Apple : Walmart iPad sale: the latest Apple iPad gets a $100 price cut

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• Walmart iPad sale: the latest Apple iPad gets a $100 price cut
• AMD Zen 3 has finished its design phase, rumored to launch in 2020
• Cambridge Audio’s Melomania 1 blow the AirPods out the water
• Steam gamers at risk from Windows 10 zero-day
• Gears 5: release date, news and trailers
• Back to school sales 2019: the best deals on laptops, backpacks, tablets, & more
• Best free and public DNS servers of 2019
• IFA 2019: show dates, exhibitors and everything we expect to see in Berlin
• Best smartwatch 2019: the top wearables you can buy today
• Best cheap smartwatch 2019: great budget devices for your wrist
• Ancestry DNA sale: the DNA testing kit gets a temporary $40 price cut
• Huawei confirms Honor TV will be first device to run HarmonyOS
• Best small business web hosting for 2019
• The 10 best cheap fitness trackers: the top affordable sport bands to keep you fit
• The best free password manager 2019
• Best cheap web hosting deals of 2019
• Intel, quasi tutti i processori hanno una grave vulnerabilità nella sicurezza
• 5G reveals the road to self-driving vehicles
• Best shared web hosting of 2019: top plans from vetted providers
• Anthem: update news, DLC, tips, patch notes and more

Walmart iPad sale: the latest Apple iPad gets a $100 price cut Posted: 09 Aug 2019 02:05 PM PDT Walmart has some fantastic back to school sales on laptops, backpacks smartwatches, and more. The retail giant also has excellent deals on tablets with the latest model Apple iPad on sale for $249. That's an $80 discount and the best price we've found for the 32GB tablet. If you need more storage, Walmart also has the 128GB iPad on sale for $329. The 2018 Apple iPad features a 9.7-inch retina display and packs 32GB of storage. Perfect for students, the powerful tablet features an A10 Fusion chip, which results in laptop-like performance. The additional power allows you to multitask and use the latest apps, including augmented reality experiences. The iPad includes an impressive 1.2MP front-facing camera and provides an all-day battery lie of 10 hours. This is not only a terrific back to school sale, but it's also a fantastic price for a newer model iPad. This promotion is a limited time offer, so you should grab this deal before it's gone. Apple iPad deals: Interested in other iPad models? We've listed even more of the cheapest iPad deals that are currently available. We also have the best cheap Amazon Kindle deals if you're after an e-reader. See more of the best back to school sales on laptops, tablets, smartwatches and more. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

AMD Zen 3 has finished its design phase, rumored to launch in 2020 Posted: 09 Aug 2019 11:25 AM PDT Now that AMD Zen 2 processors have hit both the mainstream market and enterprise with Ryzen 3rd Generation and 2nd-generation Epyc processors, respectively, it's time once more to look to the future. And, it looks like AMD has finished the design phase for its Zen 3 CPU architecture.  This news comes out of its reveal event for 2nd-generation Epyc processors, where AMD showed a slide indicating that the Zen 3 architecture design is complete, and even labeled the more-distant Zen 4 architecture as "in design". This doesn't mean that AMD Ryzen 4th Generation processors are right around the corner, but it does mean that AMD isn't taking their recent victories as permission to slow down. We'll show you how to build a PC Here are the best graphics cards Check out the best AMD processors AMD Zen 3 will likely be based on a 7nm+ process, much like AMD Zen+ after it followed the original Zen architecture with a 12nm+ manufacturing process. That means we can expect higher clock speeds paired with lower power consumption. AMD would achieve this by moving to a 7nm EUV (extreme ultraviolet) node, rather than the 7nm DUV (deep ultraviolet) node that Zen 2 CPUs are based on. This technology should make manufacturing chips more efficient and less prone to errors.  As for what Zen 4 will be able to do, however, we don't have a great idea of what it'll be able to do. We've seen some speculation out there, via TechPowerUp, that the AMD Zen 4 will be based on a 6nm EUV node and may be available as soon as 2021. We don't know whether this move to a 6nm manufacturing process would be able to see AMD bumping core counts even higher than the 16-core, 32-thread Ryzen 9 3950X, but it will be interesting to see if we can see Threadripper 2990WX-level performance on mainstream desktop chips in the next couple of years.  At the end of the day, we still don't know what AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3rd Generation is going to be able to do, and that should give us a better idea of what to expect from AMD Zen 3 and Zen 4.  There's a whole world of PC components out there This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Cambridge Audio’s Melomania 1 blow the AirPods out the water Posted: 09 Aug 2019 10:11 AM PDT Cambridge Audio’s recently released Melomania 1 true wireless earbuds have obliterated the competition – including the ever-popular Apple AirPods. We had no choice but to award the wireless earbuds a full five stars in our recent review, thanks to their spectacular sound quality, sleek design, and outstanding battery life.  The best true wireless earbuds money can buy The best wireless earbuds of 2019 Check out the competition: the Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless Earbuds The Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 offer a staggering 45 hours of battery life in total: nine hours from the buds themselves, with a further 36 hours of juice contained within their charging case.  That's over double the playback time offered by the Apple AirPods – and at a far lower price, as the Melomania 1 cost just $129.99 / £119.95 (around AU$185). Should I buy the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1? If you’re in the market for a new pair of true wireless earbuds, the Melomania 1 are a fantastic choice, combining the Cambridge Audio’s years of engineering expertise with the convenience of truly wireless sound.  For a pair of true wireless earbuds, the sound quality offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 are sensational. In fact, they rivals some of the best over-ear headphones, including the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, which is all but unheard of for buds of this size. Inside the compact little buds are 5.8mm drivers with diaphragms made from graphene, a material used for its "outstanding strength and flexibility", according to the brand. Cambridge Audio says that these qualities give these headphones the "dynamism and response to deliver music with a clarity and presence that belies their tiny size and near-imperceptible weight". At 4.6g each, these wireless earbuds are extremely comfortable to wear, and feel secure enough for running with – plus, with an IPX5 rating, they can withstand a little water if your workout gets particularly sweaty.  They may not have the noise cancelation technology offered by the Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless Earbuds, but they are $100 cheaper – and have a superior battery life – so they might be a better fit for some. As for the Apple AirPods, the Melomania 1 absolutely outperform them in almost every regard – no, you won’t get a wireless charging case or instant connectivity with Apple’s ecosystem, but those are small prices to pay for such mind-blowing sound. Make sure you read our full Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 review if you want to find out more about these stellar true wireless earbuds.   Read our Cambridge Audio Alva TT turntable review This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Steam gamers at risk from Windows 10 zero-day Posted: 09 Aug 2019 09:53 AM PDT Valve's popular PC gaming platform Steam is vulnerable to a zero-day security vulnerability which could leave 72m Windows users at risk of having their systems taken over by an attacker who could then install malware, steal data, compromise passwords and more. The vulnerability was disclosed by a security researcher named Vasily Kravets just 45 days after submitting his report on the matter to Valve. Typically researchers wait 90 days before publicly disclosing a vulnerability as it gives the affected businesses time to fix the vulnerabilities in their software. Kravets discovered a privilege escalation vulnerability which could allow an attacker with minimal user permissions to gain the same levels of access as the system admin. A threat actor could take advantage of this by launching malware using those raised privileges. Kravets explained just how serious the vulnerability is, saying: Nvidia graphics cards found to be vulnerable to security flaw These are the best Steam alternatives for PC gamers Zero-day defenses are a good reason why you need the latest version of Windows 10 "Some of the threats will remain even being run without administrator rights. The high rights of malicious programs can significantly increase risks, programs could disable antivirus, use deep and dark places to hide and change almost any file of any user, even steal private data."  Steam Client Service The vulnerability itself affects the Steam Client Service which launches with full systems privileges on Windows. Kravets discovered a way to modify the system registry so that the Steam service could be used to execute another application but with the same elevated privileges. Unfortunately proof of concept code has already been made available by security researcher Matt Nelson and this makes the vulnerability even more serious as potential attackers now know how to exploit it. The vulnerability has not been fixed already because Kravets initially reported it using the HackerOne bug bounty system. His report was initially rejected by HackerOne for being out of scope because the attack required “the ability to drop files in arbitrary locations on the user's filesystem” according to The Register. After Kravets convinced HackerOne that the vulnerability was both valid and serious, his report was sent to Valve and rejected again a few weeks later. Since the proof of concept code has already been published, it is likely that we'll see the vulnerability exploited in the wild soon. To prevent falling victim to the attack, it is recommended that users follow standard security protocols including not using pirated software, not reusing passwords for multiple sites and services, employing two-factor authentication and applying the latest system updates and patches since an attacker would need access to a user's system to exploit the vulnerability in the first place. We've also highlighted the best antivirus software Via Forbes This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Gears 5: release date, news and trailers Posted: 09 Aug 2019 09:09 AM PDT Microsoft's exclusive Gears of War series is one of the most popular to hit Xbox, with the Lancer and its chainsaw bayonet as recognizable as Halo’s iconic Warthog. And at the Microsoft E3 2019 keynote, the company announced Gears 5 is coming out September 10, 2019. Called Gears 5 rather than Gears 'of War' 5 the latest game in the series will have a female protagonist, Kait. Marcus Phoenix will still appear, but Kait will take the starring role as she leads her team on a personal mission continuing from the emotional ending of Gears of War 4.  Microsoft shared more details about Gears 5 during it's E3 2019 conference: a new 3-player online and local co-op mode 'Escape,' a special character pack featuring Terminator skins in a crossover with the upcoming 'Terminator: Dark Fate' film, and a new teaser. Another fun addition: Gears 5 will get a Map Editor, a first for the series, per an Xbox official tweet. And if you sign up for the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you can play the game four days early on September 6.  [Update: Gears 5 has gone gold, according to a blog post on the Xbox Wire. The game has been finalized and is ready to arrive in time for its early September launch.] Hands on: we got to try out Gears 5's Escape Mode Cut to the chase What is it? The fifth game in the main Gears of War series, potentially acting as the middle chapter in a second trilogy  When’s it out? September 10, 2019 What can I play it on? Xbox One, and PC (maybe. See below for more details)  Gears 5 trailers Ahead of some Versus Tech Tests in July, The Coalition released a trailer showing off the game’s brand new Arcade mode.  At E3 2019, Microsoft gave more details about Gears 5, including the new 3-player co-op mode Escape. Here's the trailer, showing off the three new characters who will fight to get out of a Locust-infested area. Microsoft and The Coalition studio head Rod Ferguson confirmed Gears of War 5 during the Xbox Keynote at E3 2018. To go alongside the announcement we got a new trailer starring Kait Diaz, Marcus Fenix and the rest of the Gears crew. Locusts will again play a major role in the series when the game comes out later this year. You can check out the Gears 5 announcement trailer below: Gears 5 release date Gears 5 is coming on September 10, 2019, as Microsoft announced during its E3 2019 keynote. But you can get it four days early on September 6 if you subscribe to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Gears 5 news and features No battle royale...at launch In a conversation with GameSpot, multiplayer director Ryan Cleven has said that Gears 5 won't have a battle royale mode when it launches. That's not to say it'll never happen, though. According to Cleven, The Coalition are "big fans" of the genre and that following the release fan feedback will be an influential factor in deciding what modes to add.  “Gears 5 does not include a battle royale mode,” Cleven explained. “We're big fans of the battle royale genre, but we would want to ensure we bring a battle royale mode to Gears in a meaningful way. We're actively listening to our Gears community and will look to further evolve our game modes based on player feedback post-launch.” This is in line with previous statements the developer has made with regards to a battle royale mode where it was said efforts would have to be made to do it right rather than to shoehorn it in.  The "largest Gears to date" In an interview with Game Informer, The Coalition's multiplayer design director Ryan Cleven revealed the next installation in the Gears of War franchise is going to be the biggest we've seen yet, primarily due to its wide and diverse range of modes.  "Gears 5 is the largest Gears of War to date," Cleven said. "It's the largest campaign ever made, the largest PvE ever made, the largest versus ever made." This isn't particularly surprising considering the vast number of single and multiplayer modes Gears 5 is bringing with it: Campaign, Escape, Horde, Arcade, Tour of Duty, Bootcamp, Escalation, King of the Hill, Arms Race, Dodgeball, Execution, Guardian, Team Deathmatch and Warzone. And, those are just some of the ones we know about at launch. In addition, Gears 5 will feature new map-building and sharing tools which will keep players busy for hours on end.  Multiplayer Tech Tests coming in July The Coalition has confirmed that it will be kicking off multiplayer tech tests for Gears 5 in July. The testing will take place across two sessions: July 19 to July 22 and July 26 to July 29. Pre-load will be available from July 17.  According to the studio, those taking part in the tests, whether they’re on Xbox One or PC, will be playing three distinct Versus modes across two of the game’s new multiplayer maps. These modes will be Arcade, Escalation and King of the Hill. There will also be a chance to try out the new features Bootcamp and Tour of Duty.  Access to the tests is included with Xbox Game Pass memberships but non-members can also get involved by pre-ordering Gears 5 from the Windows and Xbox stores or through participating third-party retailers who will be distributing the access codes.  System requirements If you want to purchase the game or take part in testing sessions on PC you’ll need to make sure your machine is up to scratch. The Coalition has confirmed the minimum, recommended and ideal system specs required for Gears 5.  Recommended specs Min OS: Windows 10 May 2019 Update CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 or Intel i5 Skylake GPU: AMD Radeon RX 570 or RX 5700/ Nvidia GTX 970 or GTX 1660 Ti VRAM: 4GB RAM: 8GB HDD: 15GB No loot boxes or season passes As we count down the days until Gear 5's September release, The Coalition has announced some more details around how players will be earning new content and items as they play.  In Gears 5, all DLC maps will be free in both matchmaking and private play scenarios and there won't be any loot boxes in sight.  New content will be earned through the Tour of Duty system. This will involve daily challenges and medals that you can complete to rank up and earn cosmetic rewards and you'll also get some of the in-game currency, Iron. It will, according to Coalition, be clear what's required of you to earn each item and there will be no premium, pay-only content in Tour of Duty.  As well as getting a small amount of Iron through Tour of Duty, you'll also be able to buy it using real-world currency. All store purchases will also be direct so there won't be any RNG causing issues.  Another way to unlock new content will simply be by playing - supply drops will happen at random as you rack up the hours and these can't be purchased with real-world currency. If you get a duplicate item, it'll automatically be scrapped and you'll be able to use the remnants to craft new items or upgrade skills.  