Sunday, January 5, 2020

Apple : Golden Globes live stream: how to watch the TV and film awards online from anywhere

Apple : Golden Globes live stream: how to watch the TV and film awards online from anywhere

Golden Globes live stream: how to watch the TV and film awards online from anywhere

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 01:23 PM PST

Don't call it a pre-cursor to the Oscars! Thanks to its celebrity audience and acerbic hosts, the Golden Globe Awards have become a fixture in their own right on the TV calendar. And you can watch every minute of red carpet revelry and award giving from just about anywhere by following our Golden Globe live stream guide.

Celebrating the best and most beautiful names in the world of television, the 77th Golden Globes is once again taking place in early January to really mark the start of the road to the Academy Awards. English comedian Ricky Gervais is back at the helm for a record fifth time, which means no A-lister can rest easily - Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Mel Gibson and many more have been lampooned by his barbed comments over the years.

And who will likely be taking home a little gold gong tonight? Some of 2019's biggest films, including Netflix's The Irishman and Marriage Story, will compete for the Best Motion Picture - Drama award. While the likes of Daniel Craig, Leonardo DiCaprio, Eddie Murphy, Al Pacino, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Lopez are all up for acting prizes. The ever-reliable Tom Hanks will be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for his glittering career.

On the TV side of things, there's fierce competition between some amazingly successful shows. Binge watchers will need to divide their loyalties between the likes of Big Little Lies, The Crown, The Morning Show, Succession and, of course, Game of Thrones.

Whether you're a massive movie buff, somebody that loves to see 'who' the stars are wearing or just want to see how outrageous Gervais will be, the Golden Globes is always worth a watch. And following our guide will let you work out the best way to get a 2020 Golden Globes live stream from wherever you.

How to watch a 2020 Golden Globes live stream from outside your country

Keep scrolling if you want to know your viewing options in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.

But it's worth noting that if you're away from your country this weekend and were hoping to watch your home coverage on your laptop or mobile, it will inevitable be geo-blocked. Annoying, but definitely not unsurpassable...by using a VPN, you can change your IP address to a location back in your own hometown or country that will then allow you to stream the event as if you were sat back at home.

How to watch the 2020 Golden Globes: live stream in the USA

The bonus of the above options is that they all have some kind of free trial. So if all you care about is getting a Golden Globes live stream and not much beyond, these are well worth a look.

How to stream Golden Globes live in Canada

How to watch a Golden Globes live stream in the UK

Sorry UK folks - it looks as though nobody has thrown their hat into the ring to broadcast the Golden Globes this year. Seems like a big shame considering Gervais is on MC duties and the likes of Emma Thompson, Olivia Colman and Anthony Hopkins are all nominated this year.

The only way that we can think of watching it - without referring to some dodgy stream you've seen on Reddit, is to go down the VPN route, change your IP address and watch as if you were somewhere else in the world.

How to live stream the 2020 Golden Globes in Australia

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Seahawks vs Eagles live stream: how to watch NFL Wild Card playoffs football from anywhere

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 01:21 PM PST

The NFL Playoffs are here and closing out Wild Card Weekend will be the Philadelphia Eagles looking for revenge after suffering a terrible loss to the Seattle Seahawks in week 12. We’ll help to make sure you catch every minute of today’s game - see how to get a Seahawks vs Eagles live stream online regardless of where in the world you are and it’s even free to watch in the US thanks to a simple stream.

Seattle ended the regular season 11-5 and the team is currently the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoffs.

The Seahawks have had their share of injuries this season which why they brought back Marshawn Lynch after losing their top three running backs. During last Sunday’s game against the 49ers, Lynch managed to score one touchdown during the fourth quarter but this wasn’t enough to defeat San Francisco and the Seahawks ended up losing the game 26-21. Will the Seahawks be able to defeat the Eagles a second time for a chance to go all the way to Super Bowl 2020?

Philadelphia managed to win the NFC East this season and the team is going into today’s game 9-7. Last Sunday the Eagles defeated the Giants 24-17 thanks to a field goal from placekicker Jake Elliott and two touchdowns from running back Boston Scott during the fourth quarter. The Eagles have also seen their share of injuries this season which is why Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has been preparing to meet a different team on the field than they did during week 12. Philadelphia has won its last four games against the Giants, the Redskins and the Cowboys and the team will also have the home field advantage, so expect the Eagles to put up a fight. Can the Eagles defeat the Seahawks in their second meeting this season?

Whether you’re a Seahawks fan in Seattle, an Eagles fan in Philadelphia or just want to tune in to catch all the playoff action at this NFL Wild Card Weekend - we’ll show you how to get a Seahawks vs Eagles live stream regardless of where in the world you are so you don’t miss a single touchdown.

Watch the Seahawks vs Eagles game online from outside your country (or in a blackout)

Watching this game from the US, UK, Canada or Australia? We'll tell you how to catch the NFL game further down in the article.

But if you're somewhere else in the world - or if a coverage blackout is stopping you from watching in the US - then there's still a way you can live stream the Seahawks vs Eagles online (and you don't even have to slum it with a grainy, illegal feed you've found on Reddit). Instead you could use a VPN - or Virtual Private Network - to change the IP address to one in a different state or country which does have a stream. And it's not even hard to do.

How to watch the Seahawks vs Eagles in the US for free

Can I watch with the NFL Game Pass?

Well it's a no and a yes. The NFL Game Pass in the US will only let you watch a replay of the game, but not the live action.

Interestingly, it's a different story with an International NFL Game Pass where all post season games are being shown absolutely live...shame you can't officially get access to that if you and your laptop's IP address is in the US.

Other ways cord cutters can stream NFL live online

Sling TV $40 per month - Sling TV splits its live NFL options across its $25 a month Blue plan and $25 a month Orange plan. By combining the two, you get a $10 dollar discount and access to Fox, NBC, ESPN and the NFL Network.  

Hulu with Live TV $40 per month - Hulu with Live TV includes CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN but does not come with NFL Network.

FuboTV $35 for the first month - FuboTV gives you the first month at a discounted rate but after that the price increases to $45 a month. The service includes CBS, Fox, NBC and the NFL Network but does not come with ESPN.

DirecTV Now $50 per month - DirecTV Now includes CBS, Fox, NBC, ESPN and for $5 extra you can add the NFL Network. However, with this service you can only watch football on local TV stations live.

YouTubeTV $40 per month - YouTubeTV gives you access to CBS, Fox, NBC and ESPN but just like with Hulu with Live TV, there is no NFL Network.

How to stream Eagles vs Seahawks live in the UK

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Get a NFL Wild Card live stream in Canada for free

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Live stream Seahawks vs Eagles in Australia for free

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CES 2020: all the news and previews from the world's biggest tech event

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 11:30 AM PST

CES 2020 has begun, and we're reporting live from the vast Las Vegas tech show, bringing you all the breaking news, product announcements and first impressions of new devices as we get our hands on them.

The eagle-eyed among you may be thinking "but CES doesn't start until Jan 7" – and you'd be right, to an extent. Officially CES 2020 runs from January 7 to January 10, which is when the show floor is open, but press conferences and media previews start in earnest today, Sunday, Janaury 5, which means the show has technically already started.

In fact, we had some big surprises in the lead-up to CES 2020. Before the first day of the show, Samsung spoiled its First Look event that it traditionally holds on the Sunday by announcing the bezel-less Samsung Q950TS 8K QLED TV on Saturday afternoon, and rushed off invites to its February Unpacked event where we expect to see the Galaxy S11.

So strap in folks – it's going to be quite the show this year. We're expecting everything from 5G phones to transparent Ultra-HD TVs to personal drones that can fly you around, but there's always something completely unexpected we discover – like, say, a robot dog.

CES will offer something new and interesting for everyone, whether you’re deep into enterprise, obsessed with future trends, or just keen to see what comes next. Here's what's happened so far...

CES 2020 latest news

LG has leaped ahead of Samsung with what looks to be the first TV with '8K Ultra HD' resolution that's been industry-certified. That means the company can use the '8K Ultra HD' logo on its products, starting with LG's line of 'Real 8K TVs' that are set to be unveiled at CES 2020.

LG isn't stopping there: the company unveiled a new set of gamer-oriented monitors it will show off at CES 2020, including a 38-inch curved 4K display with an IPS panel, yet which manages a 1ms response time. With 144hz refresh rate and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility, we're eager to see how other displays at the show compete with this offering.

On the phones side, Chinese company OnePlus stated that it will unveil a new mystery device at its own event during CES, which the company is dubbing 'OnePlus Concept One'. Given the phone-shaped silhouette in a photo promoting the reveal, we're expecting a handset – but all the fuss has us wondering if OnePlus is going to enter the foldable phone rodeo. 

Of course, as a concept, it may never hit retail shelves. But given the other rumor about OnePlus potentially releasing true wireless headphones to rival the AirPods, we might see a lot more from OnePlus at the show than ever before.

Another rumor suggests new Sony WH-1000XM4 over-ear headphones are on the way, a follow-up to the wildly successful WH-1000XM3 noise-canceling cans released in October 2018. While the rumor doesn't link the reveal to CES, the timing could be ripe for a January 2020 launch – which makes CES the logical stage on which to unveil them.

CES 2020 keynotes

Toward the end of November, the CTA released the full schedule of announced CES keynotes and conferences, listed below for your convenience: 

Sunday, January 5 2020

Monday, January 6 2020

AMD at CES 2020

Keynote time: Monday, January 6, at 2:00pm PST
Location: Mandalay Bay South Convention Center, 2nd Floor, Mandalay G

We're fully expecting AMD to come out with a line of high-end GPUs next year - maybe even as early as CES 2020. In past years, AMD has taken to the stage on Monday to deliver a keynote, and could potentially do the same this year. Last year AMD showed off its first ever 7-nanometer GPU, the Radeon VII, at CES 2019, so expect big things this year.

LG at CES 2020

Keynote time: Monday, January 6, at 8:00am PST
Location: Mandalay Bay South Convention Center, 3rd Floor, South Seas A/B/E

Like Samsung, LG’s plans are easy to predict - it’s probably going to show off a new series of OLED TVs, plus give an updated release date for last year’s rollable OLED.  Speaking of far-flung TVs we can't afford, CES 2020 will probably be the place LG officially debuts its transparent OLED prototype that it was showing behind closed doors at last year's show... though it will likely only be for businesses at first.

Want a more affordable OLED? Ahead of the show, LG has already revealed its intentions to release a line-up of smaller, 48-inch OLED TV screens. Previously, OLED panels have only been manufactured at sizes of 55-inches and above, but a smaller size would fit more houses – and bank balances.

LG also uses CES to debut its new line of appliances including smart washers and dryers and nifty household gadgets like air purifiers and robot vacuums. Last year we saw a home brewing system and a smart cupboard that steams your clothes. Featuring a mirrored door with integrated display, automatically moving hangers, and a smart steaming system, it was a wildly different product than we were expecting to see at a tech trade show. 

