job at amping up dark environments without adding noise that you'll see from other camera phone. It does smooth out textures in the process, but it's on par with, and at times better, than the Google Pixel 2. Mini verdict: The Galaxy S9 Plus is Samsung's answer to the iPhone X, but better in several ways. It too has stereo speakers, face unlock, AR Emoji and vertically stacked 12MP dual cameras. What's better? Its better low-light photos, 3.5mm headphone jack and larger 6.2-inch curved all-screen display – without a notch. No one else has this combination right now. Read more: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus review The iPhone XS Max is Apple's new big iPhone with an expansive 6.5-inch display that can't be missed if you're looking for the best phone running iOS 12. It's fast, has a brilliant all-screen display, and gives you great photos out of its noticeably upgraded 12MP dual-lens rear camera. Screen: The 6.5-inch OLED screen is the reason to choose the iPhone XS Max over its smaller 5.8-inch iPhone XS counterpart. The phone is still about the size of an iPhone Plus, but thanks to the all-screen display (minus the notch cut out at the top), you get a lot more real-estate. It looks more color-rich vs the old iPhone LCD displays, too. Battery life: You'll get the best battery life out of the iPhone XS Max simply because it has room for a bigger battery. The 3,174mAh capacity is by no means the biggest (Samsung's Note 9 is 4,000mAh), but Apple's ownership of both software and hardware means it's smartly optimized. You'll get all-day battery life even with heavy use. Camera: This is the best iPhone camera ever made, even if the 12MP dual-lens rear camera number hasn't changed in several years. It's all about the software inside and how the A12 chipset interprets scenes with Smart HDR. It's up there with the Google Pixel 2 and Samsung Galaxy Note 9, even if Apple's photos tend to be less vivid in our tests and more true-to-life. Mini verdict: This is the iPhone for anyone who wants what's new and doesn't care what it costs. The iPhone XS Max is expensive, but it's the best upgrade if you're into big screens and Apple's ecosystem, like the App Store and iMessages. The iPhone XS is a good choice if you have smaller hands, and the iPhone XR may be better if you have a smaller wallet. Read more: iPhone XS Max review The Galaxy S9 is the standard-sized Samsung flagship for 2018, giving you a way to experience a curved screen smartphone. It's minor specs bump from last year's very similar looking handset, but it's a better value than the iPhone XS. Screen: The 5.8-inch Quad HD curved screen is the standout feature, and you can hold this version in one hand without too much trouble. It's bright, with punchy colors thanks to Samsung's Super AMOLED technology, and even at the default 1080p resolution looks fantastic. Battery life: Battery life is a little disappointing for a top-end smartphone, meaning you'll need to think about a top-up during the day if you're a harder user. Wireless and fast charging capabilities help with this though. Camera: The Samsung Galaxy S9 takes stunning photos, and especially amps up low-light photos without increasing the usual noise we see from other cameras. It has a single rear sensor compared to the Galaxy S9 Plus, but it's nearly as good. You'll still be wowed by the camera. Mini verdict: The Galaxy S9 is the top Android smartphone for people with smaller hands who don't want a giant phablet or pay top price. It's still expensive compared to the Galaxy S8 when there aren't that many advancements, but if you want a better camera and stereo speakers, this is the phone for you. Read more: Samsung Galaxy S9 review Apple’s iPhone XR was a little bit late to launch after the iPhone XS and XS Max that launched a bit earlier. But thanks to its lower price point, it makes for a more affordable option than the XS models. For some, the powerful internals paired with the large screen and lower price will make for a compelling buy, especially thanks to the surprisingly good battery. Screen: The iPhone XR screen isn’t its strongest selling point, as it’s a notable downgrade. It’s resolution falls short of Full HD, and it’s not a battery-friendly OLED. Still, the Liquid Retina LCD display used still has good sharpness and brilliant colors.That said, the 6.1-inch display offers plenty of real estate. Battery life: Though this is the more affordable iPhone to come out in Apple’s latest batch, its battery life stands out. Thanks to the A12 Bionic and chipset and lower resolution, the battery performance is great, making it the first iPhone that could comfortably get through a whole day of use in our testing without us worrying about. Camera: While the other iPhones have dual rear cameras, the iPhone XR has just one sensor. For normal photo shooting, it does a great job though. The lack of a second camera also reduces the quality of Portrait Mode photos. But, the detractors came largely in comparison to other top cameras. Mini verdict: The iPhone XR has all the performance of its more expensive siblings on the inside. It’s camera and screen may not be as impressive, but where it truly dazzles is in the battery life. If you want an iPhone with a battery you won’t always worry about, the iPhone XR is it. Read more: iPhone XR review The Google Pixel 3 came out in October, offering some internal upgrades, improved camera performance, a second front-facing camera, and a better screen than its predecessor. And, as with past Pixels, when it comes to smartphone cameras, this is a top contender. Screen: The Pixel 3 stretches the previous model’s screen to 5.5-inches for an 18:9 aspect ratio. There are no notches taking up any of the screen space either. Colors are rich on the OLED display, and thanks to the dual front-facing speakers, it makes for a handy streaming device. Battery life: A 2,915mAh battery is nothing to get excited about in a modern smartphone. That said, with conservative us, it’s not hard to get all-day battery life. If you’re not taking a lot of photos, it may be easier to get a full day of battery, but with such a good camera, it may be tough to avoid. Camera: The Pixel 2’s cameras are its best selling point. On back, the 12.2MP sensor paired with Google’s brilliant software optimization make for stunning photos in most situations. Optical Image Stabilization certainly helps, too. Selfie lovers get a bonus with dual front-facing cameras that can snap photos with different viewing angles. Mini verdict: The Pixel 3 is powerful on the inside, and even though its design isn’t the most exciting from 2018, nor is its battery, it’s all about the camera in the end. And, with Google’s knack for photo optimization, this phone can almost sell itself with the camera alone. Read more: Google Pixel 3 review Following its trend in recent years, OnePlus has released its iterative update in the OnePlus 6T. The new phone doesn’t substantially change the internals of the phone, but the design is tweaked with some exciting improvements that can challenge the best of them. Screen: The new OnePlus 6T screen is the most exciting part off the device. It’s a huge 6.41-inch AMOLED display, and though the resolution is just 1080x2340 (not as sharp as more expensive competitors), OnePlus has made the screen dominate the space on the front of the phone. It’s even shrunk down the notch to a negligible side, and the coup de grace is an under-screen fingerprint scanner. Battery life: The OnePlus 6T packs in a nice 3,700mAh battery. In our testing, it was easy to get through a full day. With fast charging, it’s not too hard to add in a extra battery life if you’re using the phone a lot on any given day. Camera: The back of the OnePlus 6T packs two good cameras, both with wide aperture. There’s a 16MP wide-angle camera and 20MP secondary sensor. They take great photos that may not beat the top competitors, but they come satisfactorily close. For sharp selfies, the front camera has a 16MP sensor. Mini verdict: For all that the OnePlus 6T offers, it’s all the more impressive that it’s priced as low as it is. The value proposition of the OnePlus 6T is so good, anyone looking for flagship quality without the high price has a good option here. Read more: OnePlus 6T review The Google Pixel 3 XL brings higher end internals and a notched screen to the latest iteration of Google’s larger phone. It’s got the same great cameras as its smaller sibling, but more screen and more battery. Unfortunately that also means a higher price. Screen: The Pixel 3 XL has a sizable 6.3-inch OLED screen with an 18.5:9 aspect ratio. There’s HDR support and a sharp 1440 x 2960 resolution. The viewing experience is good, though this screen does have a rather chunky notch that may not be to everyone’s liking. Battery life: In our testing, we found the 3,430mAh battery to be plenty. Power users can get a full day, and average users are likely to find themselves getting a day and a half. Some of that battery performance is likely coming from good battery optimization within Android Pie. Fast charging and fast wireless charging just round out the offering. Camera: The Pixel 3 XL has the cameras to beat. Google knows how to make a good camera that far exceeds what the specs sheet says. It uses a 12.2MP rear sensor, but software optimization helps it outperform other smartphone cameras in just about all cases. The dual front-facing cameras also give selfie-lovers some extra versatility. Mini verdict: The Pixel 3 XL improves on the previous generations design, fitting more screen into roughly the same size. It also manages a battery life that should satisfy most. Best of all, the camera is better than anything else you’ll find (except the Pixel 3, which is just as good). Read more: Google Pixel 3 XL review iPhone XS is a minor, but important upgrade over last year's completely redesign iPhone. It's noticeably faster and has an improved dual-lens camera to make it a better choice, if you're willing to pay the same launch price. No the look of the 5.8-inch new iPhone hasn't changed on the outside, but if you want a more one-hand-friendly size for a cutting-edge iPhone, this is the one to buy. Screen: The 5.8-inch OLED on this iPhone is big, but not a turn off for some people who literally can't handle the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max (which we like a bit more in our big mitts). This phone size isn't too much bigger than your old 4.7-inch iPhone 7 or iPhone 6 thanks to its reduced bezel – though you'll miss the Touch ID home button. You'll forget about that when staring into the color-rich OLED that's dreamier than the old iPhone LCD. Battery life: The iPhone XS has about the same battery life as the iPhone X, so you'll get all-day battery life with normal use. Power users may struggle a bit without one of the best power banks, and although Apple says it has 30 minutes more battery life than the iPhone X, the smaller capacity and our tests show it's shy of that claim. Camera: This is where you'll see differences in the otherwise familiar-looking iPhone XS. Its dual-lens camera offers Smart HDR and optical image stabilization (OIS). It's not as vivid as the cameras on a Google Pixel 2 or Samsung Galaxy S9, but you'll get true-to-life photos that make the 2018 iPhone's a worthy upgrade. Mini verdict: Although still expensive, the iPhone XS is our best phone for someone who wants to use iOS 12 and doesn't want to spend even more money on the bigger iPhone XS Max. You have your limits, and that may be 5.8 inches and $1,000. Read more: iPhone XS review Google Pixel 2 is the best phone if you're looking for a pure Android experience with a big screen, incredible camera and stereo speakers. It's not cheap like an old Nexus phone, but it's a big improvement in terms and quality and specs. Screen: The Pixel XL 2 has an expansive 6-inch display that's decent for gaming and video playback (although a few issues have surfaced around its viewing angles), and it boasts an improved design over the smaller Pixel 2, with slimmer bezels housing its dual front-facing speakers. Battery life: The XL has good battery life - you won't have a problem with it. It will comfortably last you a full day under normal conditions and with normal use, and its ability to save power when it's not doing anything means it'll last a few days in standby. Camera: Like the smaller Pixel 2, the camera on the XL is stunningly good. Photos look fantastic, and they'll please both casual and more serious snappers alike. Low light conditions in particular are where this phone shines - perhaps not as competent as the Galaxy S9 pair though - and you'll struggle to take a poor snap with this phone. Mini verdict: This phone is for you if you want to go for a pure Android experience with the best camera on the market, and with a large screen. It's a pricey phone but worth it if the above appeals. Read more: Google Pixel 2 XL review The OnePlus 6 represents excellent value compared to its competitors, with a strong package put together for far less money than you might expect given the spec and performance of this thing. Screen: The negative thing here is that we're looking at a Full HD display, but it's a long 19:9 ratio with a notch at the top. Yes, it lacks HDR, but it does have decent OLED contrast ratio - it's far from shabby to look at. Battery life: The battery life of the OnePlus 6, despite using the thirsty Snapdragon 845 chipset, is more than decent, with it mostly landing on around 15% left at the end of the day through medium usage. Camera: A dual 16MP sensor on the back, combined with a 16MP option for the front, means that you'll get some decent snaps out of this phone. There's no 'AI smarts' to play with here, but ultimately you're getting some good bokeh modes and impressive low-light work. Mini verdict: Sure, there's nothing here that really wows... except the price. The design, screen, battery life and camera are all more than serviceable, and the operating system is pretty close to stock Android, which will attract many. There's a lot of power and storage on offer here too, making it an easy recommendation.
