Apple : You can get a cheaper Roku Soundbar and Subwoofer at Walmart on Black Friday |
- You can get a cheaper Roku Soundbar and Subwoofer at Walmart on Black Friday
- The best iPhone 8 Plus deals in October 2019
- Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019
- Best security camera: keep an eye on your home from your smartphone
- Unreleased Apple Watch Sleep app possibly exposed in screenshot
- MSI's new Alpha 15 brings AMD Navi graphics to its gaming laptops
- The 9 weirdest PC gaming accessories to get your hands (and everything else) on
- macOS Catalina is here: everything you need to know about macOS 10.15
- Best Smart TV 2019: every smart TV platform and which set does it best
- Boutique PC builders' best work: the experts' top custom case builds
- AMD Ryzen 9 3950X can overclock to 4.3GHz on all cores, blowing away Intel Core i9-9900K
- Remembering StarCraft’s Battle.net – the service that sparked an online gaming revolution
- Nvidia G-Sync HDR vs AMD FreeSync 2: the race for high-dynamic range PC gaming
- Best website builder of 2019
- Vodafone broadband deals top the fibre market...especially for its mobile users
- BlackBerry lays out its next steps for IoT world domination
- Black Friday preview at Best Buy: massive price cuts on 4K TVs
- Intel reveals new cut-price Xeon CPUs and more on Cascade Lake-X
- Best free website builder 2019
| You can get a cheaper Roku Soundbar and Subwoofer at Walmart on Black Friday Posted: 07 Oct 2019 01:23 PM PDT Roku and Walmart are partnering up to release cheaper versions of the Roku Smart Soundbar and Roku Wireless Subwoofer under Walmart’s Onn brand of electronics, the companies announced today. These versions of Roku’s products will be slightly lower-spec’d than the regular versions and look slightly different – but at $129 apiece they will be around $50 less than the standard versions going out to other retailers. According to information sent to TechRadar, the Onn Roku Smart Soundbar features 40W of peak power versus the Roku Smart Soundbar's 60W, as well as a different set of drivers, and a Roku IR remote with TV power controls. The Onn Roku Wireless Subwoofer features a 10-inch driver like the Roku Wireless Subwoofer, but is slightly smaller and features 150 peak watts of power versus the Roku Wireless Subwoofer's 250 peak watts of power – meaning that it won’t be as powerful as the regular version. Audio products for audiophiles on a budgetThat said however, the Onn versions will be mostly on par with their respective Roku counterparts: Both soundbars will be able to stream HD, 4K UHD, and HDR video, while the Roku Wireless Subwoofer will be able to connect to either the Soundbar or the Roku TV Wireless Speakers to bring some extra oomph to the low-end. And, again, they're $50 cheaper than the regular versions that would cost $179 each. According to the companies, both the Onn Roku Smart Soundbar and Onn Roku Wireless Subwoofer will be available in the coming weeks, arriving just in time for the annual Walmart Black Friday rush.
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| The best iPhone 8 Plus deals in October 2019 Posted: 07 Oct 2019 12:41 PM PDT If even the iPhone 11's budget flagship price (to say nothing of the iPhone 11 Pro Max's pricetag) is too much for you to stomach, but you still want a big-screened iPhone, then perhaps the iPhone 8 Plus is the way to go. It has a 5.5-inch screen and an impressive camera that continues to get better with iOS 13, even if doesn't have the extra lenses of Apple's leading phones. It's still not the cheapest handset, so you'll definitely want to peruse all the iPhone 8 Plus deals that you'll find here - but at less than half the price of the leading iPhone 11 Pro, it's the best compromise between iOS value and power in the iPhone range. Below you'll find deals from carriers like T-Mobile and Verizon, which include discounts on a second phone and offers for your trade-in. Further down the page you'll find unlocked options. If you'd rather purchase directly from Apple, you can expect to pay $699 for the 64GB model or $949 for the 256GB model, but you can get up to $315 in credit when you trade in your old iPhone. Don't need such a big phone? Check out these iPhone 8 deals. The best Black Friday iPhone 8 Plus deals and pricesWhile you can still shop fantastic offers for the iPhone 8 Plus below, it's never too early to start thinking about upcoming discounts for Black Friday 2019 (and Cyber Monday after that). To help you score the lowest prices, we've put together a guide on how to find the best Black Friday iPhone deals of 2019. We'll also tell you everything else you need to know, such as when the sale starts, what deals to expect, and other iPhone models that will be on sale. The best iPhone 8 Plus deals from US CarriersThe best money-saving plans: T-Mobile plans | Verizon plans | AT&T plans | Sprint plans How much does the iPhone 8 Plus cost?The short answer is $799. That's what Apple charges for the 64GB iPhone 8 Plus, available in silver, gold, or space gray. Of course, if you need more memory, then it's going to cost you more; your only other option is spending an extra $150 and grabbing a $949 256GB iPhone 8 Plus. As we've outlined above, there are ways to get a deal, or at the very least, break your cost out into more manageable monthly payments (also available via Apple). This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019 Posted: 07 Oct 2019 12:30 PM PDT Welcome to TechRadar's fifth – yes, fifth! – annual PC Gaming Week. This is the TechRadar Computing Team's favorite time of year, a time in which we get to celebrate the joys and explore the depths of arguably the most powerful and versatile gaming platform of all time. This time around, we've rounded up a fine selection of analyses, interviews, opinions, how-to guides and features both old and new for all kinds of PC gamers. Whether you've been gaming on computers since the days of baud modem-powered multi-user dungeons, or you have no idea what we just said (but can clean house in Fortnite), we've got some excellent reads for you. We’ll be updating this page daily as new articles are published, just so you don't miss a thing. Keep coming back throughout the week for fresh, new pieces and looks at gems from the TechRadar archives that you may have missed last time around. OK, enough with this loading screen, let's get TechRadar's 2019 PC Gaming Week started right now. Remembering StarCraft’s Battle.net – the service that sparked an online gaming revolutionIn this piece republished for PC Gaming Week, we spoke with Blizzard's head of network technology all about Battle.net – the company's system for online multiplayer – in its early days. It's a fascinating trip down memory lane for the Starcraft and Diablo nuts out there. How Razer is reinventing the wheel with the new Blade StealthWe recently had the pleasure of chatting with Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan at IFA 2019, which proved excellent fodder for our PC Gaming Week celebration. During our talk, Tan gushed about the new Razer Blade Stealth, and what it means for the future of the company's laptops. PC gaming’s unsung heroes: the PC gamers you rarely hear aboutIn this piece, we explore the corners of the PC gaming audience that you don't immediately think of when you hear the words "PC gamer." From grannies that absolutely own Skyrim to folks that spend their gaming hours toiling digital fields, these are the unsung heroes of PC gaming. How Remedy and Nvidia teamed up to push PC gaming to its limits with ControlControl is one of the most graphically ambitious PC games in years, so we chatted to the team at Remedy Entertainment, the devs behind the game (as well as Max Payne and Alan Wake), and Nvidia about how the companies worked together to push PC gaming to its limits. The most graphically-impressive PC games of all timeThe PC is the place to play some of the most beautiful games ever made. In our rundown of the most graphically-impressive PC games of all time, we look at some of the best looking games in recent history. Game changers: the PC gaming moments which have most wowed us in the last 30 yearsPC Gaming week is all about celebrating this brilliant platform, and what better way of doing it than listing the PC gaming moments which have most wowed us in the last 30 years? I spent way too long playing with the new Steam libraryJust in time for PC Gaming Week 2019, Valve released a beta update for Steam that completely changes the way the library looks. So, we took the opportunity to dive in and play with all the new features. And, we liked what we saw. Game ownership in the digital age: what do you do in a post-ownership age?If you buy a lot of new games, you've probably noticed that we're not stacking up new games all the time like we used to. That's why we thought we'd take the opportunity to dive into what PC game ownership means during PC Gaming Week. I expect you to die! The 10 best ever villains in PC gamingOver the years we've seen some truly memorable – and terrifying – villains while playing on our computers, so to celebrate PC Gaming Week 2019, we've listed the 10 best ever villains in PC gaming. How to run your old PC games on Windows 10The PC has a huge back catalogue of some of the best and most groundbreaking games ever made, and it's relatively easy to get older PC games running on newer hardware – giving you the ability to play decades of games. So, check out our guide on how to run your old PC games on Windows 10 to find out how you can get the PC's awesome back catalogue on your modern gaming rig. How to play PC games on a cheap laptopOne of the best things about PC gaming is how easy it is for almost anyone to get involved. Sure, you can spend loads of money on a fancy new rig to play the latest games at full graphical settings, but you don't need to spend a fortune. In our guide on how to play PC games on a cheap laptop, we show you how you can play games on a budget laptop – with a few choice tweaks to make the games run as smoothly as possible. The history of Minecraft – the best selling PC game everMinecraft is the biggest selling PC game ever – so to celebrate, we look back at the history of Minecraft, from its humble beginnings to world domination. 5 movies that should have been made into PC gamesIt always seems like the worst movies get made into PC games, right? Well, for PC gaming week, we take a look at 5 movies that should have been made into PC games. Who knows, there's still time, right? Best gaming mouse pads 2019: the best mouse mats for gamersGaming keybaords get a lot of attention, so do the gaming mice. But, the gaming mouse pads sadly get ignored far too often. That's why we went ahead and gathered up the best gaming mouse pads 2019 has to offer. Best gaming keyboard 2019: the best gaming keyboards we've testedYou can't celebrate PC gaming without celebrating the essential peripherals, right? That's why for PC Gaming Week, we decided to take a look at the best gaming keyboards you can buy today. The 35 best indie games on PCJust ask any PC gamer, and they'll likely tell you that PC gaming is just as much about indie games than the big-budget AAA adventures – maybe even more so. That's why for PC Gaming Week, we took a look at the best indie games on PC right now. How MSI builds some of the smallest gaming PCs in the worldWhen you think of PC gaming, it's likely you imagine a giant tower of a PC. But, you can have all of that power inside a tiny little chassis that will fit next to your TV. So, for PC gaming week, we took a look at how MSI builds some of the smallest gaming PCs in the world. Best hard drives 2019: the top HDD for desktops and laptopsSSDs might be all the rage, but a good hard drive is a great place to store all the dozens of PC games that you don't want to delete, but maybe don't load up very often. That's why, for PC gaming week, we took a look at the best hard drives 2019 has to offer. Touring Maingear: the hypercar auto shop of gaming PC buildersFor PC Gaming Week, we take a look around the head quarters of Maingear, a boutique PC builder that makes some seriously impressive gaming PCs. Why (and how) Acer makes the most extreme PC gaming hardwareAcer makes some of the most powerful – and over-the-top – gaming hardware money can buy. So, we talk to Acer President of IT Products Jerry Kao about Acer's passion of PC gaming, and why the company wants to provide insanely powerful PC gaming hardware. How much RAM do you really need in your gaming PC?Recently we've been seeing games with ever more demanding specifications – including RAM. While component makers and PC manufacturers are perfectly happy to sell you large amounts of RAM, we look at how much RAM do you really need in your gaming PC. Make sure you read this before splashing out on huge amounts of memory – it might just save you a lot of money. The best gaming PC 2019: 10 of the top gaming desktops you can buyFor PC Gaming Week 2019, we pick the very best gaming desktop PCs that money can buy right now. If our PC gaming coverage has got you desperate to fire up a rig and play some games, then this list is an excellent starting point. PC gaming has entered the eye of the subscription service stormPC gaming is changing thanks to subscription services like Xbox Game Pass. For PC Gaming Week 2019, we take a look at how PC gaming has entered the eye of the subscription service storm – and what it means for our favorite pastime. How Sega became one of the biggest names in PC gamingSega used to be best known for console games featuring a certain speedy blue hedgehog, but these day's it's one of the most powerful players in PC gaming. In an exclusive interview, we talk to Gary Dale, President of Sega Europe and Anna Downing, VP of Marketing for Sega Europe, about how Sega became one of the biggest names in PC gaming. How to turn a second hand PC into a gaming beastYou don't need to spend a fortune to build yourself a decent gaming rig as our guide on how to turn a second hand PC into a gaming beast shows. All you need is an older PC and a few choice components and you can create a gaming PC that can handle most modern games for not much money. What’s it like to game on a $40,000 PC?How good a gaming rig could you get if money is no object? We put that to the test as we explore what it's like to game on a $40,000 PC. We visited Overclockers UK's head quarters to test out the phenomenal 8Pack Orion X2, which costs £33,000 – or around $43,000 if you’re in the USA – which is more than most people's house deposits. But just how good at playing games is such an expensive machine? Read on to find out... Best controllers for PC 2019: the best PC game controllers you can buy todayIt may sound blasphemous to some, but game controllers absolutely have their place in PC gaming. This is especially true when you consider the glut of indie platformers and other games of their ilk on the platform. With that, it's about time that we collect the best PC game controllers in one place for your perusal, from overall greats to specific pads for those retro gems. Best SSDs 2019: the top solid-state drives for your PCWith the amount of massive PC games releasing on an annual basis, peppered with countless indie releases that just demand playing, the need for a fast, sizable solid-state drive is more dire than ever. So, we've incorporated our guide to the best SSDs on the market in several categories into PC Gaming Week 2019. Here's what we think are the best SSDs for several use cases and occasions. How to build a cheap gaming PC that doesn't suckWe get it: PC gaming can be an awfully expensive hobby. However, we also have come to learn that it doesn't necessarily have to be, especially if you're able to save. So, we've built a