CES is also the time LG debuts its mid-range mobile phones. Last year we saw the LG V40 ThinQ, while back in 2017 LG brought the Stylus 3. Don't expect any flagship phones at this year's event, but it's Android phone fans should expect something.

Intel at CES 2020

Keynote time: Monday, January 6, at 4:00 pm PST
Location: Mandalay Bay South Convention Center, 2nd Floor, Ballrooms E & F

Last year was a big show for the chip maker. The company came out guns blazing at its CES 2019 keynote, announcing the first 10nm Ice Lake processors based on its Sunny Cove architecture – and even showing the chip powering a running laptop.

The new chips aim to bolster modern PC performance, while Intel's new Project Athena initiative hopes to push mobile computing to the next era with thinner and lighter hardware across industry partners like Huawei, Asus, and Lenovo.

Intel also announced six more 9th-gen processors, ranging from Core i3 to Core i9, making it one of the biggest launches yet for the company.

This year could be the year that company debuts its long-rumored discrete GPU which we saw a mockup of at GDC 2019 earlier this year, or Intel could use the congregation of journalists to announce new 10nm desktop CPUs now that 10nm mobile chips are out on the market.

Nvidia at CES 2020

Now that it's been unveiled to the public, the new Nvidia Shield is all but guaranteed to make an appearance at CES this year. 

Last year Nvidia revealed its GeForce RTX Mobility graphics cards at CES 2019, alongside the RTX 2080 and other cards for gaming laptops. Will CES 2020 bring more of the same? We’ll just have to wait to find out.

Samsung at CES 2020

CES is always a big show for Samsung. It’s the place the company picks to roll out its latest QLED TVs, concept screens and monstrous custom-installs. Last year, the company debuted a new 219-inch TV called The Wall and gave us an updated look at its Tizen operating system that included Apple TV. This year, our money is on new QLED TVs with zero bezel - a rumor that has recently been corroborated by a patent filed with the European Union Intellectual Property Office. 

On the computing side of things, Samsung debuted the Notebook Flash and Notebook 9 Pro, and could offer updates on those this year. As for confirmed products, Samsung has already revealed the Galaxy Book Flex α (that's 'alpha') a $829.99 (around £630, AU$1,200) convertible laptop with QLED display and impressive 17.5 hour battery life.

Samsung has also been doing a lot more with its monitors and solid-state drive categories, so be sure to keep an eye out for those at the show, too.

Sony at CES 2020

Keynote time: Monday, January 6, at 5:00 pm PST
Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, Central Hall, Booth 17300

Sony didn’t have a ton of new products to show off last year, but did bring its new Master Series Z9G TV to the show and debuted its new 360 Reality Audio format. We’ll likely see more of the latter this year as well as a few new TVs in the 950, 850, Z- and A-Series lineups plus some new 2.1 soundbars with Dolby Atmos. 

Outside of the AV space, Sony will probably tease some PS5 news ahead of its official debut and talk up its gaming peripherals like the PlayStation VR. A full debut of the new console seems unlikely, especially considering the rough history Sony consoles have with CES, but we wouldn’t be surprised if it at least gets a mention during Sony’s Monday evening keynote. 

Everything else at CES 2020

noise-cancelling headphones

With literally thousands of exhibitors at the show, you really have to do something amazing to stand out from the crowd. But even smaller companies can make a splash at CES. We'll be constantly updating this article with the latest announcements – find the first early snippets below: 

When is CES 2020?

If you’re going by the official dates, CES 2020 runs from Tuesday, January 7 through Friday, January 10, 2020. 

However, journalists will start pouring into Las Vegas a few days before that to cover the news conferences that kick off on Sunday, January 5 at 12pm PST and continue through Monday and Tuesday. It’s during this time that we’ll hear from leading consumer tech brands as they introduce us to new products at their keynote events. 

Traditionally, the biggest of these keynotes happen on Monday, when LG, Samsung and Sony all hold their events, but some CES-related announcements will land on Sunday night as news begins to trickle out of the conference.

How big is CES and where does it take place? 

CES is massive and takes over the vast majority of the Las Vegas Strip and the surrounding streets. In fact, in terms of square footage, there’s 2.75 million net square feet of exhibit space between the Las Vegas Convention Center, The Sands, Mandalay Bay and The Venetian, nearly all of which plays host to the convention and its exhibitors.  

Fun fact: There are around 160,000 hotel rooms in Vegas and around 180,000 attendees each year. As you’d expect given those numbers, hotels fill up fast and the roads leading to the convention center get pretty crowded that week. Thankfully, the CTA (the company that puts on the show) offers free shuttles to almost all of the major hotels on the strip from the Convention Center, and has buses running to and from the Sands between 9 and 6 pm. 

All that said, be prepared to walk. The convention center itself is massive and so is The Sands. Walking either can easily take between one and two hours, and you’ll easily rack up three to four miles on your pedometer along the way.

Which companies are attending CES 2020? 

The big news this year (well, in theory) is that Apple is 'attending' CES for the first time in decades. The brand has traditionally not presented at the show after it switched to its own events to unveil key products, but this year Apple will be taking part in a security round table.

Appearing at the 'Chief Privacy Officer Roundtable: What Do Consumers Want?' discussion, Jane Horvath, Senior Director, Global Privacy at Apple will join Facebook, the Federal Trade Comission and Proctor & Gamble in discussing privacy in today's online world.

So while Apple won't be at CES in the same vein as rivals from Samsung and LG, launching a slew of new devices, it will be present in a way it hasn't been for years.

Beyond that, confirmed exhibitors include Amazon, Canon, Facebook, Intel, LG, Lenovo, Microsoft, MSI, Nikon, Samsung, Sony and many, many more. 

Now, admittedly, not everyone is there to show off new products. A fair majority of companies are there for business, while others are there to collect feedback and have a presence, rather than debut something new. That said, there will still be hundreds of new products making their debut this year in nearly every category. 

You can see a complete list of those attending on the CES 2020 website.

CES 2020 trends and predictions

In a meeting with TechRadar, the CTA outlined a number of trends that would take center stage at this year’s show. The list included transportation and tourism (Delta Airlines have a keynote this year for the first time in the show’s history), data analytics and privacy, digital health, the global race for 5G, the consumerization of AI and, of course, 8K displays.

These are rather dense, multifaceted topics and will surely be the topic of many presentations during the show. If you want hard product news, that will come from many of the same suspects as last year, all of whom are listed below. 

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Vizio is introducing its first OLED TV at CES 2020

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 09:09 AM PST

This year you might finally be able to afford an OLED TV. 

Today, at CES 2020, Vizio announced its new 2020 TV lineup that includes several new models of its mainstream V-Series, M-Series, P-Series and P-Series Quantum screens as well its first-ever OLED TV and a monstrous 85-inch version of the P-Series Quantum X that has been updated for 2020.

According to Vizio, the new OLED series will be available in two screen sizes - a 55-inch and 65-inch version - and will use Vizio’s IQ Ultra processor for upscaling. The other obvious benefit to the new OLED is that it will have better viewing angles than Vizio’s traditional LED-LCD screens, making it a better option for wide living rooms.

While it can’t do pixel-by-pixel light control like the OLED can, the 85-inch P-Series Quantum X will have a wildly impressive 792 contrast control zones and, like last year’s models, reach up to 3,000 nits of peak brightness. 

The P-Series Quantum X will again use a Quantum Dot filter to cover more of the DCI-P3 and Rec. 2020 color spaces and also come in 65- and 75-inch iterations if you don’t need an 85-inch TV in your living room this year.

The two TVs listed above will come with Vizio's new voice remote, and all TVs in Vizio’s 2020 lineup will include the new-and-improved SmartCast 4.0 platform and HDMI 2.1 ports plus support for all major HDR formats including Dolby Vision and HDR10+, a huge boon in the divided HDR landscape.

So how much will all these new TVs cost? 

Like most other TV manufacturers, Vizio doesn’t disclose pricing for its new TVs at CES - it waits until March or April when the TVs start coming out to issue a separate press release. 

But while we don’t know how much the new OLED or the 85-inch P-Series Quantum X will cost, unfortunately, we do know that Vizio has long been an advocate of affordable high-end TVs. Its original P-Series Quantum TV was definitely aimed at Samsung’s QLED range, but was available at half the cost of Samsung’s higher-end models. The P-Series Quantum X, released last year, took things a step further by rivaling some of the most expensive TVs on the market - Sony’s Z9G LED-LCD TVs - again at a fraction of the cost. 

While none of that ensures that we’ll see a bargain basement price from Vizio on the new OLED, there’s at least a historical precedence of it happening.  

That said, if we get some time with Vizio at the show this year we'll certainly ask about price just in case they feel like letting the cat out of the bag a little early.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2020 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.  

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Instant chill: this CES 2020 heat-sucking gadget makes beverages cold in minutes

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 09:00 AM PST

Tired of waiting for your fridge to slowly chill your drink? Now you can preorder Juno, a countertop appliance the size of a coffeemaker that uses heat-draining tech to drop lukewarm beverages down to chilly temps in minutes.

Juno is the brainchild of Matrix, the company behind the never-needs-recharging PowerWatch and refined PowerWatch 2. Instead of capturing heat to harvest energy, the new appliance uses thermoelectric tech to wick away heat quickly - even from the inside of the drink. 

Here’s how: users pop open the Juno’s lid and drop a bottled or canned drink in, close the appliance, and hit either of the two top buttons for your preferred length of chilling time. There’s no display; instead, Matrix opted for a simple vertical light stripe as a minimalist indicator, shifting from red to full blue once the timer is done - and your beverage is properly chilled.

Juno has a single chilling rate, so you’re really just deciding how long to leave drinks in there. The two buttons are simple timers: press and hold one to change chilling time.

Sadly, you can’t just drop a glass or open drink in the Juno, because its thermoelectric tech works by flooding the beverage pocket with super-chilled water to transfer heat out of the beverage container in a method called the Peltier effect. Juno spins the beverage very fast to bring warmer molecules to the edge of the container, and the water wicks heat away and out through the silver-grated back of the appliance. And yet, that spinning won’t shake up your carbonated beverage.

Of course, you could just pour your drink in a closed container (like a securely-shut mixer or a water bottle) and drop it into the Juno. Naturally, Matrix has its own thermos-like container it’s selling separately that is built to fit the appliance. The space is wide enough for broad-footprint champagne bottles (up to 3.5 inches), and tall enough to house a wine bottle (up to 12.5 inches) or two soda cans stacked vertically.


Fast-chilled drinks...for a price

Juno works as advertised - or at least, the tech behind it does. Matrix demonstrated a working proof-of-concept prototype for TechRadar, which did indeed chill a lukewarm soda can and a cup of hot coffee down to cool, drinkable temps in minutes. They also showed us a Juno shell with working buttons and light meter - all it needs, then, is the chilling machinery within.

That’s not the most promising start going into CES 2020 where Matrix opens up preorders for the appliance; on the other hand, the company fulfilled its PowerWatch and PowerWatch 2 crowdfunding campaign orders and those wearables fulfilled the promise of never-needs-recharging tech. 