E3 2019 We got hands on with Gears 5 during E3 2019. Our first impressions of Escape Mode are that it's a fun co-op experience but that it runs the risk of growing repetitive. XO18 show During the XO18 show in November, 2018,  The Coalition studio head Rod Ferguson promised "a bunch of innovations, a bunch of changes, a bunch of things that are really exciting and different but still feel like Gears of War" (via GamesRadar). Cult of personality During the XO18 show in November, 2018, The Coalition studio head Rod Ferguson explained the studio wants to prove it can still provide "an authentic Gears of War experience" and that Gears 5 will be about "bringing The Coalition’s personality to the game" (via GamesRadar). E3 2018 Gears of War 5 was confirmed during E3 2018, and will be called Gears 5 to be released in 2019. Following on from the ending of Gears of War 4, this game will follow Kait as the star of a new trilogy. Breaking her chain of command, the game will follow Kait as she breaks the chain of command and takes her squad on a decidedly personal mission.  PC Gaming Microsoft has been pushing its PC Play Anywhere program, that sees you able to take your Xbox games and play them on Windows PCs. Gears of War 4 made use of it way back in 2016, so there’s no reason why Microsoft would drop the service for a sequel. (Which is a nice change, considering Gears of War 2 and 3 never saw releases on PC.) What we want to see from Gears 5 Unanswered questions Gears of War 4 ended with JD and Kait fighting their way through the Swarm to try and save Reyna, Kait’s mother, only to find it was too late. Reyna wasn’t dead but the Swarm were trying to integrate her into their hive and removing her would kill her. But, at Reyna’s request, JD and Kait tear her away from the Swarm.  Before she does, Reyna teases a great mystery: she gives Kait a necklace that she says she was given by her own mother, Kait’s grandmother. The symbol is one Gears fans will recognize looks remarkably similar to one worn by Queen Myrrah of the Locust, your nemesis in original trilogy. A Gears sequel would have to explore this further – are Reyna and Kait descendants of the Locust?  There are hints that Adam Fenix, Marcus’ father, JD’s grandfather was close to Myrrah before the wars, so there’s a chance that Locusts and humans coupled but it would be new territory for a Gears of War game to explore. Wish List Besides continuing the campaign story, we’d like to see more of the changed world we were introduced to in Gears of War 4. Taking place 25 years after the original trilogy, the sequel is set in a world where humans were forced to abandon fossil fuels and collect together in small martial law-governed encampments and violent windstorms sweep the land, tearing up anything left unprotected.  Gears of War 5 should explore that further, showing us how desperate humans are trying to fight off the Swarm on a planet that is trying to kill them. The Coalition worked to make Gears of War 4’s battlefields more dynamic places, giving you the ability to pull enemies out of cover and leap forward with short range charges. A sequel should continue this, giving players greater freedom of movement and ways to break stalemates between human and Swarm forces. The original Gears of War cemented the cover shooter as a subgenre, now its sequels have to rattle its foundations by taking away the safety of sitting behind a low wall. (Image credits: The Coalition/Microsoft) These are the best Xbox One games you can play right now This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Back to school sales 2019: the best deals on laptops, backpacks, tablets, & more Posted: 09 Aug 2019 09:05 AM PDT Back to school season is officially upon us and that means discounts on laptops, backpacks, tablets, headphones and more. You can find excellent deals from retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy on top brands such as Apple, Dell, Samsung, and more. Whether you're a college student looking for dorm room essentials or a student in need of a new laptop, we've listed the must-have school supplies at the best online price. Our standout deals include the 32GB Apple iPad on sale for $249, the Lenovo Chromebook S330 Laptop on sale for $166, and the Apple 13.3-inch MacBook Air on sale for $899.99. We've listed the best back to school deals that are currently available below and we'll be updating this page as new sales pop up. Like we've mentioned above, this is an excellent time to find great deals on tech and appliances, so even if you're not a prospective student, you can still take advantage of the stellar sales that are happening now. The best back to school sales: Amazon - save up to 56% on school supplies Best Buy - up to $300 off select laptops Amazon - save up to 42% off Chromebooks Amazon - college prepped top deals Best Buy - save up to $400 on select MacBook models Lenovo - Doorbuster laptop deals starting at $229 eBay - savings on tech, clothing, backpacks and more Dell - save up to $300 off PCs and up to 30% off electronics Newegg - up to 55% off back to school tech PBTeen - 30% off beds, bedding and backpacks  Bed Bath & Beyond - college gear starting at $6.99 Target - deals on backpack and lunch bags Lands' End - save up to 50% on backpacks and luggage with code SHOP50 Back to school deals:  See our roundup of the best laptops under $500: the best budget laptops around and our 10 tips for buying a Back to School laptop. You can also see the best iPad for Students and the best laptops for kids. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best free and public DNS servers of 2019 Posted: 09 Aug 2019 09:05 AM PDT DNS (Domain Name System) is a system which translates the domain names you enter in a browser to the IP addresses required to access those sites. Your ISP will assign you DNS servers whenever you connect to the internet, but these may not always be the best choice. Slow DNS servers can cause a lag before websites start to load, and if your server sometimes goes down, you may not be able to access any sites at all. Switching to a free public DNS server can make a real difference, with more responsive browsing and lengthy 100% uptime records meaning there's much less chance of technical problems. Some services can also block access to phishing or infected sites, and a few offer content filtering to keep your kids away from the worst of the web. You need to choose your service with care - not all providers will necessarily be better than your ISP - but to help point you in the right direction, this article will highlight six of the best free DNS servers around. We’ve rounded up the best website hosting services OpenDNS Founded in 2005 and now owned by Cisco, OpenDNS is one of the biggest names in public DNS. The free service offers plenty of benefits: high speeds, 100% uptime, phishing sites blocked by default, optional parental controls-type web filtering to block websites by content type, along with free email support if anything goes wrong. Commercial plans enable viewing a history of your internet activity for up to the last year, and can optionally lock down your system by allowing access to specific websites only. These aren't going to be must-have features for the average user, but if you're interested, they can be yours for around $20 (£14.30) a year. If you're an old hand at swapping DNS, you can get started immediately by reconfiguring your device to use the OpenDNS nameservers. If you're a newbie, that's okay too, as OpenDNS has setup instructions for PCs, Macs, mobile devices, routers and much, much more. Check out OpenDNS here Cloudflare Best known for its top-rated content delivery network, Cloudflare has extended its range to include a new public DNS service, the catchily-named 1.1.1.1. The product doesn't have any of the extras you'll often see elsewhere. There's no anti-phishing, no ad-blocking, no content filtering or other attempts to monitor or control what you can access, and what you can't. Instead, Cloudflare has focused much more on the fundamentals. These start with performance, and independent testing from sites like DNSPerf shows Cloudflare is the fastest public DNS service around. Privacy is another major highlight. Cloudflare doesn't just promise that it won't use your browsing data to serve ads; it commits that it will never write the querying IP address (yours) to disk. Any logs that do exist will be deleted within 24 hours. And these claims aren't just reassuring words on a website. Cloudflare has retained KPMG to audit its practices annually and produce a public report to confirm the company is delivering on its promises. The 1.1.1.1 website has some setup guidance, with simple tutorials covering Windows, Mac, Android, iOS, Linux and routers. These are very generic - you get one set of instructions for all versions of Windows, for instance - but there are some pluses (IPv6 as well as IPv4 details) and you should be able to figure it out. If you have any problems, Cloudflare offers a community forum where you can ask questions or see what others are doing, a nice extra touch which we'd like to see followed by other providers. Check out Cloudflare here Google Public DNS Google has its fingers in most web-related pies, and DNS is no exception: it's free Public DNS is a simple and effective replacement for your own ISP's nameservers. Privacy can't quite match the 'we don't keep anything' promises of Cloudflare, but it's not bad. The service logs the full IP address information of the querying device for around 24 to 48 hours for troubleshooting and diagnostic purposes. 'Permanent' logs drop any personally identifiable information and reduce location details to the city level, and all but a small random sample of these are deleted after two weeks. There's a further benefit for experienced users in Google's detailed description of the service. If you'd like to be able to assess the significance of Google's privacy policy, for instance, you can read up on absolutely everything the service logs contain to find out for yourself. Google's support site offers only very basic guidance targeted at experienced users, warning that "only users who are proficient with configuring operating system settings [should] make these changes." If you're unsure what you're doing, check the tutorials from a provider such as OpenDNS, remembering to replace its nameservers with Google's: 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4. Check out Google Public DNS here Norton ConnectSafe UPDATE: Norton ConnectSafe retired and the service isn't available anymore. Norton ConnectSafe is a free DNS service which can automatically block access to fraudulent, phishing and malware-infested websites, as well as optionally filtering sites by content. This is a familiar idea - OpenDNS and Comodo, amongst others, do much the same thing - but ConnectSafe has one important advantage. It takes its data from Norton Safe Web, a comprehensive database on more than 50 million websites in 23 languages. The service delivers probably the best web filtering performance around, and the ability to get it for free, without having to install any software, is a major safety plus. Setting up the service requires choosing from three levels of protection. The Security policy blocks malicious and fraudulent websites only, and uses the nameservers 199.85.126.10 and 199.85.127.10. The Security and Pornography policy adds support for filtering sexually explicit material, and uses the nameservers 199.85.126.20 and 199.85.127.20. The very strict Security and Pornography and Other scheme extends the filtering to block 'sites that feature mature content, abortion, alcohol, crime, cults, drugs, gambling, hate, sexual orientation, suicide, tobacco or violence' by using the nameservers 199.85.126.30 and 199.85.127.30. That's likely to lock you out of a lot of content, but it might appeal as a way to protect young children, and you don't have to use this policy everywhere. You could lock down your kids' tablet with this policy, for instance, but stick with the plain Security policy for your own laptop. There are only very basic setup instructions on the ConnectSafe site, but if you run into trouble, the tutorials on competitors such as OpenDNS may point you in the right direction. Just be sure to use Norton's nameserver IP addresses when you change your device settings. Check out Norton ConnectSafe here Comodo Secure DNS Comodo Group is the power behind a host of excellent security products, so it's no surprise that the company also offers its own public DNS service. Just as you'd expect, Comodo Secure DNS has a strong focus on safety. It doesn't just block phishing sites, but also warns if you try to visit sites with malware, spyware, even parked domains which might overload you with advertising (pop-ups, pop-unders and more). Furthermore, you can try out the Comodo Dome Shield service, which adds additional features to Comodo Secure DNS. Comodo claims its service is smarter than average, too, detecting attempts to visit parked or 'not in use' domains and automatically forwarding you to where you really want to go. Performance is key, of course, and the company suggests its worldwide network of servers and smart routing technology give it an advantage. DNSPerf's Comodo stats are less impressive, unfortunately. As we write, DNSPerf reports its average query time as around 72ms. That said, Comodo may still be interesting if you're looking for an extra layer of web filtering, and the support website has some short but useful instructions on setting the service up on Windows PCs, Macs, routers and Chromebooks. Check out Comodo Secure DNS here Quad9 Quad9 is a young DNS outfit which has been providing a fast and free DNS service since August 2016. The company sells itself on its ability to block malicious domains by collecting intelligence from 'a variety of public and private sources.' It's not clear what these sources are, but the website says Quad9 used 18+ 'threat intelligence providers' as of December 2018. That's a little too vague for us, and we're not convinced that using a large number of threat intelligence providers will necessarily help – the quality of the intelligence is generally more important than the quantity. There's no arguing about Quad9's performance, though. DNSPerf currently rates it seven out of ten for average worldwide query times, lagging behind Cloudflare and OpenDNS, but effortlessly outpacing contenders like Comodo. Drilling down into the detail reveals some variations in speed - Quad9 is on the sixth place for North American queries - but overall the service still delivers better performance than most. Setup guidance is a little limited, with tutorials for the latest versions of Windows and macOS only. They're well presented, though, and it's not difficult to figure out what you need to do. Check out Quad9 here Verisign Verisign was founded in 1995 and through the years offered various services, including several security services, like managed DNS. Verisign DNS service is free to use and the company highlights the three features they deem the most important and those are stability, security, and privacy. The service definitely delivers on that account, especially for the security and stability. As for the privacy, while you can never be 100% sure when it comes to the company claims, there weren't any issues and the company assures you that your public DNS data will not be sold to third parties. Performance, however, wasn't that great when compared to some other providers. Still, it's decent and depending on your needs, you might not be bothered by this. At the moment, DNSPerf.com ranks the service at tenth place, worldwide. On their website, you can find tutorials on how to set up their public DNS. Tutorials are available for Windows 7 and 10, Mac, Linux, and mobile devices. There is also a tutorial on how to configure DNS server settings on your router. All in all, Verisign offers a good alternative to some other DNS providers, plus it's free so it's worth checking out. Check out Verisign DNS here Got further questions about DNS? Here are some common queries along with our answers. What is DNS? The Domain Name System (DNS) is a phonebook for the internet, a framework which translates domain names, like facebook.com or twitter.com, into the IP addresses necessary for devices to load those internet resources. The mechanics of DNS can be quite complicated, as information isn't held in a single database, but rather distributed in a worldwide directory including a vast number of DNS servers. Fortunately, the average internet user doesn't normally have to get involved in any of the low-level technical details. Your ISP automatically provides you with access to a DNS server whenever you go online, and whenever you enter a URL into your browser, this will find the relevant IP address for you.  