The LG G7 ThinQ is an impressive little phone from the brand (irritating name aside), bringing with it a strong package and a decent price in many regions. There's an attempt to right the wrongs of the LG G6 - and it's resulted in a good alternative to the traditional big hitters. Screen: LG's Super Bright screen might not be OLED - LCD is preferred here - but it's capable of delivering good peak brightness, can handle HDR10 and Dolby Vision playback and has a large, expansive look with a smaller notch. It's a little large to hold, but it's one of the most capable screens around. Battery life: At 3,000 mAh, the LG G7 ThinQ isn't the largest on the market... and it shows in the performance. It's not terrible, with some clever background processing keeping things going, but it'll only last you around a day when others are starting to eke into two. Camera: The smart camera here is great if you want to capture more of the picture, with a much wider field of view bringing in more information. The smart sensor tries to work out what's in front of you - with great results, but only when it gets things right. It's not the best camera out there, but you can take some stellar shots. Mini verdict: It's so tight at top of our best smartphone list that the small tweaks can make all the difference, and LG impresses thanks to offering up a tightly-made package for a pretty reasonable price - it's similar to many other top Android phones out there, but you'll certainly find some elements to enjoy here. Read more: LG G7 ThinQ review The LG V40 is all about its cameras, and that's obvious with one look at it – the five cameras are its standout feature. It doesn't rival Google, Apple, or Samsung on photo quality, but it does have more angles and that's fun for creative types. We ranked it just below the LG G7 only because its price is unnecessarily higher. Screen: This smartphone has a great big OLED display that stretches 6.5 inches with support for HDR10. It's almost as bezel-free as an iPhone XS, and it includes a smaller notch, with just enough room for a small speaker and two selfie cameras. Battery life: The LG V40 battery is smaller than we had hoped, which is a key reason why this phone didn't rank a lot higher. You'll get all-day battery life, thanks to the lower peak brightness of the display, but you may want to take the charger with you to work and on overnight trips. Camera: There are a total of five cameras on this phone, and that's been the most fascinating part of testing it. It offers both super-wide and telephoto lenses on back as well as a regular lens. On the front, you get a wide lens and normal lens. The HDR isn't always as good as you'll find on a Samsung, Apple or Google phone, but there are some creative perspectives you can capture and neat tools like Cine Shot (cinemagraphs) and Cine Video (tap-to-zoom-anywhere). Mini verdict: The LG V40 is for creatives, even if its execution puts it behind Apple, Samsung, and Google. If it's on sale below $900, it's something you should consider. The dedicated Quad DAC gives it good audio, and you'll have fun with all five cameras. Read more: LG V40 review The Samsung Galaxy Note 8 is an incredibly impressive phablet that's perfect for anyone who wants a productive, powerful device. It's got one of the best displays, a top camera, and an excellent mix of speed and performance under the finger. On top of that, the S Pen is a real point of differentiation in a sea of similar phones. Screen: The Note 8 maximises Samsung’s dual curved edge and nearly bezel-less Infinity Display to the point where this phone feels like a mini tablet from the future. It's more squared off than the Galaxy S phones, but still lovely to look at. Camera: The camera on the Note 8 is superb and near the front of the pack for all round quality. On the rear its dual lenses allow for optical zoom as well as digital zoom, as well as live focus which enables you to do all kinds of effects including blurring the background - even after you've taken the shot. Battery life: The battery in the Note 8 isn't quite best in class - you can thank the large screen and slender design for that. But it'll still last you all day unless you're streaming a lot of video or using it with the brightness pumped up. Mini verdict: It's an expensive phone – only just behind the iPhone X in terms of out-and-out cost. But it's a better choice than the Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus – its competitor in terms of overall size and quality – if you want to be able to jot things down in an instant and take beautiful bokeh photos, as well as splash the phone in water. Read more: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review No surprise, the curved Samsung Galaxy S8 was the best phone when it launched a year ago and it deserves to remain on our top 10 list thanks to its remarkable design and now cheaper price. Screen: The 5.8-inch curved screen was deemed the best on the market when it launched and it still holds up thanks to its 18.5:9 aspect ratio that stretches up and down the phone. Its color reproduction and contrast ratio look even, if if you don't have it cranked all the way up wot Quad HD. Battery life: The battery life, despite being smaller than in previous devices from Samsung, is still pretty decent. It's not amazing, but it's not very far from the performance of the Galaxy S9 and will last around a day... although you might want a little top up wirelessly or fast charged. Camera: The camera is still very strong, despite being usurped by the S9 - the auto mode offers clean, crisp and clear shots every time and combined with screen quality makes you want to show off your best snaps. There’s an easy-to-use pro mode as well to get the best out of your snapping. Mini verdict: The Samsung Galaxy S8 is an easy way to upgrade a recent Samsung flagship smartphone without paying the full price of the slightly superior Galaxy S9. It has a great camera and enviable curved screen design. The not-center-aligned rear fingerprint sensor is a pain, but one you can overcome if the price is right. Read more: Samsung Galaxy S8 review This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Magic Leap One release date, price and features Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:48 AM PST The Magic Leap One is a futuristic pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses, designed to enhance your world with digital objects and images while still letting you interact with everything real that's going on around you. Sound like science fiction? We don't blame you. But the first Magic Leap One model is not only completed; it's now on sale in a select number of US cities, with plans to roll out further afield in the coming year. Magic Leap One: Creator's Edition is aimed more at developers than high-street consumers – hence a pretty high asking price – but for now its the only version of the AR glasses available. While we've had to wait patiently for more details on these exclusive – and expensive – AR glasses to come to light, we learnt plenty more thanks to a presentation by the Florida-based startup back in 2018, as well as a recent Magic Leap One demonstration where we got to go hands on with the futuristic technology. According to Magic Leap, this is the future of wearables, smartphones and computing, and it's all distilled into the funky-looking Magic Leap One. What's it like? Well, take the virtual objects you see in a VR headset and break down the wall so that you can see what's in front of you. That's the concept behind AR or "mixed reality." There's certainly more to the Magic Leap One prototype than meets the eye. It consists of what the company terms 'Lightwear' glasses, a 'Lightpack' computing platform and a dedicated hand remote. This is way more involved than Google Glass for 2018. There's still a lot of mystery to Magic Leap, but read on below for everything we do know so far. Let's explore your AR future. Magic Leap One release dateThe initial launch of the Magic Leap One: Creator Edition was in August 2018, though it was limited to six cities in the United States: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. Magic Leap one shown in June 2018 The launch was long-awaited after a lengthy five-year development, with nothing but conceptual ideas to show until very recently. Clearly investors believe in the timeline behind Magic Leap. It's attracted hundreds of millions of dollars from companies like Google and Alibaba. We'll continue to track the Magic Leap release dates for other territories and locations. What is available now, however, is a Technical Preview of the Creators Portal and SDK for developers. This provides tools and resources on which to create content for Magic Leap One, which is a good sign the mixed reality glasses are getting closer to a wider release. Magic Leap One priceThe futuristic Magic Leap One: Creator Edition will set you back $2,295 (about £1,731 or AU$3,073). The glasses are being pitched as a high-end gadget, and certainly isn't chasing mainstream consumer entertainment. We originally heard the price would fall close to that of a "higher-end mobile phone to higher-end tablet" for the cheapest version, so we expect we'll see a more affordable, mainstream iteration some time after the flagship model. This is according to Magic Leap CEO Rony Abovitz, who revealed this information in an interview with Recode in February 2018. Abovitz didn't object to the Magic Leap price being compared to the iPhone X, which costs $1,000 or £1,000 to start. And that's just for the Magic Leap starting price. The CEO said the Creator Edition will be priced somewhere in the range of the Microsoft HoloLens, which is $3,000 or £2,719. The justification for this high price? Magic Leap One is meant to replace many devices, not just, say, a smartphone, thus saving you thousands in the long-run. By comparison, the Google Glass price was $1,500 (£1,000, about AU$1,956), and it promised less. The future is often exciting, and also more times than not very expensive. Also, Magic Leap doesn't have many competitors in the AR glasses space, so it's free to set its own price. The question is: will developers and consumers be buying? How to buy Magic Leap OneWhen Magic Leap One: Creator Edition does go on sale, there's a good chance you'll fit into one of the categories the company is targeting. So far, creators include developers, brands, agencies and even early adopter consumers, according to Rolling Stone, comparing the glass's potential audience to the sort of people who bought the first iPod. In other words, this developer kit won't be limited to the developer community. It's going after consumer content creators, too. Lightwear gogglesMagic Leap One is more than just a pair of AR glasses with a camera on it (see: Snapchat Spectacles and its less-than-a-year popularity span). “It’s what we think of as spatial computing. It has full awareness,” according to founder Rony Abovitz in the Rolling Stone piece. Think Microsoft Hololens, but with a slightly larger field of view. How does Magic Leap One work? It uses lightfield photonics to generate digital light at different depths and blend seamlessly with natural light to produce lifelike digital objects that coexist in the real world. In other words, it's supposed to fool your brain into thinking the virtual objects set against real-world environments all look natural. That's going to make it more comfortable to wear the Lightwear goggles for a longer period of time. Magic Leap is particularly working on expanding the field of view in its glasses and determined to make it comfortable to wear. Even if the AR glasses look a bit awkward, they should feel good wearing for a few hours. Part of the comfort of Magic Leap One is that it's pitched higher on the back of your head. This helps with weight distribution, according to Magic Leap, which could make the glasses less front-heavy, a problem that has plagued even the best VR headsets. In its June 2018 presentation, Magic Leap detailed some of the features of the AR glasses. For one, it features eye tracking, so it will know where you're looking and use your gaze to control the experience. It will also use head posing, gesture controls and voice commands to control what you see and how you interact with mixed reality objects. The glasses feature built-in audio in the headband, though you can plug headphones into the auxiliary port in the Lightpack that you slip into your pocket. Magic Leap One will be available in two sizes, standard and large, so it should fit most users. Finally, while Magic Leap doesn't recommend wearing eye glasses with its headset, the company is working with a third-party partner on developing prescription lenses. Lightpack computing platformNot all of Magic Leap One is contained in the Lightwear goggles. The computing power is relegated to a Lightpack that fits in a pocket. It isn't meant to be worn in a belt, warns Magic Leap, because it doesn't really clip on, but rather slips onto and clasps around the fabric of your clothing. There will be an optional strap made available if you want extra security. You power up the the headset through the power button on the Lightpack. So, it's essential that you use Magic Leap One with this puck-shaped disc, otherwise, it simply won't work. While the company isn't talking about CPU and GPU chips, this disk-shaped "computer" is where the high-powered processing takes place. It does have a cable, but at least you're not tied to a computer or a backpack VR kit, like we've seen from other high-end virtual reality headsets. ControllerInteracting with the new, virtually overlain world around you is done through rather traditional means: a familiar-looking motion controller. Control – what Magic Leap is calling its controller – is a remote that contains buttons, six-degrees of freedom motion sensing and a touchpad. There's also haptic feedback, according to the official Magic Leap website. The remote-shaped controller appears to be very similar to what we've experienced on Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Go and Google Daydream View headset controllers. The AR future is nowMagic Leap content ranges from games to music experiences to Oculus Connect-like digital collaborations so far, and these are being billed as "just a jumping-off point" for creators. The company wants you to be able to pull the web out of the screen, with 3D virtual objects and be able to open up multiple screens on demand. All of the content, which Magic Leap is keen to have developers create, will be housed in Magic Leap World, the app store for Magic Leap One. One of the first titles launched on Magic Leap World was Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot, which takes Rovio Entertainment's popular mobile title into a 3D augmented reality world. Speaking to TechRadar, a representative from Rovio Entertainment cited the "novelty and interest around the new platform" for their decision to develop for the budding AR device, as well as the significance of the 'real-world' applications of AR: "If you think of VR as a really immersive experience, where you’re insulated from your surroundings, the difference here is that these devices can provide much more casual experiences, where you are aware of your surroundings and what’s happening around you." Meanwhile, Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games – who developed the AR title in tandem with Rovio Entertainment – suggested we could eventually see a headset capable of both AR and VR experiences, and spoke ambitiously of Magic Leap as "a technology that could replace your smartphone". That long-sought-after goal of a Minority Report future may be within our grasp in 2018. Whether or not Magic Leap One can deliver that remains to be seen. But we're at least a whole lot closer to that exciting (augmented) reality. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Hackers threaten to leak 9/11 documents Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:37 AM PST A group of hackers could soon release a large cache of stolen 9/11 litigation documents, which they claim to be one of the biggest leaks in history, if their ransom demands are not met. The group known as Dark Overlord previously leaked a whole season of the Netflix show Orange is the New Black and launched a cyber attack on a London-based plastic surgery clinic. Now Dark Overlord is threatening to make the 9/11 documents it acquired public on the 'KickAss' dark web forum if its ransom demands are not met. The group claims that the documents in its possession are the “truth” though it has provided few details on what the files actually contain. Dark Overlord will put the documents up for sale for a limited time and it has even reached out to terrorist organisations as well as competing nations such as China and Russia to urge them to acquire the files. Stolen documents for saleIn a post on Pastebin, Dark Overlord announced the sale of the documents and explained how it is offering the truth about 9/11 for a price, saying: "What we'll be releasing is the truth. The truth about one of the most recognisable incidents in recent history and one which is shrouded in mystery with little transparency and not many answers. What we're offering to the world is the truth, exclusively from us, one of the planet's premier hacking organisations dedicated to breaching leading targets and acquiring the most scandalous materials that we may use in our systematic extortion campaigns." Back in April 2018, the global insurance firm Hiscox was hacked and now the group is taking responsibility for the attack in which it acquired the 9/11 documents. Dark Overlord claims to have more than 18,000 exclusive documents for sale and it has released some of them to prove their legitimacy. Whether or not the documents can shed further light on the 9/11 attacks is highly debatable and we won't know more until after the sale is completed.
