Apple : Schools are facing more cyberattacks than ever before |
- Schools are facing more cyberattacks than ever before
- Why your computer, not your smartphone, is the key to big Black Friday purchases
- New Zealand vs Wales live stream: how to watch Rugby World Cup 2019 Bronze Final from anywhere
- Best SSL certificate services to buy from in 2019: Get the cheapest price today
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| Schools are facing more cyberattacks than ever before Posted: 31 Oct 2019 11:30 AM PDT Cyberattacks against schools have increased dramatically and this year has already seen almost as many incidents as the previous two years combined, according to Barracuda which analyzed data compiled by the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center (k-12 CRC) which has been tracking reported attacks against schools since 2016. So far in 2019, there have been 301 attacks against schools compared to 124 in 2018 and 218 in 2017. However, these figures only account for reported cases and it is highly likely that additional cases either went unreported or even undetected as stealthy malware is used to steal information, participate in botnets or mine cryptocurrency. In a recently published report from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), it was revealed that 83 percent of 430 schools across the UK had experienced at least one cybersecurity incident even though 98 percent of schools used antivirus software and 99 percent had some sort of firewall protection.
By using a single source of open threat intelligence data a list of all known websites belonging to US and UK schools, researchers from Barracuda found 234 unique malware samples that tried to connect to school domain names. The firm also found 123 IP addresses with the same set of schools that had a negative reputation which could point to additional malicious activity. Cyberattacks against schoolsBarracuda's research found that data breaches (31%), malware (23%), phishing (13%), network or school infrastructure hacks (10%) and denial-of-service attacks (4%) were the most common threats targeting schools. There are a number of reasons behind this increase in cyberattacks against schools including the fact that many school districts only have one or two IT personnel with no dedicated cybersecurity staff. The increase in school-issued devices in recent years is another factor as it has drastically expanded the attack surface along with the number of systems which need to be secured. Phishing accounted for 13 percent of the incidents reported to the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center. However, the real number of phishing related incidents is probably much higher as phishing is unlikely to be reported in a school setting unless an incident occurs as a result or the campaign is large enough to warrant attention. To better protect against cyberattacks, Barracuda recommends that schools increase their perimeter security through network firewalls, web filters and email protection, internal network security by keeping up with security patches and their incident response capabilities. Maintaining a capable IT security staff is also an essential step to preventing cyberattacks in the first place.
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| Why your computer, not your smartphone, is the key to big Black Friday purchases Posted: 31 Oct 2019 11:30 AM PDT When you’re searching through Black Friday deals, it’s likely you’re doing so on mobile or desktop – over the last few years, shopping trends have massively skewed towards buying products online rather than in person, as it’s easier to shop on the go or when you’re bored in a meeting. On top of that, mobile shopping is gradually gaining ground on desktop browsing, and now new data has come out that explores how people spend their money online over Black Friday. This data comes from Adobe Analytics, which conducted a report on holiday shopping trends, including Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas. Included are a few stats regarding online shopping, comparing mobile and desktop purchases, and it might help you decide how to shop over the Black Friday season. You use your PC for big Black Friday purchasesOne of the most notable stats from Adobe’s report explored what platform you use to make big or small purchases, and the result is revealing. Adobe found that people shopping on desktops had ‘carts’ that were 28% more expensive than on phones. By ‘carts’ we mean the entire basket when you reach the checkout, and this usually came from people buying more expensive products on a desktop, with phones reserved for cheaper items. The divide between purchase sizes is, according to Adobe, because shopping on a computer makes it a lot easier to do research around your product – for example, you might buy some new shirts on your phone because you only need to see the picture to know how good they are for you, but if you’re looking to buy a new TV, it’s worth doing more thorough research to see if it's worth lots of your hard-earned money. If you’re in the latter camp and want to make a big purchase that you’ve researched for, you’re in the right place. TechRadar gives expert reviews on all the best product in any given tech category, so search around our site to research the best laptop, smartphone, TV, games console, speaker or more. Another reason people may prefer computers over desktop is because Adobe found people considered desktop checkouts easier to use than mobile ones, which encouraged people to hunt down the best deals on mobile but actually make the purchase from the comfort of their mouse and keyboard. New Black Friday spending be on phonesAt the moment, roughly 54% online sales are on desktop compared to just 38% on smartphone (and the rest on tablet) according to Adobe, but more stats show this could change very soon. The report suggests that of all the new spending in 2019, compared to 2018, three quarters of it will be done on smartphones. That’s $14bn of the roughly $19bn new money spent that wasn’t changing hands last year – a significant amount. Note that we refer to ‘spending’ rather than purchases. This is because only half of new purchases will be made from phones. What does this mean? Well, it seems people will be making a few more purchases, but spending a lot more money, suggesting these will be more expensive products. So while traditionally people have used computers to make bigger purchases, this could be changing in 2019. People are more efficient at shopping on phonesChecking for Black Friday deals on your phone has one advantage that might make it preferable for you – according to Adobe’s statistics, it takes you a lot less time on a phone to find that great Black Friday bargain compared to on desktop (and, of course, in real life too). When you’re checking for Black Friday deals now, you'll spend 11% less time compared to 2016, and you’ll visit 16% fewer different pages. Despite this, spending-per minute is a whopping 63% higher now. Clearly websites have found ways to be more efficient when it comes to marketing their discounted products, putting them front and center so people can see them better. Also, with more website creating mobile-specific user interfaces and smartphone use getting more ingrained in our culture, it’s likely it’s just easier to navigate the web on a phone too. It’s different news for social media though, because while there are loads of great social media pages to follow for deals, and people will follow links that are posted, they won't usually spend money as a result. Roughly 11% of visits to deals pages comes from social media posts, which is triple that of 2016, however only about 4% of actual revenue came from these posts. It’s clear then that people aren’t as influenced by influencers as we’d believe, especially given that 57% of people admitted they’d got purchase inspiration from social media, but only 20% actually made purchases based on this. Is influencer culture a bit of a fad then? Over Black Friday it is, at least. In the next few years, phone spending could trump desktop spending – in fact, Adobe estimates this could happen by Christmas 2019 – and with it our spending habits change too. It’s worth checking out the full study then, so you can fully understand how your platform of choice pushes you to spend in different ways. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| New Zealand vs Wales live stream: how to watch Rugby World Cup 2019 Bronze Final from anywhere Posted: 31 Oct 2019 11:27 AM PDT After demoralising defeats at the penultimate 2019 Rugby World Cup hurdle, both New Zealand and Wales will need to pick themselves up as they play for pride in this third place play-off. To see who prevails, be sure to take our advice on getting a New Zealand vs Wales live stream from absolutely anywhere. The All Blacks will likely be the more shell shocked of the two sides, having been resolutely outfought and outplayed in their last four clash with England. Wales' match with South Africa was a tighter affair which will have left fans lamenting injuries to key players, with a number of war-wounded stars set to miss this so-called Bronze Final match, too. The match will also provide a chance to say farewell to both coaches and key players on both sides. Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland will both be taking charge of New Zealand and Wales respectively for the last time in the match. Meanwhile veteran players Kieran Read, Ben Smith, Ryan Crotty and Sonny Bill Williams will turn out for the last time as All Blacks. George North (hamstring) and Liam Williams (ankle) are both ruled out for Wales, adding to a long list of players unavailable for the Welsh. Can the All Blacks bounce back or will the weakened Welsh battle on to clinch third place? You can watch all the action from pretty much anywhere on Earth by following our Rugby World Cup New Zealand vs Wales Bronze Final live stream guide below.
How to watch the 2019 Rugby World Cup from outside your countryIf you're abroad for any of the Rugby World Cup and don't want to miss out on catching the coverage from your home country, you'll inevitably find it geo-blocked when you try to stream online. But don't sweat. With the option of a VPN, you can tune into those fixtures no matter where you are in the world without resorting to some dodgy feed on Reddit. And best of all, it's really easy to do (or read on for details on how to stream coverage from the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the USA). How to stream Wales live in the UK for FREEHow to watch the All Blacks live in New ZealandHow to live stream New Zealand vs Wales in AustraliaHow to live stream New Zealand vs Wales in the US
Live stream New Zealand vs Wales in South AfricaLive stream Rugby World Cup 2019 match in CanadaThis posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Best SSL certificate services to buy from in 2019: Get the cheapest price today Posted: 31 Oct 2019 10:55 AM PDT In the middle ages, the Knights Templar established the key processes for the modern system of notary services, banking, loans, and mortgages that we have today. During that era, Knights carried with them documentation that proved their identity, created by a notary, often embossed with official wax seals. The importance of these documents was enhanced by a Papal declaration in 1139 that allowed the Knights Templar to pass freely through any border, pay no taxes, and be granted total freedom from every authority other than the Vatican. Without the documents created by a notary, anyone could impersonate a Knight, and avoid the laws that applied to ordinary citizens throughout the rest of Europe. And when it comes to the worldwide web today, we can draw a parallel with a similar document of authority: the SSL certificate. SSL Certification (or TLS to be more accurate) is a means to verify the source of web pages, domains, and open the door to information exchanges and electronic financial transactions. But how do you pick a good SSL provider? Simple – read on and find out. First of all, we’ve got a list of 10 of our favored SSL certificate providers, although everyone’s needs vary, so following our list, we will engage in an in-depth discussion of all the criteria you should consider when picking the right company for you.