Your ISP DNS isn't performing? Verisign is one of many big-name companies offering a free alternative Why might DNS matter to me? DNS servers can vary hugely in speed, particularly in areas which don't always have the best internet coverage (Africa, South America, Oceania.) To take an example of a single day when we tested, DNSPerf.com reported Cloudflare achieved an average 4.43ms query time for Oceania, while Yandex was left trailing at 350.24ms. That's potentially more than a third of a second in extra waiting time before your browser is able to access any new website. This is an extreme example, to be fair. European or US lookups may see less than 30ms variation between most DNS services, and as your device or router will probably cache the address for reuse later, even this delay will only occur very occasionally. Still, a sluggish DNS server can noticeably slow down your browsing in some situations, and trying an alternative – especially as the best options are all free – is generally a good idea. There's a second possible benefit in terms of uptime. If your ISP DNS server fails, you might not be able to access some or all of your favorite sites. Big-name providers such as OpenDNS claim they've had 100% uptime going back years. How can I find the fastest DNS service? DNS speed depends on many factors, including your location, the distance to your nearest server, and that server having enough power and bandwidth to handle all the queries it receives. DNS Jumper is a portable freeware tool which tests multiple public DNS services to find out which delivers the best performance for you. The program has a lot of options, but isn't difficult to use. Launch it, click Fastest DNS > Start DNS Test, and within a few seconds you'll be looking at a list of DNS services sorted by speed. DNS Jumper can be useful, in particular because it's checking how servers perform from your location, but it doesn't run enough tests over a long enough period to give you a definitive answer. DNSPerf tests multiple DNS services every minute from 200+ locations around the world and makes the results freely available on its own website. This gives a very good general idea of performance, and also enables seeing how services compare on different continents, as well as assessing their uptime. How can I switch DNS servers? The steps involved in changing your DNS service vary according to your hardware and possibly your operating system version. Generally, you must start by finding the primary and secondary nameservers for the DNS service you'd like to use. These IP addresses are normally displayed very clearly on the service website, so, for example, Cloudflare DNS uses 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1. The simplest approach for home users is to update their router to use the new addresses. Most other devices will then pick up the new DNS settings automatically, with no further work required. To make this happen you must log in to your router (the default password may be printed on its base) and look for the current DNS primary and secondary nameservers. Make a note of the current values in case of problems, then replace them with the nameservers you'd like to use. If you run into problems, check out your DNS service website for any setup guidance. Keep in mind that you can also use the tutorials of other DNS providers, as long as you remember to replace their nameserver IPs with your preferred options. OpenDNS, for instance, has specific guidance for many different router types on its support site. If router tweaks aren't right for your situation, you may have to change the DNS configuration of each individual device. Cloudflare has short and simple guidance here, while the OpenDNS website goes into more depth. How can I find my current DNS servers? If you're troubleshooting your internet connection, or maybe thinking of switching DNS servers, it might be useful to check which DNS servers you're using at the moment. The simplest way to do this is to visit DNSLeakTest.com and tap the Standard Test button. Within a few seconds the website will usually display your DNS server IP addresses, host names, and sometimes (if appropriate) the name of your ISP. After that, life gets more complicated as there are several potential options. Your device could be set up to use specific DNS servers; it might ask your router to give it the best DNS servers every time it boots; or it might not know anything about DNS servers, and leave your router to handle everything. On Windows, you could get started by entering IPCONFIG /ALL in a command line window. Look for your network adapter and you should see its DNS servers specified in the list. If there's a single DNS IP address which points at your router – 192.168.x.x – that suggests the router is handling all DNS queries. Enter that IP address into your browser, log in to the router if necessary and your DNS servers should be listed amongst the settings. How can I test a DNS service? If your browser is telling you a website's 'server IP address could not be found', even though you're sure it's up and available, then this could be due to a problem with your DNS. But you might not want to go to the trouble of changing your DNS service to find out. Windows users can use the command line tool nslookup.exe to look at the results of any DNS server without touching their system settings. Run cmd.exe to open a command line window, then type: nslookup website.com Then press Enter (replace website.com with the address of whatever website you're trying to reach). Nslookup uses your default DNS server to look for the IP address of website.com. If it tells you it 'can't find website.com', this means your DNS server doesn't have a record for that domain. Next, tell the tool to use another DNS service by entering a command like: nslookup website.com 8.8.8.8 The 8.8.8.8 address uses Google DNS – replace that with any DNS service you like, such as 1.1.1.1 for Cloudflare. If nslookup returns errors using multiple servers, this doesn't look like a DNS issue. If one server returns an IP address and another doesn't, you might want to try setting up your system to use the working DNS and see if it makes any difference. You might also want to look over our many web hosting guides: Best WordPress hosting providers  Best cloud hosting providers Best Linux web hosting services Best e-commerce hosting Best dedicated server hosting Best small business web hosting Best Windows hosting services Best managed web hosting Best business web hosting Best colocation hosting Best email hosting providers Best web hosting resellers Best VPS hosting providers Best shared web hosting Best cheap web hosting Check out the best website hosting services This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

IFA 2019: show dates, exhibitors and everything we expect to see in Berlin Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:54 AM PDT If you live in Europe and love technology, IFA 2019 should be on your radar. It's Europe's largest tech-filled tradeshow and acts as a showcase for all the cool tech like 4K TVs, soundbars, speakers and smartphones that are coming later this year. Now, if that sounds awfully familiar, it might be because you've heard of CES, the US equivalent that takes place in Las Vegas Nevada every year in January. While the two shows are definitely similar in a number of ways, IFA focuses more on the European tech scene - that means tons of TVs from Philips, Panasonic and Hisense, plus new smartphones from Huawei, Honor and LG.  So what should you expect from IFA 2019? Which manufacturers will be bringing the big guns, and will there be any surprises in store for us? Let the TechRadar editors talk you through one of the biggest tech shows of the year. What you need to know What is IFA? Held annually in Berlin, IFA is Europe's largest consumer tech conference, showcasing the upcoming launches from some of the world's biggest electronics brands. Its origins date back to 1924, when it began as a radio convention. When is IFA 2019? IFA 2019 will be held over September 6 to 11, 2019. However, press get early access to the site, and some launches are revealed prior to the show too, so expect to see news coming out of IFA a week or so earlier than that, ramping up from September 4. Which brands are exhibiting? If it's a consumer-tech focused company, you can bet your bottom dollar they'll be there, from Acer to ZTE and everyone in between. Some companies may host separate events away from the main Messe conference center in Berlin, but almost all will have a presence. The only big name missing will be Apple, which always chooses to skip IFA and CES. Latest IFA 2019 news and rumors Hundreds, if not thousands, of exhibitors will be lining the halls of Berlin's Messe conference center for IFA 2019. It's an all-encompassing show, where you'll have drone designers rubbing shoulders with microwave makers. Navigating the show and all its news can be a nightmare. So, in the run up to the flood of announcements set to soak the newswires, here's a run down of what we're expecting to see from all the major players. Acer Computing company Acer always puts on a show during IFA, and for 2019 it's even hosting a keynote session where we're expecting a large chunk of its upcoming line-up to be revealed.  IFA tends to be the place where Acer's Predator gaming lineup receives updates, and is often where Acer debuts concept products, such as the Predator 21X gaming laptop or the Acer Predator Thronos gaming chair. Expect to see a strong showing from the company. AMD With its Ryzen 3000 CPUs riding high, and its Navi rDNA graphics architecture expected to power the Xbox Project Scarlett and PS5 consoles, AMD has its hands full at the moment. Though it usually has a presence at IFA, we're not expecting any big announcements from the company this time around. BlackBerry BlackBerry! Yep, remember those handsets? They've not gone completely the way of the dodo just yet. There was activity around the BlackBerry brand with a new handset (now made by TCL) arriving in 2018 in the form of the BlackBerry Key2 LE. But with no sign of the Key3 in 2019 so far, and the brands' overall fortunes showing no sign of recovery any time soon, we'd say it's pretty unlikely we'll see a handset bearing the BB name at IFA this year. Dell We expect to see plenty of new products from Dell at IFA 2019. Dell could surprise us with another XPS product reveal or use this opportunity to catch its other product lines up to speed with current computing trends.  Dell and Alienware truly have been wild cards at IFA in years past – if there's one area it might steal the headlines, it'd be on its gaming hardware, so keep an eye on the Alienware gear coming out of the show. Fossil Wearables continue to have a strong showing at IFA, and Fossil often announces new watches at the show. Could the Fossil Sport 2 make an appearance? If not, expect other brands like Michael Kors or Diesel to fill in that watch-shaped gap around your wrist. Garmin As with Fossil, Garmin likes to hit IFA with a range of sports-focused wearables. But it's in a slightly different position this year, coming into the show hot on the heels of a busy period of announcements. Expect to see variants of Garmin's existing lines, rather than anything brand spanking new. HP The Houston-based computer maker generally doesn't make a big splash at IFA, preferring the halls of Computex or CES. We might see one or two new products launch at the show, but not much more than that. Stranger things have happened. Hisense With its first range of OLED TVs finally hitting store shelves, Hisense will be doubling down on the technology at IFA 2019 we'd imagine. It's current top-tier OLED TV has a high asking price, but lacks some of the more premium features that its competition offers. Though the brand tends to lean towards the affordable and budget end of the market, we're hoping to see at least one grandstanding set that aims towards more luxurious features at a more attainable price point. Honor Here's one that could turn out to be a bit of a surprise. Honor announced the Honor Magic 2 at IFA in 2018, but did further promo around the already-announced Honor Play at the show, too.  The Honor 9X, 9X Pro and Honor Band 5 have just launched in China, so IFA could IFA perhaps be their European debut? Regardless, as the company sits under the Huawei umbrella, expect the parent brand to do most of the talking. Huawei Last year, Huawei saved its big-hitting Mate 20 / 20 Pro launch for after IFA, but it did however introduce the range with the Mate 20 Lite in Berlin. We could see something similar here, with a mid-range handset launched, maybe with the Mate 30 name. You're unlikely to see a flagship launch though, with the company now favoring its own solo shows. The company also has been dabbling with smart speaker tech, its AI Cube being both audio device and 4G router. Could a 5G update be on the cards? We could also see Huawei unleash a new MateBook at the tech event. Its laptops, like the Huawei MateBook 14 are some of our favorite laptops, so we're looking forward to maybe seeing some more computing products from the company. Intel Intel will be showing at IFA 2019. With the competition against AMD tougher than its been for quite some time, we're expecting them to go relatively big at IFA. We think Intel might have some 10th-generation Comet Lake processors to show off, as well as Project Athena laptops. Lenovo The company behind Yoga laptops and Motorola phones has a major nighttime event planned for IFA 2019 called "Tech Life," which will play host to a number of product unveilings. It's likely that more of Lenovo's flagship products for 2019 could be unveiled here, including new Yoga and ThinkPad devices. Keep in mind that Lenovo increasingly steps into the smart home arena too. We were very impressed earlier this year with the Lenovo Smart Clock, for instance. Don't be surprised if it adds more to its smart home line up as a result. LG TV and home cinema tech will be the main attractions of LG's IFA showcase, no doubt, as the company (being the only actual manufacturer of the technology) continues to sign the praises of its OLED TV tech. It also tends to have mid-range handsets at the show. In 2018 is was the LG G7 One and LG G7 Fit - building off the flagship line at lower price points. In terms of audio, we'd be hoping to see further fruits from its partnership with UK experts Meridian Audio. But LG is a giant of the industry, and has its hand in essentially every technological consumer space imaginable, from freezers to laptops, monitors to robotics. Last year its CLOi bots were future-gazing highlights of the show. Motorola The phone branch of Lenovo has become a bastion of hope for those looking for high-end smartphone features on a tighter budget. Usually Moto has a phone or two to show at IFA – in 2018 we got the Motorola One, a respectable mid-range handset, for instance. Though it's unlikely to have a new flagship in Berlin, more mid-rangers are certainly on the cards if past exhibitions are anything to go by. Philips With the European (read: better) arm of Philips TV division unable to show at CES, we're expecting big, big things from the brand at IFA 2019. It's the manufacturer's time to shine, and we'd expect a snazzy new OLED Ambilight flagship to launch at the show. In addition, Philips is once again ramping up its audio offering, dusting off its long-neglected Fidelio range. It was once a mighty player in headphones – could it come back to reclaim its position? Samsung IFA used to be a huge phone show for Samsung – quite literally, as it's where it first revealed its then-massive Note smartphone range. That won't be the case for 2019 as the company has already unveiled its Note 10, Note 10 Plus, Watch Active 2 and Galaxy Tab S6 at its own show in early August. Expect Samsung to instead focus on its blindingly-bright QLED TV sets.  As with LG, Samsung has a hand in many consumer-tech brackets. So if you're on the market for a washing machine or new connected fridgefreezer, wait until you've seen what the company's IFA 2019 press conference has to offer. Sony IFA tends to be a big show for Sony, where it has historically launched smartphones. Previous years introduced the Xperia Z3, so don't rule out the appearance of the Xperia 2 (leading on from the 21:9 ratio Xperia 1 launched earlier in 2019). There's also a chance we'll see mid-range devices too. In 2018 it also used the show to launch the odd FES Watch U wearable. There's a chance we may see more wearables this year, or at least some intriguing concept designs. Sony will of course also have plenty of Android TV-powered OLED sets on display. But what are we really the most excited about? We're holding out hope for a follow up to the world-beating noise cancelling headphones, the Sony WH-1000XM3 cans, which were revealed at last year's show. The shadow of the PS5 will be looming over the event but, alas – we will eat our laptops if the company chose IFA as its new console launchpad. CES 2019: all the big news from this year's other giant tech show This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best smartwatch 2019: the top wearables you can buy today Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:46 AM PDT A smartwatch is the ultimate phone accessory. It can tell the time, of course, but it can also beam important notifications straight to your wrist, track your fitness stats and pay for your morning coffee. Today's best smartwatch models can perform a ton of tricks, such as enabling you to search the internet with your voice, track your location with GPS or even monitor your heart rate to protect your overall health – with our without pairing to one of the best phones on the market. Oh, and some of them look absolutely stunning too. If you're thinking that a smartwatch is a pointlessly geeky accessory... think again. The choices we've ranked below are well-made, powerful and can genuinely make you fitter through some smart nudges. We've tested the vast majority of the top-end wearables you can buy right now from the Apple Watch to Fitbits, Garmin trackers to Tizen-sporting Samsung watches. There's also Wear OS (you may have known that in its previous incarnation called Android Wear) which is Google's own wearable operating system in the vein of Apple's watchOS. During our review process, we take into account the design, features, battery life, spec, price and more for each smartwatch, rank it against the competition and enter it into the list you'll find below. Smartwatches come and go from the ranking depending on the rest of the competition at the time, and bear in mind we may see products like the Honor Watch Magic and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 appear in the list after we've tested them properly. It looks like 2019 is set to be a big year in the wearables space too, so expect lots of change in this list if we hear official announcements for products