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| Fingerprint scanners are now being used to unlock and start your car Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:15 AM PST You will soon be able to buy cars which fingerprint readers built in, allowing you to unlock doors and start the engine. Hyundai has announced that the technology will be initially available on its 2019 Santa Fe SUV, although it will only offer this particular feature in (yet unknown) select markets in the first quarter of 2019 before making it more widely available. Fingerprint sensors are located on door handles and on the ignition button, and Hyundai says it's much more secure than a traditional car key. The firm says the chance of mistaking another person's fingerprint as the actual driver's is 1 in 50,000, making it five times more effective than conventional vehicle keys, including smart keys. The more the sensor is used, the better it will get at detecting the driver's digits and ensuring it is them who is attempting to access the vehicle. As well as unlocking doors, you can also use your fingerprint to start the engine More then just open and goThe unlock and engine start features are just a couple of benefits of the fingerprint technology, as it can also be used to create profiles for different users. This allows the vehicle to automatically adjust seating positions, connected car features and side-view mirror angles to fit a particular driver's requirements. Hyundai's Head of Research & Development Division, Albert Biermann said that there are "plans to further expand the application of the technology to allow the adjustment of temperature, steering wheel position, and many other features which will be tailored to driver's preferences." It's not clear yet whether the technology will be a standard feature, or a (potentially pricey) optional extra, but we should know more information soon. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| USB-C to get improved security in fight against malware-laden USB sticks Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:14 AM PST New USB technology isn’t just about raw speed, but also security, and news has emerged of an incoming authentication system that will help protect host systems from the likes of dodgy USB Type-C devices or chargers trying to install malware or spark off malicious power surges. The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), an organization dedicated to advancing USB technology, has laid out plans for a cryptographic-based 128-bit authentication system to help defend against non-compliant USB chargers, USB sticks laden with malware, and other assorted dangers. The USB Type-C Authentication Program implements a standard protocol to be able to identify and authenticate certified USB-C chargers, devices and cables, and this security verification happens the moment the device or cable is plugged in. In other words, before any power or data can be maliciously piped into the host system, therefore preventing any potential damage. Authentication can occur over either the USB data bus or USB power delivery channels. Optional measureThe USB-IF notes that the security standard will be optional rather than compulsory – at least initially – and any products which use the authentication protocol will retain control over the way the security policies are implemented and enforced. When the Authentication Program comes into existence, hardware manufacturers will be able to build this technology into, say, a PC, which will then be able to confirm that any USB device plugged into a port isn’t malicious by nature. Furthermore, DigiCert has been named as the chosen company to oversee and manage the registration and certification side of the equation for the standard. Jeff Ravencraft, President and COO of the USB-IF, commented: “USB Type-C adoption continues to grow and the interface is quickly establishing itself as the solution of choice for connecting and charging an endless variety of devices. “USB-IF is eager to work with DigiCert to manage our certificate authority for USB Type-C Authentication, which will further support the USB ecosystem.”
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| Best Canon camera 2019: 10 quality options from Canon's camera stable Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:02 AM PST Despite a wealth of changes in the photography market over the last few years, it still seems that Canon manages to provide an option for pretty much every kind of photographer. Whether you're just taking your baby steps or shooting assignments for commercial clients, or (more likely) you're somewhere in between, there's a very good chance that an option with Canon's EOS, PowerShot or IXUS branding would fit your requirements as much as your budget. The company is perhaps best known for its EOS DSLRs, but it maintains a collection of powerful compact cameras and has also now notched up many mirrorless offerings that rival their DSLR cousins for performance. It's also spent the last few years bolstering its Cinema EOS line with video-centric options fit for broadcast-quality filming, and has just recently broken the full-frame mirrorless seal with its EOS R camera.
By providing so many options across all levels, it's easy to see both a logical first camera or an upgrade if you're an existing Canon user, but which are the best options from its expansive sea of offerings? We've plucked out ten current cameras that in some way stand out from everything currently on offer. Best Canon cameras in 2019Still very much the pro-favourite all-rounder in the EOS line, the 4K-shooting EOS 5D Mark IV is used by photographers and filmmakers alike, and goes up against the likes of the Nikon D850 and a handful of flagship mirrorless competitors. Being two years old means that it might appear a little behind in a number of areas on the spec sheet, but the EOS line has always prioritised wide appeal and reliability over class-beating specs. To that end, we get a 30.4MP full-frame sensor with a Dual Pixel CMOS AF system for smooth focusing during live view and video, together with 7fps burst shooting, great high-ISO performance and a sturdy body that’s the result of many tweaks and refinements from previous EOS 5D generation cameras. 4K video is subject to a crop factor, however, and the use of the Motion JPEG makes for fairly hefty video files, but this is not a deal-breaker – particularly as the Full HD options are more than sufficient for most people.
The EOS Rebel T7i, also known as the EOS 800D, arrived at the same time as the EOS 77D, with the two cameras sharing many of the same specs. The EOS 77D certainly has its advantages, but the current price difference between the two still makes the EOS Rebel T7i the much better buy if you're in the market for your first DSLR. It has, for example, the same 24.2MP APS-C sensor, DIGIC 7 processing engine and Dual Pixel CMOS AF system as its elder sibling, and also matches it with its LCD screen and viewfinder. We loved how well the touchscreen controls have been implemented and found live view AF to be nice and snappy – not something you can say about all DSLRs. Sure, the EOS 77D has an extra command dial and top-plate LCD screen, but if you’re not bothered by these extras you can put the money you save towards a further lens.
As we found in our review, Canon’s first full-frame mirrorless camera is something of a hit-and-miss affair, but for some Canon users looking to step up to something more capable, it may just be ideal. While the model retains much of what makes the EOS DSLR line special, Canon has thrown in a superb electronic viewfinder with a 3.69-million dot resolution. We’re also very encouraged by the new lenses that have been released so far, although Canon has continued support for its exhaustive EF lens system through three separate adapters. It would have been nice to see an AF lever, sensor-based image stabilisation and an additional card slot to make the model truly competitive, but the camera is at least blessed with excellent autofocus, good handling and very sound image quality. If you’re a user of older EOS 5D or double-digit models and you’re looking to step up the the very latest in Canon’s full-frame tech, you should find adopting the EOS R to be a pain-free affair.
Targeted at the outdoors photographer intending to capture sports, wildlife or anything in between, the weather-resistant EOS 7D Mark II is Canon's current flagship APS-C model. With a 20.2MP sensor and two DIGIC 6 processing engines in the driving seat, the camera is able to shoot at 10fps, with 65 all-cross-type AF points ensuring the camera remains sensitive to all kinds of details in the scene. By today’s standards, the 670-frame battery life and a video recording option that maxes out at Full HD are nothing to get excited about. The lack of a touchscreen and built-in Wi-Fi may also be an issue for you, although a USB 3.0 port provides a speedy way to offload images direct from the camera.
Many entry-level DSLRs suffer from being somewhat bland on the spec sheet and uninspiring in use, but the EOS Rebel SL2 (known as the EOS 200D outside the US) adds a handful of useful technologies to make it far more capable and enjoyable to shoot with. So, for example, Canon’s excellent Dual Pixel CMOS AF system is present for swift focusing in live view and during video recording, which also means that you can happily use it much like a mirrorless camera without the same kind of focus lagging common to other DSLR live-view systems. You also get a flip out touchscreen that lets you shoot from all kinds of awkward positions, and even a mic port for better audio recording during videos. True, it’s not quite as compact as the previous EOS 100D, although this arguably makes it a better option if you plan on using longer or heavier lenses, such as nice wide-aperture prime lens for portraits or a dedicated macro optic.
Challenging the notion that you need a interchangeable-lens camera to achieve great images, the PowerShot G7 X Mark II boasts a 1in sensor, Raw shooting with post-capture adjustment, and full manual control over exposure and focus to get your images looking their best in camera. The tilting screen aids unorthodox compositions, while the built-in ND filter makes the use of a separate one necessary for long exposures or when capturing videos in bright light. Fast burst shooting, great high-ISO results and grip that allows you to get a much better hold that we normally get on such cameras only further its appeal, as does the convenience of USB charging. If you want to capture 4K video, however, or if you prefer shooting with your eye up to the viewfinder, you may want to look elsewhere as the camera offers neither of these. Still, considering its price and everything else it manages to offer its target market, it still manages to stand up against its peers.
Canon’s original resolution monster, the EOS 5DS R is definitely not a camera for everyone, but it's one of the most obvious choices for anyone needing masses of detail to be recorded in their images – and who's prepared to pay for the privilege. A brother to its EOS 5DS launch partner (pictured above, right), with the same 50.6MP full-frame sensor at its heart, it’s the ‘R’ variant that has the advantage of its optical low-pass filter effects being cancelled out as this helps to grab as much detail as possible. You need very good glass and impeccable technique to realise this, though, and while images are supremely detailed, it’s perhaps more at home on a tripod out in the field or in the studio than it is as a general everyday camera, particularly as its ISO range tops out at a maximum ISO 6400. For something more versatile the EOS 5D Mark IV is perhaps the way to go, but for still-life work, portraiture or anything else in the studio that doesn’t involve particularly repetitive details, the EOS 5DS R is a mighty fine choice.
Canon’s most recent arrival to its EOS M series might be the first model in the range to be furnished with 4K video capabilities, but that’s not necessarily its strength. What it does well is offer DSLR-like handling, strong autofocus and sound image quality in a very compact form, with the additional advantages of a high-resolution electronic viewfinder, a flip-out touchscreen and 10fps burst shooting making it versatile enough for everything from sports and street photography to use in low-light conditions. There are a handful of shortcomings, such as mediocre battery life and a limited lens range (at least for now), and it’s perhaps better suited to younger users who value touchscreen operation over more tactile physical controls. As an alternative to a Canon’s more traditional DSLRs, however, it remains a component option with a lot going for it – let’s just hope we see more lenses released soon.
While not the newest camera, this remains the only compact to combine an APS-C sensor with a built-in zoom lens, which makes it a viable alternative to a DSLR or mirrorless camera for those fussed about image quality buss less so about interchangeable lenses. A healthy spec sheet sees 9fps burst shooting, weather-resistance and Canon’s excellent Dual Pixel CMOS AF system all on board, with an effective dual-sensing image stabilisation system and a clear electronic viewfinder assisting with image capture. The touchscreen is also a highlight, showing excellent response when poked or swiped. On the downside, the 24-72mm (equivalent) zoom range may prove limiting, and we would have liked to see slightly stronger wide-aperture results at the 72mm end. The 200-shot battery life is also something of a let down, but if the camera ticks all your other boxes then an additional battery is the simple solution to this.
The EOS-1D series is the darling of sports photographers worldwide, and this most recent iteration bring many layers of new technology to broaden its appeal among working professionals. Notably, Canon chose to include 4K video recording at up to 60p, while also adding a touchscreen to ease operation. It also installed its tried-and-tested sensor-based Dual Pixel CMOS AF technology to keep focus swift and accurate whether you’re using live view or shooting videos, together with a fresh 20.2MP full-frame sensor to deliver the best combination of dynamic range and high-ISO performance, keeping the pixel count modest to allow for 14fps burst shooting (which you can boost to 16fps when using live view). Yes, it’s a large, weighty and expensive bit of kit, and the arrival of a slew of high-performing mirrorless bodies may challenge its dominance in the world of sport photography in years to come, but using it makes you realise just why Canon got to this position in the first place.