gaming PC for not much more than an Xbox One X that doesn't compromise where it counts. This thing can store plenty of games and play them swimmingly at 1080p resolution. So, here's how to build a cheap gaming PC that doesn't suck. Epic Games Store vs Steam: a tale of two digital storefrontsWe ran this piece for the first time earlier this year, just as the Epic Games Store was coming out of the gate from a December 2018 debut. As it turns out, not a whole has changed in comparing it against the elephant in the room, Valve's Steam. Regardless, we've slightly updated and repurposed the piece to examine both online PC game stores as they are in late September or early October 2019. Here's where the Epic Games Store vs Steam debate stands today. The best PC gaming headsets of 2019Being huge fans of PC gaming, we test every end of the hardware experience, even the vast PC gaming audio market. We particularly enjoy the immersion of a good gaming headset. Since we figure at least some of you share the same desire for excellent audio from our PC games, we've included our comprehensive list of the best PC gaming headsets we've tested in 2019. Why Corsair believes in the wireless future of PC gamingLast year, we spoke with game peripheral maker Corsair about its long-awaited journey into wireless gaming accessories. Given that it's well into producing some of the best wireless mice and keyboards on the market today, we thought it fitting to revisit this piece. The best gaming PC 2019: 10 of the top gaming desktops you can buyHas all this talk of PC gaming got you wanting to upgrade your rig? Then check out our pick of the best gaming PCs of 2019. We've picked the best desktop PCs that are packed with some of the latest and greatest gaming components, and can handle the very latest PC games with ease. Intel’s love affair with PC gamingIntel isn't just one of the biggest names in computing, thanks to its processors that powers so many of our rigs, but it's also a big supporter of PC gaming. For TechRadar's PC Gaming Week, we explore Intel's love affair with PC gaming, and how the company is helping grow esports, while also giving players and creators the powerful tools they need to get the most out of their games. The best PC games 2019PC Gaming Week wouldn't be complete without our definitive rundown of the very best PC games you can play right now. From the top single player games, to hectic multiplayer madness, we've selected what we think are the best PC games in 2019. Each one has been thoroughly played by us, and they all prove why the PC is the best gaming platform. 5 secret tips for building a great gaming PCThink you know all there is to know about building a gaming PC? Think again, as we kick off TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019 with this guide to the best secret tips for building a great gaming PC. From winning the silicone lottery, to PSU and cooling tips, these handy hacks will have you building a killer rig in no time. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Best security camera: keep an eye on your home from your smartphone Posted: 07 Oct 2019 12:19 PM PDT If you've ever wondered what happens around your home when you're not around, you should probably consider buying a smart camera. Unlike basic security cams that store data to a small PC or enterprise systems that charge you for a subscription package, smart cameras use cloud storage and a real-time video feed to give you the flexibility to check on your property whenever and wherever you are, plus be able to control them from your other smart devices, like your Amazon Echo Show or Google Home Hub. That said, the security camera you choose to buy shouldn't be the only line of defense for your home (don't forget to grab a smart lock and an alarm system, too) but it should be part of a defensive strategy that keeps you and your family safe. There are plenty of different devices out there for you to choose from and in this guide we'll talk you through the best security cameras that we’ve tried out. Not seeing a good fit? We’ll be adding to this list with new devices as we review them, so keep checking back throughout the year. [Update: The latest and greatest smart camera is the Arlo Pro 3 that was announced in late September. It will offer a 2K resolution with HDR support and a vibrant night vision mode that allows to see colored images even in the dark. It's available starting in late September / early October in black or white for $199.99 (around £160, AU$295) for just the camera or $499.99 (around £400, AU$740) for two cameras and the Arlo Hub.] Best indoor security camerasThe Netgear Arlo Pro 2 is called Pro for a reason. This high-end set-up is truly a professional-quality security system for your property, with a price tag to match. The Arlo Pro 2 is essentially a starter pack, which consists of one hub and two cameras. The cameras are of a high-end and solid build and they're capable of recording crystal-clear 1080p HD video. It's worth noting that they do work well both indoors and outdoors, thanks to their IP65 waterproof rating and strong magnetic mounts. Thanks to 8x digital zoom, a 'smart siren' and a powerful Night Vision mode, there's no corner of your home you can't keep a close eye on from the system's app or web interface, giving you ultimate peace of mind. The main downside is the set-up, which proved to be tricky. We had a few router incompatibility issues and it's not the most intuitive security system on the market either. Read our full review: Netgear Arlo Pro 2 The Hive View is the latest camera from the smart home manufacturer behind the well-regarded range of heating control kits. A collaboration with designer Yves Béhar, the Hive View is one of the few security cameras we’ve ever seen that actually looks stylish, coming as it does in a choice of ‘champagne gold’ or black and ‘brushed copper’ finishes. Thankfully, as much effort has gone into the substance as the style, and the Hive View comes with some really cool features. Most notable is its detachable head, which allows you to temporarily move the camera – with its HD 180 degree field of vision – to anywhere you’d like in the house for as long as the on-board battery lasts, which is about an hour. Perfect if you want to keep an eye on the baby while cooking. The Hive View works as a standalone unit and with the wider Hive ecosystem, so if you’ve already got the Hive thermostat and sensors everything will work seamlessly together in the same app. Read our full review: Hive View Unlike most other security systems, the Arlo Go from Netgear has an interesting proposition: it's totally wireless. It works using a 4G LTE signal rather than WiFi, which means it works whenever it has mobile coverage. Add to that its IP65-certified waterproof rating and you've got yourself a portable camera that really can go anywhere. Well, anywhere with mobile signal. Arlo offers limited cloud storage allocation for free, as well as a microSD slot. This sets it apart from similar security brands that charge for a subscription. Unfortunately, you do have to pay for a mobile data plan to get the Go up and running. Installation is easy peasy, just pop in a SIM card, sync it up with the Arlo App on your phone and you're ready to go. You can place it anywhere and if you're putting it outside you can screw it to a metal stand. Although we worry this could put it at risk of being stolen, that's irony for you. The Arlo Go records HD at 720p. Although this is lower than other cameras in our buying guide, many of us don't really need best-in-class 4K recording on a security camera - especially if you're trying to transmit that kind of data via 4G. It also has a bunch of solid recording features, including motion sensing, timing options and geo-fencing, which turns the camera off when you're on your way home. The main downside is that it won't get perfect 4G coverage everywhere, especially in the countryside where good 3G is sometimes hard to come by. And if it doesn't have it, it just stops working as there's no option to use a mobile hotspot or to connect to Wi-Fi as a backup. Read our full review: Netgear Arlo Go The Nest Cam IQ has IQ in the name for a reason: it’s intelligent. Really intelligent. Not only can it notify you if there’s movement in your home, it can differentiate between people and animals, and – what’s really remarkable – it can even identify if it’s a familiar or unfamiliar person. The Nest Cam IQ also has the best image quality of any of the cameras we’ve tested, shooting in 4K and HDR (high dynamic range). If someone is in your home, you’ll have crystal clear images of them. The main drawback with the Nest Cam IQ is its price. Not only is it fairly expensive to start with, to use its full range of functions you’ll have to purchase a subscription to Nest Aware. But if you want the best quality, and are prepared to shell out for it, the Nest Cam IQ is probably the camera for you. Read our full review: Nest Cam IQ The Hive Camera is the original connected camera from Hive, and if you’re not bothered about the View’s swish looks and advanced features it may be more up your street. It’ll be lighter on your pocket too. The Hive Camera doesn’t work with the Hive ecosystem, and instead has its own dedicated app, which is either going to be a positive or a negative depending on if you already have Hive products, or are planning on building out from your camera purchase. What’s nice is that the Hive Camera has a slot for an microSD card so that you can record footage directly on the camera, with no need for a subscription. The design is more traditional, with a white plastic casing, and a black surround for the camera lens. It has some tricks up its sleeve, like being able to sound an alarm or even replicate the sound of a barking dog if you see someone in your house who shouldn’t be there. Read our full review: Hive Camera The Logi Circle lacks the integration with smart home systems that you’ll get with more advanced systems like the Nest Cam IQ. Rather, it’s a fun standalone option if you just want a security camera without any fuss. And yes, we did just say fun – it’s not a word you typically associate with home security, but that was our reviewer’s experience when spending time with the Logi Circle. It has some intelligent features that allow you to set zones in your home – so, for example, if you want to know every time your dog jumps up on the couch, you can designate the couch as a zone, and any movement in that zone gets included in your digitally edited highlights reel of the day. The camera only records footage where there’s movement or audio, so at the end of each day you don’t have to watch hours of footage to find the few moments where something actually happened. Like the Hive View it has an onboard battery, and so can be removed from its dock and used wirelessly for a short time. Read our full review: Logi Circle Image Credit: TechRadar If you're looking for a budget indoor camera, then this one is for you. Although we think it's the best affordable option for keeping an eye on your home when you're away, the design might feel flimsy. It also doesn't offer premium features, such as 4K streaming or cloud-based video storage, and it's only available right now in the UK. However, it does handle the basics very well, and also doubles up as a baby monitor thanks to two-way audio and the ability to play lullabies remotely. Overall, it’s simple app interface and low price point makes the Smart Home Cam a very capable indoor security camera, especially if you’re buying one for the first time and want to see whether you like having one around the home. Read our full review: BT Smart Home Cam review Best outdoor security camerasThe Netatmo Presence is a definite statement of a security camera. Its hefty black body feels significant to hold, and is difficult to miss. This is both a strength and a weakness, as aesthetically it’s probably not going to complement your house design, but it does mean it’s a strong deterrent for anyone thinking about breaking in. Adding to the deterrence factor is the powerful dimmable LED floodlight, which you can adjust to your specified brightness. The Presence itself is an all-metal unit waterproofed to IPX7 standard, so you don’t have to worry about it being outdoors in a storm. You can adjust your notifications so that you’re only alerted when the camera identifies a person (or animal, or car). One frustration is that the camera works over Wi-Fi, and that means it needs to be within communicating range of your router to work. A clear benefit is that the Netatmo has a slot for a microSD card, meaning you don’t have to pay hefty subscription fees to record video, so you can quite quickly recoup the price difference for the fairly expensive unit. Read our review: Netatmo Presence The Nest Cam Outdoor is, unsurprisingly, the outdoor camera from Nest. Much like its indoor counterpart, the Outdoor boasts brilliant image quality and a fantastic app – which is no surprise given Nest’s origins as a Google company, now existing as part of Google’s parent company Alphabet. The Nest Cam Outdoor requires a subscription in order to unlock the full suite of features, but that’s fairly common with security cameras. The one fault we have to pick with the Nest Cam Outdoor is that it connects to its base with a magnet, meaning a thief could feasibly pluck it from the base, and, er… steal it. Nest is obviously aware of this flaw, and there is an upgrade in the works in the shape of the Nest Can IQ Outdoor, which has the smarts of the Nest Cam IQ (above), but is ‘tamper-proof’. A claim we'll be sure to put to the test when it comes out. Read our full review: Nest Cam Outdoor
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| Unreleased Apple Watch Sleep app possibly exposed in screenshot Posted: 07 Oct 2019 11:34 AM PDT Apple Watches might get a new Sleep app with smart alarm functionality, according to an alleged screenshot released early that was noticed by a MacRumors reader. The screenshot shows what looks like the existing Alarms app but with this added language - “Set your bedtime and wake up in the Sleep app” - suggesting there will be a new app for users to start their day with. According to the tipster Daniel Marcinkowsi (tweet below), the screenshot was posted in the App Store preview for the Alarms app, likely by mistake as the feature hasn’t been announced (the preview has been reverted to the old app’s look). Conceivably, this could work just like the Bedtime tab in the Clock app for iPhone/iOS, allowing users to set a planned bedtime and wakeup for the week along with basic sleep tracking. It’s better than nothing, but it might not be the advanced sleep tracking that the best smartwatches and the best fitness bands provide - and not the sleep monitoring that’s rumored to be coming to Apple Watches in the future. Apple Watch sleep tracking: coming in 2020?This alleged screenshot is the first we’ve heard of a Sleep app, which clearly didn’t arrive in the recently-released watchOS 6. Nor did the brand-new Apple Watch 5 come with sleep tracking, which was heavily rumored to come in the new smartwatch – and bitterly missed. Yes, you can download third-party sleep-tracking solutions, but it’s not the same. Especially since we started hearing Apple would work to add sleep tracking to a future version of its smartwatch in a Bloomberg report back in February 2019. Heck, we’ve been waiting for established sleep tracking across Apple’s devicescape since the company acquired Beddit back in 2017 – but we’re still waiting. It’s possible that the Sleep app ends up being the rumored sleep tracking (with more functionality, hopefully), though we’d settle for a teaser before the real thing comes down the line.