like the Google Pixel Watch, Garmin Fenix 6 and the Apple Watch 5. On a budget? Our guide to the best cheap smartwatch for you Looking for something active? Check out our list of the best fitness trackers Just want an Apple Watch? Try our full best Apple Watch guide  Have an iPhone? We have a guide for the best smartwatches for iPhone There's also our selection of the best Wear OS watches Want traditional looks? Our guide on the best hybrid smartwatch Our best smartwatch you can buy right now is from Samsung, and instead of opting for the expected Gear S4 name it's called the Galaxy Watch. Following on from the Gear S3 series and the Gear Sport in 2017, the latest Samsung Watch is much improved. We've tested out the larger 46mm version of the watch and it comes with a phenomenal four day battery life even when you're using it extensively. That's impressive considering a lot of other watches on this list last a day or so from a single charge. The rotating bezel remains a highlight of navigating around the Tizen OS on the watch, and the interface is one of the easiest to pick up that we've seen on a smartwatch. Apps available on the watch are more limited than Wear OS or watchOS - two rival smartwatch operating systems - but it still offers the core basics and Samsung had provided a watch that's good at fitness as well as sporting a great design and lots more functionality too. Read the full Samsung Galaxy Watch review What's next? Samsung just launched the Galaxy Watch Active 2 at the start of August, and we're hoping to have a full review of that smartwatch before the end of the month. Coming in a close second, the Apple Watch Series 4 is our second favorite smartwatch you can buy right now. This is the first time Apple has updated the design of its smartwatch line, and it looks all the better for it. You get a much bigger screen with the choice of 40mm or 44mm watch sizes, there's a wider display (which is still bright and clear) as well as all the rest of the tech we've come to expect from the Apple Watch. The speaker on this watch is louder than before, the design is still lightweight (yet it feels premium) and you can use all your existing Apple Watch straps with this latest generation too. The most exciting tech is the fact there's an ECG feature within the heart rate tracker. It can test your heart to see if you're at a high risk of atrial fibrillation, which will allow you to seek help earlier if your health is in danger. This tech isn't present at launch, and right now we only know it'll be available in the US. I's not an upgrade relevant to everyone, but for some people this could be some life changing tech. There are still tons of fitness features and the latest watchOS 5 apps onboard so you'll likely love this smartwatch. The Apple Watch 4 is our favorite watch you can use with an iPhone (this won't work with Android devices), but it's just been pipped to the title of best overall smartwatch. Read the full Apple Watch 4 review What's next? The Apple Watch 4 was announced and released in September 2018, and we don't expect to see the Apple Watch 5 until the same month this year. Fossil has developed a lot of expertise in the wearable tech space over the last few years, and this has all culminated in the best smartwatch the company has made so far. The Fossil Sport is a top-end watch with a lower price tag than the two devices above in this list. It features GPS, a lightweight - yet premium - design and at least two days of battery life from a single charge. Fossil has packed a Snapdragon Wear 3100 chipset inside, which is the latest update from Qualcomm that offers a smoother experience than you'll get on a lot of older Wear OS watches. It doesn't sport any truly unique features, but the overall package of the Fossil Sport may be the best watch for you. That'll especially be the case if you're looking for a fitness watch that comes with Wear OS software and won't look odd on your wrist when you're going about your day. Read the full Fossil Sport review Fitbit is one of the biggest names in fitness tracking tech, but until late in 2017 the company hadn't gone anywhere near smartwatches.  The company has now released two smartwatches, and both feature on this list but first we're starting with our favorite that was announced in March 2018. That favorite from Fitbit is the Versa that is a touch smaller than the other one (that's the Ionic) but it comes with Fitbit Pay for contactless payments, 2.5GB of storage for music and battery life that'll last around three days. It doesn't have GPS for tracking your runs and the design doesn't feel as premium as some of the other watches on this list, but we really like the Fitbit Versa and it's one of the more affordable choices on this list. Read the full Fitbit Versa review What's next? Our Fitbit Versa Lite review is now in, and it may be worth a look if you're looking to buy the Fitbit Versa. It isn't as feature-packed, but it's cheaper than the original Versa. You've already heard all about the Samsung Galaxy Watch, but what if you just don't want a large version of its wearable? Samsung has shrunk down most of the tech available in the Galaxy Watch into this more sport appropriate package that's slimmer, lighter and, arguably, more comfortable. The Galaxy Watch Active features a 1.1-inch 360 x 360 display that while being bright and beautiful allows for a smaller watch to be strapped around your wrist than a lot of the other devices in this list. It still comes sporting all of the top-end fitness features you'd expect from Samsung's Tizen watch range, but it lacks the rotating bezel or an LTE option that you'd get from the top-end product. The best part is how the price has shrunk to match its size. It's certainly not a cheap smartwatch, but when compared to the original RRP of the Galaxy Watch you may prefer to opt for this version that's remarkably similar. Read the full Samsung Galaxy Watch Active review What's next? Launched around six months after the original Galaxy Watch Active, we've just seen the Galaxy Watch Active 2 and it may be a suitable choice for your next smartwatch. One of the cheapest devices on this list, the TicWatch E2 is from a relatively small brand called Mobvoi but it has made a big splash with its latest couple of smartwatches. The E2 is waterproof, comes with great battery life and it's all available for an affordable price. You probably won't fall in love with the design of this watch - it's not particularly premium - but we like the look considering how much it costs. For health, the watch comes with built-in GPS, an accurate heart rate sensor and sleep tracking. All of the fitness features you'd expect are here, but make sure you note that it won't be able to do contactless payments as there's no NFC onboard. Read the full TicWatch E2 review Don't like the design? There's also the TicWatch S2. That's a remarkably similar watch to the TicWatch E2, but it comes with a slightly more rugged look for adventurers who want a watch that can take a beating. Check this out if you're happy to spend a bit extra. The Apple Watch 3 (or Apple Watch Series 3, if you're picky) was the best smartwatch but has recently been bumped off the top spot and down a few places since the launch of the Apple Watch 4.  The Apple Watch 3 is essentially just the Apple Watch 2 frame with some new innards... but they make a big difference. Plus the price has recently dropped, making this a much more attractive proposition. The LTE connection is the headline event, although that's not really as useful as some might hope - plus it costs a lot more to use, and drains the battery. What we like is the non-LTE version, which is a lot cheaper, and offers all the smarts of the Watch 2 but with a longer battery life and faster speeds when flicking through apps. It's still water-resistant so you can swim with it and you won't have to worry about getting it wet in the rain when you're out for a jog. There's GPS onboard to make running that little bit easier plus it you can now upgrade to watchOS 5 too. Read the full Apple Watch 3 review One of our favorite Wear OS watches is the TicWatch Pro, which you can use with either an iPhone or with your Android phone. You may not have heard of TicWatch before, but the latest from the company it a top-end watch with a unique dual-screen feature. There are two displays on this watch - one layered on top of the other. On the top is a transparent LCD display that can display the time, your heart rate and more when the battery is low. Below that is a bright and bold full color OLED screen that will give you all of the benefits of Wear OS. That means you can have a normal smartwatch, which we found would last around two days, and then have the time and some other features still available when your battery is running low. Plus the low power mode also lasts for a whole 30 days too. In terms of smartwatch features there's GPS, NFC for Google Pay, Bluetooth for listening to music and the top Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 2100 chipset in here running the watch as well. Then there's the price, which undercuts a lot of the other watches on this list. Read the full TicWatch Pro review The Fitbit Ionic was always going to be a tough move for the brand, trying to enter the world of smartwatches from fitness bands. The effort succeeds in some places: namely fitness, as you might imagine, where you can track all manner of things, from running to weight lifting to swimming. There's also dedicated bodyweight coaching sessions in there, and you can pay for items on the go using Fitbit Pay. When it first launched, the price was super high and it was a bit too expensive to wholeheartedly recommend. The good news is the price seems to have dropped in recent months so you can get it for at least $70/£70 cheaper than the RRP. If you're a Fitbit fan looking to do more than you get on an average band, this is a nice option. Read the full Fitbit Ionic review What's next? Rumors about a new Ionic are few and far between, but we've put together a guide on what we want to be improved if it releases a Fitbit Ionic 2. The second attempt at a smartwatch from Misfit has gone down even better than the first. This watch is designed to sit somewhere in between a premium, fashionable smartwatch and a must-have for fitness lovers. It doesn't do either of those things perfectly, and instead does both quite well. It's a good looking watch that doesn't cost the same amount as some of the more expensive Wear OS watches you can buy. It is sporting the older Snapdragon 2100 chipset, but it features built-in GPS, NFC for Google Pay and a variety of other features that may make you want it. Read the full Misfit Vapor 2 review Looking for a watch to pair with your iPhone? Try our full list of the best Photo illustration: TechRadar; Misfit; Mobvoi; Apple; Fitbit; Samsung This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best cheap smartwatch 2019: great budget devices for your wrist Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:39 AM PDT Smartwatches have developed into great gadget companions for your wrist that can monitor your health, offer you notifications without having to open your phone and even run specific apps themselves too. With so much technology packed into their compact size, it's no wonder some might think you can't get a good smartwatch without spending lots on it. That's not entirely true though.  The affordable end of the smartwatch market is limited, there's no denying that, but there are also solid budget options out there that won't disappoint you. We've put together this guide on the best affordable smartwatches right now – just the good cheap buys, mind you – so unlike our best smartwatch guide this isn't as fit to burst with the latest and greatest products. Instead this is more of a selection of our favorite products we've tested from across the spectrum, but the aim here is to only recommend products that cost under $150 / £150. Prices may vary over time, so you may see some of the prices in this list edge just above that. None of the devices on this list should hit extortionate levels though as they're all more affordable choices anyway. Scroll down below for our selection of the best affordable devices you can strap to your wrist. Looking for a bargain? Here's our guide to the best smartwatch deals Don't want a smartwatch after all? The best cheap fitness trackers Or perhaps you specifically want to run? The best cheap running watches You've probably already heard of the Fitbit Versa in your search for a new smartwatch, but did you know the company now has a less feature-rich and therefore more affordable version of it? It's called the Fitbit Versa Lite, and it's now our best cheap smartwatch. It isn't the most comprehensive smartwatch experience as notifications are limited, you can't listen to music and there's no contactless payment tech, but all of that said, if you're looking for an attractive timepiece that tracks your workouts as well as offering a few basic smartwatch features this may suit you. Before you buy the Fitbit Versa Lite, we'd recommend checking prices for the Fitbit Versa. In some markets it has cost a similar amount to the Lite, and if you can get the original watch you'll get additional features such as music and swim tracking too. If not, the Fitbit Versa Lite is a great companion if you're looking for a fitness focused smartwatch. Read our full Fitbit Versa Lite review The TicWatch E2 isn't a phenomenal upgrade upon the TicWatch E, but it will offer a waterproof design and better battery life for a similar price to the original watch. The design of this watch hasn't been improved much, so it still doesn't feel particularly premium on your wrist but it's still a good looking piece of tech that we're happy to wear at all times of day. You'll get around two days of battery life from the watch, there's GPS built-in and swim tracking as well if you like to take your devices into the pool for a dip.  One of the biggest frustrations is the lack of NFC which means you can't use Google Pay on the watch, but you do get all of the rest of the benefits of Wear OS here. That's something nothing else on this list offers. Read our full TicWatch E2 review OK, this isn't the most inventive smartwatch you're going to find to buy in 2019, but it is one of the cheapest. In fact, it may even be the most affordable watch that is actually worth buying. It looks quite like an Apple Watch, but this device is a whopping six times cheaper than a top-end Apple Watch Series 4 when bought brand new. It doesn't do anywhere near as much as the Apple Watch, but it does sport some incredible battery life at 45 days and lots of features for cyclists and runners including a heart rate sensor. Read our full Amazfit Bip review The Garmin Forerunner 30 is the first dedicated fitness watch you'll find on this list, and this is mostly built for runners. It's a device you'll want to wear if you're big into your jogging, but it does have some features suitable for cyclists too. It has GPS onboard, a heart rate monitor - that we found to be accurate in our testing - and a few other features that make is stand out as one of the most affordable running watches.  It has a VO2 Max monitor, which allows you to record your fitness level over time. That's something that is usually reserved for top-end devices, and this is one of the cheapest devices to feature that. There's no touchscreen here to interact with the watch, but it does have a fantastic app that you'll be using to control it. Read the full Garmin Forerunner 30 review The Polar M200 is one of the most affordable running watches money can buy and you'll find it includes almost all of the fitness features you'll want from a smartwatch. We found the GPS could be a little slow at times, and the design isn't as premium as some of the other devices we've seen from Polar, but apart this is a solid running watch with great battery life. This won't offer notifications and apps like some of the other devices on this list, but if fitness is the main aim for you the Polar M200 is an affordable choice that offers a variety of top features. Read the full Polar M200 review OK, this one isn't strictly a smartwatch. Again, like some of the watches above this, it won't offer a full blown smartwatch experience and tries to be much more of a fitness tracker with a smartwatch look. We decided to include it here though as the price has dropped in recent years, and it's in the right price bracket. We prefer the Fitbit Versa, but it's still a touch too expensive for us to refer to it as 'cheap'. We've included the Fitbit Versa Lite in this list now, but that sits at the top-end of budgets we're looking at in this list. The Fitbit Blaze may not be the best looking device, but it comes with a heart rate tracker and all the benefits of the Fitbit ecosystem. Just note this won't run the same Fitbit apps you've seen on your friend's Fitbit Versa or Fitbit Ionic. This is a much more parred down experience, but it may suit you if you're looking for a device that looks like a watch and offers notifications as well as some health tracking options too. Read the full Fitbit Blaze review Ready to spend a little more? Here's our guide to the best smartwatches Photo illustration: TechRadar; Mobvoi; Amazfit; Garmin This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Ancestry DNA sale: the DNA testing kit gets a temporary $40 price cut Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:34 AM PDT If you're interested in purchasing a DNA kit, then today is your lucky day. Ancestry is running a summer sale and discounting its best-selling DNA testing kit down to $59. That's a $40 discount and the best price we've seen for the genetic testing kit. Ancestry DNA has one of the most extensive consumer DNA networks, with over 10 million samples in its database. You can trace your family's roots back to over 500 global regions in the world and create a family tree with connections to living relatives. You'll also be able to learn about your personal traits, compare with others, and discover if your traits are shared with people around the world. The AncestryDNA kit includes a saliva collection tube, a pre-paid return mailer, and detailed instructions. You can take the saliva test in the comfort of your own home and receive your results via email in a matter of days after you mail it off. This is a limited time offer from Ancestry that ends on August 26. Like we mentioned above, this is the lowest price we've seen for the kit so you should take advantage today before it's gone. See more offers with our best back to school sales of 2019: deals on laptops, tablets, smartwatches & more. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Huawei confirms Honor TV will be first device to run HarmonyOS Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:28 AM PDT On stage at the Huawei Developer Conference (HDC 2019) in Dongguan, Huawei’s CEO Richard Yu confirmed that tomorrow (August 10) the world should expect an Honor TV announcement.  Having just announced Huawei’s new cross-device operating system, HarmonyOS, a potential alternative to Android down the line, and a smart device OS in the meantime, Yu revealed that the Honor TV will be the first device/service to run it. Our ranking of the best Huawei phones Everything about the Huawei Mate 30 Pro The full story of the Huawei ban This isn’t the first time we’ve heard murmurs of Honor launching a TV. In July, Honor lifted the lid on its Honghu 818, a television chipset. This octa-core processor is clearly more capable than your average TV engine.  With support for Motion Estimation/Compensation, HDR, Super Resolution, Noise Reduction, Dynamic Contrast Improvement, Auto Color Management and Local Dimming, it’s clearly smart, and if it’s anything like the products Honor has launched in the smartphone world, it will be competitively priced. Huawei's new operating system, HarmonyOS, is official Ultimate connectivity Those capabilities are all well and good, but when combined with HarmonyOS, they look set to deliver a premium television experience combined with ultimate connectivity, melding phones, smartwatches, speakers, laptops, tablets and more into one journey. Fire up a video call on your computer, press a button and you can continue it on your phone as you leave your office and walk downstairs to the kitchen. Next, cast it to your smart display as you get on with cooking, and finally, as you take your dinner to your living room, push it to your Honor TV.  Based on the examples Huawei presented, the Honor TV’s camera simply pops up, just like that of the OnePlus 7 Pro, and your conversation can carry on. An evening in front of the TV could take on new meaning with such a seamless cross-device experience and one conversation spanning across rooms and devices. This could extend through to gaming, with smartphone games likely supported by the TV’s chipset, along with wireless joysticks too. Commute home while blasting baddies to let off some steam on your phone, get home and that same game could just be cast to your TV, or even ready and waiting for you to carry on playing. The Huawei P30 Pro running Android software. With IoT devices on the rise, many of which lack the kind of RAM/storage capacities found in today’s computers and smartphones, much of this processing and storage will likely happen in the cloud.  This gave Huawei a great opportunity to also talk about 5G, but more than that, its Harmony OS is at an advantage, significantly lighter than Android. That’s how it can run on your octa-core TV or smartphone, and your dual-core smartwatch, and how your connected smartwatch can still deliver top-tier experience – by offloading to the cloud. The Honor TV is expected to either drop in the flesh tomorrow, and if it doesn’t, we could see it at IFA 2019, with tomorrow’s unveiling instead being Honor Vision/Huawei Vision – in other words, the TV version of HarmonyOS. Stay tuned for more in the coming 24hrs, but if you want to know more about Huawei’s HarmonyOS, its implications for Android and the kinds of devices we can expect to find it on read our news story on it from Huawei Developer Conference 2019.   Huawei Mate 30 Lite may be Huawei's first smartphone to not come with Android Via AnanandTech This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best small business web hosting for 2019 Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:20 AM PDT Every business needs a website, but finding the right web hosting package isn't always easy. Many plans are targeted primarily at home users, and don't have the power that businesses need. Take email, for instance. We've seen hosting plans offer as few as five email addresses for a website, and with inboxes limited to a few hundred megabytes, that’s potentially a major issue for any business. Be sure to check out the email specs of any hosting plan before you sign up. An SSL certificate is a must-have these days for any professional or business website, but these aren't included with every plan. Fortunately, they don't have to be expensive. Many hosts now offer free SSL certificates from the Internet Security Research Group's Let's Encrypt project, and although web stores might need something more, these are perfectly adequate for standard sites. Business websites can't afford to fail – ever – so reliability is key. Choose a Virtual Private Server (VPS) or dedicated hosting plan, if you can afford it, to avoid the hassles of shared servers. Look for support that can be accessed at speed with telephone and live chat available, as well as emails and tickets. You'll probably want a plan that includes automated backups, too, but that's another area where you'll need to check the small print: backups are often an optional extra. Think about an upgrade path, too, especially if you're starting with a basic shared hosting plan. If your business grows then your website needs might also expand, and it will make your life much easier if your chosen host has the add-ons and extras to cope. There's a lot to think about, but fortunately, there are also some excellent hosting providers around that understand exactly what small businesses need. In this article we've highlighted five web hosts who have something to offer everyone, from the smallest home business to demanding corporate users. We've highlighted the best website hosting services Shared hosting is slower and less reliable than VPS and dedicated plans, but it's still perfectly adequate for many simple websites, and the best plans will handle all the main business needs. DreamHost's shared hosting plan scores well on the fundamentals. There are no limits on bandwidth, emails or MySQL databases. Your site is secured by a free Let's Encrypt SSL certificate, and preinstalled WordPress allows you to get a quality site up and running in an afternoon – plus SSD storage as standard will keep performance high. Handy extras include the ability to host unlimited domains from a single account. And in a nice touch, DreamHost doesn't just offer a free domain name with each shared hosting plan (except the monthly plan): there's free privacy protection, too. If you've registered a domain without that, and been inundated with emails and phone calls from ‘website designers’ and assorted scammers, you'll know how valuable that can be. It's a strong all-round package, but if you need more, DreamHost also offers everything from managed WordPress and WooCommerce, to VPS, Dedicated and Cloud Hosting plans. Billing is flexible. You can avoid long-term contracts by signing up for monthly billing, which costs $10.95 (£7.80) a month for shared hosting. Choose the three-year plan and the price drops to $5.95 (£4.60) a month, though. Don't be put off by the longer term: DreamHost products are protected by an exceptional 97-day money-back guarantee, so there's plenty of time to test the service for yourself. Cloud hosting is a smart technology which spreads your website content across multiple devices, improving redundancy and speeding up load times. It's an interesting idea which has many business benefits, but if you choose wisely, you can try it out for less than the cost of some shared hosting products. HostGator's Business Cloud, for instance, delivers on the business basics with support for unlimited websites, unmetered storage and bandwidth, and a private SSL certificate. As this is a cloud plan, three mirrored copies of your website are spread across multiple devices. If there's a hardware failure, your website can immediately be switched to another server. All HostGator cloud plans give you shared access to a defined level of system resources (CPU time and RAM). Another benefit of cloud hosting is that you can purchase more of these and see the benefit immediately, with no downtime or time-consuming migrations required. The high-end features continue with a distributed Varnish caching setup to accelerate the loading of your static content, freeing up RAM and CPU time for producing dynamic content. Despite all this functionality, HostGator's Business plan is reasonably priced at $9.95 (£7.10) a month for up to 36 months, $17.95 (£12.80) on renewal. Optional extras are also good value, with CodeGuard's daily backups available for $2 (£1.45) a month, and SiteLock's malware scanning service is only $1.67 (£1.20). We've seen other hosts charge two or three times as much for similar functionality. While we've highlighted HostGator's cloud plans here, as an interesting improvement on regular shared hosting, the company also provides managed WordPress hosting, good value VPS packages, dedicated servers and more. There really is something here for everyone. Hostinger has been around for a long time and over the years it accumulated over 29 million customers. The company above all has very wallet-friendly plans, and these are a great choice for any newcomers. The pricing starts at just $0.80 (£0.63) per month over the 4-year period. Seeing as this is a starter plan, you only get one website and one MySQL database with 100GB bandwidth, but with that price, you can't really complain.  That being said, the best option for businesses would be the "Business" plan which gives you lots of features as well as being four times faster than the starter plan. You get unlimited websites, databases, and bandwidth with 30GB SSD disk space. The price is $3.45 (£2.7) per month over a 4-year period.  As you can see, you don't get many restrictions and SSL certificate, Cloudflare protection, and daily backups are also included, among other features. The company also has cheap VPS packages with a starting price of $3.95 (£3.1) per month. This has 1 CPU, 1GB RAM, 20GB of storage and 1TB of bandwidth. The high-end tier package gives you 8 CPU, 8GB RAM, 160GB of storage and 8TB of bandwidth, with the price being $29.95 (£23.5) per month. All in all, Hostinger is a capable provider with very cheap plans that can appeal to everyone more or less. If you are not satisfied, the plans are also fully refundable for 30 days. Most business hosting products are focused on power and functionality above ease of use. That's not a problem if you know what you're doing, but small businesses don't always have the technical expertise to manage this kind of hosting, and it could take quite some time and effort to figure out how the service works. GoDaddy Business Hosting is a hybrid product which aims to offer the dedicated resources and similar performance to Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting, with the simplified cPanel-style management of a shared hosting service. GoDaddy's baseline Launch plan gives you 2GB RAM, one CPU and 60GB of storage, for instance. These resources are solely for the use of your website, which should give you improved and more consistent website performance, no matter what's going on with other sites hosted on your server. Restrictions elsewhere are kept to a minimum, with support for unlimited websites, databases and emails, and unmetered bandwidth. (‘Unmetered’ means there's no fixed limit, but GoDaddy reserves the right to complain if your site is hogging resources.) There's a SSL certificate thrown into the mix, and GoDaddy has included a one-year, one-user subscription to Microsoft Office 365 Business Email. GoDaddy's Enhance plan is available for $34.99 (£18.99 for UK site) a month for the first year, renews at $49.99 (£37.99 for UK site) per month. The Grow plan gives you 3 CPUs, 6GB RAM and 120GB of storage for $44.99 (£25.99 for UK site) a month, renews at $69.99 (£52.99 for UK site) per month. The high-end Expand plan (which is for resource heavy sites) increases RAM to 8GB and storage to 150GB, with 4 CPUs. The price is - $59.99 (£37.99 for UK site) a month, renews at $99.99 (£74.99 for UK site) per month. Overall, the range is a little more expensive than some VPS products, but if you're looking for easy setup and simpler website management, GoDaddy could be worth a look. Basic shared, cloud and similar hosting plans are easy to use and can deliver good performance, but they also limit your control over the server environment. You can't choose to install Windows, for instance, or do anything else that would affect other websites hosted on the same server. Virtual Private Servers (VPS) are isolated environments which you can tweak, adjust and customize however you like. As a bonus, you also get CPU time and RAM allocated just for you, improving both performance and stability. Liquid Web's starter VPS product gives you two CPUs, 2GB RAM, 40GB SSD space and 10TB bandwidth, for instance, and is priced from $59 (£42) a month. Some hosts have cheaper VPS plans, but that's often because specifications have been trimmed to the bare minimum. Liquid Web takes a more honest approach, with even the most basic plans including items that are often chargeable extras elsewhere. For example, that $59 gets you built-in backups, Gigabit transfers, unlimited sites, a dedicated IP address, CloudFlare CDN, DDoS protection, antivirus, antispam, cPanel/WHM or Plesk Onyx, and more. All VPS plans are highly configurable, with Linux options including CentOS 6, CentOS 7, Ubuntu 14.04, Ubuntu 16.04 and Debian 8, and high-level plans support Windows Server 2012 and 2016. Whatever you're installing will include server management by default, which means Liquid Web will handle maintenance tasks such as operating system updates. Proactive system monitoring allows the company to detect and fix some problems before you even notice them, and speedy, responsive 24x7x365 support will help you with anything else. Factor in the 100% uptime guarantee and generous service level agreements and Liquid Web has a lot of business hosting appeal. Dedicated server plans are the top of the standard hosting tree. Instead of sharing resources with others, you get the entire system to yourself, ensuring the best possible performance and reliability. The OVH dedicated hosting range has several benefits, and these start with its choice of data centers. While other providers can typically host your site in just two or three locations, OVH has a far more global reach, with centers available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Poland, Singapore and the UK. Hosting the site nearer to your target audience will improve performance all on its own. Configurability is another highlight. Operating systems supported include CentOS, Debian, Ubuntu, CloudLinux, Gentoo, Slackware, ArchLinux, OpenSUSE, Fedora, FreeBSD, SmartOS, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2016, SQL Server, VMware, Citrix Xen, Hyper-V Server and more. Advanced options include support for NVMe, non-volatile memory-based storage which can be five times faster than SSD. Prices are reasonable, especially considering the range of functions on offer. You can get a very capable system for between $74-$137 (£56-£104) annually, and there's plenty of extra power available if you need it. If there's an issue here, it's the OVH website, which does a poor job of presenting your options. There are too many baseline server configurations, they're poorly organized, and it's hard to find what you need or figure out your configuration choices. We found our way around the product range eventually, though, and overall, OVH's extensive set of features and data centers make it a must-see for demanding business users. You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides: WordPress Cloud hosting E-commerce Dedicated server Windows Managed Green Business Colocation Email hosting Resellers VPS Shared Cheap Website builders Best website hosting This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The 10 best cheap fitness trackers: the top affordable sport bands to keep you fit Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:17 AM PDT Over the space of a few years, activity trackers, which started out as humble pedometers for step counting, have now evolved into powerful wrist-worn training partners. The good news is that even some of the more advanced trackers that offer sleep analysis and heart rate monitoring can be bought for under $100/£100, and we’ve curated a list of the best among them. Track steps, calories burned, heart rate, distance travelled and sleep with this latest generation of activity trackers. What they all have in common is they can help anyone go from unhealthy to fit and have an affordable price tag too. The products below are an impartial list drawn from our in-depth reviews. So be sure to click through to the full reviews to find out more. Not worried about the price? Check out our best fitness trackers list Looking for something even stronger? Here's our best running watch ranking Fancy something not just fitness-led? Best cheap smartwatch is the