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| AMD's Ryzen 9 3800X flagship processor may feature 16 cores Posted: 02 Jan 2019 08:02 AM PST When we first heard that AMD’s next flagship mainstream processor would feature 16 cores it seemed scarcely believable – but now a retailer leak appears to have confirmed the rumors. Listings for five brand-new Ryzen 3rd Generation processors have appeared on the Russian retail site E-Katalog. At the top of the 3000 series pile is the AMD Ryzen 9 3800X, which is listed as a 16-core, 32-thread processor, with a 3.9GHz base clock, 4.7GHz boost clock and 125W TDP. That’s a immense bump up over the previous generation’s flagship CPU, the Ryzen 7 2700X, which featured just eight cores, 16 threads and a maximum clock speed of 4.3GHz. The retailer leak also points to a new Ryzen 7 3700X equipped with 12 cores, 24 threads, with a 4.2GHz base clock, 5.0GHz boost clock and 105W TDP. Everyone gets an upgradeBelow that, the Ryzen 5 3600X will supposedly also see a big bump in specs as it’s rumored to now be an 8-core, 16-thread CPU with a maximum clock speed of 4.8GHz and a more traditional 95W TDP rating. Comparatively, the previous Ryzen 5 2600X was a hexa-core chip capable of speeds up to 4.2GHz. Lastly, the Ryzen 3 3300X is curiously listed as six-core and 12-thread chip, whereas its predecessor was a more traditional quad-core processor. This leaves us to wonder what AMD’s rumored quad-core processor will be – perhaps the Ryzen 3 3300X, or possibly a replacement for the Ryzen 3 2200G? Despite this incredible bounty of leaks from a retailer, there’s no word on how much these processors will cost. We’re also a little skeptical as to how much of this is real, simply because it still seems impossible to fit 16 cores into a mainstream CPU. We’ll soon find out if AMD’s 7nm Zen 2 architecture really can perform time-lord magic, and squeeze all that power into such a small chip, as we expect the company to reveal all at its CES 2019 press conference. Via Wccftech This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The best free iPhone apps of 2019 Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:58 AM PST You've got an iPhone, and have ventured into the melee of Apple's App Store, which has well over a million apps. Great news! Many of them are free. Not so great news! You've got to sift through them to work out the very best. Fortunately, that's what we're here for, listing them here. Our selection’s sorted into handy categories, so whether you need a no-cost photo editor, translation app, sat-nav or anything else, you can just jump straight to the relevant category. Click through to the following pages for each category, but first check out our free iPhone app of the week below, and make sure you give this page a cheeky bookmark so you can keep up with our latest free iPhone app pick every seven days. Free iPhone app of the week: Bring!Bring! offers a new spin on shared shopping lists. Although you can create a straightforward shared text-based list in Reminders, Bring! opts for large colored buttons adorned with icons. Not only are these easier to spot when you’re in a busy supermarket with a basket on one arm and a toddler on the other, they’re also a mite simpler to tap. Beyond this, there’s all kinds of smart stuff going on. Color-coded rings on items change from green to orange to red when the product is getting closer to running out. For items where you want something very specific, you can add notes and a photo. And when you fancy letting everyone know you’ve made changes to a list shared with many people (for example, in an office), ready-made messages can be sent, saving you the hassle of crafting one yourself. The best free iPhone video editors and animation appsThese are our favorite free iPhone apps for quickly editing videos, GIFs and Live Photos, and for creating stop-motion animation. Enlight PixaloopEnlight Pixaloop enables you to animate your photos. This is achieved through you manually drawing ‘path’ arrows to define the direction of animation, and setting anchors to keep other areas of your image rooted to the spot. Tap the play button and you get something akin to a cinemagraph – only based on a single still image, rather than dozens of shots or a video. Whatever you create can be exported to Photos as a video (sadly, there’s no animated GIF option), but there’s plenty more you can add first, including camera wobble, overlay effects and automated moving skies. Some of those features work better than others, but the entire package is a great way to bring your photos to life. Note that there’s subscription IAP lurking, although you don’t need to pay to get a lot out of this app. MoodelizerMoodelizer is a one-trick pony – but it’s quite a trick. It enables you to add custom soundtracks to videos – and all you need is a single finger. You select a genre, and ‘rehearse’ playback by dragging your finger around the square viewfinder. Move up to increase the music’s intensity increases and move right to adjust variation. You can perform rehearsals using the viewfinder or with an existing video loaded from your Camera Roll. Just messing about with the audio alone is fun, but it all properly comes together when making a video. Now, when you’re shooting yet another clip of your cat being mildly amusing, Moodelizer can add much-needed excitement by way of rousing club music or head-banging guitar riffs. VueVue is a video editor whose initial incarnation was an odd mix of intriguing and ridiculous. In short, it was designed to give you six seconds of fame by snapping an ultra-short video comprising three shots. Fortunately, Vue is relaxed a bit now – and all the better for it. The app still prefers brevity, but will allow movies of up to three minutes in length and can load existing videos from your iPhone, too. Once your miniature masterpiece is done, it’s possible to add filters and stickers, overlay subtitles, and mess around with zooming and adjustment sliders. The app still feels a touch rigid compared to the likes of Clips, but Vue’s sense of focus and style – along with the sharing network that underpins everything – makes it worth checking out. ClipsClips is a video-editing app geared towards making content for sharing on social media. To that end, it eschews convention (widescreen, standard titles, typical editing tracks) and attempts to infuse plenty of fun into a streamlined, straightforward editing process. You can record directly in the app or import existing videos. In either case, you can overlay stickers and live captions that appear as the subject speaks, and apply filters for a different look. Posters serve as a replacement for titles, helping with pacing and context in a way that’s much more interesting, animated and editable. For iPhone X users, there’s an extra treat: animated 3D selfie scenes. These can transport you into a number of stylized landscapes, including neon cityscapes and ships from Star Wars. The effect is mesmerizing to the point where the app’s worth picking up for selfie scenes alone. Squigglish!Squigglish! is a very silly drawing app, on account of the fact that its brush strokes wiggle. There’s quite the variety on offer, too, from thick, snaking, gloopy lines that just jiggle a little, to spiky electrified offerings that give the impression that your artwork has just been jabbed into a socket. Given its oddball toolset, you’re probably not going to use Squigglish! as the basis for some highbrow iPhone art. But because you can import a photo, it’s perfect fodder for making yourself or a friend look vaguely ridiculous, with some silly blue hair, a pair of wibbly glasses, and the kind of animated mustache Dali would have killed for. Naturally, your tiny animated masterpiece can be exported to GIF or a movie. Motion StillsMotion Stills aims to help you do more with the Live Photos you shoot on your iPhone. Apple’s own Photos app, of course, provides options for adjusting how these images animate – but this Google offering does far more. On giving the app permission to view your photos, it will display a scrollable feed of pictures that animate as you browse. This alone makes Motion Stills worth a download, not least because the app applies stabilization technology to your Live Photos, eradicating wobble. But with a few quick swipes you can quickly select a number of Live Photos, which can then be transformed into a tiny movie. Alternatively, you can turn Live Photos into collages, or add text and emoji to your favorites. In short, Motion Stills feels like the Live Photos editor Apple forgot to make itself. Loop by SeedlingIf you lack the patience for working with full-on stop motion apps, but nonetheless fancy yourself as a mini-Aardman, Loop by Seedling is just the ticket. You shoot frames using your camera, and can handily overlay your previous photo in semi-transparent form, to ensure everything is properly lined up. Once you're done, you can play your photos as an animation, where tools are available to adjust the frame rate, add a filter, and mess about with grid collages, creating a Warhol-like animated GIF to share. The interface is a bit opaque – quite a lot of controls need to be 'discovered' before you become comfortable with using this app. But once you know where everything is, Loop becomes a smart and efficient way to create charming miniature animations; amusingly, it also works within Messages, so you can reply to friends with a tiny movie should you consider the written word passé. QuikIf you like the idea of editing home movies but are a modern-day being with no time or attention span, try Quik. The app automates the entire process, enabling you to create beautiful videos with a few taps and show off to your friends without needing talent - surely the epitome of today's #hashtag generation. All you need do is select some videos and photos, and choose a style. Quik then edits them into a great-looking video you can share with friends and family. But if your inner filmmaker hankers for a little more control, you can adjust the style, music, format and pace, along with trimming clips, reordering items, and adding titles to get the effect you desire. Cementing its friendly nature, Quik offers a little pairs minigame for you to mess about with while the app renders your masterpiece. And there's even a weekly 'For You' video Quik compiles without you lifting a finger. AnimaticIf you used to sit there at school, doodling flick-animation masterpieces in the corner of your jotter, Animatic is the iPhone equivalent. You use simple tools to scribble on a small canvas, and then build your animation frame-by-frame. The app uses a basic onion-skin approach, meaning you can see the previous few frames faintly behind the current one, ensuring whatever you draw doesn't lurch all over the place. Once you're done, you can adjust the animation speed of your creation and export it to video or GIF. Given that you're scribbling with what amounts to the iPhone equivalent of felt pens, you won't be crafting the next Pixar movie here. But Animatic is fun, a great way to get into animation, and a useful sketchpad for those already dabbling. The app also includes a bunch of demos, showcasing what's possible with a little time, effort and imagination. SpliceWe're big fans of iMovie. Apple's video editor for iPhone is usable and powerful. In our lazier moments, we also really like Replay, which takes a bunch of videos and edits them on your behalf. But there are times when you hanker for a middle ground, and that's where Splice fits in. Getting started is simple — select some videos and photos to import (from your Camera Roll, or online sources like Facebook and Google Photos), along with, optionally, a soundtrack. Name your project, choose an orientation, and the app lays out your clips. These can be reordered by drag and drop, and transitions can be adjusted with a couple of taps. If you want to delve deeper, individual clips can be trimmed and cut, and you can apply effects. Several filters are included, as is a speed setting, and the means to overlay text. These tools perhaps won't worry the Spielbergs of this world, but a few minutes in Splice can transform a few random iPhone clips into something quite special — and all without a price-tag or even any advertising. The best free iPhone sketching and design appsOur favorite free iPhone apps for drawing, sketching, painting, layout and animation. PaperPaper is a sketching tool based around jotting down ideas quickly. Your drawings are stored in little digital notebooks, which you can open and flip through. Tap a page and you can scribble with a finger or stylus using the app’s selection of brushes. There’s a smattering of additional handy tools in the free version, most notably the ability to add text notes to any picture, and the means to export a note or book. However, some features sit behind monthly IAP, including photo import, copy/paste, and auto-correct when drawing geometric shapes and lines. Despite these limitations – and the app rather oddly reorienting your sketches on iPhone when you return to browsing – Paper remains one of the most pleasing apps of its kind, not least if you retain a fondness for real-life versions of the little notepads the app depicts. WhatTheFontWhatTheFont is a tool for identifying typefaces, and it’s extremely simple to use. You can either load an image from your iPhone or take a photo using the app. It figures out where all the words are within a few seconds, or you can drag out a selection yourself. You then tap on a selected word, and the app scoots off to find matches. The likelihood of perfect matches is slim – it depends on having a very clear image to start with, and the font being available on the MyFonts service – but during testing, the app was bang-on several times. Even when it wasn’t, it offered up something that at least captured the flavor of our original font. Whether you’re a jobbing designer or someone who puts together the odd newsletter, WhatTheFont is an excellent freebie. CanvaCanva is a graphic design tool for the rest of us. It’s not going to send professionals scurrying for the shadows, but with its mix of templates, filters, and editable design elements, it gives the average iPhone owner a fighting chance of working up an invite or poster during a lunch hour. Layouts are smartly targeted and categorized, and move beyond typical posters, greetings cards and flyers into social media territory (Twitter headers, Instagram posts and blog posts), and even business (cards, logos and presentations). You can import photos, add text, and fiddle around with a wide range of drag-and-drop elements before sharing directly to social media, or saving your work to your iPhone. For anyone who wants to design something for their burgeoning home business, or just for fun, Canva is a great place to start. ArtyArty initially resembles yet another filter app – and, to be fair, it does have a bunch of filters lurking that can turn a photo sepia, or make it so vibrant that your eyes hurt. But this one’s mostly about its other tools, which have been carefully designed for jobbing artists working with real-world media. There’s a grid, and various image-tweaking settings to fine-tune a photo for the magic bit, which is comparing your photo with whatever’s lurking under your iPhone’s camera. So if you’re in the midst of making a lifelike drawing from a reference photo, your iPhone can now be a handy guide to see how you’re getting on, rather than a tool primarily for procrastination. 