Below are the best SSL certificate providers of 2019 :Comodo SSL As a highly affordable provider of SSL services, Comodo SSL has made some significant headway in the past few years. Much of that success has been the result of very aggressive pricing, with a DV level ‘Positive SSL’ Certification costing just $7.27 (£5.5) currently for four-year coverage. A ‘Premium’ SSL solution only costs $56.06 (£42.4) for four years. That package includes a fully validated certificate, 256-bit encryption and a $250,000 (£189,000) relying party warranty. ___________________________________________________________________________________ DigiCert Having operated independently for some years, in 2017, DigiCert has completed an acquisition of Symantec’s website security and related PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) solutions. The motivation for this buyout was that Symantec managed to convince 90% of Fortune 500 companies to pay for the Norton Secured Seal. These are now DigiCert’s customers, and the company has implemented a plan to transition those using Symantec products on to DigiCert when appropriate. The starting price for an SSL Certificate is $218 (£172) per year, although you might be able to better that with a two-year deal. A wildcard option, covering unlimited servers and a complete multi-level domain, is $688 (£541) – an enticing prospect. Entrust Datacard Based in the US, Entrust has been in business since 1994 and has garnered a reputation as a well-oiled machine for generating certification quickly and smoothly. Entrust was built around a wide selection of security products: ID card printers, authentication systems, credit card printers and a PKI are all among its product lines. With so much invested in secure systems, SSL certificates are considered one of its strongest offerings. Customers especially like the ability to manage numerous certificates across multiple domains from a management console. Prices start at $174 (£130) per year for its Standard SSL single site product, climbing to $609 (£450) for a Wildcard SSL covering unlimited servers and subdomains. From what we’ve seen, most customers seem delighted with the service at all levels, seemingly justifying the extra cost over cheaper options. GeoTrust GeoTrust was once owned by VeriSign and then Symantec, and due to the sale of the latter operation, it might also be part of DigiCert by now. The business covers three main areas: SSL certificates, Signing Services and SSL for enterprise services. Those looking for SSL certification will find that GeoTrust offers a comprehensive selection starting with domain-level and progressing up to its True BusinessID with EV level certification. Pricing is more competitive at the higher end, so those wanting a single site certificate might want to avoid GeoTrust, but those needing EV or OV level products should take a look. Enterprise solutions specifically tailored to government organizations, healthcare businesses and financial institutions are part of the GeoTrust range. Be prepared for identity checks to take longer than others, but the thoroughness of these checks has enhanced GeoTrust’s status. GlobalSign Where some operations have a wide client base, GlobalSign is very focused on enterprise customers, especially those who are looking to deploy highly scalable PKI solutions. By taking this route, an enterprise customer can have all the rules, policies, and procedures for using SSL certificates, and their subsequent creation, distribution and revocation are all handled for them. But if you only want SSL certificates, GlobalSign can do that too. Having the level of support and organization that GlobalSign delivers doesn’t come cheap, and even for a single site with only DV level certification, prices start at $249 (£189). For those wanting the full EV certification, expect to pay $599 (£455) per year for a single site. GoDaddy GoDaddy might be better known for its web hosting plans, but it’s also a big provider of SSL services. Instead of offering DV, OV and EV certification at different prices, they all cost the same relatively low price. The pricing structure is instead based on a single site, multiple sites, or a domain with full subdomain cover. Currently a single site, (DV, OV or EV level) costs $79.99 (£63.5) per year, and the all level domain solution is only $369.99 (£294) per year (at the moment you get 20% off for the first year). The return on that investment is the best SHA2 and 2048-bit encryption, and the trust seal provided by McAfee Secure. One quirk of GoDaddy’s offering is that while the fresh installation is relatively cheap, renewal can be more expensive. If you can be organized enough to do fresh installs each year, you can save yourself a little money over simply renewing. Network Solutions In some respects Network Solutions is a little like GoDaddy, in that they both offer a wide range of web-related services, like domain names and e-commerce solutions, and SSL certification isn’t their sole focus. What might attract customers is this firm’s pricing, with a base cost that starts at $59.99 (£45.5) with a 2-year term for a single site, rising to $403 (£309) for an EV level certificate that should be issued within five working days. The weakness of this offering would seem to be the support team, which has been described in less than glowing terms by some customers. So given that, if you understand the details of installing certificates, then this might be for you, but anyone wanting extensive technical support may want to look elsewhere. RapidSSL RapidSSL is owned by GeoTrust, another SSL provider we’ve already mentioned in this list. The business logic behind this is that whereas GeoTrust focuses on corporate giants, RapidSSL targets smaller businesses that are more cost-sensitive. For just $17.95 (£13.6) per year, RapidSSL will provide a single domain certificate with 128/256-bit encryption with a browser recognition that exceeds 99%. A wildcard certificate that covers unlimited subdomains is $149 (£113) per year, plus it includes a $10,000 (£7,500) warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Free support is provided 24/7 by web and email, and installation tools are part of the package at no extra cost. And, even at this low price, the service is built on the same GeoTrust global infrastructure as the corporate customers benefit from. SSL.com If the most important metric of this sector is customer approval, then SSL.com is delivering the type of SSL service that wins friends and returning customers. Part of that equation is strong customer services and support teams, and the other element is competitive pricing which values those willing to commit for longer periods than a year. A single domain level certificate starts at $49 (£36) per year but can be as low as $36.75 (£28) per annum if bought for five years. If you’re a smaller business looking for certification, SSL.com might be a good place to start. Thawte The company is hardly a household name, but Thawte has managed to corral more than 40% of the global market for SSL certificates. So far it has issued nearly a billion certificates in 240 countries worldwide. What’s helped the firm establish this position is the strength of its offerings, and selling points include impressive browser compatibility, excellent certificate management tools, and up to 256-bit encryption. For those who need EV level certification, the price is $179 (yearly plan), and that comes with a promise to complete the background checks in one to three days maximum. The success that Thawte has had seems well grounded in a strong combination of customer satisfaction and affordable pricing. Understanding SSLThe mechanism of SSL certification has two important functions: authentication and encryption. As a means to authorize a connection, the SSL certificate holds information about the business, website or person you are connecting to, and is also a means to verify that identity through a third-party. If you wish to see this in action, look at the URL of this web page in the address bar of your browser, and alongside the text, just on the left, you should see a small green padlock that identifies that this is a secure SSL-certificated site. Clicking on the padlock will tell you that the connection is secure and allow you to reveal what information the certificate has. That will include the users of the certificate, and the SSL provider that bestowed authorization. In addition to authority and verification, the SSL certificate also includes a means to encrypt traffic between the user’s computer and the website. Without this encryption, sensitive information like passwords could potentially be compromised by a nefarious party intercepting the data traffic flowing between the client computer and the web server. The security of this system is underpinned by another independent third-party, the trusted Certificate Authority (CA), which issues the SSL certificate under strict guidelines. Very much mirroring the phrase ‘my word is my bond’, the support of a CA with an SSL certificate is a declaration of trust in a person, company or website. And the CA is in turn verified by a Root certificate holder, proving that they are trusted to issue certificates and revoke them where necessary. Should these trusted relationships fail, the SSL certificates become invalid. In that case, anyone visiting a location covered by one such certificate would immediately be warned that it has no valid SSL certificate, and that their connection may no longer be secure. As you can imagine, the impact that a revoked certificate would have on a live business would be very serious. So it’s vital that you get your SSL certificate from the right source, backed by the most respected CA. Having inherent trust where identity is concerned is necessary, but having the right level of certification for the business is also very important. Special relationshipsWhen people talk about SSL certificates, it is easy to assume that they’re all the same. But depending on who authorized them and how diligent the background checks were, they come with different levels of validation. Here are the four levels of validation most commonly used:
While self-signed and domain level certificates have their uses, it’s the OV and EV levels that businesses truly need. Because they prove that a company has domain ownership, a genuine business, and that the certificate was applied for by authorized personnel. As it’s reasonable to expect, checks of this type take time. Therefore, applying for and being granted an authenticated SSL certificate is not something that can happen five minutes before a new web venture is about to go live. The other element that separates one SSL certificate from another is the level of encryption that it applies, and exactly how secure that makes it. EncryptionThe model for SSL certificates allows for them to use 128 or 256-bit encryption, should the client’s browser support it. Calculations show that it would take a supercomputer 13.75 billion years to test every permutation of a 128-bit encrypted code. And, for good measure, the initial handshake is performed using an ultra-secure 2048-bit RSA key. Once past that awkward first date, SSL communication is usually continued with 128, 192 or 256-bit, as without quantum computers these are practically uncrackable, and they put less stress on the computers encrypting and decrypting at either end. Most providers are offering 256-bit encryption these days, but that’s only valid when the web server, client computer operating system and browser can all operate at that encryption level. Old operating systems and browsers can force encryption levels to 40 or 56-bit, even if the certificate they’re accessing is capable of 256-bit. While you can’t entirely control the client end, the minimum requirement for encryption should be 256-bit at the server end, period. What makes a good SSL purchase?There is a temptation to make choices entirely based on cost, especially if you have lots of sites to cover or a dynamic business environment. The following factors should play a part in picking the right issuance operation for you:
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| There's not long left to vote for 'Ultimate Game of the Year' in the Golden Joystick Awards Posted: 31 Oct 2019 10:25 AM PDT There's not long left to cast your vote for 'Ultimate Game of the Year' in the Golden Joystick Awards 2019. This special category sees indies and AAA titles going head to head to be crowned "Ultimate Game of the Year" – the best of the whole bunch. Here's the full shortlist:
You can vote for your favorite over at our sister site GamesRadar. Remember voting closes at 5pm GMT on November 1, 2019. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Huge retro arcade cabinet deals appear in Walmart's early Black Friday sale Posted: 31 Oct 2019 10:24 AM PDT If you're a curmudgeonly 30- or- 40-something that's neck deep in reliving your single-digit and teenage years through retro games, does Walmart have some deals for you. The early Walmart Black Friday sale has now included a number of retro arcade cabinets from the likes of the retro wizards at Arcade 1Up and Japanese game developer-slash-hardware maker SNK. You can save upwards of $100 on some of these products.