Less promising is the price - which, at $299 (about £220, AU$430) MSRP, is far from cheap for most consumers. You can pick it up for an early bird preorder price of $199 (about £150, AU$290), but that’s still seemingly above its occasional utility, unless you regularly find yourself nursing drinks until they reach room temperature. 

For white wine connoisseurs or big party hosts, Juno might be worth the expense, or perhaps in hospitality for bars or hotels to quickly chill beverages.

But in typical Matrix fashion, this is really a gateway product - a consumer device that serves as proof-of-concept for industrial and commercial applications. One idea: upsize the tech to fast-chill shipping containers to make it quicker to transfer meat and produce from ships to trucks. Or perhaps hotels could get rid of the always-on mini-fridge and just stick a Juno to fast-chill something from in-room mini-bars, which would save energy costs.

"We wanted to create a practical use-case for it that anyone could benefit from," Matrix cofounder and CEO Akram Boukai wrote in a press release. "Juno is the ultimate consumer demonstration of how our cooling technology can radically alter the way we manipulate temperatures. But the applications are endless and we’re so excited for the future partnerships and use-cases of MATRIX thermoelectric cooling technology.”

There’s an easier adaptation that would bring Juno’s tech where it could be useful: portability. A fast-chilling appliance on the beach or at the BBQ practically sells itself - Matrix just has to liberate Juno from the power grid. And for a company that made a never-needs-recharging watch, there’s probably already tech in its portfolio that could bring Juno outside the house.

In the meantime, we don’t expect folks to be sold on the Juno’s price and occasional utility, but if fast-chilling is intriguing, it might be worth taking the plunge. Juno is available for preorder now with an expected ship date of Q3 2020.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2020 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.

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AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT full specs accidentally spilled by XFX

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 08:46 AM PST

AMD’s almost certainly imminent Radeon RX 5600 XT has had its specs spilled by two GPU manufacturers, no less, with XFX being the latest vendor to publish details of the graphics card on its site (before swiftly yanking them down, after realizing its mistake presumably).

Previously ASRock highlighted the RX 5600 XT on its website, before removing the details of the GPU which is expected to be unveiled tomorrow by AMD at CES 2020.

So what are the official specs of the 5600 XT according to XFX’s product page which was briefly online? As Videocardz reports, the RX 5600 XT Thicc II Pro runs with 2,304 stream processors and 6GB of GDDR6 video RAM with a 192-bit bus (and these specs tie in with previous speculation from the graphics grapevine – essentially, this is a cut-down RX 5700).

Clocking up

The Thicc II Pro model will apparently be overclocked to 1,460MHz in game mode, slightly higher than the default clock (1,400-1,420MHz, apparently). It will use the same black and copper colors as the existing RX 5500 XT Thicc II Pro, which comes as no great surprise.

Another interesting point is that XFX pegged the release date as January 2019, so presumably that was an error and should have been January 2020, meaning the card should be out imminently – tying in with the previously rumored CES reveal which will likely happen tomorrow, as mentioned.

Other recent leakage in the form of benchmarks have shown that the RX 5600 XT could represent a 30% performance leap over the RX 5500 XT – and that it happily matches the power level of Nvidia’s GTX 1070 Ti, which is impressive, particularly if AMD goes on the attack with some competitive pricing here.

Of course, a lot will depend on exactly where the asking price is pitched, and hopefully we’ll get the answer to that question at CES tomorrow.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2020 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.

Via PC GamesN

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Liverpool vs Everton live stream: how to watch FA Cup football from anywhere

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 07:53 AM PST

What could be a more appetising FA Cup third round fixture than a good old Merseyside derby. There was a frisson of excitement was tangible when the two rivals were pulled out of the hat to meet in a New Year showdown and now is finally the time to live stream Liverpool vs Everton - no matter where in the world you are.

On paper, of course, Liverpool are overwhelming favourites to progress in the cup competition today. Jürgen Klopp has made a fortress of Anfield, with the Reds not losing in the Premier League at home since April 2017!

Thanks to goals from Mané, Salah, Firmino and co, and the defensive prowess of officially the world's second best player Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool have what looks like an unassailable lead in the league and will be looking to see how many trophies they can notch up this season.

But since they spanked their cross-town foes 5-2 last month, Everton have experienced something of a new manager bounce. Carlo Ancelotti has dragged the Toffees from flirting with relegation to a more respectable 11th in the table. And as the old saying goes...anything can happen in the FA Cup!

This is an encounter not to be missed. Below we're going to talk you through the best ways to watch the action in the UK and the rest of the world so you can ensure you can easily live stream Liverpool vs Everton.

How to live stream the FA Cup in the UK for free:

Live stream Liverpool vs Everton from outside your country

In the US? Then keep scrolling, as we have your viewing options below...spoiler alert, you'll need an ESPN+ subscription. And footy fans in the UK and Down Under can also see who's broadcasting there.

But if you're abroad for the game and find that you can't watch your home coverage online because it is geo-blocked, we have a handy alternative to allow you to watch as if you were back on your sofa.

How to watch the FA Cup: live stream in the US for FREE

How live stream Liverpool vs Everton in Australia

How live stream Liverpool vs Everton in Canada

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India vs Sri Lanka live stream: how to watch 2020 T20 cricket from anywhere

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 07:06 AM PST

With the mighty India hosting them, Sri Lanka come into their three-match series knowing that they have to improve massively ahead of the forthcoming T20 World Cup. You can watch all the action, no matter where you are in the world, by following our India vs Sri Lanka live stream guide below.

Hosts India battled to a 2-1 series win against the West Indies before Christmas - a victory that was perhaps more hard-thought than many had predicted. Nevertheless, it showcased the team's winning spirit and how difficult to beat at home they currently are. 

Star batsman Rohit Sharma has been left out after a starring role against the Windies, while Jasprit Bumrah makes a welcome return from a back injury.

Sri Lanka will be missing Jasprit Bumrah, but former captain Angelo Mathews has worked his way back into the T20 team after a 16 month absence. The tourists suffered a total whitewashed in their last series against Australia late last year, and must now face an India side that's bang in form.

Follow the instructions below to find out how to grab an India vs Sri Lanka live stream from pretty much anywhere on Earth.

Live stream India vs Sri Lanka from outside your country

In India, the UK, Australia or New Zealand and looking to find out how to watch the T20 matches between India vs Sri Lanka? We've got all the details about the broadcaster with the rights to show the series in your region below. 

But if you're away from home country - maybe abroad on business or on holiday - but still want to tune in to your domestic coverage of the match then you'll run in to issues. Because of broadcaster geo-blocking, you won't be able to watch online from overseas. By using a VPN however, you'll be able to watch the game without having to resort to watching a potentially illegal feed from a dodgy Reddit link.

How to watch the T20 series in India

How stream India vs Sri Lanka live in the UK

Live stream India vs Sri Lanka Test series in Australia 

How to get an India vs Sri Lanka live stream in New Zealand

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Take an early peek at the Neon AI Samsung is unveiling at CES 2020

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 06:30 AM PST

The biggest tech show of the year is almost upon us as CES 2020 is about to get underway in Las Vegas. One of the sights on show will be a new Samsung AI innovation called Neon, and now we've got some idea of what it looks like.

We've already seen several teasers for the project, with terms like "artificial human" getting dropped by the official Neon Twitter account. Now we've got some visualizations too.

Neon project lead Pranav Mistry has tweeted out some graphics showing Neon in action – and it appears we're looking at a digital avatar with a rather plain taste in clothing.

As for what this virtual creation is going to be able to do, Mistry says it's able to autonomously create new expressions, new movements, and new dialogue, so this looks like it's several steps up from Bixby.

Neon, a product of Star (Samsung Technology & Advanced Research) Labs, is associated with several patents mentioning virtual characters that are able to go beyond what their original programming tells them to do.

It would appear that these avatars are destined for use in hotels, entertainment venues, kiosks and so on, able to reply to your questions even if the system has never come across them before.

Other than that, we're not sure exactly what to expect from Neon – though we will of course bring you all the announcements from CES 2020 (including other Samsung news) as and when they appear.

We might not be quite at the Westworld stage just yet, but as artificial intelligence continues to develop, get ready for some pretty cool concepts and demos to appear throughout 2020.

Via The Verge

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The Witcher on Netflix made me jump back into my favorite game series

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 06:00 AM PST

I've been playing PC games my whole life: my dad had a crummy old computer when I was a little kid, and it was good enough to play Starcraft and Diablo (and not much else), so I spent way too long playing those particular games. Later, I bought a prebuilt PC at Best Buy that could run WoW, and it was fine.

For a while, I was perfectly OK playing World of Warcraft on medium settings, getting something like 30fps in raids at 720p and calling it a day. But one day I saw my roommate at the time playing this hot new game called "The Witcher 2" and I was transfixed. How could a game look this real? I couldn't really afford a high-end machine back then, but it inspired me to really dive into the world of PC components: if I couldn't afford it, I was going to learn as much as possible and dream.

So in a weird roundabout way, it's thanks to the Witcher 2 that I have the job that I have. I was eventually able to pick up an AMD Radeon HD 5870 to play the game, and since then I've been sucked into a world of silicon and elitism. Go me!

You don't mess with Geralt

The Witcher is, like, on Netflix now

It's easy to see that I have some pretty significant attachment to the series, even if I have some problems with the way CD Projekt Red handles its social media. So, when I heard that Netflix was going to make a TV show, I was pretty excited to see how it would turn out. Even if it was a completely cheesy train-wreck like the 2002 series, I'd be totally here for it. I grew up glued to the SyFy channel, after all – I love bad fantasy TV shows and cheesy garbage. 

But it's actually good? I'm pretty sure I've watched the Witcher on Netflix at least twice through already, and I simply can't get enough. Pretty much every character was cast perfectly and showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich absolutely nailed the writing and aesthetic of the property. 

One of the best things for me has been watching Geralt and Jaskier banter back and forth like the boyfriends I wish they were. But unfortunately there are only eight episodes, so I have to wait for the next season.

It turns out I might have to wait until 2021 until the next season, according to this report from ScreenRant. I've had to turn elsewhere for my Witcher fix.

Luckily, there are three amazing games that will always feel like home to me. So, over the holiday break I downloaded The Witcher 3 onto the Alienware m15 and started the story over from the beginning. And while it was nice to start exploring Velen once again, I had the hankering to go back even further in time.


Those eyes.

The Witcher 2 is still gorgeous

Anyone that played the Witcher 2 on PC back in the day probably remembers the dreaded Ubersampling graphics option. Clicking this box would enable some of the most intense supersampling I've seen to this day. If you don't know what supersampling is, it basically renders the game at a higher resolution, then scales it back down in order to make the game look more crisp.

This option made the Witcher 3 one of the most graphically demanding demanding PC games on the planet, and I've never been able to play with it enabled. But now I have an RTX 2080 Ti and an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X in my home system.

I had to jump through some hoops, of course. The Witcher 2 came out before Ultrawide monitors were really a thing, so it doesn't natively render in 21:9 resolutions. But I was able to fix that through Flawless Widescreen program and I'm so glad I did. 