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| MSI's new Alpha 15 brings AMD Navi graphics to its gaming laptops Posted: 07 Oct 2019 11:18 AM PDT MSI announced a new gaming laptop with the Alpha 15. While that's not too surprising from a company that turns out new products all the time, this new laptop has doubled down on AMD hardware and introduced the first generation of AMD Navi graphics in laptops. The MSI Alpha 15 is kitted with proper gaming laptop hardware. It can run up to an AMD Ryzen 7 3750H processor (CPU) for high performance, and it will use the new AMD Radeon RX 5500M graphics processor (GPU) with 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM. It comes with either 8GB or 16GB of memory (RAM). It has drive space for a 2.5-inch hard drive as well as either a PCIe- or SATA-based M.2 solid-state drive (SSD). The Alpha 15 rounds out the gaming experience with a keyboard that can include SteelSeries per-key RGB lighting, and a Full HD (1080p) display. MSI will offer both 120Hz and 144Hz displays, and both include AMD Radeon FreeSync technology.
A new leaf for AMDAMD launched the Radeon RX 5700 and 5700XT earlier this year with impressively competitive prices against Nvidia's mid-tier offerings. These GPUs are built on a 7nm process, dubbed Navi, which gave them a nice performance and efficiency bump over their predecessors. Now, we're finally seeing AMD's Navi graphics processors show up in the mobile space, as they'd previously only been available as desktop graphics cards. The RX 5500M will be a step down from the desktop-grade RX 5700. It includes 22 computer units compared to RX 5700's 36, though it appears to have similar clock frequencies. Seeing this option jump into the mobile space could give AMD another major boost in the market against its rivals, Nvidia and Intel. We've already seen AMD making great strides with its desktop products, and it landed a valuable inclusion in Microsoft's 15-inch Surface Laptop 3. New mobile graphics hardware will round-out AMD's ability to compete in the laptop space. Now, all AMD needs to do is launch Zen 2 mobile CPUs.
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| The 9 weirdest PC gaming accessories to get your hands (and everything else) on Posted: 07 Oct 2019 11:02 AM PDT A crazy place at the best of times, the internet has given birth to a plethora of PC peripherals that are capable of all manner of things — like simulating realistic bullet damage in Call of Duty, or providing you with an ultra-realistic controller for your train sim. (All aboard!) We've scoured the bowels of the internet to bring you some of the weirdest PC gaming accessories on the planet today. Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place. First published April 2017 Dubbed "A Computer Mouse Full Of Awesome" by its creators at Solid Art Labs, this bonkers control system looks like it's been chiseled out of Superman's Fortress Of Solitude. Although the finished model of the King's Assembly is purported to be in a sexier black & purple finish. It's a retro-futuristic dual-handed control system with curved keys, and a thumb pad. To use, slide them over a desk like air hockey paddles. Despite having launched a well-funded Kickstarter, the product is still in beta testing. Every train-spotter's dream, a fully functioning set of 34 buttons, levers and knobs designed with the sole purpose of controlling a virtual train. The RailDriver Controller even has an inbuilt bass speaker that vibrates the controller to add realism. Now, all you need now is a hat and whistle and one of those little paddle things they use to wave trains off from the platforms. Well, that and a PC to run the whole operation. The reason many of us play first-person shooters is to experience the excitement of warfare without the pain and subsequent post traumatic stress. The 3rd Space Gaming Vest, developed years ago by TN Games, aims to change this. It'll let you "sense the direction and force of bullet fire". The vest uses compressed air to simulate different attacks such as knives, rockets, all the way up to full-on explosions. It works with Call Of Duty, Battlefield and Bioshock. And, it sounds terrifying... Boasting 16 million colors, the Mad Catz Cyborg amBX , developed by none other than amBX, is a set of physical lights that change color depending on the game you're playing. They can even let you know which direction you're being shot at from. Place them either side of your monitor and they'll flood the room with rich colors. However, with MadCatz in bankruptcy, you'll be hard pressed to find one of these today. Street Fighter will *never* be the same again... the PrioVR by Yost Labs is a wearable suit of up to 17 sensors that track your every movement. A demo video shows kills done by doing a roundhouse, punches and even a deadly handclap that explodes enemy heads. It's compatible with Oculus Rift. Is this the future of gaming or just another gadget to make you look like an idiot in the comfort of your own home? Office frustrations are often let out with a few pints in the local after work, or a high spirited debate in a corridor that's a little too close to the kitchen so everyone can hear. Axpro has come up with another solution, equip workers with USB-powered, BB sniper guns. Aiming is done from a computer using the on-board camera – thus qualifying it as a "PC game accessory' – and it apparently has a whopping 8-meter (25-feet) range. This is a mega-rare item, but we found it available via Yahoo Taiwan. This thing looks like a mash-up of every single control pad in history. The AlphaGrip has a trackball, a fully functioning QWERTY keyboard and an array of buttons on the back that would make even the most experienced of woodwind players feel a little faint. If you truly want one of these, they're currently out of stock via the above link. However, its creator promises that an updated model is in the works. We get it, VR is the future, but it's still early. The two biggest contenders, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are still in their youth, making for a still rather limited experience. Walking around in real life, for example, doesn't exactly equate to traversal in-game. With Virtuix Omni, however, you're free to walk around unbounded by the square footage of your living room. Plus, you can work off that cheeseburger at the same time. Sadly, the project is still in development. While probably the most tame of the list, this is the very first RGB-illuminated mouse pad that's also reversible. Yes, this is a SteelSeries gaming mouse pad with lights on it, a USB power-slash-data cord and everything. One side is a micro-fiber cloth finish for more "deliberate" movements, while the other is a hard polymer surface for a "fast-paced glide." RGB lighting with 12 zones rounds out the package of one of the most egregious PC gaming accessories we've seen in a long time. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| macOS Catalina is here: everything you need to know about macOS 10.15 Posted: 07 Oct 2019 10:06 AM PDT Apple's macOS Catalina is finally here, and you can install it on your Mac right now, provided your device is new enough to actually install it. We're going to dive into macOS Catalina, all of its features and how to download it, but first a bit of history. Apple first revealed macOS Catalina at its WWDC 2019 conference in San Jose, California earlier this year, during which the company showcased some of the exciting new features that macOS Catalina brings to the table, including its nifty capability to utilize an iPad as a secondary screen. So, after a wait that seemingly lasted forever, we can finally download the update. This is a huge update, too, as through a new feature called "Project Catalyst," iOS 13 and iPadOS developers can easily port their work over to the macOS environment. This means if you update your Mac today – though, you may want to wait – you should have access to many more Mac apps. There are some things going away though. For instance, iTunes, the media software that's been around for almost two decades, has faded into that long night. In its place, however, we get a new Mac-flavored Apple Music app, along with Apple Podcasts and Apple TV. So, don't fret, you can still listen to your music and watch the new season of The Good Place. All of that is just the tip of the iceberg that is macOS Catalina. Don't worry though, we're going to explore everything that macOS 10.15 has to offer, from the features to which Macs can actually download it. And, be sure to keep this page bookmarked, as we'll keep it updated with all the latest macOS 10.15 Catalina news as it pops up. Cut to the chase
macOS Catalina release dateApple hosted its iPhone 11 event on September 10, but the show came and went with nary a mention of macOS 10.15. However, Apple's macOS 10.15 Catalina page was updated with an "October 2019" release window. Apple didn't share any more specific information about the release, so when it launched it took us all by surprise. Luckily, that does mean you can download macOS Catalina right now, as long as you have a compatible Mac. You might want to wait until the next update comes out, just to make sure that any critical bugs are squashed. You see, updating your operating system is definitely a huge undertaking, and you could potentially break something, losing a ton of precious data. So, if you don't absolutely need the new software, waiting may be your best bet. We'll update this hub as soon as we know a new update is live, but if you feel like living dangerously, go ahead and hit that download button. We'll show you how. macOS Catalina compatibilityIf you want to get your hands on the latest macOS update, you're going to need to make sure your Mac actually supports it. Fortunately, if you already have macOS Mojave installed, you'll likely be in the clear. Unless, of course, you circumvented Apple's restrictions. But, just to be on the safe side, we went ahead and listed every Mac with macOS 10.15 Catalina compatibility down below:
Goodbye, iTunes – hello, Apple Music, Podcasts Books and TVIt's official, iTunes is gone. From its ashes, however, rises a novel set of exciting apps for macOS: Apple Music, Apple TV, Apple Podcasts and Apple Books – and they’re going to be refined versions of those that already appear on iOS. Apple Music gives macOS Catalina users access to their entire music libraries regardless of whether the tracks have been downloaded or are being streamed. This also houses music that's been ripped from CDs, assimilated into the same libraries. Apple TV, on the other hand, houses the app's channels and offers more than 100,000 iTunes movies and TV shows available for you to browse, buy or rent. And, content will be available in 4K HDR video and Dolby Atmos audio wherever offered. Apple TV+ will also be accessed through this app as soon as the service rolls out later in the year. Meanwhile, Apple Podcasts brings the service's more than 700,000 podcasts, as well as new episode updates, to the Mac in a completely fresh interface. This version of the app also offers better search functions that can pull up episodes by hosts, guests or even discussion topics. Last but not the least, Apple Books is home to all the audiobooks you can purchase, download and listen to. Much like the other new apps, it also features a familiar interface for anyone who is used to iTunes. Worried about all your existing music and playlists, as well as iTunes gift cards and credit? Rest easy. All your music and playlists will be transferred over to the Apple Music app in macOS 10.15 Catalina. Plus, any iTunes gift cards or unspent iTunes credits are still valid to be used in these new apps. In macOS 10.15 Catalina, the iTunes Store, which will be accessed through the Sidebar in the Apple Music app, can still be used to buy new music. And of course, you can subscribe to the Apple Music streaming service through the app as well – if you do, you can hide the iTunes Store for a cleaner, more minimalist interface. You'll sync your devices via Finder in macOS Catalina. With iTunes making its exit, syncing devices in macOS Catalina is now handled by the Finder app. It can backup and sync those devices. According to Apple, it will also be easier to drag and drop files for quick transfers as well. Apple Sidecar at work in macOS Catalina. Sidecar turns your iPad into another displayThis is probably the most exciting update that macOS 10.15 Catalina offers: the capability to extend your Mac's display to a nearby iPad, whether wired and wirelessly. A good amount of MacBook users are already iPad owners, so this essentially means that a substantial number of mobile workers just received a secondary display for free. Probably even more importantly for designers, this connected iPad can also be utilized as a drawing tablet with various specifically supported apps. Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Illustrator and iWork are the first apps listed to support this capability. We currently don’t have the official word on which iPad models will support the Sidecar feature. However, we can speculate that it'll most likely be those models that can also run the new iPadOS, which is expected later this year as well. Apple says that the following Mac apps will support Sidecar's Apple Pencil input and other enhanced features:
Screen Time for macOS has a special "One more minute" feature. Screen Time comes to macOSOne of Apple's most impactful changes to iOS 12 was Screen Time, an app that tracks your iPhone or iPad usage time and offers insights into the trends. This time around, this capability will not only come to macOS with Catalina, but also offer a new “One more minute” feature, giving you more time to save your work or finish up a game. This information will be synced across your other Apple devices as well, so that you have a complete profile of how often you stare at your collective screens, as well as get tips on what to do with that information. In addition, it will also include parental controls on time spent using a Mac, as well as with whom children are able to interact with on those devices. Twitter's return to macOS was made possible by Project Catalyst. Project CatalystThanks to Apple's new Project Catalyst initiative, macOS 10.15 Catalina will soon be populated with a ton of iOS and iPadOS apps. There are a number of them available at launch, but the real promise of this initiative is that it opens up the floodgates for all kinds of apps to make it over to the Mac. For developers, it all seems to start with simply ticking off a box within the Xcode app in macOS 10.15 Catalina. A series of new features and protocols then become available to the app in the development phase, from which the developer can choose to add to their apps – presumably with additional yet lighter coding. It seems to make the process more seamless and even faster, with even the likes of Twitter use the tool to more effortlessly bring its native app back to macOS from iOS. Other fun improvementsSafari browser now has a new startup page that uses Siri Suggestions to surface commonly visited websites, bookmarks, iCloud tabs and more. Mail now allows users to block messages from senders, mute message threads from issuing push notifications and send unsubscribe requests from within the app to mailing list providers. Lastly, Reminders receives an overhaul in visual interface so that it will let users more easily create, keep track and organize their reminders.