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| Posted: 31 Oct 2019 10:22 AM PDT At it's heart SEO (Search Engine Optimization) developed as an extension to web accessibility by following HTML 4 guidelines, in order to better identify the purpose and content of a document. This meant ensuring that web pages had unique page titles that properly reflected their content, as well as keyword headings to be better highlight the content of individual pages, and that other tags were treated the same accordingly. This was necessary, not least because web developers were often only focused on whether their coding worked, rather than the user experience, let alone following web publishing guidelines. This slowly changed as it became increasingly known that search engines used these "on-page" signals to provide their "Search Engine Results Pages" (SERPs) - and that there was an advantage to ranking higher on these to tap into free and natural organic traffic. The internet has evolved a lot since those early days, and major search engines such as Google now process far more "off page" information when determining their search results, not least by using semantic processing, collating user data, and applying neural networks for the machine learning of patterns, trends, and personal preferences. Even still, the core ideals of SEO remain the same as they always have - that of ensuring pages have the correct tags for targeting keywords, not just for natural search results, but also for PPC (Pay Per Click) and other marketing campaigns, where call-to-action (CTA) and conversion rates are essential indicators of success. But how does a business know which keywords to target on its sales pages? How does a website filter transactional traffic from general site visitors? And how can that business increase its ability to capture targeted traffic from across the internet? Here we list a number of tools that will help do exactly that. Image credit: Google Google Webmaster Tools (GWT) is an excellent way for newbie webmasters to get started with SEO. The arsenal of tools includes 'Fetch as Goole', which allows you to view URL's in the same way as Google does. This is a very simple way to detect and troubleshoot poor Search Engine Optimization. You can then modify your page accordingly and even review code to make sure your site has not been hacked. 'PageSpeed Insights' permits you to perform speed checks on desktop and mobile versions of your site. As mobile traffic now consumes a hefty portion of web traffic overall, this is crucial for ensuring mobile visitors access and remain on your pages. The 'structured data testing tool' is also useful for checking data has been inputted correctly, performing validation routines to check it's in the right format. Google also very generously offers a free chat with a personal representative via Hangouts. You can make use of this feature during regular office hours for assistance with site issues such as mastering the various tools and detecting malicious activity. Further help is available visit the GWT forum. This is a place for Webmaster's to connect and share troubleshooting and performance tips. GWT has received the universal praise online with the only criticism being a slight delay between when data is posted and when it is reported. Image credit: SEMrush SEMrush SEO tools was originally developed in 2008 by SEMrush. In 2018, the project received funding of $40 million for expansion. The keyword research tool is accessible from SEMrush's super elaborate dashboard. You can view detailed keyword analysis reports as well as a summary of any domains you manage. More crucially, the SEO toolkit allows you to compare the performance of your pages to see how you rank against the competition. For instance, you can analyze backlinks from other websites to yours. (this process is sometimes as 'link building'). Traffic analytics helps to identify your competitors' principle sources of web traffics, such as the top referring sites. This enables you to drill down to the fine details of how both your and your competitors' sites measure up in terms of average session duration and bounce rates. Additionally, "Traffic Sources Comparison" gives you an overview of digital marketing channels for a bunch of rivals at once. For those new to SEO slang 'bounce rates' are the percentage of visitors who visit a website then leave without accessing any other pages on the same site. The domain overview does much more than provide a summation of your competitors' SEO strategies. You can also detect specific keywords they've targeted as well as access the relative performance of your domains on both desktop and mobile devices. SEMrush has received many positive mentions online but has been critiqued for use of SEO jargon such as 'SERP' which may alienate inexperienced users. A 'Pro' subscription costs $99.95 (£74.52) per month which includes access to all SEO tools. Image credit: Screaming Frog SEO Spider was originally created in 2010 by the euphemistically named "Screaming Frog". This rowdy reptile's clients include major players like Disney, Shazam and Dell. One of the most attractive feature of SEO Spider is its ability to perform a quick search of friendly URL's. SEO best practices dictate that search engines are much more likely to index simple, relevant and human readable URL's over addresses which are a meaningless string of characters, so this feature is a major bonus. SEO Spider can also crawl your site to check for broken pages. This saves you the trouble of manually clicking each link to rule out '404 errors'. The tool also allows you to check for pages with missing title tags, duplicated meta tags, tags of the wrong length and any other features which are not in line with the very best SEO practices. SEO Spider also checks the number of links placed on each page to avoid the poor SEO practice of posting too many on one page. This usually confuses visitors to your site, causing them to go elsewhere and Google also ranks down pages with over 100 'outlinks'. There is both a free and paid version of SEO Spider. The free version contains most basic features such as crawling redirects but this is limited to 500 URLs. You also can not customize robots.txt and there's no google analytics integration. This makes the 'Lite' version of SEO Spider suitable only for smaller domains. The paid version $180 (£149) per year and includes more advanced features as well as free tech support. Image credit: Majestic SEO Tools Majestic has consistently received praise from SEO veterans since its inception in 2011. This also makes it one of the oldest SEO tools available today. The tools main focus is on backlinks, which represent links between one website and another. This has a significant influence on SEO performance and as such, Majestic has a huge amount of backlink data. Users can search both a 'Fresh Index' which is crawled and updated throughout the day, in addition to an 'Historic Index' which has been praised online for its lightning retrieval speed. One of the most popular features is the 'Majestic Million' which displays a ranking of the top 1 million websites. The 'Lite' version of Majestic costs $50 (£39.99) per month and incorporates useful features such as a bulk backlink checker, a record of referring domains, IP's and subnets as well as Majestic's integrated 'Site Explorer'. This feature which is designed to give you an overview of your online store has received some negative comments due to looking a little dated. Majestic also has no Google Analytics integration. Image Credit: Moz Pro Moz.com is a platform of SEO tools that aim to help you increase traffic, rankings, and visibility across search engine results. Key tools include the ability to audit your own site using the Moz pro spider, which should highlight potential issues and recommend actionable insights. There's also the ability to track your site rankings over hundreds or even thousands of keywords per website. There's also a keyword research tool to help determine which keywords and keyword combinations may be the best for targeting, and there's also a backlink analysis tool which mixes a combination of metrics including anchor text in links as well as estimated domain authority. Pricing for Moz Pro begins at $99 (£80) per month for the Standard plan which covers the basic tools. The Medium plan offers a wider range of features for $179 (£150) per month and a free trial is available. Note that plans come with a 20% discount if paid for annually. Additional plans are available for agency and enterprise needs, and there are additional paid-for tools for local listings and STAT data analysis. Even if you don't sign up to Moz Pro, a number of free tools are available. There's also a huge supporting community ready to offer help, advice, and guidance across the breadth of search marketing issues. Best free SEO toolsImage credit: Google Although we've highlighted the best paid-for SEO tools out there, a number of websites offer more limited tools that are free to use. Here we'll look at the free options. 1. Google Search ConsoleEven if you're not headstrong on SEO, whatever the size of your site or blog, Google's laudable Search Console (formerly Webmaster Central) and the myriad user-friendly tools under its bonnet should be your first port of call. The suite of tools gives you valuable information about your site at a glance: it can assess your site's performance and observe potential problems to troubleshoot (like negative spammy links), help you ensure your site is Google-friendly and monitor Google's indexing of your site. You can even report spam and request reconsideration if your site has incurred a penalty. Plus, if you don't refer to their Webmaster Guidelines now and again, well, you've only yourself to blame if you go wrong. Search Console is constantly updated, and new features are on the way, such as new URL inspection tool or the new sitemaps report. 2. SEOQuakeSEMRush’s SEOQuake is one of the most popular toolbar extension adored by millions. It allows you to view multiple search engine parameters on the fly and save and compare them with the results obtained for other projects. Although the icons and numbers that SeoQuake yields might be unintelligible to the uninformed user, skilled optimisers will appreciate the wealth of detail this add-on provides. Gauge details about number of visitors and their country, get a site's traffic history trended on a graph, and more. The toolbar includes buttons for a site's Google index update, backlinks, SEMRush ranking, Facebook likes, Bing index, Alexa ranks, web archive age and a link to the Whois page. There’s also a useful cheat sheet and diagnostics page to have a bird’s view of potential issues (or opportunities) affecting a particular page or site. 3. Google AdWords keyword plannerKnowing the right keywords to target is all-important when priming your web copy. Google's free keyword tool, part of Adwords, couldn't be easier to use. Plug your website URL into the box, start reviewing the suggested keywords and off you go. Jill Whalen, CEO of HighRankings.com is a fan and offers advice to those new to keyword optimisation: "make sure you use those keywords within the content of your website. It's really a question of being descriptive as keyword phrases typically describe what you offer. Think about the fact that you're trying to answer someone's question at the other end of the search engine. They're typically searching Google because they have a question or a problem to solve. Make your website answer those questions and solve those problems and it will be the one to show in the search results." 4. Google OptimiseYet another Google tool on that list (not a surprise isn’t it). Optimise is not for the faint hearted and will make even seasoned SEO experts uncomfortable. SEO isn't all about rankings and without the right balance of content that engages with your visitors and drives conversions, you're earnest optimisation could be wasted. Google’s free service helps take the guesswork out of the game, allowing you to test your site's content: from simple A/B testing of two different pages to comparing a whole combination of elements on any given page. Personalization features are also available to spice things up a bit. Note that in order to run some of the more complicated multivariate testing, you will need adequate traffic and time to make the results actionable, just as you do with Analytics. 5. Live Keyword AnalysisAny seasoned search engine optimisation specialist will tell you keywords matter, and while simply clawing keywords into your text arbitrarily can do more harm than good, it's worth ensuring you have the right balance. Live Keyword Analysis is a breeze to use: simply type in your keywords and then paste in your text and your keyword density analysis will be done on the fly. Don't forget to proof and edit your text accordingly for optimum readability. A must for website copywriters especially as you don’t need to register or pay for anything. 6. AhrefsGoogle's Pagerank algorithm underpins most of what makes the current world wide web work the way it does. Understanding backlinks (sites linking to you) allows website owners and publishers to understand what link opportunities they might be missing out on. Enter Ahrefs, arguably one of the most powerful players out there. They maintain one of the largest live backlink indexes currently available with 16 trillion known links, covering 200 million root domains. While Ahrefs isn't free, the backlink checker feature is, which provides a useful snapshot that includes your domain rating, the top 100 backlinks, top 5 anchors and top 5 pages, the strict minimum to provide with a feel of what Ahrefs has to offer.