8bit PainterWith 8bit Painter, you can pretend a couple of decades of technology evolution never happened, and create digital images like it’s 1984. On firing up the app, you select a canvas size – from a truly tiny 16 x 16 pixels, all the way up to a comparatively gargantuan 128 x 128. You’re then faced with a grid and a small selection of tools. There’s nothing especially advanced here – this isn’t Pixaki for iPhone, and it lacks that tool’s layers and animation smarts. But you do get the basics – pencil; flood fill; eraser; color selection – needed for tapping out a tiny artistic masterpiece. And, importantly, you can pinch-zoom the canvas for adding fine details, and export your image at scaled-up sizes, so it’s not minuscule when viewed elsewhere. For a freebie, this one’s pretty great. Adobe Photoshop SketchAdobe apparently has no interest in bringing full Photoshop to iPhone, but the brand’s focused Photoshop-branded apps offer a smattering of the desktop product’s power in the palm of your hand. Adobe Photoshop Sketch is a drawing and painting tool, designed for anyone who fancies dabbling in natural media. Select a canvas and you can work with virtual pens, markers, acrylic, ink and watercolor. Acrylic is nicely gloopy, and watercolor can be realistically blended as it bleeds into the ‘paper’. A layers system provides scope for complex art, and stencils enable precision when required. For free, the app’s hard to beat; and for Creative Cloud subscribers, work can be exported to layered PSD for further refinement in full-fat desktop Photoshop. Brushes ReduxBack in 2009, Jorge Colombo did some deft iPhone finger painting using Brushes, and the result became a New Yorker cover. It was a turning point for iOS and suitably handy ammunition for tech bores who'd been drearily banging on about the fact an iPhone could never be used for proper work. The app sadly stagnated, but was made open source and returned as Brushes Redux. Now free, it's still a first-rate art app, with a simple layers system, straightforward controls, and a magnificent brush editor that starts you off with a random creation and enables you to mess about with all manner of properties, from density to jitter. AssemblyDeveloper Pixite is best known for its eye-popping filter apps, and so Assembly was quite the surprise. The app is all about building vector art from shapes. Individual components are dropped on to the canvas, and can then be grouped or have styles applied. It feels a bit like the iPhone equivalent of playing with felt shapes, but you soon realise that surprisingly complex compositions are possible, not least when you view the 'inspirations' tab or start messing about with the 'remix' projects. For free, you get loads of stuff to play with, but inexpensive IAP unlocks all kinds of bundles with new themed shape sets to explore. MarvelIt's interesting to see how far the App Store has come. Time was, Apple banned apps that gave you the chance to build prototypes. Now, Marvel is welcomed by Apple, and is entirely free. Using the app, you can build on photographed sketches, Photoshop documents, or on-screen scribbles. Buttons can be added, and screens can be stitched together. Once you're done, your prototype can be shared. If you're not sure where to start, check out existing prototypes made by the Marvel community. The best free iPhone camera apps and photo editorsOur favorite free iPhone cameras, photo editors and filter effects apps. VisionistVisionist has quite a lot in common with Prisma, in that it’s using neural networks to transform photos into something resembling art. The main differences with Visionist are that it affords you a level of control Prisma does not, and it doesn’t drown you in IAP and endless filters. In fact, you get just 10 (60 more sit behind a one-off US$1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 payment), but even those have a range that can turn the dullest snaps into something pretty amazing. This is largely because you can adjust abstraction levels and how images interact; there’s support for Portrait images (and depth data is retained during export); and styles can be mixed and merged. It’s a world away from Prisma’s more simple interaction. For bringing a little artistry to your photos, Visionist is well worth a download, then, whether you stick with the free version or plump for the IAP. InfltrInfltr started out as a photo filter app for people who considered choosing filters too much effort. You simply dragged your finger across the screen, and the chosen filter updated live. Simple. Fast. Random. That tool still exists, but today it’s just one of several in a photo editor that increasingly has much in common with Snapseed. Now you can make all kinds of adjustments, from fiddling with brightness through to subtly altering perspective. Edits are non-destructive, and can therefore be reverted or changed later. There are some limitations unless you’re willing to subscribe: no HD export, only saving three custom filters (rather than an unlimited number), and the odd locked tool. But the free version is nonetheless a must-have for iPhone photographers who fancy a great toolset with a dash of chance. DailyFocusDailyFocus wants you to spend five minutes every day becoming a better photographer. This is achieved by way of super-fast lessons – short videos that outline how to succeed regardless of what you face when armed with a camera. (We’re not kidding – at the time of writing, the day’s lesson was about lenses, but an upcoming one was “capturing eggs and bacon in motion”.) The app gamifies your viewing, listing a daily streak total, and offering further encouragement by way of optional notifications – although be mindful those are sent 24 hours after you last used the app. Also, DailyFocus emphasizes the ‘daily’ bit. There’s no archive – miss a video and it’s gone for good. This is likely because DailyFocus is in part a teaser for a CreativeLive subscription; but for the camera-curious and pro photographers alike, it’s a fab freebie too. RetricaRetrica is a camera app designed to bring creativity, randomness and character to your iPhone selfies and snaps. It’s packed full of filters, which can be manually added live or to existing photos – or randomly if you want to try your luck by prodding the shuffle button. The filters are varied and interesting, and you can add blur and vignette effects. You can also quickly create multi-shot collages, which are automatically stitched together on a grid. There are GIF and video options too. Perhaps inevitably, the app has its own a social network, and may as well scream “We really want to be Instagram!” Still, even if you never sign in, Retrica is a superb freebie iPhone camera. SnapseedSnapseed is a photo editor that marries simplicity and power. At its most basic, it can be a tool for loading a photo, selecting a filter (referred to here as ‘looks’), and exporting the result. But it’s when you delve into the app’s tools and stacks that its true potential becomes clear. The tools menu, while a bit cluttered, offers a huge range of options for adjusting your photo. You can crop, adjust perspective, edit curves, and add all kinds of filters and effects. But stacks are arguably Snapseed’s best component. The stack is where your edits live, each of which can be updated at any time. This offers far more flexibility than editors that ‘burn in’ each change you make. Furthermore, you can save any combination of edits as a custom look – and use stacks to deconstruct pre-loaded ones. Brilliant stuff. Sticky AISticky AI is all about selfies. Shoot one (or a short video, by holding the shutter button) in the app, and Sticky AI will instantly remove its background – often with a frightening degree of accuracy. You can then get to work, resizing and rotating your beautiful face, slapping on a text label, mucking about with colors and filters, and then sharing the result to your social networks of choice. It’s naturally geared a bit towards the self-obsessed, but there’s plenty here to like: the technology’s mightily impressive, for one, but also Sticky AI neatly hangs on to your previous edits, so you can at any time peruse your collection and make a change to a favorite snap. Bricks CameraBricks Camera is a novelty camera app that will strike a chord with anyone who has an affinity for plastic building blocks. The app’s essentially a live filter. Through its camera, the world’s transformed into a universe of brightly colored ‘bricks’, the size of which you can adjust with a swipe. Hold down the shutter and you get a short video rather than a still. Also, if you’re not feeling the vibe in live mode, you can import a photo instead. Your blocky masterpiece can be saved or shared – unfortunately only with a three-brick-wide watermark. If that bugs you, a one-off $2.99/£2.99/AU$4.49 IAP banishes watermarks for good. Regardless, this is an entertaining (if admittedly slightly throwaway) camera freebie. EmolfiThere’s no getting around the fact that Emolfi is ridiculous – but it’s also a lot of fun. Self-described as the “first empathic selfie app”, it has you take a photo of your face, whereupon the app’s wizardry attempts to figure out your mood. The app then cuts out the background and adjusts the rest of the image accordingly. If you’re feeling happy, you might be surrounded by bubbles and sunshine. If you’re angry or scared, you’ll get something that looks like a horror movie, or a massive spider on your face with your eyes animating towards it in worried fashion. It certainly beats yet another app unconvincingly transforming you into characters from fantasy and comic-book movies. Famicam 64If you wonder what your iPhone would be like if graphics technology hadn’t moved on from the age of the C64, Famicam 64 can enlighten you. This camera app uses live filtering to replicate the visuals you might once have seen on a classic games system – or other old-school kit like oscilloscopes. Filters can have their properties adjusted, and you can add text, retro-oriented stickers, freeform scribbles, and borders to a photo, before sharing the results. Note that some options are limited in the free version, and output adds a Famicam 64 banner to the bottom of the image. You can get rid of all that with the PLUS IAP ($0.99/£0.99/AU$1.99), but in either incarnation, Famicam 64 is a fun, quirky, usable way to do something different with your camera. Adobe Photoshop FixAlthough creative giant Adobe doesn’t seem keen on bringing its desktop software to iPhone in one piece, we’re nonetheless getting chunks of its power reimagined as smaller, more focused apps. The idea behind Adobe Photoshop Fix is to enable you to rapidly retouch and restore photos on your iPhone – using the power of Photoshop. Some of the features aren’t anything outside of the ordinary: you get commonplace tools for cropping, rotation, and adjustments. But Photoshop Fix has some serious power within its straightforward interface, too, as evidenced by excellent vignette, defocus, and color tools. The best bit, though, is Liquify. Using this feature, you can mash a photo to bits or make really subtle changes, depending on the subject matter. And if you’re facing a portrait, you can specifically fiddle with features, in a manner usually associated with high-end PC software. FaceRigFollowing in the footsteps of MSQRD, FaceRig enables you to embody a virtual character by controlling it with your face. Everything happens entirely automatically – you just select a character and background, gurn into the camera, watch a seemingly sentient floating hamburger mirror your very expression, and have a little sit down to think about the terrifying advance of technology. For those not freaked out by the hamburger to the point that they hurl their iPhones into the sea, FaceRig provides plenty of characters, unlocked using tokens earned through regular use or bought using IAP. You can also snap and share photos of your virtual visage, or record entire videos where you pretend you’ve turned into a sentient goggles-wearing raccoon, an angry dragon or a slightly irritated-looking turkey. PrismaPrisma wants to turn your photos into tiny works of art. Doing so is almost disarmingly simple: shoot or select a photo, crop your image, and choose an art style. (Options in the vast library of filters range from classic paintings through to comic book doodling.) The app within a few seconds then transforms your photo into a miniature Picasso or Munch, and it’s instantly better than most of us could ever hope to achieve with Photoshop. On trying Prisma with a range of imagery, we found it almost never comes up with a duff result, thanks to some insanely smart processing. But if you find the effects jarring, a slide of your finger can soften your chosen filter prior to sharing your masterpiece online. The best free movie and entertainment apps for iPhoneOur favorite free iPhone apps for having fun, whether reading, coloring or watching TV. Night SkyNight Sky initially resembles every other astronomy app. Hold your iPhone in front of your face to view celestial bodies that are in a particular place, or rather more lazily scroll about the heavens with a finger. You get chill-out music, constellation illustrations, ‘time travel’, and information pages. But Night Sky differentiates itself in how you can interact with objects. Double-tap a planet and it’s plucked from the sky and can be explored in isolation on your screen, or examined more closely by moving around it in AR. This works for constellations, too, enabling you to better understand the distance between component stars. Add subscription IAP and you get an AR grand orrery, sky tours, and more; but even for free, Night Sky is an absolute must for budding astronomers. Clarity WallpaperClarity Wallpaper makes it a cinch to create beautiful wallpapers for your iPhone’s Home and lock screens. The name comes from the app’s tendency to output artwork that improves the legibility of content above it. Of the available options, Gradient has you choose two colors and decide on the direction of the gradient, while Blur has you take a photo or picture and assign a blur level. Mask allows you to overlay a color-to-transparent gradient atop an image, and Frame is designed to place a framed portrait over a blurred background. Some frame controls sit behind a $1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 IAP, as does a ‘magazine’ of curated wallpapers, but even if you stick with the free version, this is our favorite app for quickly creating sleek and effective wallpaper for iPhone. Pocket is a read-later system – time-shifting for the web. It’s designed to stop you clicking links all day, planning to read everything later, and then realizing at some point you have dozens of unread tabs. With Pocket, you simply share pages to it from Safari (or on a desktop browser use the Pocket bookmarklet). When you have a data connection, open Pocket and it will quickly download everything. When reading, articles are stripped of cruft, leaving a mobile-optimized, reader-centric view. Should you not be keen on the default set-up, it can be tweaked: fonts and colors can be adjusted, and there’s text-to-speech when you need to delve into articles eyes-free. Archives can be searched; and should you run out of things to read, Pocket has a Recommended tab you can check out to find something new. Perfect fodder for your daily commute. JustWatchJustWatch solves the problem of where to watch something. That might sound strange, but this is a common problem with modern television viewing – many shows are available on demand, but that’s no good if you’ve no idea what service they’re running on. When searching for something specific, the app will list where it can be streamed or bought as appropriate. If you have the relevant app installed, you can head there with a tap. If you’re looking for something new, Popular and Browse tabs give you plenty of options, which can be quickly filtered by various criteria, and individual items can be stashed in the WatchList until later. Given how decentralized television has become, JustWatch feels like a must-have install – a single, coherent tool for finding content from a range of providers. FeedlyFeedly bills itself as a smart news reader. For old hands, it’s an RSS client. If you’re still making a confused face, it’s an app that enables you to subscribe to website news feeds, which then pipe headlines directly to your iPhone. The net result is a kind of curated newspaper. You get content from sources you know and trust, and because stories are listed in order of publication, you’re safe in the knowledge that you won’t miss anything – unlike the semi-randomized avalanche of content that afflicts social media feeds. The reading experience is clean and simple too – just text and images for sites that provide full articles within feeds, and a built-in browser for those that don’t. And when you find something that’s just too good to keep to yourself, there are plenty of sharing options. IKEA PlaceIKEA Place is ultimately a virtual catalog for the chain of furniture stores with a predilection for massive blue buildings, but it also happens to be an app at the forefront of augmented reality, showcasing the future of shopping. Select a piece of furniture and you can place it in your room. The app will also enable you to point your iPhone’s camera at a product elsewhere and find something similar on the store. This could be considered aggressive marketing, but with a little thought, you quickly realize how useful the app can be, even if you’re not planning on buying anything. If you’re wondering whether a second chair or bookcase would work in your room, use this app to give you an idea rather than bringing something home and then finding that it doesn’t fit. LetterboxdLetterboxd is a social app for people who love films. Sign in and you can see what friends have been watching, bellyache about the latest Hollywood blockbuster that totally offended your viewing sensibilities, and comment on other people’s reviews. Or if that fills you with horror, you can ignore the social bit entirely, and just use Letterboxd as a really savvy movie tracker. Search for films and add them to your watch list; once you’ve seen one, give it a rating. That way, you won’t end up 30 minutes into a cinematic disaster before realizing you’d already suffered through it before. Two apps for the price of none, Letterboxd is pretty great whichever way you use it. NotchoNotcho is one of the cheekier apps on the App Store, and would have perhaps best been named “Notch? NO!” In short, it’s designed to hide the divisive iPhone X notch. It does this by making clever edits to wallpaper, adding curved corners that hide the notch within a black bar. The wallpaper creation bit is pretty good, with various fit options, and the option to stick with straight edges or less pronounced corners, if you don’t want to ape the iPhone X’s curves. Bizarrely, you can also add the notch back in if you want to. Saved wallpapers do have a watermark unless you stump up for a one-off $1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 IAP, but otherwise this is an essential app we wish could somehow extend to the rest of iOS. JigSpaceJigSpace is an education app that reasons we learn things better in 3D, on the basis that this is how we experience the real world. And that’s a good point. It’s all very well to learn how a car’s transmission works by reading about it, or even pore over an exploded illustration in a book. But being able to fiddle around with a real engine is much more helpful. This app isn’t quite that level of magical, but it does