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| Best Smart TV 2019: every smart TV platform and which set does it best Posted: 07 Oct 2019 10:03 AM PDT Smart TVs are so common it doesn't feel necessary to add the 'smart' to them. You'd have to hunt high and low to find a new TV that doesn't come with some form of smart capability or features built-in, whether that's LG's WebOS, Google's Android TV that's used on Sony and Hisense TVs, or Samsung's Tizen. Although the majority of these smart TV platforms function in the same way: giving you access to apps, streaming services and smart home functionality, each has its pros and cons. So, for that reason, we've put together this guide to the best smart TV platforms available right now – with the very best smart TV models of 2019 listed at the bottom of this article. We've come a long way from the early days of smart TVs, which were marked by sub-standard performance, non-existent software updates, and a general lack of manufacturer support. So what smart TV platforms are out there, what do they do, and how different are they from each other? [Update: IFA 2019 is going to bring us loads of updates on new smart TVs and TechRadar will be live in Germany to cover all the news. Visit us again September 6-11 to get all the latest on the next generation of smart TVs.] Smart TV FAQ: quick questions answered
Smart TV platforms: which is which?In 2019, there are five main smart operating systems: Android TV, webOS, Tizen, Roku TV and SmartCast that are used by Sony, LG, Samsung, TCL and Vizio, respectively. In the UK, you'll find that Philips also uses Android while Panasonic uses its own proprietary system called MyHomeScreen. The vast majority of TVs use one of the operating systems listed above - but not all TVs. At lower price points, you probably won't find any of the above as most TV manufacturers offer a narrow proprietary service instead. These will vary between manufacturers, however, by and large, they're not as good as the ones listed above for the sheer reason that they aren't updated as frequently. When in doubt, try to buy one a TV with one of the above. That said, if you're completely undecided on which smart TV to buy, it's worth considering the value of each of these smart systems - which we'll list below. (Scale: Awful, Bad, OK, Good, Better, Best) Image Credit: TechRadar Android TV (found on 2019 Sony 4K and OLED TVs) Setup: OK | Ease of use: Good | Speed: OK | Number of apps: Better | Universal search: Better
Android TV is the nearest the smart TV universe has to a standardized operating system, but there are still variations between brand executions. Sony has the most comprehensive Google solution. For UK viewers, it has rather cleverly layered a YouView program guide platform on top, deftly addressing one of Android TV’s big weaknesses – catch-up TV provision. This YouView app ensures that all the main catch-up services are provided, and accessible via a roll-back 7-day EPG. Other supporters of Android TV are Philips (via maker TP Vision) and in the US, Sharp and Hisense. It’s also available on the Nvidia Shield streaming device. While other TV platforms make a virtue of their minimalism, Android stacks the screen with various layers of content: There’s also a row of specific Sony selected content, followed by apps for Netflix, Amazon Video, links to the Google Play Store, Google Play Music, Google Play Movies and TV, YouTube and so on. Owners of Android phones/tablets can use their device to control Android TVs via Sony’s TV SideView app, and Google Assistant continues to get more and more useful with its own Android TV integration. Android TV devices also have Chromecast built-in, which simplifies streaming from mobile Android devices (iOS users can download the AirBuddy app to Google Cast). Controllers from Logitech and Razer also promise gaming without needing a console. There is a caveat though. In our experience, Android is the least stable of the various smart platforms, with Sony TVs exhibiting more than their fair share of failures – it’s not unusual to be notified that various aspects of the Android platform have stopped working, and some of these messages are completely inscrutable (usually the best option is to simply restart the TV). To be fair to Google, this is becoming less of an issue as successive Android TV updates roll out – the latest incarnation is particularly slick on the Nvidia Shield, for example – but there's still room for improvement. Image Credit: TechRadar WebOS (found on 2019 LG OLED, Nano Cell and some UHD TVs) Setup: OK | Ease of use: Good | Speed: Better | Number of apps: Good | Universal search: OK
LG rewrote the rulebook for smart TV platforms with its webOS, starting the trend for minimal, simplified user interfaces back in 2014. Since then it's been gradually refining its offering, leading us to the all-new WebOS 4.5 that's going to make its debut in 2019. The UI, which is still built around a Launch Bar for apps, inputs and features, remains tidy and customizable this year, plus you can change the running order to best suit how you use the set. If you like to Miracast images from your smartphone, grab the Screen Share app with LG's cursor-based Magic Remote and move up further up the pecking order. App support is also surprisingly good: Netflix streams in 4K with both HDR and Dolby Vision, as well as Dolby Atmos audio when available. There's also Amazon with UHD HDR and YouTube in 4K. Other options include Now TV, Sky Store, Wuaki.TV, plus all the main channel catch-up services. As we’ve seen on earlier webOS builds, these streaming apps remain open and live, even when you navigate away from them. This means you can pause Star Trek Discovery, browse the TV listings for The Walking Dead, and then return to the action. Other cool features recently added to the platform include 360-degree video playback (from 360-degree videos on YouTube), support for both Google Assistant and Alexa, and an OLED still image gallery. LG TVs also have Freeview Play in the UK, which means a full larder of catch-up television. For US viewers, there's Netflix, Amazon, YouTube and Google Play TV and Movies, as well as Hulu, VUDU, MLB.TV, and FandangoNow. Image Credit: Tizen Tizen (found on Samsung 2019 QLED and NU-Series TVs) Setup: Good | Ease of use: Good | Speed: Better | Number of apps: Bad | Universal search: Bad
Samsung is another brand keen to keep things simple – its Tizen OS clearly owes much to LG's webOS interface, in so much as it consists of icons, apps and shortcuts all accessible via icons held a horizontal strip across the bottom of the screen. A dynamically changing ‘Recent’ box in the far-left corner cycles between recently used apps and TV channels. But it’s not overly intelligent as it stands right now, but that could change in the future when Samsung integrates its TV AI into Tizen. For now, we like the fact that on-screen icons can be changed: a sense of identity is welcome when it comes to some AV inputs and key apps you use everyday. The OS cuts down on clutter, although this sometimes works against navigation – there are plenty of occasions when it's necessary to go hunting for a specific app. Thankfully that's made easier by a Smart Hub multimedia page that divvies up content from apps and from your own USB sticks/home network. On some of the higher-end Samsung TVs, you'll also get Bixby built-in as well as Samsung SmartThings that allows your TV to act as the center of your connected home. Image Credit: Roku TV Roku TV (found on 2019 TCL and Hisense TVs) Setup: OK | Ease of use: Better | Speed: Better | Number of apps: Good | Universal search: Best
Despite Android TV and all the proprietary portals available, there's still room for other connected smart offerings. In Europe, Vestel has its own stripped back smart platform, which is used for TV companies it manufactures for, including Toshiba and JVC. It’s unfancy but does the basics. In the US, TV maker Element now offers a screen with Amazon’s Fire TV OS built in. But perhaps the most interesting second-division smart OS is Roku TV. Announced back in 2014 for TCL TVs, Roku TV has found support with low-cost US TV suppliers. Today, you can find Roku TV on quite a few Haier, Hisense, Insignia, Sharp and TCL TV models. As a platform, Roku TV borrows the interface and feature set from the company's popular media streamers, like the Roku Streaming Stick. What that means is that you'll find a universal search function able to scan over 30 different apps like Netflix, Google Play TV and Movies, Amazon, VUDU and more to find you the lowest price on the TV show or movie you want to watch, as well as around 4,500 channels of content to watch. Add to that some neat features like a dedicated app that helps you keep track of upcoming movies and TV shows via the My Feed section, and a private listening mode (via headphones that plug into the remote) when you want to watch TV without disturbing the whole house. Image Credit: SmartCast SmartCast (found on 2019 Vizio TVs) Setup: OK | Ease of use: OK | Speed: Bad | Number of apps: Good | Universal search: OK
SmartCast, on paper, is a great idea. It's all the fun extras of the Android TV platform - including the ability to Cast content to your screen - with a more logical layout. When you turn on a SmartCast TV be prepared to see three rows - one featured row that has huge marquee images to point you to specific shows or movies; one row for recommended content and one row for all your apps. If you want to drill down into specific content categories or settings, you can move to one of the other tabs (there's a tab for movies, TV shows, Support and Extras) or go to the top right of the screen to perform a search. Unfortunately, while SmartCast provides a lot of versatility in what you can stream, it's also one of the slower smart platforms and can misbehave on occasion. Image Credit: MyHomeScreen MyHomeScreen (found on 2019 Panasonic TVs) Setup: OK | Ease of use: Good | Speed: Better | Number of apps: OK | Universal search: OK
If you live in the UK, Panasonic's My Home Screen 2.0 is one of the most customizable smart TV platforms around. Built on the open-source code of Mozilla’s Firefox TV OS, Panasonic's My Home Screen 2.0 smart TV interface combines an intuitive minimalism with extensive customization options. The platform looks simple but has some inspired functionality: the home screen launches with three buttons (Live TV, Apps and Devices), but you can pin more as required, perhaps for a favorite streaming service, or a specific input. There are now also folders for multiple users, while a My App button on the remote can be customised for faster access to favourite content. A revamped Media Player supports 4K HDR10 and HLG HDR, meanwhile. App provision on Panasonic TVs is good too. Netflix streams in 4K with HDR, and Amazon Video and YouTube also offer 4K support. Catch-up TV service support is integrated through the provision of Freeview Play. This includes iPlayer, ITVHub, Demand 5 and All4, and usability is great across the board. The OS is extremely convenient to live with, yet powerful enough to cater for a variety of different users, be they family members who just want their favorite channels pinned to the home screen, or TV enthusiasts keen to dive quickly between multiple sources. Amazon Fire TV (found on some Toshiba and Insignia TVs) Setup: Good | Ease of use: Good | Speed: OK | Number of apps: OK | Universal search: OK
One of the lesser-known operating systems is Amazon Fire TV that comes installed on some TVs from Toshiba and Insignia. It's more or less the same operating system that you'd find on Amazon's Fire TV streaming dongle, but it's conveniently built right into the TV - no dongle necessary. The big problem here actually isn't the operating system - which, by all logical measurements, is totally fine. It's that the TV manufacturers Amazon has partnered with - Toshiba and Insignia - aren't great, and usually put out the cheapest TVs in the American market. Some of these TVs are OK, but many (including the ones that use the Amazon Fire TV platform) aren't. That's something Toshiba is hoping to fix with it's upcoming Amazon Fire TV Edition with Dolby Vision TV that was announced in June of 2019, but we'll need to wait for review samples to know for sure how the latest software stacks up. If you're interested in the speed and versatility of Amazon's smart TV platform, we recommend buying an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K instead.
What's the best smart TV of 2019?Image Credit: LG The LG C9 boasts the latest iteration of webOS and while this game changing platform remains largely the same, there have been a few tweaks. For a start there’s now a second tier on the launcher bar that’s very reminiscent of the one found on Samsung’s Tizen system. It’s rather ironic that LG should take inspiration from Samsung, especially when you consider that Tizen copied webOS in the first place, however the second tier is a useful feature, making it quicker to access content and adding an AI Preview that makes recommendations based on your viewing habits. There’s also a new Intelligent Edit feature that lists your apps based on how often you use them. That’s very handy because the C9 has a lot of apps; not to mention a comprehensive selection of streaming services that includes Netflix, Amazon, YouTube, Now TV, Rakuten, and all the UK TV catch-up services. The AI-enhanced recommendation feature monitors and analyses your viewing habits based not only on content but also the time of day. It will then make recommendations according its analysis, although there’s the option to turn this feature off if it gets annoying. There’s a new Home Dashboard that collates all connected mobile, input and home IoT devices into a single hub. You can monitor and control just about any connected device in your smart home, and LG will be adding support for Homekit later this year. LG’s ThinQ open AI platform already includes Google Assistant, and the company plans to add Amazon Alexa via a future firmware update. You can access Google by pressing the mic button on the remote, and then voice control your C9 or simply use it as a smart assistant. Other new features include the ability to setup your C9 using an LG smartphone, and the ability to auto-detect connected HDMI devices. There’s also a mini-browser, a new TV channel banner, and an expanded Gallery mode with world famous travel attractions seasonally curated by TripAdvisor.
Image Credit: Panasonic Panasonic’s My Home Screen smart platform is decidedly simple compared to much of the competition, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Currently on its third generation, it remains largely the same as the Firefox OS on which it was originally based. When you press the Home button on the remote, you get a choice of three options: Live TV, Apps, and Devices. This simplicity is the platform’s greatest strength, making it easy to navigate and find things by helpfully storing all the apps in single location; you can also pin your favorite apps to the home page for quicker access. Since the smart platform is relatively simple, it doesn’t require a vast amount of processing power to operate, which makes it responsive, robust, and free from crashes. My Home Screen isn’t fragmented like some platforms, nor does it bombard you with recommendations – it simply delivers all the streaming and catch-up services you need. Thanks to Freeview Play, a comprehensive list of catch-up services are included, covering BBC iPlayer, ITVhub, All4, My5, BBC News & Sport and UK Play. The iPlayer app supports 4K and HLG (Hybrid Log-Gamma – the broadcast version of HDR), both of which the BBC trialled during the World Cup. There’s also Netflix, Amazon and YouTube, all of which support 4K and HDR, along with services like Rakuten and Chili Cinema. In fact the only major streaming service missing is NOW TV.