With my extremely high-end gaming rig I was finally able to play this game at a high 3,440 x 1,440 resolution with Ubersampling enabled and it was a dream come true. 

Just look at it. This game came out in 2011.

The Witcher 2 is kind of like comfort food for me, I've played through it so many times, and now that I can play it again looking like this, I can't wait to dive all the way back into it. 

And I can't forget about the original game either. I've only played it through once or twice, but one of my colleagues pointed me to this mod for The Witcher: Enhanced Edition that has Dandelion (Jaskier in the show) performing "Toss a Coin To Your Witcher." So now I have to play through the original game again, too. Maybe playing three extremely long RPGs will tide me over until CD Projekt Red drops Cyberpunk 2077. 

Hell, even the first game has aged well.

So basically I'm in heaven

I have to admit, when the show was coming out I was afraid that it would turn me off of the games that basically got me into the computing world in the first place, but the opposite kind of happened. I've never been more excited to go back and play a bunch of old games now that so many more people will be discovering them. 

And if you haven't played the games or read the books, and the Witcher TV show inspires you to check them out – you're in for a treat. There's nothing I would love more than to experience this wonderful series again for the first time, and I'm so, so happy that you get to have that experience. It's going to be great.

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Get a glimpse of Valve's abandoned Portal prequel in a new video series

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 04:43 AM PST

Before it created and released Portal 2, (which we've named one of the 10 best PC games of the decade), Valve was working on an experimental prequel to Portal, known as F-Stop, which was eventually cancelled. Now, more than a decade after it was abandoned, F-Stop has come into public view thanks to a documentary series created by indie developer, LunchHouse Software.

The video series is titled Exposure and its first short episode finally allows us to take a look at F-Stop’s gameplay and its relatively unusual central camera mechanic. 

Also known as Aperture Camera, the game forgoes guns, portals, Chell and GLaDOS to further explore Aperture Science and its groundbreaking camera. 

Just a snapshot

As the documentary shows, the camera and its polaroids allow players to manipulate the position and scale of objects in the game world in order to solve environmental puzzles. In one instance, the player is able to take a picture of a ceiling fan and move it onto the floor, which then enables them to propel themselves onto a higher level and into another area. In another, they're able to attach balloons to a box and make it float away.

LunchHouse states that it’s using Valve’s original F-Stop code and that the footage is being shared with the permission of Valve but LunchHouse's long-term plans for the code are unclear.

At the moment, the indie developer only intends Exposure to be a video series (or an “archeological journal”) rather than a game in its own right, but the studio’s Tristan Halcomb has said on Twitter that it's “currently trying to gauge interest in Exposure to see what opportunities are available in the future.” 

In terms of its own games, LunchHouse also appears to be working on a physics-based puzzle game titled Punt. 

At the moment, there’s only one episode of Exposure available to watch but LunchHouse has promised to share more “in the near future”. 

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Trift seeks to connect cultures and break myths and perceptions on travel industry

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 04:08 AM PST

Every one of us has faced it at some point in time. Hearing stories about a tourist destination and travelling there to see a completely different perspective.

Travellers of today no longer want to just check and click destinations and cover three of four cities in just four days and, at the same time, keep away from cheap deals as it takes away the quality.

Instead, they [travellers] want to immerse themselves in places and cultures they visit and make their trips more memorable.

Tarun Krishna, CDO and Co-founder of travel start-up Trift, told TechRadar Middle East, that travellers are very much curious and price-sensitive and they seek curated and personalised experiences in the digital era.

“The unconventional travel is considered to be a myth when it comes to travel due to how the media or the news portrays about a particular place. But the actual travellers who have been to a particular place have a completely different opinion. It is not the place but the people and experience that matters most,” he said.

Moreover, he said the problem is that the local community people are not getting exposed to the outer world because most of them are under tourist traps.

“There is one set of standard things you do when you are on a destination. But there is a whole side to a tourist spot where only the local people in the country can explain to a traveller and that is exactly what we found out,” Krishna said.

Local tour operators and local businesses that don’t get exposed to these audiences are running out of jobs and business very quickly, he said.

“If travellers search for what to do in a place, the local tour operators will not get the visibility and the search is monetised by big players in the first two to three homepages,” he said.

According to statistics, more than 800 travel agencies got shut down in 2018 in London.

However, he said that the good thing is that the people are changing and they want to impact the communities, especially the local communities, they visit and that is what is known as ‘conscious travel’.

Conscious travellers want to add value to the places they visit and get the authentic stories and taste and “what we are trying to do is solve this pain point,” he said.

Discovering inspirational trip itineraries

Trift wants to be a marketplace that connects local tour operators and local business through local influencers or travel creators.

The company’s name came after the Trift Bridge, a pedestrian-only suspension bridge, in the Swiss Alps.

“We are the bridge connecting cultures and breaking myths and perceptions. We discover inspirational trip itineraries designed by travellers,” he said.

Trift, right now, is a content platform for local travel influencers to publish their experience for their audiences on the website.

“With the influencers, engagement plays a crucial factor and we connect people to influencers who have high engagement ratio. We look for influencers who have followers of less than 100,000 or 200,000 but have high engagement rates,” he said.

Trift was started in 2018 through Techstars Startup Weekend RAK and has won numerous awards such as from Intelak Incubator, Hitec Dubai, Innovest Pitch Day, Hitec Spain and Gitex Future Stars.

Krishna said the big break came when they got invited by an Irish-based accelerator Propeller Shannon (by Boeing, IAA, Enterprise Ireland and Datalex) Cohort 2 in Ireland in 2019 and won a Seed round of $50,000.

The start-up has a desk in Dubai but it is registered in Ireland.

Krishna said that Trift will be turned into a booking platform by the second or third quarter of this year.

“We want to multiply our content platform in the next three to four months,” he said.

“We are trying to capture the niche market when Airbnb Adventures, Airbnb Experiences or Flash Pack are migrating towards the experience industry or conscious travel industry. We want to get there early and the influencers help their audiences know our brand and that is how we are looking to scale up as well. We are bringing hidden parts of the world to light at a much lesser cost,” he said.

Quoting certain reports, he said that 62% of the millennials want to have some sort of conscious travel. “Gen Z or millennials are the ones who are open to booking towards experiences,” he added.

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Nintendo is reportedly working on more Wii U ports for Switch

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 02:40 AM PST

If a recent report is to be believed, Nintendo is planning to release more Wii U ports on its Nintendo Switch console over the coming year. 

The report comes from known Nintendo insider, Emily Rogers (via VGC), who has proven reliable with previous reports. According to Rogers on Resetera, there could be “at least two” Wii U ports announced for 2020 and the exact games shouldn’t be too difficult to predict as “there aren’t many Wii U games left to port”.

Given the success Nintendo has had with previous Wii U ports, it’s not entirely surprising that it might be planning on bringing more of them to the Switch. As a console, the Wii U wasn’t a great success but it had plenty of great first-party software to offer. 

Porting power

Titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe have had massive success on the Switch where they might have eventually languished, less successful, on the Wii U. 

If these ports were to happen, Rogers says that they would be on top of Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE and Xenoblade Chronicles which are already coming to Switch in 2020. 

Likely options for future ports include Wonderful 101, Star Fox Zero, Super Mario 3D World and those coveted HD Zelda remasters Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. There are already petitions to bring some of these titles to Switch so the demand is there. 

As always, any reports should be taken with a pinch of salt until Nintendo officially confirms or denies them. If Nintendo does have any announcements to make, they’re likely to happen during a Nintendo Direct and although plenty of fans are expecting one of those to take place soon, we’re still waiting on an announcement from Nintendo itself. 

Regardless of its port plans, Nintendo’s first big first-party release of the year is to be Animal Crossing: New Horizons, a Switch original which will release on March 3 2020. 

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The iPhone 12 could get thinner thanks to new screen tech

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 02:30 AM PST

It looks as though the iPhone 12 could be one of the most substantial iPhone upgrades of recent times – we've heard plenty of rumors and speculation so far, with the latest news from the supply chain pointing to a new type of display technology.

At least some iPhone 12 models will come with OLED screens manufactured by LG, The Elec claims, screens which have touchscreen circuitry embedded in the display itself, rather than on a separate layer.

That means cheaper and thinner screens – possibly leading to a thinner iPhone 12, though we're not holding our breath for a particularly lower price point.

The same report suggests LG is about to switch to the same LTPO (low-temperature polycrystalline oxide) screen technology used in the Apple Watch 4 and Apple Watch 5, potentially leading to displays that are more power efficient as well.

Screen time

It's thanks to LTPO that the Apple Watch 5 manages to maintain all-day battery life even with an always-on display, so let's hope for another battery boost with the iPhone 12.

Indeed, the tech might even enable the option of an always-on display on future iPhones – a lock screen that's visible at all times – which is a feature that top-end Android phones have had for a while now.

However, it's not clear whether the LTPO upgrade is going to be in place early enough for the 2020 iPhones. We might have to wait until the 2021 iPhones for that always-on screen.

We could get as many as five new iPhones this year, with four iPhone 12 models joined by an updated iPhone SE 2 device. Cameras and screen sizes are likely to be the main differentiators between them.

Via MacRumors

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Phew! BT has brought back generous pre-paid Mastercards with its broadband deals

Posted: 05 Jan 2020 02:00 AM PST

BT Broadband was completely off message over Christmas. Despite being the season of generosity and goodwill to all men, the UK's most popular internet provider withdrew its handy little freebie that made it such a good choice for broadband deals during the rest of 2019.

But thankfully BT has seen the error of its ways and brought back its Reward Cards for 2020. So that's a very attractive pre-paid credit card up to the value of £80, that you can use to buy pretty much whatever you please online or in store anywhere that Mastercard is accepted.

So wish plan should you choose? Well you can see everything that the ISP has to offer if you visit our dedicated BT Broadband deals comparison. In our view, the best value comes in the form of its Superfast Fibre plan - with average speeds of 50Mb for less than £28.99 per month. That represents downloads a good 2MB per second faster than most companies' entry-level fibre, and should mean seamless streaming, too. Plus, there's a £70 Reward Card by way of an extra bonus.

Cast your eyes downwards for more information (or call 0800-587-1366 to discuss your options with an advisor), or scroll even further to discover which other internet providers are offering BT the sternest competition in the UK at the moment.

BT's brand new broadband deals in full:

What is a BT Reward Card?

The Reward Card that BT sends out is a pre-paid credit card that you can use anywhere that accepts Mastercard. In short, that's around a million shops, cafes and restaurants around the world, so you shouldn't find it difficult to find places to spend, spend, spend.

It's an old-fashioned chip and pin card, rather than contactless. But do make sure that you claim your Reward Card within three months of installation, otherwise you'll lose out on all that cash.

Today's best broadband deals

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Best shows on Netflix for UAE (January 2020)

Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:27 PM PST

Best Netflix Shows: Welcome to TechRadar's guide to the best shows and TV series you can stream on Netflix in the UAE.

Want to know what the best Netflix TV shows and best Netflix series are right now? Well pull up a seat, you’ve come to the right place. 