use iOS’s augmented reality smarts to project various objects onto a flat surface. These can then be explored and fiddled around with, in a manner that hints at the future of anything from repair manuals to textbooks. And even though you’ll perhaps exhaust the items on offer fairly quickly, JigSpace is a nicely immersive educational experience while it lasts. WLPPRWLPPR is a wallpaper app that’s apparently not keen on vowels. But what it lacks in letters, it makes up for with beautiful satellite imagery, which you can save to Photos and later apply to your home or lock screens. Unlike many wallpaper apps, WLPPR has been crafted with care and respect. Every image has a credit but also explanatory copy regarding what you’re looking at. You can bookmark favorites for later, apply a custom blur, and download imagery in standard or ‘parallax’ sizes. Neatly, there’s a preview mode, too. Tap the eye icon and you can load a realistic-looking home or lock screen to see how your wallpaper would look. Not convinced? Swipe to get the next one. Note that WLPPR is a freemium app, with IAP for extra photo sets; but for free you get dozens of high-quality pics – more than enough for most – and even more if you’re happy to spam your social media feed one time. PigmentWith its large display and the Apple Pencil, the iPad seems the natural home for a coloring app like Pigment. But if you fancy doing the odd bit of coloring-in when you need to relax, Pigment’s great to also have installed on the device you always have in your pocket. Even on the smaller screen, it excels. You get quick access to a set of top-notch coloring tools, and a range of intricate illustrations to work on. Sure, buy a subscription and you gain access to a much bigger range; but for free, you still get an awful lot. Amusingly, the app also offers options for staying inside the lines. By default, Pigment automatically detects what you’re trying to color and assists accordingly – but you can go fully manual if you wish! WikipediaUnsurprisingly, Wikipedia is an app for browsing Wikipedia, the massive online encyclopedia that makes all paper-based equivalents green with envy. It’s the official app by Wikipedia and is easily the best free option, and only rivaled by one paid alternative we’re aware of (the rather fine V for Wikipedia). Wikipedia gets the basics right: an efficient, readable layout; fast access to your browsing history; a home page full of relevant and potentially new articles. But it’s all the small things that really count. Save an article for later and it’s also stored offline. Finding the text a bit small? You can resize it in two taps. Also, if you’ve a fairly new iPhone, 3D Touch is well-supported: home screen quick actions provide speedy access to search and random articles; and when reading in the app, the Peek gesture previews a link, and an upwards swipe displays a button you can tap to save it for later. OnefootballAlthough most fans want to cheer on their soccer team by hollering from the stands or, second best, yelling at a TV in a pub, that's not always possible. When you're otherwise busy, Onefootball is a great means of keeping track of your favorites. The app's a cinch to set up. Choose your teams, allow Onefootball to send notifications, and then let the app work its magic. On match days, you'll be notified of every goal, which, depending on your team's fortunes, may make you thrill at or dread hearing the notification sound. If you at any point need a little more detail, venture into the app and you'll discover everything from live tickers to customized news feeds. eBayeBay needs no introduction. But if you’ve just clambered free from a pile of boxes that fell on you in the mid–1990s, then: 1) probably tidy up a bit more often, and; 2) you can likely offload some of your junk on eBay. Although originally designed for the desktop, eBay’s a far more pleasant experience on the iPhone. You can zip through searches of its vast marketplace, and get notifications when auctions are nearly up or when you’re outbid. Selling’s a breeze, too. If your item has a barcode, scan it, take a photo of the item, and you’re good to go. Just be mindful that buying’s even easier than selling, and so don’t end up filling your home with more unnecessary tat the second you manage to offload some. The best free health, diet and exercise apps for iPhoneOur favorite free iPhone apps for forming great habits, cooking, exercising and meditating. Oak - Meditation & BreathingOak - Meditation & Breathing is a relaxation aid with no time for complexity and price tags – two things rivals often revel in, despite how they can (ironically) increase stress levels. Here, you choose between three options: meditate, breathe, and sleep. The three breathing exercises provide techniques for unwinding and boosting alertness. Meditation options cater for beginners and old-hands alike, with guided and unguided sessions across a range of durations. And if you can’t switch off in bed, a guided breathing session helps you fall asleep. Oak’s sense of elegance and focus is what sets it apart. This is an app that cuts to the chase, and immediately gets you on the path to a better you. And the Growth area helps keep you there, with tracking, stats, and achievements. TastyTasty gives you a modern spin on cookery apps, through a splash of color, and a large dollop of video. It starts off much like any other iPhone app: you can filter searches to specific dish types and dietary requirements; all the while, lush photography of tasty treats attempts to lure you in. But when you open a recipe page, Tasty dispenses with convention by immediately showing how the dish is made – in super-fast fashion. These tightly edited videos are like cookery TV with all the cruft removed, and they beat photographic stills because they show elements of technique. Smartly, although you can check out vanilla step-by-step instructions, it’s also possible to view individual steps alongside a relevant video clip. This should ensure you won’t go wrong and cook up a culinary catastrophe. Smiling MindSmiling Mind is a straightforward, approachable meditation app that wants you to slow down a bit and embrace mindfulness. It starts off with a simple exercise that introduces the concept, before getting you started with short practice sessions. But if you’re already familiar with this kind of thing, you can jump right into a range of programs. As you use the app, it urges you to input how you feel, and tracks your progress over time. Also, along with providing programs for adults, the app offers exercises designed for children. Most importantly, though, everything about Smiling Mind feels calming, from the stylish interface to its lack of a price-tag. Whereas rivals go for wallet-thumping subscriptions, Smiling Mind is by a non-profit; it’s intent only on relieving you of stress rather than money. HabiticaHabitica is a to-do list tracker. But before your eyes glaze over, Habitica does something very different in this particular app category, transforming boring lists into a game. The idea is that you input all the things you need to sort, including one-off items and daily goals. As you check off tasks, your little on-screen avatar gets powered-up, acquiring armor, pets, skills, and quests. Get some friends suitably invested and you can battle monsters alongside them – or just keep everyone honest. In short, this app makes productivity fun. And while there’s some satisfaction deleting an item from a boring bullet-point list, it’s a lot more interesting when taking the trash out results in your tiny hero beaming with delight at their shiny new sword. Sweat DeckSweat Deck reimagines exercise routines as a deck of cards. You assign exercises to certain suits, and lob in a couple of ‘jokers’ for good measure. The app then has you define how many cards/reps you want to try your hand at. The app’s semi-random nature keeps you on your toes (or hands and back, depending on the exercise). If you draw a three of spades, that might mean three squats; then a nine of diamonds could mean nine push-ups. It’s a novel interface that’s a bit different from other iPhone exercise apps. Sweat Deck could do with a way to switch cards other than tapping the screen (shouting perhaps), but you can always use prodding your iPhone as an excuse to rest for a few seconds, having suitably worked up a sweat by that point. TaoMix 2There are plenty of ambient noise products on the App Store, designed to help you relax, or to distract you from surrounding hubbub. TaoMix 2 is one of the best, due to its gorgeous interface and the flexibility of the soundscapes you create. You start off with a blank canvas, to which you drag noises that are represented as neon discs. These can be recolored and resized, and positioned wherever you like on the screen. A circle is then placed to balance the mix, or flicked to meander about, so the various sounds ebb and flow over time. For free, you get eight sounds, can save custom mixes, and can even import your own recordings. Many dozens of additional sounds are available via various affordable IAP. White Noise+If you need some ambient noise around you, White Noise+ proves an excellent app for blocking out distractions. The free version offers a small selection of sounds to soothe your soul – white noise, rain, wind, thunder, and wind chimes. To create some ambience, you simply drag one or more noise icons to an on-screen grid; the items towards the top play at a higher volume, and those towards the right become more complex in nature. Happen upon an especially pleasing combination and you’re able to save your mix for later use. The app smartly includes built-in mixes to provide a little inspiration – and to showcase a wider range of sounds that’s available via IAP. A single $2.99/£2.99/AU$4.49 purchase also removes the ad bar, unlocks a sleep timer, alarm, and dark mode, and allows you to fiddle with the 15 additional sounds – in both the bundled mixes and also your own creations. But whether you pay or not, the combination of excellent sounds and a modern, usable interface make White Noise+ a best-in-class product on the iPhone. Round HealthYou might not associate taking medication with a hip and cool iPhone, but technology can be a boon to anyone with such requirements. Round Health offers great pill tracking and dosage notifications – and it doesn’t do any harm that the app also happens to be gorgeous. It’s split into three sections: in My Medicine, you add medications, and for each you can define a name, strength, individual doses, and schedules based around reminder windows of up to three hours. In Today, you view and log the day’s medication. Flexible preferences enable you to set up cross-device sync, push notifications, and to export data - and reminding users to refill will be a real help too. That the app is free is generous, given the job it does – and how well it does it. Also, the system is flexible enough that Round Health might work as a reminders system for other repeating tasks, albeit one in which jobs are labelled as ‘taken’ rather than ‘done’! Sleep Cycle Alarm ClockThe science of sleep is something few people delve into. But you know some days that you wake up and feel awful, even if you think you've had a decent night's sleep. Sleep Cycle might be able to tell you why. It analyses you while you sleep, using sound or motion, and provides detailed statistics when you wake. Additionally, it'll constantly figure out what phase of sleep you're in, attempting to wake you at the best possible time, in a gentle, pleasing manner. That probably all sounds a bit woo-woo, but here's the thing: this app actually works, from the graphing bits through to helping you feel refreshed and relaxed on waking up. RunkeeperRunkeeper has been around since the App Store’s earliest days, and has gradually transformed from a then-magical means of tracking runs using your iPhone’s GPS, to a combination of personal trainer and community, providing everything you need to keep yourself fit. It still does the basics very well. Head out for a run (or a walk or cycling session), and the app will provide a clear view of your training in real-time. (And we mean that: the stats are in large enough type to see from across the street.) But it’s the other features that make Runkeeper really special: training plans; iTunes integration; custom challenges for friends; and a stopwatch mode for indoor activities and workouts. Unfortunately, it can’t actually do the exercise for you – so you’ll still have to work up a sweat yourself. The best free iPhone apps for kids and toddlersOur favorite free iPhone interactive experiences and learning aids for toddlers and children. Peek-a-ZooPeek-a-Zoo doesn’t look like much at first, given that every scene essentially features simplistic cartoon animals atop a flat slab of color, but you soon appreciate how much imagination has gone into this basic setup when you watch a child using the app. It’s all down to the questions, which challenge a toddler to find the right animal. They’ll be asked things like who’s dressed up (which character has the hat), who’s winking, or who’s trying to hide. That last one makes brilliant use of the minimalist graphics, ‘hiding’ an animal by matching its body to the game’s background. It’s all very sweet-natured, and has surprising range given how simple it is. That’s something to appreciate – a free children’s app that’s free from cruft and ads. Toca Tailor Fairy TalesToca Tailor Fairy Tales turns your child into a designer and stylist. On selecting a character to clothe, they can then drag and swipe to give them a beautiful new outfit. Well, ‘beautiful’ might be a stretch. The mix-and-match nature of the app offers equal potential for eye-searing garish fashion disasters. This is especially true when you delve into the materials section, zooming and rotating textures, or adding new ones by way of the camera. Garments can be adjusted in other ways, too – tap to switch to a different type, or drag to change something’s length. Last of all, there are accessories to give the model a perfect final touch – or a very silly hat. Laugh & Learn™ Shapes & ColorsLaugh & Learn™ Shapes & Colors Music Show for Baby is an interactive experience designed for very young children. Level 1 should be approachable enough even for a six-month-old you’re brave enough to arm with your worryingly expensive iPhone; they can tilt and tap to make shapes appear and bounce around the screen. Level 2 is squarely designed at toddlers. The app chirps “Let’s put on a show!” as shapes dance and jump about on the screen. This is augmented by jaunty earworms that will burrow into your skull, while your tiny human makes their own live remix by prodding at a colorful piano keyboard. It’ll drive you bonkers, but the smile on that little face will be worth it. Probably. Lego Creator IslandsLego Creator Islands might seem like an odd choice for inclusion here, since parents would most likely sooner see their children playing with plastic bricks rather than virtual ones on an iPhone. But when the real thing isn’t available, this official game does the business. It all takes place on the titular islands, which you explore to collect bricks that act as a kind of in-game currency. These can then be used to acquire Lego sets that are constructed with a few deft taps. The selection is fairly small, but even so you can over time build a rather nice set of islands, featuring houses, roaming animals and dinosaurs, and vehicles blazing about the place. Also, there’s no chance of getting a plastic brick embedded in your foot. Green Riding HoodGreen Riding Hood subverts a much-loved fairy tale, re-imagining Grandma as a hip yoga teacher, and having the Big Bad Wolf gradually learn how tasty healthy food is. Which might all sound a bit like brainwashing for tiny people if the story bit wasn’t so well designed. Each little scene in the book is interactive, so you can tap animals to make them exercise, have the wolf angrily lob a bone into the forest, or – our favorite – fashion a cacophony as the animals try to wake a dozing granny with whatever objects they have to hand. Beyond the book, you get some recipes and stickers for free. If all that takes your fancy, IAPs unlock exercise and dance routines – but, really, just the fairy tale bit alone makes this one very much worth a download. The best free music and audio apps for iPhoneOur favorite free iPhone apps for playing songs, listening to podcasts, making music and being a virtual DJ. BeatwaveBeatwave wants to simplify the process of creating music. You tap notes on to a grid, which explode in color like digital fireworks when the playhead hits them. You can keep adjusting your loop live, or add depth by overlaying loops of different sounds, including drums. For an app that looks so simple, and with vibrant blasts of color not usually associated with music creation tools, there’s surprising depth here, with sliders to tweak sounds, drum generators, and auto-chords. Veterans, though, may miss the original’s more approachable square grid play surface, which echoed Yamaha’s Tenori-on. The only other downside is the sounds you get being a touch limited. Still, there’s enough range for what’s ultimately a musical sketchpad; and if you want more, the ‘pro’ IAP US$9.99/£9.99/AU$14.99 adds several extra sets. YousicianYousician helps you to master a musical instrument or sing, but without that feeling like a chore. To that end, it often resembles a video game. When you’re learning piano, the interface depicts scores and keyboards with bright colors to