place Our favorite affordable fitness tracker is the Huawei Band 3 Pro. Considering its low price, there's a lot to love about this health band. It comes with GPS onboard, an accurate heart rate tracker, a waterproof design and there's even a color screen to display all of your stats. That's not a combination of features you'll get from every tracker on this list. If you're after a fitness-first device, the Huawei Band 3 Pro should be good for you with its accurate GPS and heart rate monitor but there isn't much more here to get excited about. That said, at this price you can't really ask for much more. Read our Huawei Band 3 Pro review This is the first time a Fitbit device has made its way into the top five in our best cheap fitness tracker list for a long time. The new Fitbit Inspire HR is a great fitness tracker overall, but it isn't the most affordable device in this list. Although you'll pay extra than you would for a lot of the other devices surrounding it here, Fitbit has created a overall easy to use package with a very attractive design. It doesn't feature GPS, which a lot of the other trackers on this list do offer though. Instead you'll get access to Fitbit's app, an accurate heart rate monitor and a variety of workouts directly from your wrist. Read the full Fitbit Inspire HR review This is the cheapest fitness you'll find on our list, and for that reason it's one of the best choices for your wrist. It's not a completely useless device, as often trackers can be around this price, as it can accurately check a variety of workouts while looking good. It comes with a battery life that should last just under a month depending on how much you'll be using it, and there is lots of fitness tech built-in. There's no GPS, but it comes with a heart rate monitor and tracking tech for your daily step and workouts too. Unlike previous versions of the Xiaomi Mi Band, this one comes with a color display for the first time. That allows you to install some vibrant watch faces and make your tracker look better than as if it just had a black and white screen. It's not the most attractive fitness tracker you can buy, but it has a slimline design and it's light so you won't really notice you've got this on your wrist. Read the Xiaomi Mi Band 4 review Our fourth entry in the best cheap fitness tracker list comes from Chinese company Honor with its fourth attempt at making a budget device for your wrist. There's an impactful color OLED screen on this device, which isn't something you're going to find on all the of the other trackers here. There's no GPS though, so you'll need to take your phone running if you want to know how far you've traveled. The Honor Band 4 is one of the slimmest and smallest fitness bands you can buy on a budget, so consider this if you're looking for something slight that you won't notice sitting on your wrist. Read our full Honor Band 4 review The key addition over the entry-level Vivofit 3 is the always-on, color display that’s visible in sunlight. This is remarkably achieved without sacrificing the year-long battery life of the stellar third edition. Basic stats like steps, distance, calories and sleep are covered off, while there’s also automatic activity detection thanks to the Move IQ system.  Thanks to the Garmin Connect app you can also customize the display, while setting timers and alarms directly from the wrist. Best of all the Vivofit 4 it also 20 per cent cheaper than the Vivofit 3’s 2015 launch price. Of course you’ll miss out on premium features like heart rate tracking and GPS, but that’s to be expected at this price. Read the Garmin Vivofit 4 review The Bip is a really capable but really simple fitness watch that we referred to in our full review as "the layman's Apple Watch" and we stand by the nickname. In terms of a super rich experience and high performance, it can't compete with Apple. Not at all. But for its extremely budget-friendly price tag, the Amazfit Bip is a competent fitness tracker that has a few awesome tricks up its sleeve - most notably the fact it can last more than 30 days on a single charge. If you’re after a simple wearable that can push notifications from your smartphone, wake you up with a dedicated alarm, and track your workouts with built-in GPS, and more, the Bip makes a strong case for itself. Gift-wise it's a great buy for anyone who is in the market for a cheap and cheerful fitness device. Its simple set-up also makes it a good choice for complete fitness tech beginners.  Read the Amazfit Bip review The Moov Now may be a few years old, but it's still one of the best movement trackers out there thanks to its 9-axis accelerometer - the same one used in missile navigation systems. As a result it can not only track your daily steps, calories and the like, but also other movements. That means guided, personalized training feedback. The Moov Now can measure running impact, gym repetitions and swimming strokes, so you can work out with a virtual personal trainer that knows exactly how well you’re doing and can tell you how to improve.  It’s also waterproof and lasts a good six months before the watch battery needs swapping out. Buy this if you're looking for an affordable yet impressive fitness tracker that doesn't constantly try to distract you from your fitness. Read the Moov Now review Samsung never used to make affordable fitness trackers, and considering the Galaxy Fit e is the company's first attempt it has ranked pretty well in this list. You won't get GPS on this tracker, but it comes with a lot of other features you'll want including activity tracking, a water-resistant design and a strong battery life that should last a whole week. There's a heart rate monitor and a variety of other fitness tracking features you'll want to make the most out of too.  Read our Samsung Galaxy Fit e review There’s a reason Fitbit was one of the first breakthrough activity tracker makers and is still going strong today - it works. And in the case of the Fitbit Flex 2 it works well with lots of features for a low price. The Flex 2 will do all the usual step, distance and calorie burn tracking using its motion sensor smarts, but it goes further. You can also track sleep and even do exercises that the band will automatically detect and track. Everything syncs wirelessly to the smartphone app and offers clear feedback to help you make health progress. The Flex 2 is also swim-proof, comes in different styles and uses LED lights and vibrations to notify you about calls and texts from a connected smartphone. All that and it should last five days before needing a charge. Read the Fitbit Flex 2 review The Garmin Vivosmart 4 may have since been launched, but that just makes the Vivosmart 3 suitable for our best cheap fitness tracker list as the price has dropped down - and continues to.  It's not the most affordable activity tracking band on this list, but it's one of the best looking and it'll show all of your stats on its small display including your rep count and other exercises too. There's no GPS on this tracker, so this is very much designed for the gym go-er rather than a runner plus the Garmin app is second to none offering you all of your stats in an easy to read format. Read the full Garmin Vivosmart 3 review Not on a budget? Check out the best fitness trackers money can buy Photoillustration credit: TechRadar; Fitbit, Huawei, Honor, Garmin This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

The best free password manager 2019 Posted: 09 Aug 2019 08:14 AM PDT Best practice dictates that you should use a different password for all of your online accounts, but remembering them all can be nearly impossible – particularly if you want to use strong logins that are difficult to crack. However, there is a solution to both of these problems: a secure password manager that will generate strong passwords for you using a combination of letters, numbers and special characters, and store them all in an encrypted vault. Once you’re logged into the manager, these programs will automatically fill your username and password each time you visit a site that requires them – taking the guessing game out of surfing the internet. Some password managers and generators store your encrypted login info on your hard drive, while others will upload your details to their own servers, enabling you to access them from any internet-connected device. With this list, we’ve gathered the best of both worlds in order to bring you a comprehensive list of the best password managers you can use today. Say goodbye to lost password anxiety.  See also: check out the best free VPNs for extra security online LastPass comes in two different flavors – free and premium. Either will generate and store any number of different logins in a secure vault that’s protected by your master password, with multi-factor authentication for added security. This includes hardware authentication via YubiKey for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. The free version of LastPass also offers secure storage for text notes, syncing of credentials across browsers, and access to your secure vault from any internet-connected device via LastPass.com. It will refuse to autocomplete forms on known phishing websites, and you can export your data at any time, if you decide to switch to a rival password manager. The premium version adds secure cloud storage for files, advanced multi-factor authentication, and the ability to set up a contingency plan so your loved ones can access your accounts in an emergency. The only downside of LastPass is its popularity, which makes it a popular target for criminals, but exploits are rare and there haven't been any cases of users' encrypted logins or master passwords being stolen. For sheer convenience and ease of use, LastPass is hard to beat. LastPass review Download LastPass Dashlane is LastPass's closest competitor and, like LastPass, it's completely worth checking out, featuring one-click password generation, world-class security, breathless ease of use and ability to store notes for future reference. It’s not just a Windows desktop program either; there are browser plugins and mobile versions, and similar to LastPass there's a premium version of Dashlane that includes unlimited sharing and syncing. Dashlane Premium costs $39 (about £30, AU$50) per year, but the free version features all the essentials: you get the core password manager, autofill and digital wallet features, all of which work flawlessly. Don't settle for LastPass without trying Dashlane first, and vice versa.  Plus, if Dashlane’s newly announced Project Mirror works out, we might see a future where we never have to deal with pesky passwords again.   Dashlane review Download Dashlane When you're protecting your passwords, the most important factor is always going to be security. Keeper Security isn't winning any awards for style or design but when it comes down to protecting your passwords, its security is one of the best out there. Keeper is actually one of the oldest password managers around. It claims to use a proprietary zero-knowledge security architecture, AES 256-bit encryption and is the most audited and certified product on the market. What that means in simple talk is that this is a highly protected piece of kit. Keeper offers services from password managers to a dark web scan and private messaging systems, not just protecting your passwords. And while Keeper's main target audience is big companies and organisations, it also offers plans for students, families and personal accounts. Experience is easy on both desktop and mobile but due to its high-level of security it doesn't allow for the use of pin codes to enter - a good or bad factor depending on your view! Download Keeper Security RoboForm claims to be the best password manager in the world, and not unreasonably so. After a recent update, they’ve added support for storing a limitless amount of logins in the free version. It also boasts application logins, secure storage of notes, multi-platform support, and the ability to gain emergency access. RoboForm Everywhere allows you to sync across devices, cloud backup and the ability to gain emergency access yourself. If you decide to buy a premium license, it’ll cost $19.95 or £15.95 (about AU$25) for one year, $49.95 or £39.95 (about AU$65) for three years, or $74.95 or £59.95 (about AU$95) for five years. There are also family subscriptions available for up to five users. RoboForm might not be able to claim the same robust feature lists as their rivals, Dashlane or LastPass, but it's a very good password manager regardless and the free mobile apps are fantastic. Its password generator is particularly strong, allowing you to exclude similar characters and specify which special characters you need to meet specific password requirements. Roboform is available for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android, and is a good option for anybody who wants a simple and secure way to sync passwords between laptop, desktop and mobile platforms. RoboForm review Download RoboForm It isn't the most aesthetically pleasing password manager in the world, but KeePass Password Safe offers robust security, multiple user support and downloadable plugins to expand its feature set. KeePass's secure password generator can produce logins suitable for those annoying sites with very specific requirements, and clearly indicates any options that might make the generated password weaker. The password manager features a portable installation, allowing it to run from USB without installing on a PC, it can input from and output to a wide range of file formats, and there are tons of customization options to play with. The fact that KeePass Password Safe is open source means anyone can inspect the code for potential weaknesses, which means that any security issues can be identified and fixed quickly. It's a great app, if a bit intimidating for beginners. KeePass Password Safe review Download KeePass Password Safe Sticky Password comes from the team behind AVG Antivirus, so you can be sure that security is its top priority. There are two editions of Sticky Password: free and premium. The premium edition adds cloud syncing and backup and costs $29.99 or £19.99 (about AU$40) a year. There's also a lifetime license available for $149.99 or £96.99 (about AU$200) – an option not offered by any other premium password manager. Both versions of Sticky Password include a generator that can create secure logins for you while you're registering for new online accounts. It's straightforward to use, but doesn't offer as many customization options as the other services here. The app works on PC, Mac, Android and iOS, supports fingerprint authentication on mobile, is available as a portable USB version and offers lots of sync options including Wi-Fi syncing with local devices. Browser extensions are also available for Firefox, Chrome, Opera and Internet Explorer, but not Edge. Sticky Password review Download Sticky Password Protect your PC with the best free antivirus for Windows This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best cheap web hosting deals of 2019 Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:48 AM PDT Quality web hosting can be an expensive affair – but it doesn’t have to be. There’s a growing number of cheap providers that deliver honest, reliable performance and great value for money without breaking the bank. All bar one of the companies listed below will accommodate more than one website. So while cheap web hosting providers are great for starting your business, they might not be powerful and scalable enough to take it to the next level; which is where VPS and dedicated servers come into play. Note that some of the eye-catching headline prices (from free to just a few dollars/pounds per month) are often only for a limited period (usually the first year), and after that they can swiftly balloon, especially when you factor in the cost of the domain names bundled. If you plan to have a successful online business, it is important to think long-term and how the total cost of ownership (the cost of running your website over years) might impact your bottom line.  