We've scoured the video streaming service to create a guide to the best Netflix shows in the UAE right now. We'll keep this list constantly updated with the latest television shows that you should be watching and also tell you why.

  • January update: It's a new year, and there's already some very interesting content you can enjoy this month. Check out The Circle - a reality show of secrets and catfishing, or watch the mesmerizing Messiah to unravel the truth behind a legend or a con artist.

To that end, we’ve chosen over 30 Netflix shows that you need to watch. Whether you are into meth-laced dramas (Breaking Bad) or fear-inducing dystopias that hit far too close to home (Black Mirror) there’s something for you on the list. 

With so much choice, however, it can be tough to find that next great show. But that's why we're here. We've binge-watched hundreds of hours of TV so you don't have to. (I know, I know, some heroes don't wear capes.) 

But more than great shows, Netflix is inventive. It’s trying new things, such as Klingon subtitles on Star Trek: Discovery and is a big advocate for 4K and HDR content. Oh, and it finally did something it said it never would - allow you to download many of its shows to watch Netflix offline. 

There’s never been a better time to bag yourself a Netflix subscription and binge watch, so get stuck into our gallery and let us know if your favorite show isn't on the list. Without further ado let's dive into the best shows on Netflix! 

Payton Hobart (Ben Platt), a wealthy student from Santa Barbara, California, has known since age seven that he's going to be President of the United States. But first he'll have to navigate the most treacherous political landscape of all: Saint Sebastian High School. To get elected Student Body President, secure a spot at Harvard, and stay on his singular path to success, Payton will have to outsmart his ruthless classmates without sacrificing his own morality and carefully crafted image. Full of comedy and sly satire, Ryan Murphy's The Politician offers a rare glimpse into just what it takes to make a politician.

Streaming from September 27th

A new standup special from ventriloquist comedian Jeff Dunham. Watch has he brings to life some of his most-loved companions, including the ever-wise yet eternally grumpy Walter.

Streaming from September 24th

From Fernando Meirelles, the Academy Award-nominated director of “City of God,” and three-time Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Anthony McCarten, comes an intimate story of one of the most dramatic transitions of power in the last 2,000 years. 

Frustrated with the direction of the church, Cardinal Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) requests permission to retire in 2012 from Pope Benedict (Anthony Hopkins). Instead, facing scandal and self-doubt, the introspective Pope Benedict summons his harshest critic and future successor to Rome to reveal a secret that would shake the foundations of the Catholic Church. 

Behind Vatican walls, a struggle commences between both tradition and progress, guilt and forgiveness, as these two very different men confront elements from their pasts in order to find common ground and forge a future for a billion followers around the world.

Streaming on 20/12/19

When CIA officer Eva Geller (Michelle Monaghan) uncovers information about a man (Mehdi Dehbi) gaining international attention through acts of public disruption, she begins an investigation into his origins. 

As he continues to cultivate followers who allege he's performing miracles, the global media become increasingly beguiled by this charismatic figure. Geller must race to unravel the mystery of whether he really is a divine entity or a deceptive con artist capable of dismantling the world’s geopolitical order. 

Streaming now

In The Circle you never know who you’re playing against as contestants bond, flirt, and plot, all in an effort to earn clout exclusively through a unique social media platform. Everyone’s competing to gain influence and avoid getting voted out. But who’s for real and who’s a catfish? 

With $100k on the line, what would you do – and who would you be – to win?

Streaming now

RuPaul stars as Ruby Red, a bigger than life but down on her luck drag queen who travels across America from club to club in a rundown 1990’s van, in order to recoup the savings recently stolen from her. 

She’s paired up with AJ, a recently orphaned, tough-talking, scrappy 11-year-old white girl stowaway. As these two misfits, one tall – one small, travel from city to city, Ruby’s message of love and acceptance winds up touching people and changes their lives a little for the better. 

This fun, outrageous series explores ideas of family, friendship, love, and loss. Together they help each other navigate the heartbreaking past, the challenging present and a hopeful future as Ruby and AJ travel the USA searching for a little happiness and the very best breakfast waffle. 

Streaming on 10th January 2020

Netflix has had a rocky road with sci-fi adaptations - the Wachowski's Sense8 had grand ambitions but didn't quite hit the sweet spot for everyone. Altered Carbon is hoping to change that, with its unique blend of dystopian science fiction. Based on the book of the same name by Richard Morgan, the show has sparks of brilliance ( Joel Kinnaman is great) but is also occasionally ridiculous in its outset (James Purefoy hams it up throughout). It strives to be more than it actually is but we admire what it's trying to do. Oh, and it looks fantastic in 4K.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

The latest offering from Netflix Originals is here. The Alienist is a murder mystery set in New York City in 1896. It follows the story of psychologist Laszlo Kreizler (played by Daniel Bruhl) who is enlisted by the police to catch a killer who is preying on local homeless boys. 

The TV show is based on a novel by Caleb Carr and, interestingly, psychologists were sometimes called 'alienists' back then, which was likely due to the French word 'aliene' meaning insane. Others suggest it might be because people with serious mental health problems were considered 'alienated' from their true nature.  Seasons on Netflix: 1

Watch on Netflix now

 Margaret Atwood is having something of a resurgence at the moment, what with the incredible The Handmaid’s Tale adaptation and now this, a superb take on her novel Alias Grace. Grace is another cutting social commentary that’s wrapped in a mystery, centred on servant Grace Marks who is sentenced to life in prison for the apparent murder of her housekeeper. The plot will keep you guessing, the design of the show is sumptuous and there’s even a surprise cameo from David Cronenberg.  

Given that Archer is set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (unfortunately abbreviated as ISIS), recent terror atrocities have meant the animation has been getting headlines for the wrong reasons. But don't let this unlucky nomenclature put you off. Archer is a brilliant send-up of spy movies of yore, complete with some of the best voiceover talent - many of which have been pruned from the cast of Arrested Development. While the fifth season 'reboot' wasn't the success it should have been, Archer is still one of the best cartoon comedies around.

Seasons on Netflix: 8

Arrested Development is one of the best comedies ever made. So it made sense that Netflix would want to resurrect it for a fifth season. The fourth season was funny, but it wasn’t perfect - primarily because most of the cast were too busy to get into the same room. But the fifth season brings back some of that Bluth magic, which is full of in-jokes, jokes that run for entire seasons and more, well, jokes, this is essential TV. 

Seasons on Netflix: 5

Watch on Netflix now

Freddie Highmore was one of the sweetest child actors around in his younger years, playing cherubic children in the likes of Finding Neverland and the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Now he's a fully fledged adult he's taken a much darker turn as future Psycho psycho Norman Bates in the show Bate Motel. A prequel of sorts to the Psycho movies, Bates Motel is a fantastic spin on the horror tale, ramping up the relationship Bates has with his mother - a cold and calculating Vera Farmiga - and sprinkling breadcrumbs along the way that point to how he became who he became. 

Seasons on Netflix: 3

Better Call Saul is better than Breaking Bad. That’s a sentence we never thought we would write, but it’s now three seasons and it is flawless TV. It doesn’t have the menace or fear that propelled Walter White in Breaking Bad, instead it takes its time to paint a picture of Saul Goodman, someone that was in Bad mainly for comic relief. In his own show, though, creators Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould have created a well-rounded, means well character whose descent into criminality is a slow burn. Although some characters have started to appear from Breaking Bad, the show doesn’t beg for the appearance of Walter White or Jesse - it’s now it’s own thing and we can’t wait for Season 4.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

There's no better person to portray not-so-distant future dystopias than Charlie Brooker. He's been holding a warped mirror up to the ridiculous nature of the world's media for years, mixing cutting comments with comedy, but Black Mirror sees him entering darker territory. Each series is just three episodes long but they are all standalone treats, twisting reality in their own unique way while commenting on things we seem to hold dear today - namely technology and television.

Seasons on Netflix: 3 

More addictive than the meth pushed by Walt and Jessie, Breaking Bad is brilliant binge-watching television. The initial plot is simple: a straight-laced teacher is told he has cancer and to make sure he leaves his family with the best possible life, he turns to drug making and dealing. There's method to his madness as he ends up being pretty good at it. Creator Vince Gilligan has created such a good group of characters, he is currently mining the same world again with Better Call Saul. But that has some way to go reach the highest highs that Breaking Bad offers.

Seasons on Netflix: 5

Castlevania is a new anime-lite animated series from comic book writer Warren Ellis that expertly transcribes the franchise's history for the small screen. It's bloody, brooding and a bit outlandish at times, but what else could you expect from a series about vampire hunters and an army of the undead? 

While there's still plenty of room for improvement when season two rolls around, the first season of Castlevania is without a doubt the best adaptation the series has ever seen, and well worth the one hour and twenty minutes it takes to watch all four 20-minute episodes.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Created by Charlie Grandy (“The Office,” “The Mindy Project”) and Mindy Kaling (“The Office,” “The Mindy Project”), Champions is a comedy that centers on Vince, a washed-up high school baseball star who reluctantly gave up his dreams to take over the family gym in Brooklyn.

Vince lives with his sweet, naive younger brother, Matthew and is on the verge of secretly selling the gym and moving to Florida when his high school fling, Priya (played by the hilarious Mindy Kaling), unexpectedly drops off their 15-year-old son, Michael on his doorstep. It's a hilarious portrayal of boy-meets-father that will certainly bring a smile to your face.

The words 'food porn' get thrown around a lot these days, and typically are preceded by a hashtag and proceeded by us viciously rolling our eyes. But Chef's Table is the real deal – 4K footage of some of the best chefs in the world making their signature dishes and doling out morsels of philosophy to keep your mind just as engaged as your stomach. 

Parts of the show come off as a bit too heady for the source material and are prone to veering a bit off course (there's multiple scenes where a particular chef talks about polygamy for some odd reason) but overall most of the chefs come off as genuinely eccentric masters of their craft. 

Seasons on Netflix: 5

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina imagines the origin and adventures of Sabrinathe Teenage Witch as a dark coming-of-age story that traffics in horror, the occult and, of course, witchcraft. Tonally in the vein of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist, this adaptation finds Sabrina wrestling to reconcile her dual nature — half-witch, half-mortal — while standing against the evil forces that threaten her, her family and the daylight world humans inhabit. 

Season 1 streaming now

This global, first-of-its-kind, series will showcase 47 comedians from 13 regions in 8 languages in an unprecedented stand-up comedy experience. The groundbreaking series will feature a range of stand-up specials from comedians diverse in style, gender and ethnicity. Get ready to start the new year off with a laugh! 

Streaming now on Netflix

Jerry Seinfeld's roving talk show combines coffee, laughs, and vintage cars into quirky, caffeine-filled adventures with the sharpest minds in comedy. Guests include: Larry David, Ricky Gervais, Kiristin Wiig, President Barack Obama, Alec Baldwin, David Letterman, Seth Meyers, Chris Rock, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, to name a few. 

Streaming now over five collections

Is The Crown Netflix's crowning glory? Not quite, but it is a sumptuous look at one of the world's most famous families: the Royal family. 