Image Credit: Sony The A9F is unquestionably Sony’s best OLED offering to date, and arguably a strong contender for high-end screen of the year. When it comes to image quality and audio performance it’s deliciously impressive. While we experienced some minor issues with Android Oreo, the UX is now logical and inclusive. It no longer feels like you’re wrestling with an octopus. Oreo introduces plenty of nice new features, including a recently watched content rail, curated recommendations and a favorite channel listing. Thankfully, the UI is also significantly faster than previous Android TV OS implementations. It’s a massive upgrade all round. If you can live with the slightly idiosyncratic design, and afford the asking price, it’s a glorious UHD display.
Image Credit: Samsung While it's not Samsung's flagship TV for 2019, the Samsung Q70R is the best bang for your buck when looking for a Eden smart TV. For starters there’s now compatibility with Samsung's SmartThings platform, which provides an on-screen hub for monitoring and even controlling other smart devices (fridges, washing machines, lights etc) on your network, and iTunes/AirPlay 2. The latter is great if you're an iOS/Mac user, while the former allows you to dabble in Samsung's IoT platform. There’s also much better integration of the TV listings and live broadcasting into the TV’s content searching features: there are now hour-by-hour show recommendations, for instance, as well as TV shows getting much more prominence in the content browsing menus. Samsung has delivered enhanced interactivity with your smartphones and tablets too, as well as some seriously cool new gaming related features. Overall, a slick, easy to use and helpfully customizable interface belies the impressive sophistication and comprehensiveness of Samsung’s latest smart TV engine.
Image Credit: TCL Once you get this TCL TV up and running, you’ll be met with the familiar veneer of Roku TV – an egalitarian operating system that handily retains its top spot as (arguably) the best operating system year after year. It’s intuitive to use, if a bit boring, and its lack of ties to a particular streaming platform allow it to point you to all the places content can be found without bias. That last bit is important, especially if you’ve ever used an Apple TV or Amazon Fire TV, both of which would much rather have you stream from their ancillary streaming services over any of the third-party ones. Because Roku doesn’t have ties to a major streaming service – other than a vague deal to include FandangoNow on the home screen of the OS – it doesn’t push you any direction you don’t want to go and happily supports everything from Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV and Amazon, to lesser-known channels like Pluto.tv, tubi, Crackle and others. That’s to say nothing of Roku’s own streaming service that it launched at the end of last year, which provides its own collection of entirely free movies that change in and out every few months. Most aren’t anything to write home about, but you do get the occasional gem in there. While it’d be nice to see the inclusion of artificial intelligence and personal assistants on Roku TV – similar to what LG is doing with webOS and Samsung has done with Tizen and SmartThings – all things considered, this is still one of the best TV operating systems and a fantastic TV overall.
Image Credit: Vizio The Vizio P-Series Quantum X is a smart TV, but that goes beyond simply offering a smart platform for streaming: This is one of the first TVs from the California-based TV manufacturer to offer Apple AirPlay 2 functionality, opening it up to the entire Apple ecosystem. That's a game-changer if you're an iPhone user. Beyond AirPlay, the Quantum X also has direct access to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and more, all from the home screen, and while the overall selection of apps isn’t massive, and there’s no real app marketplace to get more, most of the big ones are there, plus you can cast with Vizio’s SmartCast platform, which is handy. We still find SmartCast to be one of the least appealing smart platforms out there, but we can't knock the Vizio P-Series Quantum X - it's one of this year's best TVs. Steve May contributed original reporting to this article.
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| Boutique PC builders' best work: the experts' top custom case builds Posted: 07 Oct 2019 09:55 AM PDT When it comes to the best gaming PCs, there are two approaches you can take. You can either pick up the best processor, best graphics card and others, and piece them together like high-tech Legos – or, you can buy a pre-built computer. While we generally prefer the former option, we can totally understand why you’d rather just buy the latter. However, if you are going to fork over your hard-earned money for a pre-built machine, why not check out the case builds that the best boutique PC builders have to offer. While they might charge a premium (sometimes a very high premium) for their services, they offer fantastic build quality and custom PC cases that are simply awe-inspiring. Beyond that, the best boutique PC builds are completely configurable. You can have a humble rig with modest performance, or you can pretend you’re Xzibit and pimp your PC up to obscene levels. However, because they’re all configurable, and this market can get really confusing to the casual consumer, it can be a bit confusing to find the right boutique build for your needs. Don’t worry though, in true TechRadar fashion, we did the heavy lifting for you, and found the best boutique PC builds on the market right now. From slick frag boxes to gigantic towers that look like an art installation, these boutique PC builds will give you the power you need to dominate the best PC games and they’ll look good while they do it. Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place. First published June 2018 In 2018, small form-factor gaming PCs are becoming more and more popular, and the Origin PC Chronos is a perfect example of why. Small, rigid and beautiful, this mini-ITX machine is configurable with up to an Intel Core i9 processor and a Nvidia Titan V (not that you’ll actually need that for running games). It even has a reasonable price considering the build quality and components. As for the actual case build, you can completely customize it. And, instead of just giving you a selection of colors and patterns, you can contact Origin PC and they’ll design it however you choose. You can customize it with any artwork or finish your heart desires. Just keep in mind: this option isn’t cheap. How much does it cost, though? Well, it starts out around $1,490 (about £1,116, AU$1,970). That’ll get you an Intel Core i3-8100, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti – not exactly shaking the walls with raw performance. However, you can go all in to make Xzibit proud, by packing this thing with an Intel Core i9-7900X, 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia Titan V for $6,928 (about £5,190, AU$9,153). It might not look like it now, but that’s actually the best value on this list. Falcon Northwest has made a name for itself over its nearly 30 years of existence for making amazing desktop PCs, and it rocks the micro PC game as well. With the Tiki, Falcon Northwest crammed as much power as physically possible into the smallest package it could. Just like the Chronos listed above, this tiny behemoth can be configured with the most powerful CPU you can imagine, but where it sets itself apart is the fact that you can configure it with Nvidia Quadro graphics. This transforms the Tiki from one of the best gaming PCs into a workstation that you can hide behind your monitor so that you can focus on the work you need to do. Not that you’d want to hide it, though. With Falcon Northwest’s Exotix paint jobs, the Tiki looks absolutely gorgeous. It’s probably the most expensive micro PC you can buy today, but once you take it out of the packaging and behold it with your own two eyes, It’s totally worth it. This small, powerful and costly machine starts at around $2,402 (around £1,799, AU$3,175) and includes an AMD Ryzen 5 2600X, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 1060. Then, if you really beef it up, you can configure it with an Intel Core i9-7980XE, 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia Quadro P6000 for the most beautiful workstation that you’ve ever seen. We just wouldn’t recommend that particular GPU for gaming. Maybe you don’t want a PC case at all. Perhaps you’d like something that resembles an iMac on steroids. The Xotic PC G34 Phantom is a gaming all-in-one that will make you wonder why everyone isn’t using one. All-in-one Windows PCs have got a bit of a bad reputation over the last couple decades – usually being shoddily constructed computers that your parents would buy. The G34 Phantom, however, is able to pack the latest high-end components into the back of a monitor, so you can have a space-saving desktop without having to give up on Core i9 processors and workstation-class graphics. As far as exterior customization goes, you can not only pick the color of exterior paint, but you can also add interior colors to really make the internals stand out, even though no one would likely see inside of this particular machine. What’s more, you can also add graphic and textured wraps to really bling out your rig. Starting out at the low, low price of $2,199 (haha) – or about £1,647 or AU$2,900 – the G34 Phantom starts off with a modest build – featuring an AMD Ryzen 3 2200G, 8GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050. Kind of expensive for those specs, but you’re paying for the WQHD (3,440 x 1,440) screen as well. When you max this thing out for $10,247 (about £7,675, AU$13,540), you get an Intel Core i9-7980XE, 64GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan V. Believe it or not, that’s actually a better deal than the entry model. This thing looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. And, because it’s Razer-branded, everything is green. That might sway you one way or the other, but Razer has essentially mastered the ‘gamer aesthetic’ over the last few years – and it shows. Maingear has taken this partnership with Razer to an amazing place with the Maingear R2 Razer Edition. Configurable with up to the latest Skylake X chips and a Titan V, the R2 Razer Edition backs up its gamer swag with gaming performance that will knock your socks off. There isn’t much you can do to customize the way this computer looks, but it’s safe to assume you signed up for this look. With its liquid cooling pipes and tempered glass side panels, the Maingear R2 Razer Edition will leave your jaw slack every time you look at it. This particularly “gamer-y” build starts out at $1,079 (about £809, AU$1,425), and that’ll get you a Ryzen 3 1200, 8GB of RAM and a GTX 1050 Ti. When you consider the pro-level watercooling that’s packed into this rig, that’s not a bad price at all. However, when you max it out with a Intel Core i9-7980XE, 64GB of RAM and a Nvidia Titan V, you’re looking at a $11,659 (around £8,734, AU$15,122) investment. Who needs a car when you have a tricked-out, Razer-themed gaming PC? Enough of those tiny PCs. What about the gigantic rigs with four of the best graphics cards and room for all the expansion you could ever want? Well, we saved the biggest for last with the Digital Storm Aventum. The best word we could think to describe the Aventum is ‘titanic’. Measuring 28 x 25.7 x 10 inches (H x L x W), this PC will take center stage in whatever room you place it. And, with the amount of performance you can configure into this PC, it honestly deserves to be the center of attention. Plus, this case definitely looks the part. While it may not offer as much customization as some of the other PCs on this list, its attractive red paint job and optional laser engraving really make this beast pleasant to look at. You can, however, customise what it looks like inside (which you can peer into from a tempered glass side panel) – and with all the RGB lighting and clear tubing, its guts are gorgeous. The Digital Storm Aventum starts out at the steep price of $3,669 (about £2750, AU$4,750), which will get you a Ryzen 7 2700X, 32GB of RAM, a 500GB NVMe SSD and a GTX 1060. Not exactly what we’d call a ‘low-end build,’ but wait until you see what it’s like when maxed out. When you crank up all the knobs to 11, you get an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X, 128GB of RAM, 4TB of NVMe storage, four Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan Xps for more performance than you’ll theoretically ever need. It all comes in at $16,485 (about £12,350, AU$21,774). So, the way we look at it, you can either put a down payment on a house, or have one of the best gaming PCs ever created – choice is yours. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| AMD Ryzen 9 3950X can overclock to 4.3GHz on all cores, blowing away Intel Core i9-9900K Posted: 07 Oct 2019 09:51 AM PDT AMD’s Ryzen 9 3950X lands in November (after it was delayed), but beforeit hits the street some interesting fresh details have been spilled on the CPU and its overclocking potential. This comes from hardware vendor Gigabyte which made an overclocking guide for its Aorus X570 available online, detailing the firm’s results when juicing up the Ryzen 3rd-gen processor.