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| Game of Thrones prequel: has House of the Dragon eclipsed Bloodmoon? Posted: 31 Oct 2019 09:59 AM PDT Everything we thought we knew about the Game of Thrones prequel has changed, as it's been revealed that HBO has canceled the Naomi Watts-fronted Bloodmoon in favor of a new prequel that focuses on the Targaryen clan. Called House of the Dragon, the new series is based on George R. R. Martin's Fire & Blood, according to The Guardian. HBO has given House of the Dragon a 10-episode order – right now, the company hasn't confirmed that Bloodmoon is definitely canceled, but it doesn't bode well for the series, which had already wrapped filming on its pilot episode. House of the Dragon is set 300 years before the original series, and will focus on the Targaryens – in other words, the house that birthed Daenerys, Mother of Dragons. After Game of Thrones came to a dramatic end in May, many of us have been left with a Jon Snow-shaped hole in our hearts. While the Bloodmoon prequel was slated for a 2020 release, we don't know when the new prequel will be released – no casting details or confirmation of an air date have been revealed by HBO. Cut to the chase
What we know about House of the DragonRight now, there's not much information on House of the Dragon. We know that it will take place 300 years before the events of the original series, "depicting the stories of the Targaryen kings who had long ruled Westeros", according to CNBC. In a statement, HBO's president of programming said that "we look forward to exploring the origins of House Targaryen and the earlier days of Westeros". What happened to Bloodmoon?The original Game of Throne prequel, which had a working title of Bloodmoon, is set around 5000 years before the events that take place in the original Game of Thrones series. According to HBO, the new series was set to “chronicle the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour”. The synopsis continues: “From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of he White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one things is for sure: it’s not the story we think we know.” Read on for everything we initially knew about Bloodmoon. Game Of Thrones" Creator George R. R. Martin at the Season Eight New York Premiere When and where can I watch Bloodmoon?Currently, we don’t have a firm release date for the Game of Thrones prequel, but we do know that the pilot episode is set to air sometime in 2020. If you’re in the US, HBO Go will likely be the go-to place to stream Bloodmoon, which will require a HBO subscription. If you’re outside the US you won’t be able to do this as HBO Go is only supported in the US and “certain US territories”. In the UK, Game of Thrones was available to watch on Sky Atlantic and NowTV – we imagine that the prequel will also appear on these platforms. In Australia, GoT was available to stream on Foxtel Now; again, the likelihood is that Bloodmoon will be available to stream here, too. Who is confirmed to be working on Bloodmoon?The creators of the new series are George R. R. Martin and British screenwriter, Jane Goldman, whose past work includes Kick-Ass, Kingsman: The Secret Service, and Stardust. HBO says: “Both will executive produce, alongside SJ Clarkson (The Defenders, Jessica Jones, HBO’s Succession and the upcoming Star Trek installment), who will also be directing the pilot episode; James Farrell; Jim Danger Gray; Vince Gerardis; Daniel Zelman and co-executive producer Chris Symes." We know for sure that the creators of the original series, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, won't be returning; the duo just signed a nine-figure deal with Netflix to exclusively write, direct, and develop new TV series and films for the streaming platform. Naomi Watts on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in June 2019 Who will star in Bloodmoon?We know quite a few of the Game of Thrones prequel cast members already, but the most character information we’ve gleaned so far is that Oscar-nominee Naomi Watts “headlines as a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”. Photographs of the actress, allegedly in costume for her role in Bloodmoon while filming in Italy, have surfaced on Twitter, having been shared initially by Instagram user kiaruzz91_. Some fans are speculating that Watts is playing Nissa Nissa, the wife of the fabled Azor Ahai. According to Newsflash, legend has it that Nissa Nissa was "stabbed through the heart to defeat the White Walkers and bring light back to the world" – so, Watts could have a huge role in the Game of Thrones prequel. According to HBO, she is joined by Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter from the Harry Potter films), Marquis Rodriguez (Manifest), John Simm (Strangers), Richard MCabe (Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams), John Heffernan (Dracula), and Dixie Egerickx (Summerland). Other confirmed cast members include Josh Whitehouse (Poldark), Naomi Ackie (Lady Macbeth), Denise Gough (Monday), Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald), Sheila Atim (Harlots), Ivanno Jeremiah (Humans), Georgie Henley (The Chronicles of Narnia films), Alex Sharp (How to Talk to Girls at Parties) and Toby Regbo (The Last Kingdom, Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald). According to Watcher On The Wall, a Vikings actor is set to join the Bloodmoon cast too; Tadhg Murphy's online portfolio says that he appears in the HBO pilot episode of the GoT prequel. George R. R. Martin has confirmed that Direwolves will make an appearance in the GoT prequel. Bloodmoon: everything we know so farFrom the synopsis released by HBO, we can glean a few details about the Game of Thrones prequel. While we don’t have a firm release date aside from 2020, as well as no guarantee that the pilot will be made into a full series, HBO and George R. R. Martin have given us a few teasers to work with so far: Westeros is very different place In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, George R. R. Martin confirmed that the Westeros in Bloodmoon will be very different from the one we came to know and love in Game of Thrones. He said: “Westeros is a very different place. There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens – Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.” More recently, Martin revealed that Westeros is divided into “roughly 100 kingdoms in the prequel”, far more than the Seven Kingdoms we’re used to. Don’t expect Jon Snow to make an appearance Being set thousands of years before A Song of Ice and Fire, we’re not expecting to see many (if any) characters from the original series. So, if you were hoping for fan favorites like Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow, and Ned Stark to reunite, you’ll likely be disappointed. That’s not to say that we won’t see any old characters though… Winter is coming We know that Bloodmoon will take place during the Age of Heroes, a four thousand-year period in the history of Westeros, which was canonized through myths and songs years later. While we don’t know exactly when during the Age of Heroes that the new series will take place, we do know of a few key historical events that took place in this time frame. The most famous of these is the Long Night, in which the White Walkers, led by the Night King, sought to “bring an end to all life and cover the world in an endless winter”, according to Fandom. Of course, the Night King features heavily in the last few seasons of Game of Thrones – could we see a comprehensive White Walker origin story? Starks, Direwolves, and mammoths… but no dragons Just because Ned Stark is about 5000 years from being born, doesn’t mean that we won’t see any Starks at all. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Martin confirmed that “the Starks will definitely be there”, being descended from the First Men. We’ll also see a return of the beloved Direwolves, as well as a new type of creature to contend with: mammoths. Die-hard dragon fans will be disappointed though; the prequel reportedly predates dragons entirely. Don't expect to see any dragons in the Game of Thrones prequel. Will there be a Game of Thrones sequel?Apparently not, according to HBO programming president Casey Bloys, who told The Hollywood Reporter that there will absolutely not be a sequel. This will come as a disappointment to fans who are desperate to learn the fate of Arya Stark, who set off to explore west of Westeros in the series finale. What to watch in the meantimeIf you can't wait for the Game of Thrones prequel, there's a veritable cornucopia of fantastic TV shows you can watch in the meantime. Craving the bloodthirsty battle scenes that GoT became notorious for? Try Vikings, a historical drama with enough charm and scope to take on Game of Thrones in the sword and sandals stakes. Based on the sagas of infamous Norse hero Ragnar Lothbrok, all five seasons are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video. If you're looking for a hint of magic and mystery (as well as a generous helping of 80s nostalgia), you can't go wrong with Stranger Things on Netflix – there are three seasons to stream right now, although we're banking on a Stranger Things season four release date being announced soon. Also on Netflix is the Emmy award-winning historical drama The Crown; if you're missing the scandalous affairs and backstabbing of the Lannisters, tune into The Crown season three, which premieres on November 17.
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| Millions of stolen corporate logins are available to buy online Posted: 31 Oct 2019 09:48 AM PDT Millions of stolen corporate credentials are available for sale on the dark web which is why ImmuniWeb decided to analyze both the quality and quantity of these stolen credentials to compile its new State of Stolen Credentials in the Dark Web from Fortune 500 Companies report. The firm leveraged its Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) technology to crawl through generally accessible places and resources on the Tor network, across various web forums, Pastebin, IRC channels, social networks, messenger chats and other locations known for offering, selling or distributing stolen or leaked data. In total, ImmuniWeb found over 21m credentials that belonged to Fortune 500 companies and surprisingly over 16m of these logins were compromised during the last 12 months.
Upon examining the credentials, the firm discovered that as many as 95 percent of them contained unencrypted plaintext passwords. Stolen credentialsAccording to ImmuniWeb, the most popular sources of the exposed breaches were third parties, trusted third parties which includes partners, suppliers or vendors and the companies themselves. The firm did not try to login into any of the accounts it found and instead, ImmuniWeb verified their accuracy and reliability be correlating, cross-checking and juxtaposing the data from different public sources aided by machine learning. Its own machine learning models were also used to find anomalies and spot fake leaks, duplicates or default passwords which were set automatically. When it came to the industries with the highest number of stolen credentials, technology (5m) took the top spot followed by financials (4.9m) and healthcare (1.9m). Out of the 21m credentials ImmuniWeb discovered, only 4.9m were fully unique passwords which suggests that many users are using identical or similar passwords. In the technology sector for example, password, 1qaz2wsx, career121, abc123 and passwordI were the top five passwords. Of the industries examined by ImmuniWeb, the retail sector had the highest percentage of weak passwords at 47 percent followed by telecommunications at 37.57 percent and industrials at 37.36 percent. CEO and founder of ImmuniWeb, Ilia Kolochenko provided further insight on the report's findings, saying: “These numbers are both frustrating and alarming. Cybercriminals are smart and pragmatic, they focus on the shortest, cheapest and safest way to get your crown jewels. The great wealth of stolen credentials accessible on the Dark Web is a modern-day Klondike for mushrooming threat actors who don’t even need to invest in expensive 0day or time-consuming APTs. With some persistence, they easily break-in being unnoticed by security systems and grab what they want. Worse, many such intrusions are technically uninvestigable due to lack of logs or control over the breached [third-party] systems.”
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| Fingerprint unlock arrives in WhatsApp for Android – here's how to enable it Posted: 31 Oct 2019 09:32 AM PDT After testing the feature on beta users for a little while, WhatsApp is now rolling out fingerprint unlock to all Android users. It brings biometric security to Android some 8 months after similar options landed on iPhone. The Fingerprint Lock security feature is available in version 2.19.222 of the Android WhatsApp app, and it gives Android users a security option that is more in line with what is available in the iOS version of the app. iPhone users already have Touch ID and Face ID support, and now WhatsApp says: "today we're introducing similar authentication, allowing you to unlock the app with your fingerprint, on supported Android phones". For now, at least, fingerprints are the only security options available. WhatsApp has not enabled face unlocking for Android users, nor suggested that it will in the future.