While England in the Swinging Sixties confronts an economic downturn and fierce nationalism, the royals are scrutinized as aristocratic freeloaders.

Streaming from November 17th

Dancing Queen is a hilarious and heartfelt docu-series set in the dancing, prancing, world of the multi-talented, multi-layered Justin Johnson - aka Drag Superstar Alyssa Edwards - as he juggles his dance life, drag life, family life, and love life. Filmed in Justin’s hometown of Mesquite, Texas, Dancing Queen goes behind the makeup and into the drag performer’s highly competitive Beyond Belief Dance Company as he prepares a young class for an intensely competitive season. 

When it comes to superhero movies, Marvel are bossing DC thanks to the rich tapestry it has weaved with its cinematic universe. Its TV shows, which now include Daredevil, Iron Fist, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage, just keep getting better.

Daredevil is superb television, regardless if you are a superhero fan or not. Matt Murdoch's (Boardwalk Empire's Charlie Cox) rise from blind lawyer to vigilante is brutal and steeped in realism. The reason it works so well is that it doesn't shy away from being violent - each crack and crunch is a world away from Ben Affleck's terrible movie version. And special mention has to go to Vincent D'Onofrio as Wilson Fisk, his best role since the tortured Private Pyle.

Seasons on Netflix: 3

A travel show with a twist, Dark Tourist is presented by journalist David Farrier who takes you on a journey to some of the most unusual, scary and downright weird tourism spots on the planet, from a haunted forest to a nuclear lake. 

Seasons on Netflix: 1

What would Jack Bauer do if he was the president of the United States? How can you go wrong with a premises like that. Except that it's not really Jack Bauer but Kiefer Sutherland.

America's fate rests in the hands of a low-level official after an attack on Washington decimates the government in this gripping political thriller.

Seasons on Netflix: 2

If your life needs a bit more blood and poetic justice in it, check out Dexter, a show about a Miami detective who not only solves homicide cases, but commits them, too. Known previously for his work on HBO's Six Feet Under, Michael C Hall's devious, semi-sociopathic persona shines through in his role as the lead character. The show manages to cut deep, often giving you a dozen reasons to care about a man who kills for all the right reasons.

Seasons on Netflix: 8

This animated series from Matt Groening follows the misadventures of a hard-drinking princess, her feisty elf companion and her personal demon.  What's not to love?

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Ellen DeGeneres is "Relatable" in her debut Netflix original comedy special premiering December 18. Filmed at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, Relatable marks Ellen's return to stand-up after a 15-year hiatus. 

Streaming now on Netflix

Written and directed by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan, the Netflix Television Event follows fugitive Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) as he runs from his captors, the law and his past.

Streaming now

Eli is the story of a young boy plagued with an unknown, debilitating illness that requires him to live completely sealed off from the outside world. After exhausting every option, his parents put their trust – and his life – in the hands of a doctor whose experimental, cutting edge treatments may hold Eli’s last hope. As Eli undergoes the tremendously intense process that could potentially cure him, he begins to be haunted by experiences that make him question who he can trust.

Streaming 25th October

A bit of a different kind of show for Netflix, but one that's more than welcome. Follow This follows some of the reporters who work at Buzzfeed as they hunt down interviewees and scoops for a range of topics, including weird internet crazes and ASMR videos, through to safe injection spaces for opioid users. The first season consists of 20 episodes, all of which are only about 15 minutes long, which makes them great for if you're pushed for time or all of our ridiculously short attention spans.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Watch now on Netflix.

Alison Brie already proved she had comedic chops in Community but GLOW cements her as a comedy genius who can turn on the seriousness when she needs to. In GLOW (gorgeous ladies of wrestling) she plays Ruth Wilder, a struggling actress in '80s LA who turns to women's wrestling to make a star of herself. The show is a look at the underground sensation of ladies wrestling, with all the wit and gender stereotype reversing you would expect from the maker of Orange Is The New Black. It's a great, highly original watch, with a superb cast that includes British singer Kate Nash.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Jessica Jones is back! The ass-kicking private detective of Hell's Kitchen, New York, is back on the streets, taking on the demented villains of the Marvel universe's underworld.

A more adult show than the likes of Daredevil and Luke Cage, Krysten Ritter's take on the titular hero is a gritty and violent one. Sex, booze and bust-ups, this one's not for kids, but great adult-orientated superhero action nonetheless.

Check out our Jessica Jones review

Seasons on Netflix: 2

This dark comedy series has one helluva premise: a hitman (who also used to be a cop) wakes up in a hospital and starts talking to a blue unicorn called, you guessed it, Happy. It turns out Happy claims to be the imaginary friend of a kid who is in trouble and needs help.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Watch on Netflix now. 

Lost in Space is a Netflix Original dramatic and modern reimagining of the classic 1960’s science fiction series. Set 30 years in the future, colonization in space is now a reality, and the Robinson family is among those tested and selected to make a new life for themselves in a better world. 

But when the new colonists find themselves abruptly torn off course en route to their new home they must forge new alliances and work together to survive in a dangerous alien environment, lightyears from their original destination.  

Seaons on Netflix: 1

This awkward rom-com has been penned by Judd Apatow and it's yet again another hit for Netflix Originals. It's a similar bedfellow to Master of None, but it improves on the themes of dating, love and city life with characters that are more rounded and a touch more believable as they fail, give up and start over again in rapid succession. Community's Gillian Jacobs is great as the prim Mickey, while Paul Rust is effortless as slacker Gus. The show stealer, though, is Apatow's uber talented daughter Iris who plays a frankly horrible child star.

The 'will they, won't they?' shenanigans continue in the second season - those expecting a plot-heavy season will be disappointed, though, as Love meanders through its storylines - which is no bad thing (and more realistic) if you ask us.

Seasons on Netflix: 3

Marvel has created a rich cinematic universe and although some of its TV shows (cough, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and Agent Carter, cough) have struggled to stay on their feet, others like Jessica Jones and Daredevil have flourished. 

Luke Cage is more in the same vein as Jessica Jones and Daredevil, with less light-hearted superhero fun and more hard-hitting themes, violence and grit. Viewers who lamented the fact that they didn't get to see more of him in Jessica Jones will enjoy the opportunity to find out more about what makes his character tick here. And don't worry if you haven't watched Jessica Jones, it's not a requirement to understand or appreciate anything about Luke Cage. 

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Mad Men is more addictive than the cigarettes Don Draper is trying to market us. If you've never watched it, essentially Mad Men is a show about everything we now consider taboo in glaringly harsh light. Set in 1960s America, inter-office intercourse is par for the course, along with ashtrays overflowing with cigarettes, sexism at the highest levels and a complete disregard for morals so long as it serves the characters on their climb to the top of the corporate ladder. Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and his assistant Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss) shock and entertain us by showing the lifestyles of the advertising executives who got the public to buy cigarettes long after they knew the health risks.

Seasons on Netflix: 7

True crime stories are so hot right now, evidenced by the immense popularity of the podcast Serial and HBO's The Jinx. Netflix's original series Making a Murderer however, is probably the hottest of them all, documenting and recounting the trials of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, two working-class Americans accused of the murder of 23-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach. Over its 10 episodes, the show exposes the failings of the Wisconsin justice system in blood-boiling detail. Having spent 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, Steven Avery is exonerated based on new DNA evidence. However, shortly after his release, he becomes the prime suspect in Halbach's murder, and Avery is put through the ringer once again by law enforcement figures that seem to have it out for him. What follows is an anger-inducing sequence of events that involve forced confessions, unconvincing (and possibly planted) evidence, dodgy lawyers and a complete presumption of guilt from almost everyone involved. Compelling, infuriating and tragic, we guarantee you won't be able to stop watching Making a Murderer once you've started.

Seasons on Netflix: 2

MARRIAGE STORY is Academy Award nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbach's incisive and compassionate portrait of a marriage breaking up and a family staying together. The film stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta co-star.

Streaming now

A bizarre new sci-fi series based on a Norwegian TV show of the same name. It's about Annie and Owen, played by Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, two troubled strangers who are brought together during some strange pharmaceutical trials. Dr. James K. Mantleray claims that a new series of pills he's created can solve all kinds of mental illness and heartbreak, but there's something much deeper and more sinister going on too. 

Watch on Netflix now. 

Acclaimed actor and director Andy Serkis reinvents Rudyard Kipling’s beloved masterpiece, in which a boy who would become a legend, wants nothing more than to find a home. Torn between two worlds, that of the jungle and that of humankind, Mowgli must navigate the inherent dangers in each on a journey to discover who he really is. Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris lead an all-star cast along with newcomer Rohan Chand ("Mowgli") in this visually spectacular and emotionally moving adventure. It will also be dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. 

Streaming now on Netflix

Narcos is that wonderful thing: a TV show that doesn't scrimp on controversy. Based on the exploits of Columbian drug lord Pablo Escobar, the show examines the criminal's rise to the top of one of the biggest drug rings the world has seen, while constantly trying to avoid the clutches of the DEA.

Uncompromising, uncomfortable but completely unforgettable, Narcos is exactly the sort of thing that Netflix should be commissioning. It's also the sort of thing that HBO would have snapped up just a few years ago - which is very telling as to where television is today. 

The third season of Narcos is out now! 

Seasons on Netflix: 3

See the rise of the Guadalajara Cartel as an American DEA agent learns the danger of targeting narcos in Mexico. 

Season 1 streaming now

Renowned US talk show host David Letterman is making a comeback with this monthly talk show which sees him have in-depth discussions with some of the most well-known faces in the world. Rather than short skits, Letterman sits down with people such as George Clooney and Barack Obama for hour long conversations with a new one added every month. 

This month he sits down with Malala Yousafzai, and learns more about her  incredible journey.

Parts on Netflix: 7

Orange Is The New Black is back for its sixth season and is a show that consistently one of the best to watch, with its superb tale of life in a women's prison. It's so popular that its makers have announced that the show will be running until at least season seven.

That being said, the show is dark. Tensions and issues with the US prison system brought to the forefront and while the comedy from the first few seasons is still there, it's slathered with a fair bit of drama. 

Seasons on Netflix: 6

Exhilarating visuals and stunning footage of rarely-seen animals mix with somber truths about humanity's impact on the planet's habitats and species. An incredible look into the ins and outs of our planet, with fantastic footage and narration through it all.

Streaming now on Netflix

Netflix's latest TV drama has been tipped as the next Breaking Bad, but it doesn't quite deserve that accolade. One of the main reason is that Jason Bateman's Marty Byrde has already broke bad, helping a Mexican cartel to fudge their figures. This means the descent that was so brilliant in Walter White isn't really seen here. But that doesn't mean that show isn't worth a stream - it's a tense, occasionally terrifying watch that mashes stereotypes and cultures as the Byrde family leave their home in Chicago for the Ozarks in Missouri. 

Also, let's be honest, whatever Bateman is in is always worth a watch, even when he isn't winking at the camera Arrested Development style. Here's the crazy part. He's not even the best part of the show. The real scene stealer is the ever-brilliant Laura Linney. She acts, directs and produces in this series, proving she's the real star of the show.