We already knew that the 3950X boosts up to 4.7GHz – or at least that’s the official word from AMD – but that’s over two cores, Gigabyte notes in the documentation (and potentially the wrong – ie not active – cores, another bugbear with Ryzen 3000 CPUs which has been highlighted recently). So how fast can the incoming flagship chip be pushed over all its 16-cores with overclocking? As fast as 4.3GHz, it would seem, given Gigabyte’s setup which utilized an EK-KIT P360 water-cooling solution and the Aorus X570 Master motherboard. That’s a good chunk faster than the base clock speed of 3.3GHz, of course. The firm found the 3950X reached a stable 4.3GHz using around 1.4V, and the overclock meant an increase in Cinebench R15 multi-threaded from 3,932 at stock to 4,384 overclocked, an 11% boost. Not too shabby, indeed. Thermal marvels?Gigabyte further observed that the temperatures witnessed during the overclocking session were “similar [to] what we were getting last year using a Ryzen 7 2700X”. So for this 16-core behemoth to be pushed across all its many cores and be performing in similar thermal terms to a 2nd-gen 8-core model is, well, quite impressive. Also remember that the Ryzen 9 3900X recorded a Cinebench R15 result of 3,097 when we reviewed the chip, so that makes the incoming flagship something like 27% faster at stock speeds. Even more telling is the comparison between the 3950X and an Intel Core i9-9900K, with the latter hitting 1,873 – so AMD’s chip is more than twice as fast. Of course, this is only one benchmark, and as such hardly the whole performance picture – but still, it would seem that things are shaping up very nicely for the Ryzen 9 3950X, and it could help to hammer home the big gap AMD continues to open up in sales over Intel (at least in the desktop market). Although how easy it will be to buy one of the things may be another matter entirely, so let’s hope the launch delay is about suitably ensuring demand doesn’t once again completely outstrip supply (as with the 3900X). Via Hexus This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Remembering StarCraft’s Battle.net – the service that sparked an online gaming revolution Posted: 07 Oct 2019 09:11 AM PDT Any gamer who came up in the ‘90s or earlier remembers StarCraft. Even you didn’t, there’s no way you haven’t heard of it. That’s because Blizzard Entertainment’s seminal sci-fi, real-time strategy game changed the landscape of online and competitive gaming forever. This year, StarCraft turned 20 years old, and to commemorate Blizzard released a remastered version of the game this past April that painstakingly recreated it – weird quirks and exploits and all – for HD screens and modern operating systems. If you’re a competitive online gamer worth your salt, you owe quite a bit a to this game regardless of whether you played it back in the day, as so many of today’s online multiplayer games rest on this one title’s massive shoulders. We chatted with Blizzard Entertainment Vice President of Technology Strategy Robert Bridenbecker all about the original StarCraft. In particular, we reminisced about the early days of Battle.net and discussed the massive impact it had on online gaming writ large. Because there was simply too much enlightening conversation during our 30-minute conversation, what follows is a direct transcript that’s been edited for brevity and clarity. TechRadar: Now, StarCraft wasn’t the first Blizzard game with Battle.net – I believe that was Diablo – so what did the team learn back then with the first application of the service that it then took advantage of in making StarCraft’s Battle.net? Robert Bridenbecker: Back actually when we did Diablo, not a lot of folks remember this, but the very first public beta of a Blizzard game that we did was actually a Battle.net beta. And so, the CD that we had shipped out was labeled ‘Battle.net Beta Version,’ and included on the Battle.net beta version was Diablo 1. The whole reason we did that wasn't because we were necessarily looking to get a ton of feedback against Diablo as a game, but we were actually looking to get feedback on whether or not Battle.net as a service was even a viable thing. I don't know how much you remember of the the mid-’90s internet, but it would have a bunch of people on modems, and ISDN [Integrated Services Digital Network], like, 2 was hot shit if you had one. But, it definitely was a very different time in terms of connectivity, and so that initial Diablo was really our, “OK, let's even find out whether this is a real thing.” We were young, and we had mirrored some of what we saw in IRC [Internet Relay Chat] as well as even other services, like Kali and so forth, just to help like inform how we would want players to interact with one another. In its core, it really was about just driving like social engagement, like the chat channels and the ability for people to hop in – that mirroring of IRC functionality. It was a good thing and a bad thing. The good thing was it was super easy for you to get online and connect, because what you do is you go in, click that and, boom, you're on the service. You've just put in your display name, and that's it. There was no like account – it was just “this is who I am,” and that was super awesome. Except, well, it led to this sort of Thunderdome environment of chat channels. When people would ban you, like we'd have mod or a couple of our guys in the back, and we'd we go “hey, this guy's kind of being a jerk” or what-have-you, and we would kick him out of the channel. They could disconnect and come back on just under a different screen name, and and we couldn't do a whole lot about it. With StarCraft we said, “you know, we actually want to up the game some,” and so we said let's get some accounting to this. By doing that, we introduced some persistence, some level of – I don't want to say accountability – but just like: “this is who I am and my online persona,” and we had one of those for the entire world. That was one of these things where we're just sort of learning it by trying. StarCraft just popped so big over in Korea, we actually ended up having issues around keeping the databases around the world in sync, where you'd have a bunch of Korean data that would be there. We'd actually have to push it across the internet cables over into Asia, and it would create tremendous amounts of lag. Servers would just connect to one another, so you'd have chat channels that would actually like fork through one another. So, you'd be in general chat, and you could actually be in two different copies of general chat. To you it would look like a bug, and what happened from there was we said, “well, we don't know how to fix the internet in the mid ‘90s, and it's not good.” So, we kind of took the only approach we could, which was to separate out these different, disconnected regions. So, that's how we we ended up in a situation where that classic service had left us with East Asia, Europe [US East and US West]. That was all done because the connectivity between those those areas wasn't super great but our populations in those areas was super great. TR: Just to remind our readers of the state of the internet and therefore online gaming in even the late ‘90s, what were some of the most challenging aspects of getting StarCraft’s Battle.net off the ground? RB: Even in the late ‘90s, we were still dealing with ton of dial ups, so the call waiting, mom picking up the phone. Just the fact that you're pushing bits over basically the average speed, [which] was like 28.8 kilobytes a second. When people think about internet-connected activities, like, you couldn't stream the worst quality YouTube clip on your best day at 28.8Kbps without just wanting to sort of have an aneurysm. And, so here we've got up to eight people all connecting in a game of StarCraft, and we're pushing bits back and forth in a peer-to-peer or round-robin format and trying to keep all that going across basically copper wires. That in and of itself, I think, was one of the biggest challenges. TR: Can you recall or tell any stories of critical moments in launching Battle.net or Day Zero stories? RB: I think for us, the war stories were just kind of this realization that adding in that persistence and seeing people come in and really own their online persona and doing it while they're gaming along. It was a bit of a relief, because we were still like, “Oh we were a bit ahead of the time.” I mean, you think about, like, AOL had its bit where they were a dial-up service and had a little bit in online chat rooms and so forth But, there wasn't a whole lot going on in the in the gaming space. [I remember the] months leading up to the launch the number of sleepless nights with a very small staff – we're talking about a couple of people nearby working on it. To basically have all that knowledge trapped up in a couple of people's heads, and then to see it go live and have people connecting up chatting on getting the games. I'll tell you what, when Korea really lit up, we didn't we didn't plan for that. That just happened in the the internet cafes over in Korea and just absolutely exploded – and the eSports scene exploded on us. We're looking at [this] going, “what the hell is happening over in Korea? Where are all these people coming from? And, wait a second, they've got LAN [local area network] parties that they turn into businesses over there.” Basically, you know they went from zero to 20,000 PC cafes, where people would walk in and you'd have machines, fifty to a room, where you'd pay five bucks to be able to play StarCraft. [We were] just humbled by that love and passion for the game, so you know that that to me is has always been the defining moment of what, for us, was like just a lot of years of hard work – we brought people together. TR: What do you figure was an average or even peak amount of concurrent players during the early days of StarCraft Battle.net versus those same numbers today in, say, SC2? RB: I want to say we were north of hundreds of thousands of people playing from any given region at any given time. Compared to today, we measure it in the millions and millions of dailies. Back then, we're going, “how big can we really get with this?” And, to think that 10 to 15 years later we'd be adding a couple extra zeros on top of those numbers just was unbelievable. You know, what was true then I think we've we figured out now, but it took us some time, is that when there would be a hiccup in the internet. Let's say an ISP [Internet Service Provider] would drop all their players – you dropped fifty or sixty thousand people in let's say one of the Korean ISPs. Fifty thousand people would suddenly drop and then they'd all want to get back online, and they’d all want to do it the exact same moment. Those were the minutes of the day where you go, “Oh, really? OK,” because that cold start sort of problem, where everybody has to ramp back on quickly, is a hard thing to solve for. In today's world, that's just sort of expected. We have to deal with millions upon millions of players that, at any point can pop online. In those early days, we weren't planning for hundreds of thousands or millions of players to come online – but they did. TR: Were there unique ways in which StarCraft matches worked in the early days of Battle.net versus today? For example, it’s known that some online FPS and action multiplayer games screw with the timing of players’ actions in relation to one another as they’re displayed on those players’ screens. RB: I mean, it was a peer-to-peer-peer-to-peer game, and so with that what we ended up with was that basically all the packets from one machine would actually have to be reflected out to everybody else and so. From a gameplay standpoint, what we'd have to deal with is just the raw latency at the lowest common denominator, and we would adjust the the turn rate such that we're basically saying, “Hey, we're going to wait for a beat while Bob sends over his packet, and Joe sends in his packet.” The longer that we actually wait, the slower that the game becomes, and so what ultimately folks want is they want super quick turn rate. Where that worked really well was in the highly developed internet countries, where latency is super low. What doesn't work at all even today is when you're trying to go out over a couple hundred milliseconds, because you're just constantly waiting for other players. We found out that, real early on, players are known for their patience index to tend to drop off real real quick, and so people get booted from games super fast if they're the one that's causing waiting for players, even the way that we did data passing technology back then. Basically, you're using my internet connection to do file transfers. In effect, we had one of the earliest sort of peer-to-peer file exchange programs that was out there,but it was all highly optimized around our data as opposed to random data. TR: What were the most popular types of matches in the early days of StarCraft versus those of the sequel today or contemporary SC? I remember comp stomps being my favorite as a less than amazing player. RB: Players creating their own sort of custom maps and then about making those things was just a novel way for us to engage with the community. We didn't know how big that would get, but it turned out to be something that we explored even further with Warcraft 3 and with StarCraft 2. I wasn't particularly great at StarCraft either, but I absolutely found a niche. That’s what was cool about StarCraft: there was something that spoke to everybody. For the the people that were particularly great at it and gotten down into the muscle memory of hotkeys and unit groupings, they were able to really just turn it into something we've never seen before, which was nice. TR: Honestly, at this point it really is almost like an entire language unto itself. RB: When we launched StarCraft remastered, it was so key to us to serve the existing gameplay, because first rule of making it was that we couldn't break StarCraft. That put some parameters around just how far we could go in terms of remastering it. An example of that was that raw APM [Actions Per Minute] was so key, and the way in which players had learned to sort of circumvent some of the the way the engine worked back in the day was bizarre. The pro players would actually shake the mouse to increase the refresh rate, and the reason that they do that is early on they wanted to actually [crank] up the speed of the game, but the draw cycles were linked back to where the cursor was located. We would basically redraw the entire screen, because that's just how you made the game back in the day, and when we changed over that and put in hardware cursor, the game started to feel a little different. The pro players were the first ones that would say, “Well, hold on, something's broken,” and we never experienced it in any of our testing here because we don't have a ton of folks that are hitting above 200 to 250 APM. The pro players reach either 300 or 400. All this stuff over 20 years has just been awesome to see developing, to your point of it being its own language, like it it has become this game, this sport that is something that we're very delicate with. We want to make sure that we continue to preserve it and have it available for generations to come. But, at the same time, we need to make sure that the generations that had the game like this today continue to recognize it as the same game to this today. TR: What is something you or the team misses about those old days of Battle.net, and what is something that you definitely don’t? RB: The thing about the old days is that, for a lot of us, this was the first time we were doing something like this. And, the first time you're doing something there's an excitement, there's a joy, there's this novel, “Wow, what's going to happen? We don't really know – it's not been done before.” And, so there was a lot of sort of creativity and startup mentality, a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of dedication and passion from the engineers – and equally from the community. That just was exciting: what we were plugging in, the whole notion of actually bridging external social communication channels from back in the day, like IRC or AOL, and integrating it directly with the game, so that players have the ability to just very easily find one another and chat, and then hop into a game and enjoy their day. That was all awesome being a part of, but it was also that there was no manual, there wasn't anything to look at and say, “Well, you know maybe we can get some inspiration for some other folks.” There were very few other providers from back in the day where we could actually glean some some information, and the people that did it – just like us – everybody was super secretive of it. No one wanted to talk of anybody else, because that was there their thing. Today, it's a different problem set, and so you have a lot of the the same sort of start-up mentality and just cool problems to solve, but they are very different problems, I think. They're scaling problems, but they're just different. Personally, 20 years ago I was thinking, “OK how do I make my basic ends meet?” You know, I was still in my early twenties, and so these sleepless nights were cathartic and awesome. Twenty years later, I've gone, “OK, that worked out OK, but now we've got tens of millions, hundreds of millions of people around the world that we’re speaking to and who really are speaking to one another. So, there's a numbers pressure in some sense of making sure that it all just sort of works right, and I think it's just cool to be a part of it. Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place. First published June 2018 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Nvidia G-Sync HDR vs AMD FreeSync 2: the race for high-dynamic range PC gaming Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:56 AM PDT High-dynamic range (HDR) gaming on PCs and HDR in general has never been more prevalent than today. However, there’s a clear dichotomy of pricing that’s creating a rift in the gaming monitor world. On one side, there were FreeSync 2 HDR gaming monitors priced well below a grand at launch. Meanwhile, Nvidia went for the jugular by introducing its two first G-Sync HDR gaming monitors at an astronomical price. Likewise, Nvidia and AMD have opposing philosophies regarding how they are developing ecosystem of displays HDR gaming. Luckily, we had a chance to speak with both AMD’s Antal Tungler, Senior Manager of Global Technology Marketing, and Nvidia’s Vijay Sharma, Product Management Leader for Nvidia G-Sync, to get both companies’ takes on where the next generation display technology is going. Tungler doesn’t mince his words and calls out Nvidia on the sizable two-grand price tags of the Asus ROG Swift PG27UQ and Acer Predator X27. “The Samsung CHG70 does 1440p, 144 Hz, HDR, FreeSync 2, basically all the same things,” Tungler says. “Granted, not in an IPS panel, it's a VA panel, but the difference is not that big, and you pay four times as much on the Nvidia side than you pay on the FreeSync side." “I think there's some tone-deafness on the side of Nvidia, in terms of when it comes giving people a really great HDR and variable-refresh gaming experience,” he tells us. Sharma from Nvidia, on the other hand, argues that cutting-edge technology is always expensive to start, but he strongly believes that the price will go down quickly given the recent history of ultra-wide monitors. “That's the case with a lot of new, leading edge technology, and the good news is, with technology, the prices come down really fast,” Sharma says. “Over a year ago, the curved 34-inch G-Sync monitors were launched by a number of Alienware, AOC, ASUS, Acer, HP. The starting price point when they launched was about $1,299. And at that time, over a year ago, it was unheard of," Sharma tells us. "'Are you crazy? $1,299 for a PC monitor?'" “And, then, within six months, it was common to see those curved monitors at $999 –so they saw a $300 drop in less than a year,” he says. “So, that’s what has happened historically with other monitors. Now we'll see what happens with the G-Sync HDR, but if what has happened in the past with technology holds true, the price is going to come down.” The Acer Predator XB271HK (left) vs Acer Predator X27 G-Sync HDR (right) HDR gaming for everyoneIn our last discussion with Nvidia about G-Sync HDR monitors, Sharma and team clearly desired to deliver the best looking gaming monitor that ever existed. Sharma not only saw this as a goal to create the ultimate gaming monitor, but to also steer clear of the confusion that exists with the current slew of HDR gaming monitors that qualify for various levels of HDR certification and peak brightness. “It's certainly confusing for me and I'm very close to this stuff,” Sharma says in response to the gamut of HDR gaming monitors available today. “It reminds me of when HD televisions first started appearing. I had always been an early adopter, and then when HD television started appearing, it was so confusing because some were 720i, 720p, 1080i, 1080p, this and that. And, I didn't buy one for years.” “I don't want to make a mistake, because I'm going to live with this thing in my living room for a long time and I didn't buy one,” Sharma tells us. “So, I think when you have such a spread or variance in product experience, it confuses people, and that's not good.” “Part of our philosophy and guiding principle is G-Sync, that sticker, that logo, our brand promise should cut through the confusion,” Sharma says. “So, if you buy a G-Sync HDR, you're getting the best available technology put together in the best possible way. You're going to have a good experience and you don't have to feel cautious about buying G-Sync HDR.” The Philips 436M6VBPAB is an incredible 43-inch HDR gaming monitor for $999 (£699, AU$1,398) Similarly, with FreeSync 2, Tungler and AMD also believe in only picking out the panels with the best image quality, but they also want to make HDR gaming more accessible. “FreeSync 2 is on the path of, ‘let's make sure that is has the best quality panels’, it's also on the path of, "let's make it affordable and let's make it accessible to all gamers,’” Tungler says. “That's really the mission of FreeSync 2, is to combine variable refresh, so smooth gaming, with the best quality pixels that HDR content can offer.” Like Nvidia G-Sync HDR, FreeSync 2 qualified panels must meet certain brightness, contrast ratio, color gamut, and latency requirements. “We know it's not that easy to hit, that combined with variable refresh. But that's where we want to ensure that people have the best experience,” Tungler tells us. “Now, with that in mind, we also were cognizant that people don't want to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on monitor upgrades.” “People are somewhat leery about upgrading their monitor” he says. "That's the last piece they consider upgrading, because they believe that is going to cost them a lot of money. They don't necessarily know what to look for when it comes to monitor tech. I think Nvidia's strategy of putting the best tech or gamer tech into the top of the top line only is not helping the cause. It's actually detrimental.” The HP Omen X 65 BFGD is one of Nvidia's biggest G-Sync HDR screens A bright future for HDR gamingDespite Tungler and Sharma’s differing – and sometimes opposing – stances on how HDR market should develop and grow, they’re both equally excited about its future. Tungler himself believes it’s his and AMD’s task to drum up the importance of HDR in PC Gaming with developers and their users. “Basically, no TV today that doesn't have HDR support and on the console side, they are well taken care of too. But on the PC side, the ecosystem is growing every day; we're seeing more and more HDR displays coming out to market, and I think that's just going to accelerate. Compared to some other gimmicky technologies in gaming, I think HDR is definitely here to stay and it's going to keep growing.” Sharma echoes similar sentiments, noting how “HDR gives us a brand new roadmap, a new path to go down, so I think the refresh rates will increase. I think you'll see better color performance. I think the HDR performance is going to get better and better over time." Welcome to TechRadar's PC Gaming Week 2019. We're celebrating the most powerful gaming platform on Earth with in-depth articles, exclusive interviews and essential buying guides that showcase everything PC gaming has to offer. Visit our PC Gaming Week 2019 page to see all our coverage in one place. First published June 2018 This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:55 AM PDT Website builders have been around for decades but a new generation now exploit new technologies like responsive and mobile platforms. A website builder can help individuals or businesses build anything from a simple single-page site to a professional web store, even if you've no design or HTML experience at all. Whether you're a sole trader or a multinational corporation, just about every business needs an online presence – in other words, a website. A growing number are adding bells and whistles like an email list or form facility, domain name registration and much more. Even if you don't sell products online a site can help people find you, learn more about your skills and services, and provide a way to share your details with other potential customers. It's like having a permanent, always-on-call personal assistant, ready to answer queries. And website builders can even be free.
More experienced users can customize and fine-tune the design to suit their own needs, or perhaps install a more traditional web design package that allows them to build the perfect site from scratch. There are free options, but these often have major restrictions, including limits on the size of the site and the lack of any ability to use your own domain. Fortunately, the commercial options are very reasonably priced, from around £5/$5 to £10/$10 a month, with hosting included. To help you decide which option is best for your needs, we’ve picked out the cream of the crop: these are the five top players in the website building world right now. Wix has more than 100 million registered users Wix is one of the most popular online website creators, offering a range of plans and products. The free version has Wix branding, limited storage space (500MB) and bandwidth, but move up to the most popular plan (unlimited) and there’s no Wix ads. You get unlimited bandwidth (hence its name) and 10GB storage, along with a free domain, Google Ad vouchers and much more. The e-commerce plans start with the "Business Basic" plan with a price of $17 (£13.30) per month. An excellent collection of 500 plus templates gets the design process off to a quick start. The drag-and-drop editor gives you all kinds of tools and features to explore – an image editor, video backgrounds, animations, social buttons, an integrated site blog – and just about everything can be tweaked, tuned and restyled. Furthermore, as of recently, Wix introduced Wix Turbo, which increases the speed and performance of websites substantially. All the core editing functions are really smartly designed, and operate more like a native app than your average website builder. Wix does have some weaknesses, with tech support seeming a little sluggish and limited in some respects. But there’s no denying that the superb editor and range of top-notch templates make it easy for web building novices to create something impressive. 1&1 IONOS is one of the biggest web hosting companies in the world There’s a lot to like here in terms of a powerful drag-and-drop editor bristling with professional features and highly customizable templates, but at the outset, let’s make it clear that this isn’t the cheapest service around. There’s no free plan (or indeed trial – although there is a 30-day money-back guarantee), and the most basic plan is priced at $1 (£1 for UK) for the first month, rising to $5 a month (£5 for UK) afterwards. That gives you unlimited pages and web space, a simple integrated blog, limited SEO settings, plus website backup and restore, so it’s a touch pricey for what you get. That said, 1&1 IONOS MyWebsite offers a wide range of responsive templates, and an editor which provides loads of potential adjustments and tweaks, all with plenty of visual feedback and context-sensitive menus to help streamline the whole process. What’s clever here is that the top-level stuff is easy to use and understand for beginners, yet expert users can dive more deeply into the menus to really play around and customize elements. You also get your own personal consultant free of charge. Other highly useful features include the ability to point to your old website in order to import media content from there straight into your new site. This could be a huge timesaver for some. There also an e-commerce plan starting at $1 – (£1 for UK) – a month for the first six months, rising to $25 - (£25 for UK) a month). Weebly is one of the few website builders that offer a free hosting tier. Weebly is another big name in the website building world which offers a powerful editor and capable set of features. There’s a free plan, which like Wix limits space to 500MB and imposes ads on your site. However, if you move up to the Professional plan – at $12 (£9.5) a month – the ads and storage limit are dropped, plus you get a free domain, and even support for a web store containing up to 25 products. The supercharged Business plan lets you create sites with unlimited web store products and high-end store features like product reviews and discount coupons, retailing at $25 (£19) a month. The service offers hundreds of professionally-designed web templates, covering just about any site type. The drag-and-drop editor is neatly designed, although you don’t get full control over where you can position elements on the page, and the interface can seem a little cluttered. A further niggle is that there is no global Undo feature. Like Wix, we found tech support was a little wobbly in terms of sluggish responses, but Weebly offers a host of powerful features, some very stylish templates, and easy access to free images for your site is another definite boon. As we’ve seen, many a website builder pitch themselves towards novices and making life easy for the less site-savvy out there, but what about experts who want powerful low-level control? Those are the users Voog has in mind. So you don’t get many templates here, for example, and there’s the bare minimum of media support – but what you do get is a compact drag-and-drop editor which does its best to stay out of your way. There are weaknesses here, and the interface is somewhat clunky in respects – and it’s another which lacks a global Undo function – but it has some real power you can drill down into. For example, clicking a text box gives you the option to use bullet-point lists, insert tables or videos, or even edit the HTML source to customize effects. Voog also lets multiple users easily collaborate on a site project, and if you’re after nifty, unusual features like these, you won’t see them elsewhere. The entry-level Standard plan is priced at $8.80 (£7.10) per month (billed annually) and gives you 5GB storage, and all the core features you’ll need, including SSL security (although it’s limited to 30 pages). If you know what you’re doing in terms of website design, and want some true power and customization capabilities, there is a 30-day trial you can check out (no credit card details needed). Jimdo is a somewhat quirky website builder targeted largely at novice users, but it’s well worth your attention for a number of reasons, not the least of which is a free plan which boasts more than the average offering. Yes, there are the usual limitations including adverts, a 500MB storage limit, no custom domain, and very limited SEO. But there are a few features you won't get in other free plans, like a password protected area, for example. The site editor itself is simple and consistent, even if it’s somewhat unconventional in terms of its design. Also, the editor doesn’t have as many functions and features as some rivals. For example, there aren’t that many templates, and the widgets on offer aren’t as plentiful as you might find elsewhere – plus there’s no global Undo (although Jimdo isn’t alone in this respect). Another neat touch is a good web knowledgebase which means help is generally close at hand when it comes to troubleshooting. Overall, this is a compelling product, that is well worth giving a whirl. You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:
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| Vodafone broadband deals top the fibre market...especially for its mobile users Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:47 AM PDT Picking your next internet plan is a pain. You've been inundated with broadband deals, all with differing incentives, price tags and average speeds and now you've somehow got to narrow that choice down. Well, we're here to help. Currently for those looking to get a hold of a new fibre broadband deal, one ISP that really stands out is Vodafone. Offering two packages - Superfast 1 and Superfast 2 - Vodafone has some of the best price points in the fibre market right now. And if you happen to be a Vodafone mobile customer as well, then you're luck is doubled! You can get these fibre broadband deals even cheaper. We personally think the Superfast Fibre 1 with its average speeds of 35Mb and £22 a month pricing (£20 for Vodafone customers) is the way to go but an extra fiver each month will get you the faster speeds if needed. Whichever of the two packages tempts you more, we've listed both below so you can choose. Or head over to our broadband deals guide to see how these options compare to everything else.
Vodafone's fibre broadband deals:Want more with your broadband deal?Not interested in Vodafone? No problem, there are a host of other great fibre broadband deals out there right now. For those that want something cheaper, Onestream will be the best choice. Offering fibre for just £18.99, no one can touch this package for overall price. However, this package falls somewhere in-between fibre and ADSL, offering average speeds of just 17Mb. Or, simply for Vodafone's closest competition, TalkTalk can offer average speeds of 38Mb for just £22.45 - perfect for non-Vodafone customers or someone who wants a different provider but a similar package. Read more:
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| BlackBerry lays out its next steps for IoT world domination Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:37 AM PDT The head of BlackBerry has outlined more detail of how the company is continuing its transition into a true software giant. Speaking at the recent BlackBerry World Tour event in London, CEO John Chen outlined the rapid pace the company has enjoyed over the past 12 months in accelerating its push into the IoT and security spaces. Since leaving its mobile hardware operations back in 2015, BlackBerry has focused largely on software, with its Spark security platform hoping to help simplify protecting the IoT.