Once enabled, the feature prevents other people from accessing WhatsApp and reading your messages. The only way to get into the app is to scan a registered finger. The description of the setting within the app explains: "When enabled, you'll need to use fingerprint to open WhatsApp. You'll still be able to answer calls if WhatsApp is locked." Touch to unlockTo enable Fingerprint lock, just head to Settings > Account > Privacy > Fingerprint lock. Turn on Unlock with fingerprint, and confirm your fingerprint. You can also choose how long WhatsApp should wait before it locks – either immediately, after a minute,or after 30 minutes. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The best Bose headphones of 2019 Posted: 31 Oct 2019 09:17 AM PDT Bose has long been one of the biggest names in the audio world, with its high quality headphones and speakers, appealing to audiophiles and casual music listeners alike. While the brand covers everything from aviation headsets to audio sunglasses, Bose is best known for its headphones, with its successful QuietComfort noise-canceling range taking the world by storm since its launch in 2015. Ranging from over-ear headphones to sporty true wireless earbuds, Bose headphones don’t always come cheap; however, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up soon, prices could drop lower than we’ve ever seen, giving us the best Bose headphones deals of 2019. So, which model should you buy? It really depends on what you’re going to be using your new Bose headphones for. If you’re looking for some lightweight noise-canceling over-ears to wear on long haul flights, try the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. Need a pair of earphones to soundtrack your workout? Check out the Bose QuietComfort 30. We’ve tested lots of headphones over the years, so to make your decision easier, we’ve put together this handy guide in which we rank the best Bose headphones you can buy. If you're looking for a new pair of noise-canceling headphones, we'd definitely recommend the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700; they may not quite beat the Sony WH-1000XM3s in terms of battery life and price, but they're still a brilliant pair of over-ear cans. Traditionally, noise-canceling headphones have been designed to block out the environmental sounds around you, so that you can hear your music more clearly (or catch some shut-eye on a busy train) – and with the right headphones, it's really effective. If you’re making a phone call however, the person you’re speaking to can still hear everything that’s happening around you, degrading the sound quality of your calls. The Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 seek to remedy this, by applying noise-cancelation to phone calls as well as music, which is fantastic feature that few other brands have mastered. So how do they sound? The audio quality is undeniably good, with a vibrant, lively character and well-balanced soundstage – overall, the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 sound great, look stunning, and the noise-cancelation is out of this world, making them the best Bose headphones you can buy. Read the full review: Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700
Image credit: TechRadar A nearly identical product to the already-excellent Bose QuietComfort 35 but updated for 2018 with Google Assistant, the QC 35 II are a great choice if you want to spend slightly less than the 700s. As they've only recently been usurped by the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, these are the headphones to watch over Black Friday and Cyber Monday; we're expecting these still-brilliant cans to get some big discounts during the sales period. With Google Assistant built-in, you get the class-leading noise cancellation Bose is known for, good sound quality and incredible comfort, plus a convenient assistant to answer any inquiries you might have while traveling. For these reasons, the Bose QuietComfort 35 II are an excellent pair of headphones for travelers and commuters, with a good balance of features that will satisfy most mainstream listeners. Read the full review: Bose QuietComfort 35 II review Launched in 2015, the Bose QuietComfort 25 were once the best noise-cancelling headphones we've ever used, with a well-balanced and finely-tuned soundstage. With the noise-cancellation turned on, we never felt further immersed and concentrated than when we let the QC25 engulf our ears – but that was a few years ago and time has moved on since. Bose has released not just one sequel to these headphones, but two: the QC35 and QC35 II with Google Assistant built in, both of which we'd recommend above the QC25 – not to mention the Noise Cancelling Headphones 700. Still, if you don't mind using these older, wired headphones, the QC25s are still a brilliant set of cans that provide over 35 hours of very good noise-canceling performance with one AAA battery – and nowadays you can find them for pretty cheap, which is well worth considering when making your buying decision. Read the full review: Bose QuietComfort 25 review Noise cancelation doesn't have to mean wearing bulky over-ear headphones with big cushiony earpads – you can block out the world with compact earbuds, too. The BoseQuiet Control 30s bring noise cancelation to the wireless neckbud, which rivals that of some of its older QuietComfort models – impressive for diminutive earbuds. They aren't the best-sounding earbuds in the world, veering a little on the bassy side, which can prevent you from hearing the subtle details in your music. That means the QC 30s probably won't appeal to audiophiles, but for runners who rely on pounding bass to soundtrack their workout, they could be an ideal match. The neckband style can also be divisive – some people love it and some people hate it, but there's no doubt that it offers a level of security that true wireless earbuds cannot. Noise-canceling earbuds have come a long way since the QuietControl 30 came onto the scene, but they're still a good pair of wireless earphones; and they could well be discounted in the run up to the holiday season. Read the full review: Bose QC 30 review
The Bose SoundSport Free are an excellent-sounding pair of true wireless earbuds with an ultra-reliable connection. With an IPX4 water-resistance rating, they can an easily withstand the abuses of working out, and they sound great – as long as you're listening in a quiet environment. This is due to their open design that lets environmental noise passthrough the earbuds; this design also means that they don't offer the most secure fit. Battery life is decent, and a recent update means that connectivity is better than ever. There are other true wireless earbuds we'd recommend over the SoundSport Free, like the Sony WF-1000XM3 or the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1, but if they're heavily discounted over Black Friday, they may be worth a look. Read the full review: Bose SoundSport Free review
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| Apple AirPod alternatives: These are the best true wireless earbuds around Posted: 31 Oct 2019 09:13 AM PDT If you haven't noticed, headphone cables are no longer in fashion. That's because wireless audio sounds better than ever, compression formats for Bluetooth 5.0 are more reliable, flagship smartphones are shipping without headphone jacks, and listeners of all kinds are starting to see the benefits of cordless audio - including no more annoying cables. True wireless earbuds are the next step in audio. True wireless means there aren't any cables between earbuds at all, so there's no wire or neck band to contend with. Nothing to get tangled in your pocket or caught on your zipper, nothing to whack around your neck in the middle of that run, and also nothing to keep your singular earbuds together. True wireless earbuds may be more expensive than simple wireless earbuds and tend not to offer noise-canceling - with the notable exception of the Sony WF-1000XM3 - but that additional upfront cost pays for the convenience of living cable-free. We'd also argue that it's worth spending a bit more to go true wireless, too, as they offer more freedom of movement and tend to be more comfortable over longer periods (see: the Beats Powerbeats Pro). The Apple AirPods are arguably the first model to truly bring true wireless to the mainstream, offering lots of cool features – as long as you're an iPhone user, that is. Otherwise, there are far better options out there in terms of audio quality, battery life, design, and crucially, price. That could all change with the launch of the new Apple AirPods Pro, of course, but until we review them fully, we'll have to wait and see whether they make the best true wireless earbuds. So, before you buy a pair of AirPods, check out our list of the best AirPod-alternatives you can buy in 2019. Best true wireless earbuds at a glance
A new challenger approaches: Apple AirPods ProBefore we dive into our official list, we absolutely need to mention the Apple AirPods Pro, a newly announced pair of true wireless earbuds from Apple with noise-cancellation and interchangeable, flexible eartips that will challenge the established players like Sony, RHA and Jabra. The earbuds use the H1 chip with an 'Adaptive EQ' system to tailor its equalizer settings on the fly dependent on what your listening to, be that the vocal-focused words of a podcast or the dreamy ambiance of a film soundtrack. Like the 2019 AirPods before them, the Pro's charging case is compatible with Qi-certified wireless chargers, with the case capable of offering 24 hours of battery life for the buds. Early reports expect 4.5 hours of battery life from a single charge, with a charging time of 5-minutes for an hours' worth of playback. They're priced at $249 / £249 / AU$399 / AED 999, making them significantly more expensive than the current AirPods (which start at $159 / £159 / AU$249 / AED 679) and, if they can deliver excellent sound, could dethrone the current king of true wireless earbuds, the Sony WF-1000XM3. Considering it's still rare to get noise-cancellation in wired earbuds at all, the fact that Sony has managed to pack it into a pair that are not only wireless, but true wireless is very impressive indeed. The Sony WF-1000X manage to offer a level of noise-cancellation that's very good for a pair of earbuds – it won't offer the same isolation as a pair of over-ear cans, but if you're after a sleek form factor then the compromise is worth it. That being said, in spite of a few minor problems we feel that Sony has knocked the ball out of the park with the WF-1000XM3: Not only are these hands down the best-looking True Wireless headphones out there, but they combine serious noise cancelling tech with fist-pumping musicality. If you don’t want the inconvenience of carrying full-size cans, they’re a persuasive alternative. Battery life is above average, and that compact charging case is pretty slick too. On-ear volume controls similar to the PowerBeats Pro would've been nice, but again, that's really not a deal-breaker in our books. We reckon the True Wireless jungle has found a new king. Read the full review: Sony WF-1000XM3 Cambridge Audio is known for its high-end audio equipment, but until now, hasn’t ventured into the world of true wireless earbuds. Enter the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1s: with an outstanding 45 hours of battery life, they combine the brand’s award-winning engineering with the convenience of truly wireless listening. For a pair of true wireless earbuds, the sound quality offered by the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1s is sensational. In fact, it rivals some of the best over-ear headphones, which is all but unheard of for buds of this size. They may not have the noise cancelation technology offered by the Sony WF-1000XM3 Wireless Earbuds, but they are $100 (around £80) cheaper – and have a superior battery life. They certainly outperform the Apple AirPods, in all respects apart from the lack of wireless charging case. This is a small price to pay for that exceptional audio quality, though, and we think they represent much better value for money, too. Read the full review: Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 They're not cheap, but the T5 holds their own against the top of the line true wireless headphones - in fact, we'd argue that they're one of the best models on the market