Season 2 streaming now

The Fab Five - Antoni Porowski (Food & Wine), Bobby Berk (Interior Design), Jonathan Van Ness (Grooming), Karamo Brown (Culture), and Tan France (Fashion) - will bring their expertise to Tokyo, working with Kiko Mizuhara as their guide in every episode and Naomi Watanabe as special guest comedian to make-better a group of heroes, and learn and experience Japanese cuisine, fashion, design, grooming and culture firsthand.

Streaming now

The first season of Netflix Original 13 Reasons Why was released back in 2017 and has been on Netflix ever since then. But the second season landed in May 2018, which looks at the events that unfolded right after the first ended.

The show is a US-based high school drama that revolves around a high school student called Clay Jensen and his friend Hannah Baker. Hannah died by suicide, and the first season was the 13 reasons why that happened. 

As you'd expect, a lot of the topics and themes in 13 Reasons Why might be distressing for some viewers. So really bear that in mind if you're planning on watching it soon - and consider who you're planning on watching it with, too. 

Seasons on Netflix: 3

Watch on Netflix now

A policeman, a criminal overlord, a Bollywood film star, politicians, cultists, spies, and terrorists—the lives of the privileged, the famous, the wretched, and the bloodthirsty interweave with cataclysmic consequences amid the chaos of modern-day Mumbai. The series is based on the critically-acclaimed best-selling novel Sacred Games by author Vikram Chandra. 

Season 1 streaming now

When it comes to TV and movies, the '80s is the nostalgia decade of the moment. Whether it's Jeff Nichols' Midnight Special that plays like a Steven Spielberg film, if Spielberg still made films like he did in the Eighties, or The Goldbergs and Red Oaks mining the decade for laughs, filmmakers can't get enough of the shell suits and Sony Walkmans.

Stranger Things is another brilliant homage to this era. Leaning heavily on Spielberg, John Carpenter and Stephen King the story revolves around a small town, a group of friends, a missing person and a dodgy science lab. Writing anything else would give away the myriad twists in a show that is full of brilliant creepy fun.

Seasons on Netflix: 3

One of the most positive shows you will ever watch, Queer Eye reboot's the original show but adds one key ingredient: it's not just the person's clothes that get a makeover but their well-being too. Over the course of the first season - which is a far-too short eight episodes - there is nary a criticism in site, rather than an enforcement of positivity which is welcomed like a warm hug. Watch it, embrace the love and embrace it some more.

Seasons on Netflix: 2

If you're in the mood for a bleak Skandi-drama are you in luck. Netflix's latest offering in its seemingly relentless outpouring of great original content is the post-apocalyptic The Rain.

The Rain follows a group of survivors six years after a brutal virus wipes out the majority of Skandinavia's population. The show is a big ensemble endeavour with  a world that we're certain many people are going to get totally obsessed with. 

If you're in the mood for getting totally engrossed in a fascinating world (and you don't mind subtitles) do yourself a favour and set sone time aside for The Rain.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Watch on Netflix now

Santa Clarita Diet is sort of like if the show Dexter met Modern Family. It stars Drew Barrymore as the stereotypical TV mom, with one simple, but quite interesting difference: she likes eating people. 

Season 2 returns on March 23rd, and leaves many questions yet to be anwered. What turned Sheila undead? Has Joel boarded the crazy train? Are Eric and Abby just friends? The questions -- like the bodies -- are stacking up. 

This brand-new show on Netflix is a great send up of the family sitcom, taking all the tropes that make Modern Family and the like so successful, then turning them on their head, and then eating their head. And be warned: when things are eaten it's all very grizzly – so much so that it could give The Walking Dead a run for its money. That said, it's probably best to put the kids to bed first. 

Seasons on Netflix: 2

Before we continue on with recommendation, Shameless comes with a warning: this show, a dramedy about a poor family in Chicago, really is shameless. Frank, played by William H. Macy will scheme his way to his next drink ... even if that means taking his own kids' lunch money. If you have ethical problems watching less-than-admirable people doing whatever it takes to make ends meet, Shameless isn't for you.

All that said, those that don't mind a bit more ... unscrupulous cast of characters will seriously enjoy Shameless's grittier, sex- and money-driven take on the Modern Family comedy.

Seasons on Netflix: 3

It shouldn't work but it really really does. This modern retelling of the Sherlock Holmes stories is as good as it gets. Benedict Cumberbatch is everything you want in a Holmes - someone that wallows in wit, weirdness and warmth. While Martin Freeman plays Dr Watson as he plays all his characters - he's the everyman that has to learn how to deal with his extraordinary colleague. Episodes are scarce but each one is feature length, which gives them time to breath. Let's just hope these two superstars can find time in their busy schedules to keep doing the show.

Seasons on Netflix: 3

The Staircase is a story that's been 17 years in the making and Netflix has taken it upon itself to provide a closing chapter to the sad and strange case of novelist Michael Peterson. Originally an 8-episode series in 2004, it follows the story of Peterson after he was charged with murder in the death of his wife, Kathleen. He was sentenced to murder but then released amidst a lot of unexpected twists and turns. Specially for Netflix, director Jean-Xavier de Lestrade catches up on everything that's happened to Peterson 2 and a half years after his release. Beware, this could be your new true crime obsession. 

After a century of silence, war erupts between the Federation and Klingon Empire, with a disgraced Starfleet officer at the center of the conflict.

If you haven’t begun watching Discovery yet, take it from the son of Spock that it is one heck of a series. And did we mention that it streams with Klingon subtitles?

Seasons on Netflix: 2

Now celebrating its 50th year anniversary, Star Trek is a movie and TV phenomenon that has no signs of slowing down. The original series, The Next Generation, Voyager and Deep Space Nine have all landed on Netflix but, if we're being honest, it's really just the first two series that are the best.

Watching it now, the original Star Trek maybe full of creaky sets and suspect acting but the show was bold, colourful and slathered in '60s sci-fi innovation. The first series is superb, with perhaps the greatest-ever TV double act: William Shatner's Kirk and Leonard Nimoy's Spock. Kirk is all bluster and pomp, Spock is cool, calm and authoritative.

Unlike the original series, the Next Generation took a few seasons to get things right but it still fantastic viewing. Patrick Stewart is effortless as Captain Jean-Luc Picard and the rest of the crew are - including Data, William T Riker and Geordi La Forge - up there in stature with the original crew.

Seasons on Netflix: 3 (Original Series); 7 (The Next Generation)

Fresh from giving horror anthologies a new spin with American Horror Story, creator Ryan Murphy has taken this idea and expanded it into the world of crime. The first series of American Crime Story focuses on the very public case of OJ Simpson and the death of his wife Nicole. It's superb TV, dramatising what was one of the most engrossing true stories to come out of the '90s. Cuba Gooding Jr is great as OJ but it's the supporting cast that steals the show. Sarah Paulson, David Schwimmer, John Travolta and Courtney B Vance ham it up to the max and it makes for some of the most entertaining television in years.  

Seasons on Netflix: 1

The OA rounds off what has been an exceptional year for television on Netflix. Co-created by and starring the ever-brilliant Brit Marling, the show consists of eight episodes that rival Stranger Things for, well, strangeness. Marling is a blind woman who comes back after disappearing for many years. Her sight is restored and she has a tale to tell. Although there are eight episodes they vary wildly in length - from 70 minutes to 30 minutes. The whole thing has been made to make you feel uneasy and it does a great job of that.

Seasons on Netflix: 1

Someone escaping from a Domesday cult shouldn't be a recipe for comedy but Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt manages to squeeze the funny out of this premise. Created by Tina Fey and starring Ellie Kemper as the title character, the show sparkles with wit and is the right side of kooky - unlike some other shows *cough* New Girl *cough* we won't mention.

In Season 4 part 2, Kimmy faces new challenges as the head of HR for tech startup Giztoob. Meanwhile, Jacqueline signs Titus to her fledgling talent agency, White Tale. It's a guaranteed recipe for laughter so make sure you tune in.

Seasons on Netflix: 4

If you're a child of the late '80s or early '90s, you might remember Voltron as being the source of morality for animated TV alongside the likes of GI Joe and Transformers. Voltron Legendary Defender, a new series produced by the masters of animation at Dreamworks, is very much a continuation of that trend, adapted for modern audiences and with way better voice acting. 

While the show is obviously geared towards a younger audience, it has moments that older mecha fans can enjoy, too. Plus, let's be honest, are you really prepared to watch Finding Nemo for the hundreth time? No? Introduce your kids to Voltron and you won't have to worry about it.

Seasons on Netflix: 4

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Samsung spoils its own surprise at CES 2020 - here's its new bezel-free 8K TV

Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:17 PM PST

It's rare that a company ruins its own surprises at CES - but that's exactly what happened to Samsung today as the Korean branch of the company announced the new bezel-less Samsung Q950TS 8K QLED TV ahead of its unveiling at a Samsung US event that's being held Sunday, January 5 before the official start of CES 2020. 

The new flagship 8K QLED TV sports Sansung’s new Infinity Screen that, according to a translated announcement post, is 99% screen on the front face. 

The post says the new Q950TS is just 15mm deep despite utilizing a Full Array Local Dimming backlight, will be one of the first to offer deep-learning AI upscaling (a purported upgrade on last year’s AI upscaling algorithm) and offers a redesigned smart user experience that should make finding shows to watch even easier. 

The nearly-bezel-less frame is something Samsung’s QLED TVs have been trending towards over the last few years - as have other manufacturers’ models - but now we’ve finally reached one of the smallest bezels possible on an LED-LCD TV. 

Now your TV thinks you’re a couch potato, too  

The last big upgrade to this year’s flagship is Samsung Health integration that tracks “key wellness metrics to help you manage your personal health”. Some of these metrics include time spent meditating, calories burned, weight, glucose levels and sleep patterns - plus, on the mobile app at least, Samsung Health allows you to chat with a board-certified physician if you have a question or need a prescription. 

Apparently, watching TV can be good for your health. 

While Samsung seems to be coming from a place of genuine good faith, having another platform that stores health information - especially one known to collect data from its users for third-party advertisers - feels like a bit of a misstep. 

Sure, being able to quickly check your TV to see how stairs you climbed this afternoon or how many calories you burned at the gym could assuage your guilt as you binge-watch Netflix at night, but that could come at a steep price if hackers find a way to get that information from the TV’s software.

The silver lining here is that Samsung isn’t planning on rolling out the Samsung Health integration right away, thankfully, so it has ample time to install proper security protocols around that data.

  • Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2020 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.  

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Best fitness tracker 2020: the top 10 activity bands on the planet

Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:07 PM PST

If you're after the best fitness tracker as we enter a fresh new year, then you're in luck: we've got all the best fitness wearables rounded up here, all of them able to help you get the data you need to stick to your resolutions.

Think of these options like an electronic watchdog for your health, putting a finger on your pulse, constantly measuring your vitals, checking your quality of sleep, counting your steps and (most of the time) even more. 

Some folks even call them smart bracelets, mostly because activity bands now look as good as traditional jewelry, but they're also so light you'll barely notice them on your wrist.