So, without further ado, below is our hand-picked list of the best cheap hosting deals. Check out our list of the best web hosting providers and cheap VPS hosting deals  Below are the best cheap web hosting providers of 2019 Image credit: HostGator $31.68 for the first year when purchased for three years. Total cost of purchase is $95.04 HostGator is backed by EIG, one of the biggest hosting companies, and its Hatchling plan is great for getting started. As with most of the offerings highlighted here, you can only run one website on this plan, but you don’t get a free domain name or free SSL. What you do get is unlimited disk space and bandwidth (but note that you won’t be able to use this space for storing files as this is against the terms and conditions), along with a $150 marketing budget (Google and Bing Ads credits). You also get 24/7 support, unlimited backups, subdomains, MySQL databases, email inboxes and FTP accounts. And finally, HostGator provides access to the popular cPanel control panel as well as its very own website builder (check our best website builder list). Every plan includes an industry-leading 45-day money-back guarantee alongside a 99.9% uptime guarantee. HostGator also provides free transfers for new accounts within 30 days of signup, and to newly upgraded accounts. Check out the cheap packages from HostGator (US) $3.45 per month when purchased for four years. (UK) £3.45 per month when purchased for four years. While Hostinger has a cheaper $0.8 per month plan, it's rather basic in features and it supports only one website, but at that price depending on your needs, it might be enough. That being said, the "Business" plan gives you unlimited bandwidth, websites, databases, FTP and email accounts, and 30GB disk space, which compared to rivals isn't that much but it should be enough for the majority of people. Extras include free SSL, daily backups, Cloudflare protection, and SSH access. All in all a good deal and if you're not satisfied, Hostinger provides a standard 30-day money-back guarantee. Check out the cheap packages from Hostinger Image credit: iPage (US) $23.88 for the first year when purchased for three years. Total cost of purchase is $71.64 (UK) £18 for the first year. Renews at £8.35 per month Like dozens of other providers, iPage is part of the big EIG family and uses the bargaining power of the organization to bring prices down. iPage has it all for such a small price: you get unlimited websites, disk space, bandwidth, MySQL databases and email accounts. As with other EIG members, you get Google and Bing advertising credits and 24/7 support. The money-back guarantee is an industry average 30-days and you don’t get domain privacy, website security or backup as standard. As a sweetener, iPage includes a domain name (for a year) plus free SiteLock security tools (although iPage doesn’t provide much detail as to what that actually includes). Check out the cheap packages from iPage Image credit: GoDaddy (US) $1 (there is a sale at the time of writing, usual price is $4.49) per month for the first year, renews at $7.99 per month (UK) £1 (there is a sale at the time of writing, usual price is £3.99) per month for the first year, renews at £5.99 per month plus VAT GoDaddy is the second of the triumvirate of ‘uber web hosting’ companies (the two others being EIG and 1&1) that we’ve listed in this buying guide. Its Economy package has to be one of the best on the market with GoDaddy flexing its (virtual) muscles to deliver exceptional value for money. As expected, you get a free domain name and oodles of storage (100GB) along with unlimited bandwidth, plus free Microsoft Office 365 Business Email for a year (a freebie worth $73 (£55)). Support is delivered 24/7 via a toll-free line and GoDaddy even guarantees 99.9% uptime for this service. Add in 1-click install functionality for more than 125 applications, DDoS protection, plus 1GB of MySQL database storage and you’ve bagged yourself a pretty solid offering. The only true limitation is the fact that you won’t be able to host more than one website, but that’s a common theme across the budget board. Check out the cheap packages from GoDaddy Those looking for GoDaddy hosting outside of the UK should check here Image credit: 1&1 Ionos (US) $12 for the first year, renews at $8 per month (UK) £12 for the first year, renews at £5 per month plus VAT Like many other premium companies, 1&1 IONOS offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. As part of one of the world’s largest hosting firms, you’re in good company as this German-based host includes DDoS protection, geo-redundancy and the all-new HTTP/2 protocol as standard. Your website will have room to grow with a staggering 100GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, up to 2.5GB of system memory and up to 25 databases with 1GB SSD storage each. On top of that you also get a personal consultant, one free domain for a year (no .com or .net in the UK, though), daily backup, 25 email accounts, an SSL certificate and 24/7 customer service. Check out the cheap packages from 1&1 Those looking for 1&1 hosting outside of the UK should check here Image credit: One.com $2.45 (£1.86) per month ($29.4 for a year), renews at the same price Let’s start with the downsides here: One.com is the only outfit here that charges a setup fee and has a short 15-day money-back guarantee. However, the price you see includes VAT (unlike most of its rivals). The fee is also very reasonable and you do get a lot for your money. We’re talking unlimited bandwidth, 50GB storage, a single database, a website builder (single website), SSL certificate and unlimited email accounts. SSH, backup and restore features are optional. This company is based in Denmark and has more than 1.5 million active users. Check out the cheap packages from One.com Image credit: Tsohost $45.60 (£35.04) a year when purchased for two years, renews at the same price Tsohost is owned by GoDaddy and operates solely in the UK. You get one domain name (free for the first year) and three websites with up to 100,000 page views, 15GB storage, unlimited bandwidth, hundred 200MB mailboxes, an SSL certificate and one basic migration package. You also get free daily site backups, plus a 30-day money-back guarantee. Tsohost uses Dell hardware and UK-based data centers. Our review found this outfit to be a “capable web host with some feature-packed, versatile and honestly priced plans”. We concluded that it was worth a look for beginners and experts alike, particularly if you need a UK provider. Check out the cheap packages from Tsohost Image credit: 123 Reg  £8.99 ($11.40) per month for the first year, renews at £12.99 ($16.4) per month Another GoDaddy-owned provider, 123 Reg is a well-known service in the UK. Its Unlimited package delivers an attractive hosting solution if you have ambitions to grow your website business fast. For £9 per month for the first year, you can host 10 websites, which is particularly impressive seeing as many of these cheap deals limit you to just one site, as we’ve seen. You also get three domain names (which are free for a year) plus you get unlimited web space, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited databases (up to 1GB each), a free SSL certificate, unlimited FTP accounts, website backup and restore, scheduled tasks, IP address blocking and website directory indexing plus a JavaScript generator and Linux apps (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, Media Wiki and eCommerce). Sadly you only get one 5GB mailbox, which is poor compared to the competition, and the monthly cost of renewing the service after a year gets considerably more expensive. Check out the cheap packages from 123 Reg Image credit: Clook Clook are a British company with servers based in the UK and USA. While they may not be one of the big brand names, they have a solid reputation in website hosting industry, especially for support and stability, which is something many cheap web hosting providers are poor with. While most of their shared and dedicated server plans are priced at normal market rates, ie, not discounted, they do offer a shared web hosting plan which is especially cheap: the Clook shared-0 plan, which costs around $30 (£25) per year.  This comes with a respectable 200MB of diskspace and 5GB of bandwidth per month. While these resources are far below what some of the other companies offer, Clook don't oversell which means their servers are less packed and therefore less prone to failure due to too many accounts competing for too many resources. Additionally, the resources provided by the shared-0 plan are absolutely ideal for most small business start-ups and local traders. Most people running a business fear to have too few server resources allocated to their shared plan, just in case they enjoy a spike in internet traffic and web sales. However, this is a needless fear, and Clook - as with most good hosting providers - can easily upgrade the hosting account if and when resource use and internet traffic use shows that it's needed. In the meantime, the shared-0 plan easily provides enough for any new website and business, and there are all the standard features included so you don't need to feel like you're missing out on anything. While the Clook website states that it's not designed to host dynamic PHP scripts, there should be no problem hosting a Wordpress website or similar. You can signup to Clook shared-0 here You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides: WordPress Cloud hosting E-commerce Dedicated server Small business Windows Managed Green Business Colocation Email hosting Resellers VPS Shared Website builders Best web hosting This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Intel, quasi tutti i processori hanno una grave vulnerabilità nella sicurezza Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:42 AM PDT Secondo alcuni ricercatori, l'hardware Intel potrebbe essere affetto da un'altra importante vulnerabilità, che mette a rischio potenzialmente milioni di dispositivi in tutto il mondo.  Il team che si occcupa di sicurezza presso Bitdefender sostiene che il problema interessa qualunque dispositivo che abbia a bordo un processore Intel e che abbia Windows, Linux o FreeBSD come sistema operativo. Non proprio il massimo per Intel, visto che questa notizia arriva a pochi mesi di distanza da Specre e Meltdown due vulnerabilità che hanno decisamente lasciato il segno.   Secondo l'azienda la vulnerabilità riguarda sia gli utenti privati che quelli aziendali, visto che i dispositivi a rischio sono laptop, PC e server.  Ecco le migliori CPU del 2019 I migliori laptop del 2019 I migliori processori AMD del 2019 Falla Intel La vulnerabilità sfrutta una falla nella protezione dell'hardware intel per aprire le porte a un attacco di tipo side-channel che consentirebbe ai malintenzionati di accedere a tutte le informazioni contenute nella memoria del kernel del sistema operativo.  Il tutto è possibile perché l'attacco utilizza una caratteristica nota col nome di esecuzione speculativa che serve a rendere più rapido il processore di un dispositivo permettendogli di prevedere quali saranno le istruzioni successive da eseguire. L'esecuzione speculativa, però, può lasciare tracce all'interno della cache che possono essere sabotate da chi porta avanti l'attacco, così da avere accesso al sistema e ai dati in esso contenuti.   La nuova falla è immune a tutte le protezioni implementate a seguito della scoperta di Spectre e Meltdown all'inizio del 2018, quindi il problema riguarda anche i sistemi che hanno ricevuto la patch per queste due vulnerabilità.  “Eventuali criminali in grado di sferrare attacchi di questo tipo disporrebbero della possibilità di accedere alle informazioni più importanti e meglio protette in mano a privati e aziende in tutto il mondo, avrebbero il potere di sottrarre queste informazioni, ricattare, sabotare e spiare", ha affermato Gavin Hill, vicepresidente del della sezione "prodotti per la sicurezza di rete e datacente"presso Bitdefender.  “La ricerca su questo tipo di attacchi è di frontiera, visto che si tratta di studi che analizzano il funzionamento alla radice delle moderne CPU ed è necessaria una profonda comprensione del funzionamento interno di CPU, sistemi operativi e, in generale, di come funzionano gli attacchi di tipo side-channel basati sull'esecuzione speculativa".  Bitdefender ha affermato di aver lavorato con intel allo sviluppo di uno strumento per eliminare la falla, già disponibile per il download.  Ha inoltre aggiunto che altri parner come Microsoft e Linux hanno anch'essi sviluppato una patch per la vulnerabilità. Gli utenti, in ogni caso, devono accertarsi di avere il sistema aggiornato e, in caso contrario, provvedere al più presto all'aggiornamento.   Ecco le migliori schede video This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

5G reveals the road to self-driving vehicles Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:39 AM PDT The UK’s connected and automated mobility (CAM) industry is working on a jigsaw puzzle of challenges which stand between us and getting self-driving vehicles on the road, in meaningful numbers, safely. The development of 5G network connectivity is a key piece of this puzzle as it allows new platforms to be built around it which will unlock the full potential of CAM. Fast and robust connectivity is crucial to the successful deployment  of connected and self-driving vehicles. It enables the flow of data generated by connected and self-driving vehicles and allows the data to be processed and converted into insights that form the basis of decisions. These in turn form the building blocks for the services from which consumers and business will eventually benefit. In the transition from today’s transport systems to those of the 2030s and beyond, the importance of this data-carrying infrastructure cannot be overstated. That’s why the UK’s CAM industry is looking to the recent launches of 5G mobile technology into towns and cities around the UK by EE and Vodafone as an enormous opportunity. While 4G networks have provided the necessary backbone to develop basic vehicular communication systems, 5G offers promise of an additional layer of services and possibilities. The launch of 5G is a keystone moment in the CAM sector’s quest to see connected and autonomous vehicles on UK roads by 2030. The technology’s potential is based on three key strengths: speed, reliability and capacity. We can delve more deeply into why each of these strengths matters so much to connected and self-driving vehicles.  Speed: Instant reactions 5G technology can deliver drastically lower latency (5 milliseconds or less) and much higher speeds (1 gigabit + per second) than 4G (which today averages at around 30 megabits per second). These improvements mean communication across the network can be much faster, which unlocks huge opportunities for connected vehicles. 5G-enabled connected and self-driving vehicles will be able to communicate more efficiently and quickly with each other and with roadside infrastructure, which can help to reduce traffic jams and bottlenecks. Perhaps the most transformative benefit of 5G technology will be to road safety. Connected and self-driving vehicles fitted with 5G will interpret road conditions and potential hazards more rapidly.  They will be able to receive information from a vehicle several cars further down the road over five times faster than a 4G-equipped vehicle can, and orders of magnitude faster than a human being. This near-instantaneous response could dramatically reduce the number of road traffic accidents in the UK as the vehicle itself would know, near instantly, what is happening tens or even hundreds of meters ahead, rather than what its sensors alone can see. Reliability: Failure is not an option In connected and self-driving vehicle deployments, public safety is the number-one priority. The technologies supporting it must be failsafe. 5G networks were created specifically with such critical applications in mind, and as such are designed to offer almost 100% uptime and unrivalled constancy in network services. Reliable 5G coverage and leading network redundancy are vital factors in making connected and self-driving vehicles run as safely as possible on the UK’s roads. Capacity: 5G’s fat pipe Connected and self-driving vehicles and their embedded sensors generate a phenomenal amount of information. Connected and self-driving vehicle testing at Millbrook Proving Ground in rural Bedfordshire routinely produces up to, and sometimes over, 4TB of data every day. 4G networks simply don’t have the capacity to reliably transmit such an enormous volume of bits and bytes. Fortunately, 5G has a much ‘fatter pipe’ than 4G through which to feed this information. Indeed, 5G networks are specifically designed to manage a huge number of high-demand applications concurrently. This increased capacity gifts the entire ecosystem the ability to scale as more connected vehicles hit the road – invaluable for the growth of the CAM sector.   5G turbocharges connected and self-driving vehicles development The development of connected and self-driving vehicles in the UK is already well underway, but 5G delivers a very welcome boost to the process. For example, the 5G deployment in London will enable the Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) – an advanced connected environment using open and closed routes for testing future mobility technologies, services and business models – to test out 5G’s implications for connected vehicles in the real world.  SMLL is just one part of the UK’s world-class connected and self-driving vehicle testing and development ecosystem, known as Testbed UK, which is accompanied by a leading regulatory framework focused on supporting technological development. Moreover, the UK’s work on the development of EU safety and testing legislation means it is best placed to lead the connected and self-driving vehicle charge globally. To influence relevant policy, Zenzic is supporting CAM development with its "Connected and Automated Mobility Roadmap to 2030," which outlines the technical, infrastructural and legislative steps required to achieve the safe, efficient deployment of connected and self-driving vehicles. There are many more pieces to the CAM puzzle, but as 5G begins to reach more UK locations, a critical one is falling into place. It is crucial that laws and policies are developed in tandem with technology – that way, we can ensure connected and self-driving vehicles hit UK roads by 2030, and both consumer and business benefits can start to be realized.   