right now. We think that because they offer stellar sound, build quality, long-lasting battery life and one of the coolest cases we've ever seen. Of course, you're buying a Klipsch product because it features the signature Klipsch sound, which is warm, detailed, and never harsh. Acoustic music is lush and detailed, and the detail extends to the highs as well, allowing the headphones to sing in the higher registers without ever being sibilant. Battery life is rated at 8 hours per charge with the case giving an additional 24 hours. Our testing playing music at 50% volume found 7 hours per charge and the case giving three additional charges no problem. This is a headphone that can last you an entire flight from New York to San Francisco. Read the full review: Klipsch T5 True Wireless Image Credit: RHA Although the TrueConnect is RHAs first true wireless headphone, the company showed they did their research and development by making it one of the best true wireless headphones on the market today. The combination of sound quality, battery life, and wireless reliability means these are a pair of headphones you can rely on everyday. The Jabra Elite 65t set the standard for what true wireless headphones should be and, regardless of what RHA has done here with the TrueConnect, they’re still great headphones. Compared to the RHA TrueConnect, the Jabra has more features with its useful ambient noise mode to help with situational awareness and an app that lets you tailor sound. The RHA doesn’t have either of those features but we didn’t miss them, thanks to better sound quality and wireless reliability. The RHA also feels more like a premium product than the all-plastic Jabra. All said, if you’re shopping for a pair of true wireless headphones, the $170 (£150, about AU$265) RHA TrueConnect should be at the very top of your list. [Looking for a more stylish design? It comes at a price, but the Earin M-2 true wireless earbuds look as good as they sound.] Read the full review: RHA TrueConnect Image Credit: Jabra If you want a pair of high quality truly wireless earbuds that aren’t the Apple AirPods, then the Jabra Elite 65t should be at the top of your list. After spending over a month with them, we came away impressed with the well-rounded package that Jabra managed to create: The earbuds offer a subtle, mature look and a reliable wireless connection, which isn’t always the case with truly wireless earbuds. Plus, they sound great compared to the competition. If you only have the budget for one of these, go for the Elite 65t. Read the full review: Jabra Elite 65t Image credit: TechRadar The new PowerBeats Pro true wireless Beats headphones aren't exactly the earbuds analysts have been predicting, sure, but they are something special – they’re supremely comfortable, sound decent and seem to never, ever fall out. That said, they are - in our opinion - Apple’s best true wireless earbuds to date thanks to small additions like the pressure-reducing micro-laser barometric venting hole, their longer battery life and their superior sound quality. If we had to choose between wearing these and the AirPods around the house or office, these are what we’d wear. Read the full review: Beats PowerBeats Pro Image Credit: Jabra If you're more the athletic type, the Jabra Elite Sport are currently the ultimate true wireless earphones for runners and other kinds of athletes. There’s a heart rate sensor on the right earpiece, letting it monitor your exertion level as you exercise. A Jabra companion app lets you track your exercise, and you can kick off a workout by pressing a button on one earpiece, and the heart rate tracker is more reliable than most wrist-worn models... as long as you fit the Elite Sport buds properly. The Jabra Elite Sport don't perch in your ears, they fill them rather like a custom molded earphone. As a result, sound isolation is excellent and the fit is very secure. To sweeten the deal, Jabra recently updated the Elite Sport to boost stamina to a better-than-average four-and-a-half hours per charge – more than enough to get you through your weekly workouts – before hanging up the towel. Read the full review: Jabra Elite Sport Image Credit: Sennheiser Sennheiser enters the race with its Momentum True Wireless earbuds. An extension of its reputable Momentum range, these cordless buds offer Sennheiser's trademark high-fidelity audio in a gorgeously sleek package. You only get four hours of charge in the earbuds, but the carry case will be able to charge them two times over on top of that, giving you 12 hours in total when on the go. The main thing holding these back is the price: at £259 / $299 (about AU$400) they're almost double the cost of the Apple AirPods. You do get a range of touch-based controls to stop you reaching for your phone every time you want to skip or pause a track, but the act of prodding things in your ear could be more comfortable – while the volume control is oddly imprecise. Overall though, Sennheiser's first true wireless earbuds combine style and sound like few others. Read the full review: Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless review Image Credit: Sony Sony’s first pair of true wireless headphones, the Sony WF-1000X, were divisive. Some thought they didn’t offer enough bass. Others said they had too much. Some said they cut out or unpaired periodically. Others simply never had that problem. Criticisms came hard and fast from all corners of the internet and the only reasonable conclusion one could make after sifting through all of the noise was that the Sony headphones just couldn’t please everyone. Now, Sony’s second-generation true-wireless headphones – the Sony WF-SP700N – are here to try it again. These true wireless headphones are better tuned for the low-end and they’re stable in almost every situation. They still offer very modest active noise-cancellation tech and a sweat-resistant PX4 rating, and the new charging case is aesthetically pleasing if not radically different in functionality from before. Read the full review: Sony WF-SP700N Image Credit: Bang & Olufsen Let’s get one thing out of the way – the B&O Beoplay E8 are one of the nicest-looking and most expensive wireless earphones you can buy. At $299 (£259, AU$449, AED 1,199) you can throw in a bit more cash and splurge for one of our favorite noise-cancelling headphones, the Bose QuietComfort 35 $349 (£259, AU$499, AED 1,449), which give you better battery life and a richer sound. But if you’re looking for a something to take to the gym and have the cash to burn, then the Beoplay E8 might be just what you’re looking for. While you won't find noise-cancellation here, you will find a longer-lasting battery life of around four hours alongside Bluetooth 4.2. The E8 come with a stylish carrying case, and you can tweak the sound to your liking using the accompanying Beoplay app on Android and iOS. Even without tinkering around with ToneTouch, the E8 sounds crisp and clear. Bass feedback will depend on how snug you’re wearing the E8s, but was acceptable for earphones of this size. If you’re able to look past the price point, then then Beoplay E8 is a great investment. It’s super compact, offers great audio, and looks great – what more could you ask for? Read the full review: B&O Beoplay E8 Wireless Earphones Image credit: TechRadar It feels as though Samsung has finally got it right with the Galaxy Buds, and they represent serious competition for the Apple AirPods in terms of design, sound, and ease of use. We loved the pearlescent effect on the buds outer housing and the sleek design of the case, and we found they felt comfortable and secure. The sound quality offered by these true wireless buds is also very good indeed, with deep bass, and a wide open soundstage; although, audiophiles may want to look elsewhere for a more natural sound treatment, as the Galaxy Buds do sound very warm. The downside here is that other features that are available on the app like ambient noise and the equalizer presets are useful to have, but didn’t always work as effectively as we hoped. These features are also pretty much out of bounds for iOS users, as you can only download the app on devices running Android 5.0 or later. Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Buds With a promising battery life and well-managed bass enhancement over Audio-Technica’s usual neutral sound, the Audio-Technica ATH-CKS5TW true wireless earbuds have a lot going for them. They've one of the most complete and well-rounded sound profiles we've seen from true-wireless earbuds, and that's despite the claimed bass enhancement. It's a very enjoyable sound that they make. However, they are let down a bit by their fit – mileage will vary of course depending on your preferred bud style and the size of your ears, but all will find the fiddly case fit will annoy over time. Still, the quality audio here may be a worthy trade-off. Read the full review: Audio-Technica ATH-CKS5TW review What about the Apple AirPods?Image credit: TechRadar It's been a big year for the Apple AirPods; in March, the true wireless earbuds were given an upgrade to give us the AirPods (2019), and most recently, Apple announced the Apple AirPods Pro. The second generation Apple AirPods, the AirPods (2019), aren't a huge improvement on their predecessors, but they still sport some cool features, that may make them worth buying if you're an iPhone user in particular. They still feature the iconic design of the original AirPods (a good or bad thing depending on your point of view), and sound quality hasn't changed at all – it's lively, but not on par with the best true wireless earbuds in this guide. The bulk of the upgrade comes from the new H1 headphone chip, which improves connectivity and battery life, and allows for a new ‘Hey Siri’ voice activation feature. The AirPods (2019) also come with an optional wireless charging case means you can use a Qi-compatible charging mat to power the case, rather than sticking a cable into the Lightning charging port in the bottom of the case. Like their predecessors, they are super easy to pair, but they are very much optimized for using with iPhones. The best true wireless earbuds give you more flexibility when it comes to your device of choice, and can offer superior sound quality – as well as sleeker designs. There’s also no getting away from the fact that these are an expensive pair of headphones, and for that kind of money we think that you can find better products elsewhere – especially if you're looking to pair with anything other than an iPhone. Read the full review: Apple AirPods (2019) review
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| UFC 244 live stream: how to watch Masvidal vs Diaz from anywhere on Saturday Posted: 31 Oct 2019 09:02 AM PDT UFC returns to New York City this weekend with its next big PPV but this time things are going to be a little different as there are no major championship bouts on the main card. Instead we’ll get to see Jorge Masvidal square off against Nate Diaz in a welterweight grudge match as the main event of UFC 244. Discover the best ways to get a UFC 244 live stream - no matter where you are in the world. In Masvidal vs Diaz, we have two fighters both wanting the chance to win the newly-created and one time only “BMF” title to determine who is the baddest battler in the UFC is. UFC had originally planned for a welterweight championship fight between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington for the main event of UFC 244. However, negotiations between the two broke down and the promotion instead decided to reward fans with a match that has been brewing since Diaz called out Masvidal after defeating Anthony Pettis in the co-main event of UFC 241. Now Diaz the ‘West Coast Gangster’ will have his chance at the ‘East Coast Goon’ Masvidal at UFC 244 on Saturday at Madison Square Garden. To sweeten the deal, the “BMF” title will be awarded by none other than Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Elsewhere on the card, Kelvin Gastelum will take on Darren Till in a middleweight bout for the first time in his UFC career in the co-main event and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson will go up against Vicente Luque in a welterweight bout. Whether you’ll be cheering for Masvidal or Diaz during Saturday’s MMA action, we’ll show you how to live stream UFC 244’s card from anywhere in the world - for US viewers, you should just head straight to ESPN+.