Managing allChen declared that his company already has over half a billion endpoints connected and protected across the globe. “This is actually a conservative number for BlackBerry,” he added, “think about the number of BlackBerry devices out there, and 150 million cars with QNX installed...we have a very healthy stock.” The BlackBerry chief went on to outline the company’s vision of providing all parts of the endpoint security architecture, whether that be secure communications, a zero-trust platform, or authentication/identity management. “We are now in every piece,” he noted, “(but) the whole idea is to make sure that we have a stack that is capable of managing all endpoints and securing all endpoints for IoT application.” “We’re making good progress, and you’ll see that continuing for at least the foreseeable future.” The event came months after BlackBerry completed the acquisition of AI security experts Cylance, a deal which widened BlackBerry’s knowledge in the industry no end. Joking that his CTO told him it would be quicker and easier to spend $1.4billion “of my hard-earned money” on Cylance than funding years of internal research, Chen outlined exactly what made the Californian company so appealing. Chen noted that Cylance’s ability to work both in the cloud but also on-premise, as well as both online and offline, makes its technology ideal for the growing IoT network, with some industries, such as government and smart cities, needing to have security-conscious apps locked down offline. BlackBerry will now look to leverage Cylance’s AI and machine learning expertise into its UEM platform by CES 2020 in January, with Chen saying he hopes to launch a mobile-based detection (MTD) service at the show. “This is probably one of the most important things for the future,” he declared, noting that the system would bring machine learning and predicting capabilities into the MTD platform. One of the first visible use cases of the technology would concern monitoring the cybersecurity health status of new vehicles, many of which still rely on a constant stream of OTA updates to keep their systems up to date. “We do need the technology,” Chen noted, “we need it for endpoint management and the IoT infrastructure…(Cylance) is such a key component of our future, we had to acquire it.” “This is just the beginning."
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| Black Friday preview at Best Buy: massive price cuts on 4K TVs Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:24 AM PDT Best Buy is giving us a Black Friday preview sale with massive price cuts on 4K TVs. For a limited time, you can save up to $2,000 on big-screen TVs from brands like Sony, Samsung, LG, and more. Our top TV pick is the LG 75-inch Nano 9 Series 4K TV that's on sale for $1,999.99. That's a whopping $700 price cut and the best price we've seen for the UHD smart TV. Shop more of our top Best Buy TV offers below, and keep in mind, this is an excellent opportunity to snag a killer deal before the Black Friday madness begins. Best Buy TV deals:Shop more of the best cheap TV sales and 4K TV deals that are currently going on. Learn more about the November sale event with our guide to Black Friday 2019: the date and early predictions list. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Intel reveals new cut-price Xeon CPUs and more on Cascade Lake-X Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:22 AM PDT Intel has taken the wraps off its new heavyweight Intel Xeon W CPUs and Cascade Lake-X processors. Although most of the details about the latter were already spilled last week following a leak, the news still represents a huge boost for the chip giant. The chip giant boasted that these new high-end desktop (HEDT) processors have been driven forward on the AI acceleration front courtesy of Intel Deep Learning Boost, which gives users an AI inference boost of 2.2x compared to the previous generation.
Intel also noted that these processors benefit from Turbo Boost Max Technology 3.0 which has been “further enhanced” to help beefy applications (such as simulation or modeling) run faster by more accurately prioritizing the fastest cores to take on the work at hand. As mentioned, we’ve already seen all the details on the new 10th-gen Cascade Lake-X CPUs which have had their prices heavily slashed by Intel. The 18-core flagship Core i9-10980XE is set to retail at $979 (around £795, AU$1,450) compared to $1,979 (around £1,600, AU$2,920) for the previous-gen Core i9-9980XE. The huge price drops continue down the range to the tune of 40% to 50%, with the base Core i9-10900X starting at only $590 (around £480, AU$870). Core counts are the same for Cascade Lake-X compared to predecessor Skylake-X, but with the new processors, you’re getting a bump in single-core turbo boosts, with these chips capable of hitting 4.8GHz maximum Turbo (or 4.7GHz in the case of the 10900X). For the full details on these Cascade Lake-X offerings, check out our previous story on the launch – they are coming in November, incidentally, or at least that’s the plan. And that’s when the new Xeon chips will be available, too, so let’s move on to take a look at them. Xeon prices get slashed, tooIntel’s new Xeon W-2200 chips are targeted at pro-level creators and the likes of heavyweight rendering or CAD and indeed AI development. There are eight processors in total, with the flagship Xeon W-2295 sporting 18-cores (36-threads) with a base clock speed of 3.0GHz, all-core Turbo to 3.8GHz, and a maximum boost speed of 4.8GHz. This is with a TDP of 165W, and recommended pricing is $1,333 (around £1,080, AU$1,970). The next step down is the W-2275 with 14-cores and a base clock of 3.3GHz, all-core turbo to 4.1GHz, and the same 4.8GHz max boost as the flagship. The price for this chip is $1,112 (around £900, AU$1,640). That’s followed by the W-2265, Intel’s 12-core Xeon offering which ups the base clock to 3.5GHz and all-core Turbo to 4.3GHz, again with the same max boost. The price in this case dips below the thousand mark at $944 (around £765, AU$1,390). All these chips have a TDP of 165W. The range then runs down 10-core, 8-core and 6-core models, with a pair of quad-core (8-thread) CPUs nestling at the bottom. The cheapest is the W-2223 clocked at 3.6GHz with all-core Turbo to 3.7GHz and a TDP of 120W, which is set to retail for $294 (around £240, AU$430). You also get support for up to 72 PCIe lanes and 1TB of memory with these Xeon processors, as well as ECC support and Intel vPro on the security front. Intel notes that a 3D architectural rendering process run on Autodesk Revit with V-Ray is up to 10% faster with the new flagship CPU compared to the previous-gen product. Again, prices on these new Xeon chips have been slashed to similar levels as seen with Cascade Lake-X, with the flagship model’s price tag pretty much being chopped in half. Naturally, this can only really be seen as a response to the threat posed by AMD as we’ve already discussed in recent times, with Intel’s rival making major headway with Ryzen 3000 CPUs in the consumer desktop PC arena – and the threat of 3rd-gen Threadripper products looming large (AMD’s new HEDT offerings also arrive in November). As ever when these sort of price wars kick-off in the computer components world, the end-user is the winner…
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| Best free website builder 2019 Posted: 07 Oct 2019 08:18 AM PDT Creating a website used to be the domain (geddit?) of professional designers and coders, but thanks to free website builder applications, these days it's something anyone can tackle. The problem is that there are so many website creation applications and services vying for attention that it can be difficult to know which one to opt for – this is where we can help. We've collated the very best free website builders available, including a mixture of offline software and online tools. It's usually quicker, easier and more efficient to create and edit a site entirely online with a WYSIWYG editor, but if you want complete control over every aspect of your site's design and web hosting, you'll need a desktop-based free website builder. So whether you're looking to create a site for your business, a new blog, or you just fancy creating an online presence for yourself, here are the best free website builder services to help you out.
Wix makes it very easy to design a website, while giving experts plenty of power to customize elements if they need it Wix is a big-name website builder which offers a free plan, enabling you to have the run of this service without having to put your hand in your pocket. And you benefit from one of the most impressive website editors in the business. This editor can be run in ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) mode, which has a very basic interface to keep everything really simple and user-friendly. This is great for beginners, as you can create a basic site without even remotely breaking a sweat (a range of attractive templates are provided, as well). Those who want to get more involved with tweaking the design of their website can step up to the full Wix editor, which boasts powerful functionality, and the ability to really hone your website and get it looking just as you want. Visual previews of page elements make it easy to pick what you need for any particular part of a web page, too. Wix is so polished that putting together your site using the editor feels more like using a native application rather than a website builder, and it also sports excellent support for a diverse range of media, and quality customer support as well, even on the free plan. In addition, Wix Turbo was recently released which improves the performance and speed of all Wix websites. Powerful blogging functionality rounds things off nicely, and you’re getting a truly high quality offering with the free version of this website builder. Constant Contact provides an intelligent website builder and ecommerce store platform, both of which are free to use. Setting up a website is easy using drag-and-drop functionality, allowing you to set up a design simply and easily, and insert the features you need. Settings are automatically optimized for mobile platforms and SEO, and there is a free image library with over 50,000 images included as part of the package. The ecommerce platform allows for online payments through Paypal, Mollie, or Stripe. There are order and inventory features that automatically updates inventory with orders, and sends an email alert when items become out-of-stock. While the basic level website is free, there are paid plans which add more features. Additionally, there is also a paid email marketing option available to allow you to reach new customers. Overall, Constant Contact does a good job of setting up the basics. The free plan is a great way to set up your website, and there is a 60-day free trial if you do upgrade. If you want to create a website as quickly as possible, look no further than Weebly. It's so easy to use, you'll have a great-looking site online in mere minutes Weebly offers you two ways to build your website. Both involve creating it online, and both are as quick and painless as possible. The simplest option is to use the basic editor builder which will guide you through a series of questions before automatically creating a site for you. There is scope for customization, but the focus here is really on fast results for anyone who is terrified of designing websites. A more hands-on approach is available if you decide to use the standard Editor. There are literally hundreds of stylish templates to choose from – and, yes, they are genuinely impressive – which you can tweak and tailor to your needs using a beautiful WYSIWYG editor. Despite being a cloud-based website builder, Weebly gives you a great degree of control over the look of your site and placement of page elements. You can also liven it up using additional features such as a newsletter and live chat. This power and flexibility make Weebly a top-notch website builder. WordPress is the tool of choice for many blog owners. It takes a little getting used to, but once you've mastered it, you'll love its flexibility Causing a slight degree of confusion, there are actually two different versions of WordPress. The more complex variant can be downloaded from wordpress.org, and you will need to upload it to your own web space and install it using the automated online installer. You can then customize the templates and use add-ons to make the site your own. This is the route many bloggers go down, but there is a simpler option for people who don’t want the hassle of fiddling about with scripts and getting dirty with hardcore editing. The hosted version of WordPress lets you create your own site on wordpress.com. You can create everything from a blog or photo site, to a fully fledged online store, and there are a number of templates to choose from. Additionally, Mailchimp users have a benefit of adding a Mailchimp block, which can grow your mailing list among other things. Whether you're creating a static site, or a blog-style site with regularly updated content, the online editor is a joy to use and allows just about anyone to create an impressive, professional-looking site. The only downside is the limited range of plugins and templates compared with the desktop website builder. WebSite X5 makes building a website on your desktop easy, with good-looking templates and an intuitive site builder Incomedia WebSite X5 received an overhaul in April 2019 with new templates, an updated interface, new paid versions and more. The main thing to note is that the service now has a free version for everyone (note that the free version for TechRadar readers is still available to download). There are two paid versions, Evo and Pro, priced at $79.99 and $229 respectively. This is a one time purchase and naturally, both versions come with additional and improved features compared to the free one. There is also a demo version of both paid versions that you can try out. Unlike WordPress and Wix, WebSite X5 is a desktop website builder, which means you can work on your site offline and have more freedom to make your website look exactly the way you want. There's a range of ready-made templates to choose from, or you can create your own design from scratch. Next, build up your site map, showing the hierarchy of your pages and how they connect to one another – a feature you won't find in most web-based site builder apps. Once that's done, you're ready to start building your pages using Website X5's simple drag-and-drop interface, which includes tools for editing both rich text and photos. If you don't want to be tied down to an online site builder, WebSite X5 is the tool for you. CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor isn't a WYSIWYG website builder, but it provides a live preview of your site as you create it CoffeeCup Free HTML Editor is one of a dying breed of web building programs that don't use a CMS (content management system). While not in the same league as the likes of Adobe Dreamweaver, Free HTML Editor packs quite a professional punch. With split screen code/preview views, it's possible to see the effect the changes you make have straight away. To help you get started quickly, there are a number of templates built into the program, and there are some very nice features such as tag and code suggestions as you type. For absolute beginners, the program might seem a little overwhelming to start with, but it's worth sticking with – assuming you have some HTML knowledge. There is one slight issue; a number of features, such as spell-checking and code optimization, are only included in the paid-for version of the program. If you've used WordPress before, you might be interested in the power of Joomla. It's not as easy to use though, so beginners are better off sticking with a simpler option like Wix Joomla is a well-known name in the CMS world. It may not be as popular as WordPress, but it offers the same two options: build a site using the web app at launch.joomla.org and have it hosted on the company's servers, or download the software from joomla.org and host it yourself. If you choose the latter option, you'll notice that the interface is much less approachable than WordPress. It's not completely impenetrable, but there are lots of menus and options to work through and it doesn't feel quite as polished as WordPress. Joomla's online website builder is nearly as complex, but doesn't involve the same setup process, making it a better option for beginners. Its key selling point is a huge collection of themes and extensions, which provide endless ways to customize the way your site looks and works. You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:
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