help guide your eyes and finger, but the app really comes alive when you’re learning guitar. It turns into something like Guitar Hero, only you’re using a real guitar and the app is cunningly teaching you how to play. Things start with the basics, but before long you’re strumming and picking with the best of them. The only big limit in the free version is daily play time. Grab a subscription if you fancy learning more rapidly. BandcampBandcamp might seem superfluous in a world of Apple Music and Spotify, but for anyone who enjoys venturing further afield to find new music, it’s a must. The service is chock full of indie artists, whose music you can delve into by way of the Bandcamp Weekly radio show, or by browsing the app’s news feeds. Most albums enable you to preview a few tracks in their entirety, and some are entirely free to play, forever. If you want to go old-school and actually buy music, the Bandcamp website is a good bet. Purchases can be downloaded in a range of formats; and when you only have your iPhone to hand, you can stream what you’ve bought and watch as your personal music feed fills with related tracks you might also enjoy. GarageBandThe iPhone version of GarageBand has always been ambitious. Aiming at newcomers and professionals alike, its feature set includes smart instruments that always keep you in key, multitrack recording/editing functionality, a loops player, and superb guitar amps. But 2017’s major update takes things much further, with new synth Alchemy improving the app’s previously slightly ropey sound set. Smart piano strips have been expanded to all keyboard instruments, helping anyone to play perfect melodies. And Audio Unit support exists to load third-party synths directly inside of GarageBand, similar to how plug-ins work on desktop music-making apps. Because of these things, GarageBand is now even more suited to musicians of all skill levels – although be aware on smaller screens that the app can be a touch fiddly, what with there being so much going on. FigurePlenty of apps claim they can get you making music in seconds, but Figure really means it. The app's heritage helps, as it comes from Propellerhead Software, creators of the legendary Reason and ReBirth. In Figure, though, working on loops and beats is stripped right back from what you'd find in those complex PC apps; instead, you tap out drums, and slide your finger around to fashion monster bass and playful leads. Sounds can be tweaked or swapped out entirely at any point. Once you're done, finished tracks can be uploaded and shared online. For serious musicians, there's even Audiobus support. OvercastSometimes with apps, it's the seemingly little things that make a big difference. With Overcast, for example, you get a perfectly decent podcast app that does everything you'd expect: podcast subscriptions; playback via downloads or streaming; a robust search for new shows. But where Overcast excels is in attempting to save you time and improve your listening experience. Effects (which can be assigned per-podcast) provide the smartest playback speed-up we've heard, voice boost for improving the clarity of talky shows, and smart speed. The last of those attempts to shorten silences. You won't use that setting for comedy shows, but it's superb for lengthy tech podcasts. As of version 2.0, Overcast is free, and betters all the other iOS podcast apps that also lack a price tag. (Should you wish to support the app, though, there's an entirely optional recurring patronage IAP.) Novation LaunchpadOn the iPad, Novation Launchpad is one of the best music apps suitable for absolutely anyone. You get a bunch of pads, and tap them to trigger audio loops, which always sound great regardless of the combinations used. This isn't making music per se, but you can get up a good head of steam while imagining yourself as a futuristic combination of electronic musician, DJ and mix genius. On iPhone, it shouldn't really work, the smaller screen not being as suited to tapping away at dozens of pads. But smart design from Novation proves otherwise. 48 trigger pads are placed front and centre, and are just big enough to accurately hit unless you've the most sausagey of sausage thumbs. Effects lurk at the foot of the screen — tap one and a performance space slides in, covering half the screen, ready for you to stutter and filter your masterpiece. As on the iPad, you can also record a live mix, which can be played back, shared and exported. This is a really great feature, adding optional permanence to your tapping exploits. Music MemosApple's Music Memos is all about getting music ideas down — fast. You launch the app, hit record, play your guitar or piano, and your riff is safely recorded, rather than vanishing from your head the moment you see something vaguely interesting outside. Smartly, the app provides additional toys to experiment with. There's a tuner, and during playback, you can add automated electronic bass and drumming. The virtual instruments attempt to match tempo and energy with whatever you recorded (and with some success, although more complex inputs can confuse this feature to an amusing degree). Music Memos also tries to transcribe the chords being played; its accuracy is questionable beyond the basics, but not bad as a trigger when you later want to learn how to play your own spark of inspiration. Usefully, you can fling recordings at GarageBand and Logic (bass and drums going along for the ride as separate tracks). Less usefully, you can sing into the app, and still add bass, drums and chord transcription, for some kind of madcap tech-based cacophony of awfulness that we felt entirely compelled to try in the name of a thorough review. Expect our effort to (not) trouble the charts shortly. The best free office and writing apps for iPhoneOur favorite free iPhone web browsers, calculators, password security tools and writing apps. LastPassLastPass has a lot in common with Apple’s iCloud Keychain, which comes baked into your iPhone. You get a place in which to securely store website login/password details and payment information. This integrates with Safari, and also – from iOS 12 onwards – with third-party app sign-in screens. The main advantage of LastPass over Apple’s solution is that it’s available for Android and Windows, meaning you can use your passwords on whatever system you wish. But also it includes secure notes, and custom form filling options, which prove handy as well. Because LastPass can be used alongside (rather than instead of) iCloud Keychain, it’s worth a look regardless, not least given that its editing and browsing interface far betters Apple’s. And although there’s a premium tier, the free version will be enough for most. Drafts 5Drafts 5 describes itself as the place “where text starts” on your iPhone. That’s quite the claim, but the app really does excel if you work with words. The efficient interface makes it a breeze to work on structured text with Markdown, glancing at a live word count as you go. A customizable keyboard row provides speedy access to Markdown tools – or anything else you fancy stashing there for easy access. Once you’re done, you can keep your documents in Drafts, where they remain easily searchable, and can even be added to from the Apple Watch app. Or you can send them elsewhere by utilizing a range of actions. Splash out on a subscription and you unlock even more power; but for free, Drafts 5 is an astonishing bargain for anyone in the market for a top-notch iPhone text editor. DuckDuckGo Privacy BrowserDuckDuckGo Privacy Browser is a web browser that reasons privacy shouldn’t be an optional extra. Instead, it doubles down on giving you control over your personal information as you browse the web, regardless of what you’re doing. By default, tracker networks are blocked, encryption is forced whenever it’s available, and searches use DuckDuckGo, which never tracks you. Should you finish doing something confidential, you can prod a single button to erase your entire browsing history – easy. The browser can also give you details on any site’s privacy measures, and show improvements it’s made on your behalf. DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser’s simplicity and standalone nature mean it might not be a total replacement for Safari, but it’s worth installing as a back-up browser – or even just if you fancy checking out the privacy credentials of sites you enjoy using. RememBearRememBear puts a friendly, furry face on password management. Getting started is simple, as is inputting website usernames and passwords. Everything you enter is fully secured behind a master password – or Touch ID if you have a compatible iPhone. The app can integrate with Safari for iPhone, but has its own built-in browser too, should you want to keep certain passwords and activity away from prying eyes. There’s also cross-device sync so you can use your logins across Macs, PCs, and Android devices. There’s less scope here than in the likes of 1Password – RememBear is only for website logins and payment cards, not things like notes and servers. Still, its focus and friendliness make it a great choice if you’re not already using a password manager – or if you are, but fancy something simpler. Cake BrowserCake Browser is a mobile-centric web browser that wants you to skip right to dessert. Instead of presenting you with a list of search results, Cake immediately displays what it thinks is the most relevant page, while others load in background tabs. You then swipe between them (though you can still access a traditional results list by swiping from the left). There are great ideas in Cake, not least the buttons that trigger searches specifically for video, images, news, and shopping. The downside is that the search engines and sites Cake uses aren’t configurable, and the results it provides aren’t always what you want. Even so, that sense of surprise, and not always heading to the same old places, makes Cake worth a look – even if you stick to Safari for the bulk of your browsing. PagesPages is a fully fledged and fully free word processor for your iPhone. Word processing might not be top of your list of iPhone-related tasks, but this great app might just change your mind. Pages includes a wide range of templates, such as reports, letters, cards and posters. Although you probably won’t want to create and edit an entire magazine on your smartphone, Pages is user-friendly, with an efficient interface that’s suitable for banging out a first draft of a letter, leaflet or poster while you’re on the train. Thanks to iCloud sync, whatever you create in Pages can be opened on a Mac or iPad running the app. If you’re resolutely iPhone-only, you can export your work in a range of formats, including PDF and Microsoft Word. If you’re really rocking it old-school, you can even send it to an AirPrint printer. PCalc LitePCalc Lite is a version of leading iOS calculator PCalc, aimed at people who aren’t keen on spending money. In terms of functionality, it’s more stripped back than its paid sibling, but the app’s guts are identical. What this means is PCalc Lite is undoubtedly the best free traditional calculator for iPhone. It’s fast, responsive, and friendly, and bundles a small set of useful conversions for length, speed, temperature, volume, and weight. If you want to bolt on something from the paid version, IAPs exist, such as for multi-line support, or extra conversion options. When iOS 11 arrived, Apple’s built-in calculator proved buggy, leading to people scrabbling around for an alternative. With PCalc Lite installed, that need never happen to you. Documents by ReaddleDocuments by Readdle is a file manager, document reader and PDF editor. From a documents standpoint, the app wasn’t made redundant by Apple’s Files; rather, it nicely supplements it. This is because Readdle’s app can connect to remote servers, such as WebDAV, SFTP and shared network drives. In-app document management is sleek and simple, and support for Locations in Files means you can via Apple’s app access whatever you’ve stored in Readdle’s. From a productivity standpoint, Documents is handy as a reader for all kinds of files, like Microsoft Office documents, images, movies, and PDFs. With the last of those, you can also search and annotate, making this app an ideal addition to your freebie iPhone toolkit when you need to do work on the go. Scanbot Scanner AppScanbot Scanner App is, suitably, a scanner for your iPhone. This might seem unnecessary now Apple’s Notes app includes scanning functionality; and, indeed, Scanbot and Notes do have some overlap. Even so, we reckon Scanbot is very much worth a download. First and foremost, having a separate scanning app is more efficient. Rather than fiddling around setting up a new scan in Notes, embedding imagery, and then sharing your scans, Scanbot has a sleeker user flow. It also seems faster than Apple’s app when it comes to scanning – for which you can scan single or multi-page documents, and then apply effects to the end results. Scanbot also has an upgrade path, for those who want more. Pay and you gain access to automatic cloud uploads, PDF editing, document encryption, and OCR. But even for free, Scanbot deserves a place on your iPhone. The best free productivity apps for iPhoneOur favorite free iPhone apps for being more productive with reminders, to-do lists, flash cards, timers, keyboards, conversion aids and automation. ShortcutsShortcuts is Apple’s redesign of the well-regarded Workflow app, which aims to streamline your day by automating common tasks. Apps of this ilk have a history of being geeky and impenetrable, but Shortcuts is the friendly face of automation. In the Gallery view are dozens of pre-made workflows to download, which perform actions like calculating tips, figuring out how long it’ll be before you’re home, and logging aspects of your routine. Actions can be added to your Home screen as pseudo-apps, and triggered from Today view or by using Siri voice commands. For a fully custom experience, there’s an editing view to dig into. You can tweak existing downloads, or start with a blank canvas, adding actions using a drag-and-drop interface. On an iPhone Plus models or iPhone XS Max, this works particularly well in landscape, with an iPad-like dual-pane interface. BundlerBundler hugely speeds up and simplifies the process of creating and sharing ZIP archives on an iPhone. As long as the apps you want to share something from support the standard iOS Share sheet, they’ll work with Bundler. Select your document, tap the share button, and you can then send the file to the displayed ‘bundle’, or create a new one. Open up the main Bundle app and you’ll see your bundles. These can be renamed, as can individual documents within bundles. Usefully, many document types can be previewed inside of Bundle too, so you can check you’ve grabbed the right ones. Once you’re happy with your selection, you tap the Share button and send the bundle to an app or cloud storage as a ZIP. It’s fast and far more efficient than other apps of this type. WunderlistWunderlist is a hugely popular to-do list manager. It’s easy to see why: the app is simple to use, and yet provides depth and advanced features for those who need them. You start by dumping your to-dos in an inbox, at which point you can organize them into lists, add deadlines and reminders, define sub-tasks for more complex projects, attach files, and set regular tasks to repeat. Unlike Apple’s Reminders app, reordering tasks (alphabetically, or by due date) is a cinch, and lists can be shared across a wide range of platforms. All of this is entirely free (there’s a paid tier, but you’re unlikely to need it), so if you want a better to-do manager than Reminders but don’t fancy splashing out, this is the app to go for. MeteorMeteor is an internet speed tester designed for human beings. It eschews complex information – and even advertising – and instead provides you with straightforward, colorful buttons and readouts. An inviting ‘Start Testing’ button kicks things off, whereupon the app sets about checking your internet connection’s performance, a little meteor animating on-screen as it does so. Once the tests are done, speeds are scored, and are subsequently available from the History tab. Meteor also attempts to estimate how well your connection would fare with popular apps and games, six of which can be added to an ‘app performance’ bar. These values should perhaps be taken with a pinch of salt, but this freebie nonetheless impresses for being a no-nonsense, user-friendly, ad-free way to check internet connectivity. MultiTimerApple’s pre-loaded Clock app has a perfectly serviceable timer – but you only get one countdown at any given moment. MultiTimer, as its name might suggest, gives you multiple timers that you can set going simultaneously. On launching the app, you’ll find six timers already set up. Each has a different color, name and icon. Tap a timer and it starts, tap again to pause, or double-tap to reset. Easy. Long press and you open the timer’s options, so you can adjust its default time, label, color, icon and sound. You also have plenty of preferences to delve into, including adjusting the default workspace. Should you want extra workspaces – or a custom layout – grab the $4.99/£4.99/AU$7.99 MultiTimer Pro IAP. TinycardsFrom the brains behind game-like language-learning app Duolingo comes Tinycards. The aim is to enable people to memorize anything by way of friendly flashcard sets. Duolingo itself offers a number of sets based around language, history and geography. Smartly, though, anyone