Live stream UFC 244 from outside your countryWorry not if you're a huge UFC fan but aren't in the US to watch that ESPN+ coverage this weekend. If you find the coverage is geo-blocked, you can try using a VPN to change your IP address to a US server and watch this week's main card just as if you were back at home - the same goes wherever you're from and wanting to still see your domestic coverage from abroad. How to watch UFC online in the US exclusively on ESPN+Live stream UFC 244 in the UKLive stream UFC 244 on PPV in AustraliaThe UFC 244 card in fullMain Card -Jorge Masvidal vs. Nate Diaz -Kelvin Gastelum vs. Darren Till -Vicente Luque vs. Stephen Thompson -Blagoy Ivanov vs. Derrick Lewis -Gregor Gillespie vs. Kevin Lee Preliminary Card -Corey Anderson vs. Johnny Walker -Makwan Amirkhani vs. Shane Burgos -Edmen Shahbazyan vs. Brad Tavares -Andrei Arlovski vs. Jair Rozenstruik Early Preliminary Card -Katlyn Chookagian vs. Jennifer Maia -Lyman Good vs. Chance Rencountre -Julio Arce vs. Hakeem Dawodu This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Walmart's best pre-Black Friday TV deals: 4K TVs starting at just $160 Posted: 31 Oct 2019 08:47 AM PDT If you're looking to score a pre-Black Friday TV deal, then you've come to the right place. The retail giant Walmart is running an 'Early Access Sale' with massive savings on 4K TVs from top brands like Samsung, LG, Sony, and more. This is an excellent opportunity to snag a TV bargain before the madness of Black Friday and Cyber Monday begins. Shop more of Walmart's best TV deals below that include a range of different sizes and specifications. We don't know how long Walmart will have the TVs on sale, so you should take advantage now before it's too late. Walmart pre-Black Friday TV deals:Shop more of the best cheap TV sales and 4K TV deals that are currently going on. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Motorola Razr 2019 release date, price, news and leaks Posted: 31 Oct 2019 08:29 AM PDT Motorola Razr smartphones were iconic devices back when full-featured smartphones weren't ubiquitous tech products – but there's a chance they could become iconic again. We've heard many rumors about a new entry, the Motorola Razr 2019, which would be a folding phone that takes the old-school form factor and turns it into a 'clamshell'-type foldable phone. The foldable phone battleground is heating up, with the Samsung Galaxy Fold and Huawei Mate X now here or coming soon, but while they're premium devices, the Motorola Razr V4 is expected to be one of the first 'affordable' foldables. We've now heard it's set to launch November 13, at an event in Los Angeles, so it could actually be available to buy before Huawei's device. Here's everything we've heard about the Motorola Razr 2019 so far, along with a wish list of what we want from it. Update: Leaked images have given us a clear look at the likely design of the foldable Motorola Razr. Cut to the chase
Motorola Razr V4 release date and priceThe first Motorola Razr V4 release date rumor came from a report in The Wall Street Journal that pointed to February 2019 - a month that came and went with no sign of the phone. However Motorola sent out invites for a November 13 event that looks like it could be the launch event. Several teases and hints in the invitations point towards the reveal of a foldable phone, and it would be very surprising if Motorola had such a device that wasn't the new Motorola Razr. As for what it will cost, the WSJ report says to expect a starting price of roughly $1,500 (around £1,170, AU$2,010). That would make it far more expensive than most phones, but that’s not surprising given that it’s rumored to have a foldable screen. That's echoed partly by a later rumor, which says the handset will cost €1,500 (about $1,660, £1,375, AU$2,450). Since phone launch prices aren't always exact conversions in different regions, it's possible that it will cost $1,500 in the US, €1,500 in Europe, and perhaps even £1,500 in the UK. We'd expect it to cost more than AU$1,500 though, as that would be an incredibly low price compared to the other regions! Expect the new Motorola Razr to be a lot more modern (and a lot more expensive) It also sounds like Motorola and parent company Lenovo aren't expecting the Razr 2019 to be a mainstream device, with the WSJ report also saying that only around 200,000 units are likely to be made, and that in the US it's a Verizon exclusive. How do we know the Motorola Razr V4 is foldable?The main thing we've heard about the Motorola Razr 2019 is that it will have a foldable screen. The first hint of that came from Lenovo’s CEO Yang Yuanqing, who, during MWC 2018, said: "With the new technology, particularly foldable screens, I think you will see more and more innovation on our smartphone design. "So hopefully what you just described [the Motorola Razr brand] will be developed or realized very soon." Then, at MWC 2019, Motorola vice president and general manager Anthony Barounas, said, according to TrustedReviews: “If you go around the stores today, for me the phones all look the same. It’s difficult to see if it’s a Motorola, or [another brand]. How we differentiate to the consumer, show them something really different, that’s where foldables comes in. And that’s where Motorola also has a very big investment. I can’t say much but we have one franchise that will have a very big impact there.” So that's pretty much a confirmation that a foldable phone is in the works, though the Razr brand wasn't mentioned by name. Motorola Razr V4 news and rumorsWe've finally seen leaked images seemingly showing the new Motorola Razr 2019, and they're about what we'd expected, with a clamshell-like design and a screen (of possibly 6.2 inches) that folds in the middle. That size would make it far more compact than the other foldable phones that we've seen so far. Other details include an even smaller display on the front, along with a camera bump and what looks to be a button or fingerprint scanner. An additional image of the screen when fully open can be seen below, highlighting that there's no visible hinge. We've also seen patents pointing to a foldable screen. You can see images from the older patent immediately below and the newer one further down, but they both point to a clamshell design with a foldable display, much like the leaked images discussed above show. However, while the older patent shows a large hinge and seemingly a gap between the two display halves, the other, newer patent (found by 91mobiles) shows a truly foldable display. There's still a hinge, but this isn’t as visible when looking at the screen. This one also appears to have a smaller secondary display on the back of the phone, as we've seen in leaked images. That makes some sense, as otherwise you wouldn’t be able to see a screen unless the phone was fully unfolded. The newer patent also shows a notch at the top of the screen. The back also contains what looks to be a single-lens camera above the smaller display, and a fingerprint scanner on the lower section. Another rumor supports the idea that the device has a secondary screen. It also details some possible features of that screen, saying that you might be able to use it to scroll through web pages that you're viewing on the main screen. The secondary screen could also apparently be used to display notifications and a clock, to interact with Google Assistant when the main screen is closed, and to provide shortcuts to settings. It sounds then like it won't have the full functionality of the main screen if this rumor is right. Image credit: XDA Developers Another report revealed possible specs, as well as a logo (seen above, background filled in with black for clarity). The new Motorola Razr will supposedly pack a Snapdragon 710, either 4 or 6Gb of RAM and either 64 or 128GB of storage. It also may have 2,730mAh of battery, though the source noted that last spec might be out of date. However, given that the Razr V4 looks to be a fairly compact phone (at least by foldable standards) it might not need a huge amount of juice to stay on. Clearly, this would be a departure from other foldable phones, which so far have top-tier specs. And while previous rumors have revealed a somewhat cheaper potential price for the Motorola Razr 2019, it's still far beyond what today's non-folding flagship phones cost. The silver lining, of course, is that the Motorola Razr V4 might open up the door to mid-range foldables, that have weaker specs but lower prices. If you don't need cutting-edge processors and RAM to power foldable tech, perhaps we'll see more affordable folding devices sooner than we thought. What we want to seeRumors about the Motorola Razr 2019 are starting to roll in but we don’t know much yet, so we’ve come up with a list of what we hope it offers. 1. A great designOne of the reasons the Motorola Razr range was so popular was because of its slim, stylish design. Of course, the old models like the Motorola Razr V3, are dated now, but we’d like to see the spirit of the design carried on for the Razr V4, but in a more modern form. We want a slim, futuristic handset. The good news is that if the screen really does fold then it should at least be futuristic, though it might not be all that slim when folded shut. 2. Genuinely useful flexibilityThere’s a worry that early foldable screens could be little more than a gimmick, but we hope that’s not the case with the Motorola Razr V4. Hopefully, the company will find a way to make it feel genuinely useful. If Motorola successfully makes a screen that can change from phone to tablet size without feeling awkward then that would be a good start. 3. Flagship specsAny foldable phone is inevitably going to be expensive and rumors specifically suggest that the Motorola Razr 2019 will be pricey. So we really want to get our money’s worth, by not just getting a foldable screen but also specs that can compete with the best of 2019’s new and upcoming flagships, like the Samsung Galaxy S10 and iPhone 11. We want the Razr V4 to be able to compete with the latest flagships 4. A long-lasting batteryWe want all of our phones to have decent battery life, but this is of particular concern with foldable phones, as the larger screens could be a big drain. So hopefully there will be an appropriately large battery in the Motorola Razr V4 to keep it going through the day and beyond. 5. A palatable priceEarly rumors suggest this will be one very expensive phone, and we’d expect it to be too, since foldable screens are a new, likely pricey feature. However, for these devices to have remotely mainstream appeal the cost is going to need to be pushed down. That probably won’t happen until the second or third generation of foldable devices, but it would be a nice surprise if Motorola (which is known in part for offering great value handsets) manages to make an affordable one on the first attempt. 6. Near stock Android with foldable featuresOne thing we love about most current Moto phones is that they use a version of Android that’s had little done to it, ensuring the software is polished, easily approachable and typically quick to get updated. We hope the same is true for the new Motorola Razr. Or at least, for the most part. What we would like to see though are some software features that help you get the most out of the foldable screen. We’re not sure what those would be, but hopefully that’s something Motorola has given some thought to. 7. A sharp, durable screenBeing foldable is one thing, but we don’t want that to be the only thing the Razr 2019’s screen has going for it. We’d also like it to be a sharp, high-quality panel. And for it to be durable, because it’s going to need to be if it’s constantly being folded. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Leaked Motorola Razr images give us our first proper look at the folding phone Posted: 31 Oct 2019 08:27 AM PDT Motorola has managed to keep its rumored foldable Razr fairly quiet so far, with only a few leaks springing, but now we’ve finally seen leaked images that give us a clear look at the likely design. Shared by Evan Blass (a reputable leaker) and MobielKopen, the images show a phone that looks quite a lot like the ancient Motorola Razr V3, but where the bottom half of that phone had buttons, here it looks to be all screen, with a fold in the middle. So it’s a clamshell design, with the main screen rumored to be 6.2 inches, making it relatively small compared to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy Fold. There’s also an even smaller screen on the outside, along with a camera bump and what looks to be a button or fingerprint scanner.
The handset when folded looks very compact, fitting easily into a hand, but with a rumored price of €1,500 (about $1,660, £1,375, AU$2,450), this isn’t going to be a cheap option. While we’d take these images with a pinch of salt, they look reasonably convincing, and with the foldable Motorola Razr (possibly called the Motorola Razr V4) set to be announced on November 13, we’d expect to be seeing accurate leaked images by now. TechRadar will be reporting live from the launch event, and we’ll also bring you any additional leaks and rumors ahead of then, so stay tuned – now that a few images have leaked the floodgates may well open.
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| 3D printers could help your train run on time Posted: 31 Oct 2019 08:18 AM PDT In the future, the majority of repairs on railway lines in the UK could be carried out by robotic 3D printers, and such a system of more efficient repairs could help trains run on time. At least that’s the vision of Amey, the infrastructural support provider which holds rail repair (and construction) contracts for Network Rail (across London, the East Midlands, and North West of England).