Daniel Ruiz is the CEO of Zenzic. Check out the best in cloud storage This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best shared web hosting of 2019: top plans from vetted providers Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:26 AM PDT Shared web hosting means exactly what it says – you share a server with other users who are running their own websites from that hardware. Every customer gets a portion of that physical server for their own use. The main strength here is that this is a cost-effective solution, and because you’re prepared to share hardware with other folks, you’ll naturally be playing less than the outlay for dedicated hosting. By the same token, however, you’re also sharing resources with others, and that means that the performance you’ll get will likely be a fair bit slower (and indeed generally less consistent). That might be fine for sites which don’t have a lot of traffic, but it could be a problem if your bandwidth needs are greater, or reliable and consistent performance is a priority for your website. So, obviously bear all that in mind, but if you do want to go the shared hosting route in an effort to make some serious savings, which are the best providers to plump for? Read on and find out. InMotion Hosting Don’t fret that this popular web host’s plans are marketed as ‘business’ products, because they’re applicable to individual users as well as companies. There’s a good range of choice here, and shared hosting starts from just $3.99 (£3.1) per month (2-year plan). What’s also good to see here is that InMotion incorporates features into its shared hosting plans which other providers charge extra for – like hack and DDoS protection, a system of basic backups, and a WordPress-based website builder. Read our review of InMotion Another strong suit here is the way that this web host provides full details of all its services at-a-glance on the website, and makes it easy to compare features, and make your decision when taking the plunge with a subscription. You also get cPanel and Softaculous-powered hosting, a sterling level of technical support, and in our testing, we found this provider delivered some impressive performance levels when it came to site loading speeds. All in all, there are lots of reasons to go with InMotion, and a 90-day money-back guarantee doesn’t hurt, either. Hostinger A popular provider, Hostinger has some really affordable plans, both for individual users and businesses. Starting at just $0.8 (£0.63) per month for a single website, 100GB bandwidth, 10GB disk space and $3.45 (£2.7) for unlimited everything, except disk space, which is limited to 30GB. The $3.45 plan also delivers 4X processing power and memory. Read our review of Hostinger All plans also come with additional features. Free SSL certificate is included in all plans (you are notified in the shopping cart), and higher tier plans, like the Business plan, comes with daily backups, Cloudflare protection, free domain registration, SSH access and more. Hostinger is definitely a capable provider, although some might be bothered by the disk space limitation when compared to some other providers. Nevertheless, you also get a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can always ask for a refund if you are not satisfied with the service. HostGator This is another web host which caters for the more budget-minded, and of course that’s never a bad thing. Although do note that you only get the really cheap prices when signing up for longer contracts with HostGator, so something of a commitment is required for the best savings here. For example, the cheapest shared hosting plan is $2.64 (£2) per month if you sign up for 36 months, but $4.48 (£3.38) per month if you sign up for one year. Read our review of HostGator The good news is that you get plenty for your money, and no annoying limitations, so even the basic plan allows for unlimited bandwidth, web space, email accounts and more. A 99.9% uptime guarantee is also good to see. Customer support is generally pretty good – although it falls down in a few areas, for example the web help forums aren’t moderated by the company itself – and we found performance was better than average in terms of site loading times. Namecheap If you want to do web hosting on a budget, then as this provider’s name suggests, it aims to be inexpensive. You get some impressive value-for-money with Namecheap, particularly with an initial discount for the first year, and there are some heavyweight plans here. However, note the starter ‘value’ plan only gives you 20GB of hard drive space and 30 email accounts, but you get that at the price of just $2.88 per month. Read our review of Namecheap Namecheap offers a 99.9% connectivity guarantee, and is a very easy service to set up, with an initial welcome email that points you in the right direction for everything you might need (backed up by some impressive FAQs). It also plays host to an excellent searchable knowledgebase. To round things off, testing proved that this company generally offers above average speeds compared to rivals, making this a great hosting provider for those who aren’t keen on doing too much damage to their wallet. 1&1 1&1 IONOS (in the late October 2018, 1&1 changed their name to 1&1 IONOS) is a big web hosting player, vying with GoDaddy for world domination, and is the biggest player in Europe. Located in Germany, it offers a bewildering array of services with prices starting from as little as $0.99 per month excluding VAT (although that rises to $7.99 after the first year). Read our review of 1&1 On top of that, this shared hoster provides some smart freebies (a free domain, SSL certificates across all plans, free web design software (NetObjects Fusion 2013), 24/7 phone and email support, a graphics archive, a 30-day money-back guarantee, transparent replication (the company calls it geo-redundancy) and a whopping 300Gbps network connectivity. Also, you get a personal consultant, free of charge. UK2 Based in London, bang in the middle of startup territory (Shoreditch), UK2 offers an impressively cheap starting  shared hosting package at around $2.5 (£1.95) per month excluding VAT (although that rises to $7.8 (£5.95) a month on renewal). It also offers affordable unlimited packages with unlimited emails, bandwidth, a free SSL certificate (great for improved security and search visibility), a free domain and a dedicated IP. Read our review of UK2 Prospective customers will appreciate the lack of setup fees or hidden charges, the 30-day money-back guarantee, plus 24/7 UK-based phone support on a freephone number and UK-based data centres. SiteGround SiteGround offers some low-end shared hosting plans which may cost a little bit more than some budget rivals you’ll find on this page, but the upside is that they include all the core features that you’ll likely need. The firm’s StartUp account is $3.95 a month initially (with the cost rising when you renew), and with that you get unlimited traffic, email accounts and databases, not to mention one-click installation of apps like WordPress. It also bundles features that rival firms often charge for as extras like daily backups or CDN capabilities (Cloudflare). Read our review of SiteGround Another nifty touch is the provider’s SuperCacher system which caches frequently-accessed data in RAM, aiming to improve site performance. This could certainly help busy websites. Not everything is rosy here, though – for example the basic account limits you to 10GB of web space. Also, website support via the company’s knowledgebase is a rather shoddy experience, but there are other avenues of tech support which perform much better. iPage This is a premium outfit with a well-featured ‘Essentials’ plan which offers a great deal of functionality, and is ideal for those looking to host multiple websites (or those who want plenty of room to grow). With prices starting from as little as $1.99 per month for the shared hosting basic plan (via an offer at the time of writing), iPage gives you unlimited web space and bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, MySQL databases and even domains. Read our review of iPage Not only that, iPage incorporates some very smart extras like a drag-and-drop page builder, with a basic shared SSL certificate thrown in for good measure. This provider also offers good quality tech support via live chat and email (although other support avenues aren’t as strong). Performance levels seems solid, and this is certainly a web host to bear in mind for experienced users who are dealing with large numbers of sites. PlanetHippo One of the smaller web hosting outfits in this listing, PlanetHippo has managed to keep its prices at a lower level compared to most of the competition. Its One Account Linux shared hosting costs just $1.33 (£1) per month (excluding VAT), and it’s an appealing budget package. The firm’s Unlimited plan offers ‘unlimited everything’ for $8 (£5.99) per month (and that includes a free domain). Read our review of PlanetHippo As with other web hosts, you get a 30-day warranty, 24/7 UK-based support (and it’s of a good quality – although there’s no option to use the phone) and all of PlanetHippo’s servers are based in the UK. Throw in a smartly designed hosting panel, and you won’t go far wrong with this particular provider. Tsohost This is another UK-based provider, and Tsohost also plays the value card, with an entry-level Startup shared hosting plan which starts at  $3.8(£2.92) per month (providing you sign up for two years – it’s  $4.15(£3.16) per month if you commit for just one year). That plan limits you to 15GB storage and you do get unlimited bandwidth, Let’s Encrypt SSL and a hundred mailboxes. Read our review of Tsohost Tsohost’s technical support may not be the fastest out there in terms of response times, at least in our experience, but it did provide clear and accurate answers to queries. Performance levels are also solid, and the company offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. And we consider the merits of shared hosting vs dedicated hosting here You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides: WordPress Cloud hosting E-commerce Dedicated server Small business Windows Managed Green Business Colocation Email hosting Resellers VPS Cheap Website builders Best web hosting service This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Anthem: update news, DLC, tips, patch notes and more Posted: 09 Aug 2019 07:25 AM PDT Anthem, BioWare's cooperative, team-based shooter is a change of pace for the makers of Dragon Age and Mass Effect. With a focus on cooperative PvE combat popularized by the likes of Destiny, it landed amid a swirl of hype and expectation, which it has so far failed to meet. Anthem has a big challenge in front of it then – with arguments that its endgame content is weak, its loot system broken and its story not up to scratch when compared with previous narrative-driven BioWare RPGs, it's fighting to win back the hearts of those who were initially in awe of its promise. With EA backing it and BioWare's heritage at its heart, there's hope yet that Anthem will be redeemed. It's being touted as a "living" game after all – one that will evolve over time to keep its fans entranced long after launch – and the likes of behemoths such as Destiny and Fortnite all went through rough launches before becoming gaming juggernauts. So what's the latest Anthem news? When's the next update? And what does the future hold for Anthem? Read on for everything you need to know about the Iron Man simulator. As we said in our full Anthem review: "It is a game of oxymorons and inconsistencies. The story is designed to be single-player but the game is clearly not. The gameplay is an absolute joy but is stifled by the repetitive nature of the end-game. The character animations are truly sublime, but most of the characters themselves are cliché and predictable.  "Anthem is a fun game, and a stunningly pretty one, but with flaws in nearly every other aspect of its design. It will improve with patches, updates, and a strong community, but it isn’t a particularly strong foundation. This is less an anthem, and more an annoying earworm..." Anthem review: check out our complete, in-depth verdict in our full review Anthem update news and Anthem patch notes What's new? Cataclysm is now live It's finally here! After months of delays, Anthem's Cataclysm event is now live on all platforms. The new season-long event brings with it a bunch of new features including new enemies, rewards, in-game currency, story missions and much more. Here's EA's explanation of the Cataclysm event: "The people of Bastion have much to fear – malevolent creatures roaming the wilds, fanatical Dominion forces testing their strength and fortitude – but nothing inspires as much terror and dread as a Cataclysm. They are one of the most destructive and chaotic manifestations of the Anthem –  leaving devastation and death in their wake. And now, Freelancer, it’s your turn to face the chaos head on and do your best to end it." Essentially it seems like we're going to be venturing into a chaotic, black portal of death. Sounds good. Cataclysm and arenas First things first, you don't need to be a certain level to jump into the new Cataclysm map area. To enter the Cataclysm, you select the 'Cataclysm' option from the Game Modes menu and wallah! You're be in the swirly area of possible death. EA warns that it's probably not a great idea to immediately start exploring as the storm will damage your javelin when you're out in it. Instead, you should look to close rifts inside the new arenas. Arenas are scattered throughout Cataclysm, if you close the rifts inside them then you will be able to "find temporary shelter from the storm, complete tasks, increase available mission time, and engage in combat for loot, in-game currency, and scoring opportunities". Seems like the safest option. But you'll also be able to take part in Cataclysm events in Freeplay mode. There are balls of light in the sky called Storm Gates, when these open you can fly through and complete the objectives within before time runs out to earn rewards. The upper right corner of your screen will tell you how long you need to wait until it opens. In-game currency and war chests Cataclysm brings with it a new in-game currency in the form of Major Crystals and Minor Crystals. These can be earned and spent during the event.  According to EA, Major Crystals are mainly given out as mission and challenge rewards while Minor Crystals are earned through playing. Minor Crystals can be used to purchase Major Crystals, war chest or vanity items. But, what's in a war chest? All Cataclysm's non-vanity items apparently.  This new in-game currency can be spent at Head Herschel’s Hut in the Fort Tarsis market. Enemies, rewards and scoring Bored of Anthem's enemies? Well, you're in luck. There's a bunch of new enemies to keep you on your toes, including Bristlebacks and Dominion Crystal Troopers.  Tired of the grunts? Then take on Vara, Cataclysm's big bad who commands an army of Valkyries.  There's also new rewards in the form of new Masterwork and Legendary melee items, support, gear, weapons and some exclusive cosmetics. You'll also receive an additional melee slot. If you're all about the score, then know that the way to earn points in a Cataclysm run is through taking out enemies, gathering items, and completing puzzles and objectives. You also get points for spending time in the storm, but remember it hurts.  Pointing scoring is more important than ever (for the competitive among us) due to the introduction of a global leaderboard that lets you see the highest score you’ve earned during the Cataclysm and how you rank against the entire player base. Finally, there are three new story missions for you to sink your teeth into.  The first sees you investigating a Dominion connection to the storm, the second has you teaming up with others to capture an old enemy, and the final mission will see you stopping the Catclysm itself. Hopefully... Anthem tips and tricks guides Anthem is a complex game. With four classes to master, a ton of loot to uncover and large world to explore, it can be daunting for a newcomer, and difficult for even a long term player to master. Get ahead of the pack with our selection of Anthem guides, designed to help you get your Iron Man-like Javelin suit fighting fit as soon as possible. Best weapons in Anthem: how to build the strongest loadout Best Anthem Javelin: which is the class best suited to you Best Anthem gear: how to customize your Javelin's build How to make money in Anthem: your guide to earning shards and coins Anthem DLC – what's next? Anthem is an ongoing project at EA and BioWare, a game that both companies expect to support for many years, with a player base that will grow and evolve along with the game. How do both teams hope to achieve this? Through regular content drops, that's how. As pictured above, EA and BioWare had already mapped out the "ongoing narrative of Anthem", with updates mapped out until May 2019 - but things haven't exactly gone to plan. This first "Act" is called "Echoes of Eternity", which was initially scheduled for March 2019 introducing the "Evolving World" chapter, April 2019 the "Stronger Together" chapter and May 2019 bringing the ominous sounding "Cataclysm" chapter. However, as mentioned above, BioWare isn't on track to hit its roadmap. So we're not quite sure when these updates will arrive. Evolving World will focus on battles with huge bosses such as Titans of War, Ruin, Bane and Havoc in freeplay mode, as well as new Legendary missions and a Scar Infestation freeplay event. Stronger Together will expand the endgame with a new Mastery System for the skill tree progression, as well as host of new freeplay events, more legendary missions, a new Stronghold called "The Sunken" (which will have its own weekly challenge) as well as the introduction of leaderboards and guilds. Cataclysm arrived in August despite initially being pegged for a May release. So, by this logic, BioWare is running roughly three months behind its initial roadmap. But what about paid DLC? EA has yet to announce it's mid-to-long term plans for Anthem. We'd expect it will follow a similar path as Destiny, which had a continued supply of small improvements and features added, interspersed with larger paid-for DLC packs, before an eventual sequel.  That is, of course, if Anthem can prove its staying power... Here's hoping – there's a gem at the heart of Anthem, waiting to be dug out. We're hopeful that we'll one day be playing Anthem at its strongest. More interested in EA's sports offering? Here's everything we know about FIFA 19 All image credits: EA / BioWare This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

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