can create and publish a set, which has led to hundreds of decks about all kinds of subjects, from renaissance art to retro computing. The memorizing bit is based around minutes-long drills. You’re presented with cards and details to memorize, which the app then challenges you on, by way of typing in answers or answering multiple choice questions. Some early teething problems with typos and abbreviations (for example, stating ‘USA’ was incorrect because ‘United States of America’ was the answer) have been dealt with by way of a handy ‘I was right’ button. Just don’t press it when you don’t really know the answer, OK? CheatsheetThe idea behind Cheatsheet is to provide fast access to tiny chunks of information you never remember but really need to: your hotel room, your car's number plate, Wi-Fi passwords, or, if you're feeling suitably retro, the Konami code. Set-up is pleasingly straightforward. Using the app, you add 'cheats' by selecting an icon and then typing your info nugget. When you've got yourself a number of 'cheats', they can be reordered as you see fit. Once you're done, the entire lot can be displayed on the Today widget or an Apple Watch. Cheatsheet saves some features for a $2.99/£2.99/AU$4.49 'pro' upgrade - a custom keyboard, an action extension, some of the icons, and iCloud sync. But the free version is nonetheless useful and generous, along with making really good use of the Today view on your phone. LrnWe keep hearing about how important coding will be to the future of everything. That's all very well, unless code makes about as much sense to you as the most exotic of foreign languages. The idea behind Lrn is to gently ease you in. Through friendly copy and simple quizzes, you gradually gain confidence across a range of languages. For free, you get courses on HTML and CSS, along with introductions to JavaScript, Ruby and Python. You can complete any course for $2.99/£2.99/AU$4.49; but even if you don't pay anything at all, you'll get a lot out of this app if you've an interest in coding but don't know where to start. DropboxDropbox was a big deal in the early days of iOS. When Apple refused to provide access to a file system, Dropbox became a surrogate, and was supported by a great many apps. But you might ask if it has a place now Apple offers Files. The answer is yes. Dropbox can act as a Location within Files, which is great if you use Dropbox to share folders with people running various systems. But the standalone Dropbox app also excels: it can quickly scan receipts and whiteboards to PDF; you can use it to edit Microsoft Office documents; and it’s possible to comment on files to share feedback with a team. For free, you get 2GB of space. If you need more, Dropbox Plus gives you 1TB for $9.99/£7.99/AU$13.99 per month. SwiftKeySwiftKey reasons that you could – and should – be typing a lot more quickly on your iPhone’s keyboard. Mostly, it achieves this by freeing you from the drudgery of having to tap individual keys or even bother stabbing at the prediction bar – instead, you just lazily swipe about in the vague direction of the keys you want. During your early days with the app, this occasionally results in some comical typos, but pretty soon you end up swipe-typing at speeds you’d never thought possible. And beyond the keyboard’s AI smarts, there’s customization to delve into, including custom themes and colors, enough emoji to choke a hippo, and some very handy bilingual support for when you need to quickly switch between languages. SlackThe thinking behind Slack is to free teams from the drudgery of email. It's essentially a real-time messaging system, where people have group conversations based around user-defined hashtags, or send private messages to one-another. Support for inline images, videos and Twitter-like summaries boost pasted content, and the app integrates with cloud storage from the likes of Dropbox and Google Drive. It's worth noting that while Slack is clearly aimed at businesses, it works perfectly well as a means of communication for groups of friends who aren't thrilled about storing their personal insights and details on Facebook. Vert SWe're told the 'S' in Vert S stands for 'speed'. This is down to the app being an efficient incarnation of the well-regarded Vert unit converter. The older app had you browse huge category lists to pick what you need, but Vert S is keener on immediacy. There's a search, but the app's core is a Favorites page, where commonly used conversions are stored. Tap one and you enter a basic calculator, enabling you to convert between your two chosen units, which can be quickly switched by tapping the Vert button. (Note that currencies are behind an IAP paywall — $2.99/£2.99/AU$4.49 for 'Vert Pro' — but conversions for other units are free.) The best free iPhone weather and travel appsOur favorite free iPhone apps for mapping, sat-nav, translation, learning languages, weather forecasts, currency conversion and holiday planning. Google TranslateGoogle Translate is like having an entire crew of translation staff in your pocket. When online, it can translate text and conversations between dozens of languages, giving you a fighting chance at a to-and-fro in a foreign tongue when you’re stuck for other options. Favorite words and phrases can be saved, to build up a personalized phrasebook. But the real magic comes by way of the camera. Point Google Translate at some text and as long as it’s reasonably legible, it will attempt to translate it live, into your chosen language. You’re not going to be reading a book in this manner, but when you’re abroad and staring quizzically at a menu or the ingredients on a food packet, Google Translate can be a life-saver. KoinsKoins is a rare currency converter that appears to have been designed with humans in mind. Rather than you dealing with a utilitarian ‘afterthought’ interface, you instead get something akin to a futuristic, playful calculator. Yes, we know, playful isn’t usually a word you’d associate with this kind of app, but it’s fun to hear the bloops and bleeps as you tap out numbers and choose your currencies. Naturally, Koins has more serious features, too: you can squish the keyboard for one-sided use (or use the app in landscape), and sync data via iCloud. However, if you want to check out how currencies have performed over time, you’ll need to unlock the premium version with IAP. World Clock Time WidgetWorld Clock Time Widget does what you’d expect from its name, enabling you to set up a world clock that’s visible at a glance in Today view. Setup is straightforward. Tapping a + button gives you a list of locations. You can type a place name to rapidly filter the list, then tap an item to add it to your clocks. Locations appear in order from west to east, although you can rearrange them manually. The widget shows your first four clocks in Today view, but can be expanded to show more. Neatly, you can also move the clocks forward and backward by hourly increments. It’s a pity you only get a digital view – analog clocks are only available within the app – but otherwise this is a solid freebie. Trips by Lonely PlanetTrips by Lonely Planet is an app for sharing travel experiences – or just reveling in the journeys made by others. It’s a bit like a travel-oriented Instagram mixed with a smattering of travel guide and blog. If you like gorgeous photography and a touch of commentary for context, it’s a must-have install. New top picks are regularly showcased on the app’s Home tab, and you can favorite those you like, and/or follow the authors. Annoyingly, there’s no search, but you can delve into themed categories, such as ‘cities’ and ‘adventure’. (Think of it more like a magazine than a website and you should be fine.) When you have an adventure of your own, you can upload your own story. The layout options are a bit basic, but the app is really easy to work with, making for stress-free sharing. Google MapsGoogle Maps is an app that’s been a mainstay in this list for years – and it’s easy to see why. Although Apple’s own Maps app has hugely improved since launch, Google Maps retains the lead in almost every way. It’s superb at locating points of interest –whether you’re looking for a distant town or local restaurant – and offers robust public transport suggestions. Beyond that, it just proves handier than Apple’s app. Street View is great for virtually scoping out a location, looking for landmarks that might prove handy during a drive. You can draw a route to measure the distance between two places. And best of all, you can download maps to your iPhone, transforming Google Maps into a free sat-nav equivalent that works entirely offline. Google EarthGoogle Earth simply gives you our planet in the palm of your hand, and encourages you to explore. You can manually rotate and zoom, search for specific locations, or take your chances with the dice icon, to check out somewhere random. Wherever you end up, Google Earth provides local photography and information, becoming something of a virtual tour guide. Places others have explored nearby are provided as cards, which prove genuinely useful for giving crowdsourced points of interest or recommendations. This concept reaches its logical conclusion with Voyager – a selection of journeys you can take to some of the world’s most amazing sights, from ancient wonders to modern ones like Kennedy Space Center. Google Earth’s visual majesty is lessened on the smaller screen, but it’d be churlish to scoff at an app that in an instant provides access to so much of our planet. LingvistLingvist is a language-learning app that claims to be able to teach you at light speed. Naturally, that’s hyperbole, but Lingvist nonetheless has a methodology and interface that gets you going in your chosen language (French, Spanish, German, and Russian are supported) at serious speed. Mostly, it’s about plugging words into sentences, in a drill-like fashion. Imagine interactive flash cards thrown your way in quick-fire fashion and you’re there. The underlying algorithm tracks words you’re finding tricky, and in-context explanations for things like verbs pop up as and when they’re needed. Will Lingvist make you fluent in hours? Probably not. But as a refresher, or even a first step in learning a foreign tongue, it’s the best freebie around on iPhone. Today WeatherToday Weather provides a sleek, elegant take on weather forecasting, marrying modern design, usability, and a slew of data. Set a location and you get current conditions below a supposedly representative photo. (The photo is, frankly, a bit rubbish but can fortunately be disabled.) Scroll to delve into predictions about the coming hours and days, and details about UV index and pressure, the chances of imminent rainfall, air quality, sunrise/sunset times, and what the moon’s up to. Sadly, these components can’t be rearranged, and anyone who wants a rainfall radar will have to pay for it. But these drawbacks shouldn’t stop you downloading what’s a great freebie weather app. Also, Hello Weather has a trump card in its data source menu, which lists conditions and temperatures from five different providers. If one regularly seems better than the others, you can switch with a tap. Nice. TriposoBilled as ‘your smart travel guide’, Triposo elevates itself above the competition. First and foremost, it’s comprehensive. Whereas other guides typically concentrate on a few major cities, Triposo drills down into tiny towns and villages as well, helping you get the best out of wherever you happen to be staying. 50,000 destinations worldwide are included, complete with information on bars, restaurants, hotels, tours and attractions. Beyond that, the app is easy to use, and it optionally works offline, enabling you to download guides on a regional basis. This is perfect for when you’re ambling about somewhere new, without a data connection. And if you’re unsure where to head, Triposo can even build an editable city walk for you too. FoursquareOne-time darling of the digital check-in crowd, Foursquare in 2014 reworked its app to focus entirely on local search. Although this irked fans who'd been there since the beginning, it's hard to criticize the app we've been left with. On iPhone, you start with a search field, beneath which sits a handy list of relatively local places of interest. Tap an item and you gain access to a photo gallery, basic details, and a slew of reviews. In the main, Foursquare is quite obsessed with food, drink and nightlife, but the 'fun' and 'more' categories house plenty of additional places to visit, from gig venues and cinemas to rather more sedate options like parks and historic sites. Filters and 'tastes' options within the app's settings enable you to further hone down recommended choices, and anything you fancy reminding yourself of on a more permanent basis can be added to a custom list. Hello WeatherThere's a tendency for weather apps to either bombard you with facts or try to be too clever with design Hello Weather, by contrast, simply wants to get you all the weather information you need, but nothing you don't. This focused approach doesn't mean Hello Weather is an ugly app. On the contrary, it's very smart, with a clean layout and readable graphs. Mostly, though, we're fond of Hello Weather because it eschews complexity without limiting the information on offer. The single-page view is split in three, covering current conditions, the next few hours, and the week's forecast. If you need more detail, a swipe provides access to things like sunrise/sunset times for the current day, or written forecasts for the coming week. It’s worth noting that some functionality lurks behind annual IAP, such as real-time rainfall estimates and multiple weather sources. But as a free no-fuss weather app, Hello Weather is hard to beat. CitymapperCitymapper is a travel aid that wants to help you get around big cities more easily. Unlike Google Maps, it doesn’t work worldwide, instead carefully selecting places that get coverage. But if you live in or visit one of the supported cities – which include London, Paris, Berlin and New York – Citymapper is an essential download. The app will quickly zero in on your location. When you need to get somewhere else, Citymapper makes it easy to compare all of your options in real time. But it’s the smaller features that properly cement its place on your iPhone: watching buses move about a live map; advice about the best train carriage to take; and real-time alerts when you should get ready to disembark – great when you’re dozing at the end of a busy day. Weather UndergroundThe Weather Underground app (or 'Wunderground' to your iPhone, which sounds like an oddly dark Disney film) is one of those products that flings in everything but the kitchen sink yet somehow remains usable. Whatever your particular interest in the weather, you're covered, through a slew of 'tiles' (which can be moved or disabled to suit) on a huge scrolling page. At the top, you get a nicely designed tile detailing current conditions and showing a local map. Tick and cross buttons lurk, asking for input regarding the app's accuracy. During testing, we almost always tapped the tick — reassuring. Scroll, though, and you find yourself immersed in the kind of weather geekery that will send meteorological nuts into rapture. There are rainfall and temperature graphs for the next day and hour, along with simpler forecasts for the week. You get details on humidity, pressure and dew point. Sunrise, sunset and moon timings are presented as stylish animations. You can investigate local and global webcams and photos, and then head to the web if not satisfied with that deluge of data. Weather Underground is funded by non-intrusive ads (which you can disable annually for $1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 if you feel the need), and is easily our favourite free iPhone weather app; in fact, it even rivals the best paid fare on the platform. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| You'll soon be able to shut down your Chromebook USB ports Posted: 02 Jan 2019 07:52 AM PST Chromebooks may soon be some of the most secure laptops around, as Google is testing a new Chrome OS feature that will allow users to lock USB ports while the screen is locked. The neat feature was spotted a while back within the operating system’s (OS) open source code in September 2018 by Chrome Story. It’s just now getting wider attention following an update to the feature, which is still in testing, in late December 2018. This change is designed to protect Chromebook laptops from what are known as ‘Rubber Ducky’ attacks. These attacks require a hacker to physically insert a USB thumb drive into the computer, from which it can access the machine as if it were a user, emulating keyboard presses to execute commands and ultimately steal information. More protected, but not foolproofHowever, you will need to manually enable this feature in its current state with a line of code that’s known as a Chrome OS flag: ‘chrome://flags/#enable-usbguard’. Even with this feature enabled, your Chromebook won’t be completely safe in public spaces. Be sure to limit login attempts to your own Google accounts and disable Guest Mode, too. The feature is currently available in the Canary test builds of Chrome OS, which like the Windows Insider Program for Windows 10 is a publicly available early test version of the OS. Otherwise, this feature will likely hit the general version of Chrome OS soon in a future update.
Via Laptop This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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