As 3D Printing Industry reports, the idea would be to combine a robotic arm with 3D printing in a mobile repair carriage that could move along railway lines and deliver repairs where needed, or even replace entire sections of train track. The plans are still in their early stages, with some concept drawings provided by ABB, a Switzerland-based robotic arm manufacturer – see the image at the top – but Amey believes that over 60% of UK railway lines could eventually be serviced in such a manner. Initially, the focus would be on track renewals – tackling problems with switches and crossings – and the repair system would be quicker and more efficient than current methods, not to mention safer for the people working on the rails. As smaller refurbishment jobs could be completed more swiftly, rail routes wouldn’t have to be closed for as long. And with repairs being made more regularly on an ongoing basis throughout the rail network, trains will hopefully be less likely to encounter problems in their daily running. Safe and sustainableSimon Grundy, Innovation Manager, Consulting & Rail at Amey, observed: “The 190,000 people working on the UK’s railways go above and beyond to ensure that the network is kept running. However, every second they are on the tracks, they are at risk.” He further observes: “3D printing will remove our people from harm, as renewals previously done by manually removing track, will now be done automatically, in situ using robotics. Not only will this dramatically reduce accidents, the same staff will be upskilled to operate this new technology, futureproofing our workforce.” The further financial benefit would be savings which are estimated to the tune of over £40 million per year for the UK rail network. Grundy notes: “Investment in 3D printing is also an investment in sustainability. Large pieces of track previously scrapped will now be repurposed on site, drastically reducing material waste and lowering our carbon footprint. This allows the rail industry to make a significant contribution towards helping the UK government achieve its net zero target by 2050.” This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| The best cheap MacBook sale prices and deals in October 2019 Posted: 31 Oct 2019 08:15 AM PDT Finding cheap MacBook prices can be a tough task, but we've searched through the sales to dig out the best deals on every model. That's right, we've tracked down the latest offers for every type of Apple laptop out there. We've got you covered for the standard 12-inch MacBooks, the 13 and 15-inch MacBook Pros and if you want something that sits between the two, then you'll want to take a look at our MacBook Air section. We've pulled the best cheap Macbook prices from the latest sales on a wide range of Apple's lineup via our price comparison technology which searches through the best retailers every day. All the newest MacBook models are covered of course, but we've also compared prices on some of the older MacBooks still readily available as you can save a lot of money by skipping back to an older model while still getting an excellent piece of tech. All you need to do now is work out whether it’s a MacBook, a MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air that you want. We'll help though by telling you about each one of them. If you're not quite set on a MacBook (they are rather pricey), then we have some alternative guides for you. Take a look at our selection of best laptops for other top performing machines or our cheap laptop deals for solid buys that won't break the bank as we search for great offers all year round. If the freshest MacBook prices are what you're after though, you'll find them all below. The best Black Friday Macbook deals and salesIf you're still not sorted with the deals below, you could always try the upcoming Black Friday shopping season. MacBook prices hold well, so there's no guarantee on a significant discount, but if one does appear we'll be shouting it over on our Black Friday deals guide.
The MacBook Air 2019 is only marginally different from the 2018 version which it looks set to replace. And, sales aside, the 2019 MacBook prices are already a little cheaper at some stores, so it's generally worth trying to pick up this version instead. The 2019 MacBook Air's main selling points over the 2018 model is the addition of the MacBook Pro's True Tone screen that automatically adjusts color temperatures on the screen depending on the ambient light of the room you're working in. A new third-generation Butterfly keyboard is less likely to see keys sticking or becoming unresponsive too, which has been an issue dogging multiple MacBooks in recent years. The MacBook Air 2018 includes the excellent Retina screen display from the far more expensive MacBook Pro models, and the bezels are 50% thinner than the previous generation of MacBook Air. The keyboard is four times as stable as before and the Force Touch trackpad is 20% bigger too, which is great for multi-touch interactions. Audio hasn't been overlooked, as the speakers are now 25% louder and a new mic array means asking Siri for assistance is easier. Touch ID has finally come to the Air series too meaning you can log in or verify purchases via a simple touch. You also get two Thunderbolt ports, but legacy options have been removed, so you may want to consider our guides for the best USB-C adapters or the best USB-C hubs. Inside the gorgeous chassis, you get an upgraded 8th-gen dual-core processor, Intel UHD graphics and the SSDs now run 60% faster and support larger sizes than the 2017 line. We didn't expect the new MacBook Air's form factor to improve given it was already pleasingly discrete but it's now 10% smaller and a quarter of a pound lighter. The 2018 MacBook Air prices start higher than ones for the 2017 edition did, but we'll compare the latest deals for you below thanks to our engaged price comparison technology. Prices for the new MacBook Air 2018 start at $1199 / £1199 / AU$1849 for the entry level versions. So anything under that is a bonus for the newest member of the cheap MacBook Air family. We have to admit, we thought Apple was done with the MacBook Air line after the Pro lineup became just as compact and almost as light. In 2017, Apple gave the 13-inch MacBook Air its first update since 2015. This meant you could get a much healthier 8GB of RAM instead of 4GB along with a processor upgrade to 1.8GHz (over 1.6GHz) making it much better at multi-tasking. Stock of this older MacBook Air will gradually run out at retailers as the newer model above phases it out, and MacBook prices could fluctuate due to its age. But while new stock is still available, this is your best bet for a cheap MacBook Air. Apple didn't release a standard MacBook in 2018 or 2019, instead focusing on the Air and Pro lines, so this is the newest regular MacBook you can buy. The screen and compact dimensions on the 2017 MacBook are the same as the 2016 edition. The main improvement with the latest version is the inclusion of the 7th-gen Kaby Lake processors in either m3, i5 or i7 configurations. 2015 MacBook owners are the most likely to notice and appreciate the improvements, but if you're still looking for a cheap MacBook and the Air model doesn't provide the power you need, these MacBook prices could be for you. The internal specifications on the 2016 12-inch MacBook might be lagging behind the most recent version nowadays, but if you're not planning on pushing the device too hard with demanding tasks then it could be a great money-saving option for you. While some of the cheapest prices might be reserved for refurbs, the 2016 MacBook is still a fantastic device and it's one of the most portable options in Apple's laptop lineup. The newest 15-inch Apple MacBook Pro 2019 is strictly-speaking just the 2018 model stuffed with even more powerful spec. Depending on how much cash you're willing to splash, you can get up to 32GB of RAM with 9th-gen i7 6-core or i9 8-core processor options available too. So yes, this is easily the most powerful MacBook Pro Apple has ever released, but unless you've got some seriously demanding professional-level kit that requires that much grunt, you're probably better off checking out some of the older, cheaper MacBook Pros models below instead and saving yourself some serious cash. There are also rumours of a 16-inch MacBook Pro coming soon, so you might want to hedge your bets until then. The 2018 version of the 13-inch Apple MacBook Pro is the best yet, comes with the Touch Bar as standard on most models and features a range of improvements. The screen resolution may be the same with the excellent Retina display, but now there's True Tone technology inside that senses ambient lighting in the room or outdoors to adjust the brightness of the screen for the best possible picture. The keyboard is quieter and less 'clicky' too. You're getting the brand new 8th-gen Coffee Lake core processor and the quad-core CPUs have doubled the performance of the 2017 models. With more options for larger RAM too, options really open up for creatives and professionals with the MacBook Pro 2018. If you're looking for the best MacBook Pro prices for the highest performance, the 13-inch 2018 model may be for you. The larger 15-inch version of the 2018 MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar is generally going to cost a fair bit more than the 13-inch model, but that's not just because of the larger screen. Apple have also pumped an impressive range of specs inside this bigger model. Increased RAM supports the extra processing power (a six core Coffee Lake processor), and larger SSD storage opens your MacBook Pro to even greater multitasking and more complex workflows. The True Tone screen technology and quieter keyboard are also added improvements over the 2017 model. This really is a powerhouse laptop for designers and industry creatives. If you don't need all that gear though, we'd consider the cheap MacBook Pro 13-inch model. Or, you could always opt for an older MacBook Pro - prices are likely to be much better. The older 13-inch MacBook Pros are amongst the cheaper options if you want to go Pro. These versions don't come with a Touch Bar which is something to factor in when comparing how much you'll save versus the added functionality the new tech could add to your work and computing life in general. These are incredibly light for MacBook Pros, but they still pack an incredible punch with 2.3GHz and dual core processors ranging from i5 to i7. The trackpads are larger than older MacBook Pros too and you're getting fantastic Retina displays which still look stunning today. This is a cheap MacBook Pro price that reflects the age of the laptop but also maintains that Apple power to keep your older model running well. 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| Why anyone can test drive the new Jaguar Vision GT virtual sports car Posted: 31 Oct 2019 08:00 AM PDT Jaguar is about to release a brand new sports car that can go 0-60 in only 1.9 seconds. The only catch? It’s a virtual car that will be available for the Gran Turismo 6 video game. Yet, it shows how automakers will help us choose a new car in the near future. I’m a little surprised this isn't more common. If you walk into a dealership today, expressing interest in a new car, most salespeople will lead you to the physical car. Yet, it makes sense if they let you try out cars in a virtual showroom first. I’ve been a fan of the Forza series for years, and have played many of the Gran Turismo games. The Jaguar Vision GT is a coupe that borrows heavily from other real-world Jaguar sports cars. It has the typical long front hood and wide stance, with hints of the Jaguar D-Type. The virtual car is an all-electric with 750 kilowatts of power and 885 lb-ft of torque. It weighs only 1,400kg and has a 50:50 weight distribution. What’s truly amazing is that anyone can drive it. If you own Gran Turismo 6 for PlayStation, it will be a free download next month. That’s impressive because it gives anyone the experience of driving a high-end car (one that doesn’t exist in the real world) and to get a sense of the driving mechanics, speed, handling, style, and feel of the car. Jaguar says the Vision GT is a hint of where the car company is heading in the future but it’s also helpful for anyone looking for a new vehicle because it can help you decide if you like the feel, the drive, and the features. True to lifeRacing sims have improved dramatically in recent years, especially with the Forza series. I’ve tested a physical version of a Corvette that’s sitting in my driveway and then tested the virtual version in the game and it mimics exactly how the real vehicle feels. Forza designers, in particular, use the actual specs from cars modeled in the game so that they brake, handle, and accelerate the same way in the simulation as they do on the road. In the near future, racing games will switch from a mere entertainment venue to something much more practical. We’ll be able to test the latest model of a Ford or Chevrolet in a simulation and find out how it handles on roads we already know, helping us to understand safety features and choose between different trim levels. Other car companies have released virtual test cars for Gran Turismo as well, including Bugatti, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and McLaren. The next step is to make them available either through a browser window or in a showroom when you go shopping and to make it easy to drive multiple vehicles. Imagine a scenario where you can pick from different makes and models that match your driving preferences, then take the real car out on the road as well to see if it matches the virtual experience. This will also help when cars become more fully automated. We can become the virtual passenger in an autonomous car driving on a road we’re already familiar with as a way to experience what that will be like. That will help with buying decisions but even in the future when we merely rent cars temporarily. It will give us a taste of what to expect when we are no longer in the virtual cockpit and ready for the real experience. On The Road is TechRadar's regular look at the futuristic tech in today's hottest cars. John Brandon, a journalist who's been writing about cars for 12 years, puts a new car and its cutting-edge tech through the paces every week. One goal: To find out which new technologies will lead us to fully self-driving cars. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
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