Before you go any further, know that we aren't evaluating all the highest-end tech wristwear in this list. For that you'll want our best smartwatch guide, which includes top-end products like the Apple Watch 5, Fossil Sport and Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2. 

You also won't find the Fitbit Ionic, Fitbit Versa or Fitbit Versa Lite here either, which, despite their brand name, are all smartwatches and are priced accordingly - although they do feature on our best Fitbit guide.

Right now this guide is designed to show you the best of the best that your money will get you. We'll show you how each ranks in terms of stand-out features, specs, price, design, the quality of the software you'll be using on your phone and much more.  

Image credit: Fitbit

More refined than the Fitbit Charge 2, the Charge 3 is Fitbit's newest device and has a more lightweight design that looks better on your wrist. It's also one of our favorite Fitbit products money can buy right now.

The display is bigger and clearer than a lot of other fitness trackers on this list, but it's still a black and white screen.

There's no onboard GPS, like some other trackers on this list have, but it's waterproof and offers a full fitness suite including a heart rate tracker. You can track GPS by pairing your phone with the tracker too.

You have to spend a bit extra on this than other fitness trackers you can buy in this same list, but if you enjoy the whole Fitbit app and experience and would also like access to notifications and Fitbit's fantastic sleep tracking, you'll want to opt for this as it's one of the company's best trackers ever.

Read our Fitbit Charge 3 review

What's next? We don't expect to hear about it soon, but we've brainstormed what we'd like to see come to a Fitbit Charge 4.

Image credit: Garmin

Our highest ranked Garmin product in the best fitness tracker list is also one of the most accomplished in its range of health bands.

This device isn't made for serious athletes like a variety of other products from the Garmin brand, but instead this is for those who want to be able to track the odd bit of exercise and have an attractive band to do it.

The screen is bigger on this version than other Garmin products, and it has a battery that should last you around a week depending on how much exercise you'll be doing.

There's also an innovative feature called body battery that helps you learn when exactly is the best time to exercise depending on how much energy you have. This is great for those who are just as interested in their recovery and general wellbeing as they are clocking up the miles. 

Read the full Garmin Vivosmart 4 review

Image credit: TechRadar

Taking over from the Huawei Band 2 Pro is the Huawei Band 3 Pro. This is one of the best fitness trackers you can buy if you're on a strict budget, and it has some amazing features considering how much it costs.

The Band 3 Pro comes with GPS onboard, it has a water resistant design (which means you can take it swimming) and there's a 0.95-inch color screen to display all of your stats on your wrist.

We've found the heart rate monitor to be accurate, and while the GPS could be quicker at locking on we also found it to be precise. If you're looking for an affordable entry-level device for your first foray into the world of fitness tracking, this is a great place to start.

Read our Huawei Band 3 Pro review

Image credit: Fitbit

This isn't the most capable fitness tracker in our best of list, but it does a lot considering its price and you'll get access to all of Fitbit's top-end services. 

The Fitbit Inspire HR unsurprisingly offers a heart rate tracker alongside a variety of other fitness tracking capabilities. 

It isn't as capable as the Fitbit Charge 3 as it lacks swim tracking or Fitbit Pay integration, but that's understandable as this is much cheaper.

It features a slimmer and more comfortable design than a lot of other trackers you can buy, so if you're after a Fitbit that won't be heavy on your wrist you may want to consider the Inspire HR as your next fitness band.

Read the full Fitbit Inspire HR review

Image credit: Samsung

The Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro hasn't made hefty changes to the company's wearable line since the Gear Fit 2, but there are a few improvements to an already great tracker.

The Gear Fit 2 Pro has a gorgeous design that looks fantastic on your wrist and as it's sporting a big, beautiful AMOLED display you'll be able to see all of your stats nice and clearly.

It also comes with GPS built-in so you can leave your phone at home while you go for a run as well as a top-notch heart rate sensor that should give you one of the most accurate readings possible from a wrist based tracker. Plus it will track your swimming too.

Read the full Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro review

What's next? The Samsung Galaxy Fit was announced alongside the Galaxy Watch Active in February, but it doesn't look like it'll be a full follow-up to the Gear Fit 2 Pro.

Image credit: Honor

Sitting in the exact same spot as the Honor Band 3 did before it, the Band 4 from Honor is a great budget pick if you're looking to save money on your fitness tracker.

This is much cheaper than a lot of the other bands on this list, and while it may not come with GPS or solid notifications it does offer good tracking for a casual runner as well as a beautiful color OLED display.

It's a small screen you'll have to work with here, but the point of the Honor Band 4 is to pack the essentials into a small package and keep the cost as low as possible. It's not for everyone, but you may find it the best fitness tracker for you.

Read our full Honor Band 4 review

It's not as stylish as most of the Fitbit products, but the reason the Garmin Vivosport appears in this list before products from the latter company. 

This is cheaper than most Fitbit products but it comes with GPS built-in and offers a solid seven days battery life from a single charge.

Although it's waterproof, it wont' track your swimming easily but the Vivosport excels for other kinds of workouts and is great for tracking your jogging and cycling.

Read our full Garmin Vivosport review

Image credit: Garmin

The Garmin Vivofit 4 is one of the best fitness trackers the company has ever created, and that now means it sits in this prestigious list alongside some other fantastic tracking products.

We particularly like the super-long battery life of the Vivofit 4, which means you won't need to recharge your device for a whole year. That means you can wear it all day, then all night for sleep tracking and not have to worry about recharging it.

You'll miss out on phone notifications by buying this tracker, but you do get the benefit of an always-on color display, accurate fitness tracking features - just note these are more limited than some other trackers on this list - as well as access to an in-depth app to break down your stats on your smartphone.

Read the full Garmin Vivofit 4 review

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Best TV 2020: the 8 best flatscreen televisions from the past year

Posted: 04 Jan 2020 11:05 PM PST

The best TVs of 2020 are truly a sight to behold. Offering the best picture processing, connectivity, smart platforms, format support, build and design, these are the sets that were unrivalled throughout the past year – or, rivalled only by each other.

There are a huge number of televisions entering the market each year, all of them vying for your attention, and your cash. That's why we've brought together our pick of the best TVs for 2020, for a range of panel technologies like QLED and OLED, and the best affordable models among the truly high-range displays out there.

We realise 2020 is still getting underway, and there will no doubt be sets in the near future replacing some of the models on this list – still largely from 2019 – so make sure you check back in the coming weeks to see what else knocks this big-hitting televisions from their perch. CES 2020 will certainly have surprises for us, too.

The most important thing to remember is that all of these sets were elevated by their impressive performance, but that not all of them may be the best TV for your own home. Making sure you're buying a set with the right sizing for your home, and capabilities for your needs, is the next step after landing on this guide.

If you're feeling confused, our guide to the best TVs available will help you separate bargain-buy panels from the best 4K screens, and which sets are worth connecting to that 4K Blu-ray player you've been eyeing up. We'll help you find an awesome flatscreen without wasting hours of research comparing spec sheets.

You can also check out our best 4K TVs guide, or just the cheapest 4K TV prices for a truly bargain deal. But, if you're looking for the best-of-the-best TV out there today without limits or stipulations, this is the place for you. 

"So, should I buy a TV now or wait it out?"

This is a question we're asked a lot. Like most technology, TVs are getting incrementally better all the time – which means, yes, if you wait a year there will probably be a bigger, flashier TV out there for less money. 

But, that said, there has recently been a huge flurry of progress as manufacturers have rushed to embrace new display standards including Ultra HD, Wide Colour Gamut and HDR. 

The majority of smart TV manufacturers now support these next generation of features, but you'll have to check the small print in a few cases. 

So long as your next TV purchase supports these technologies (looking for an Ultra HD Premium certification is a good way to go), we reckon you won't be kicking yourself in six months' time when the next batch of sets arrive.

If you do want to future-proof against the next wave of hardware specifications, though, the new HDMI 2.1 standard is going to prove crucial for serious gaming setups: allowing support for 8K resolution at 60 frames per second, 4K at 120, alongside a range of new gaming features that will be supported over HDMI. But unless you're seriously into your gaming then we reckon you're safe making a purchase now.

  • Want better audio? Check out our guide to the best soundbars available.
  • Once you've decided on a panel, make sure you read our guide on how to set up your TV to make sure you're getting the most out of it.

The best TVs of 2020

Replacing the LG C8 model from last year, the LG C9 OLED is a stunning evolution of the TV-maker's OLED technology. 

Combining a stunning display with an immense amount of features and formats – with LG's brilliant webOS smart platform – this is undoubtedly one of the best 4K TVs ever made. There aren't huge differences with last year's model, but the addition of the 2nd Gen a9 processor means the picture processing is truly top-notch.

While it's not as bright as an LCD TV, those deep blacks make a huge difference to the dynamic range of the image. It’s also capable of vibrant and gorgeous colours, not to mention an astounding level of detail with native 4K content.

There are more expensive LG models in the range: notable the W9 and E9 OLEDs, though you're mainly paying for the fancier form factor and bigger audio output. For an OLED TV this year – or any TV, really – that performs for the price, you should really be considering the C9.

Read the full review: LG C9 OLED (OLED55C9, OLED65C9, OLED77C9)

The 8K television we've been waiting for? With only so much 4K content out there, you'd be forgiven for thinking Samsung may have jumped the gun slightly on this one. But this is still the world's first true 8K TV, and while it's easy to be critical about the Samsung Q900R, it truly does usher in a new era of TV picture quality. 

The native 8K pictures are incredible, looking just like the real world – only better. But even more crucially given the dearth of true 8K content for the foreseeable future, the 85Q900R makes all today’s lower resolution sources look better than they do anywhere else, too. 

Whether 8K delivers the same impact on smaller screens remains to be seen, but if you have a big enough room and budget, the Q900R is a vision of the future that’s spectacularly worth buying. In the UAE, the 75-inch with the model QA75Q900RBKXZN goes for AED 24,999 and the 82-inch with the model QA82Q900RBKXZN that retails for AED 31,999. 

Read our full review: Samsung Q900R 8K QLED TV

Samsung KS9500

It looks like someone on Samsung’s TV design team has been watching 2001: A Space Odyssey. The 65-inch Q9 is a ringer for that film’s mysterious black monolith thanks to the way both its front and back sides are completely flat and feature ultra-robust, polished finishes. Ultra HD HDR playback is what the Q9F was created to do and, given Samsung’s potent HDR track record, it's no surprise to find that it does it supremely well. Even though the Q9F has 4K HDR optimisation in its DNA, it’s capable of looking seriously good with high definition standard dynamic range content too.

SONY kd-75xd9405 DEALS

The X930E Series builds on last year's X930D series in a few important ways, the first of which is by including one of Sony’s new X1 Extreme chipsets. These are around 40% more powerful than the original X1 chips, and introduce separate databases to help the TV analyze noise and upscale sub-4K sources to the screen’s native 4K resolution. Add in an apparently much-improved sound system and Sony’s Triluminos technology for delivering today’s wider color ranges and the X930E series seems to tick all the right boxes. 

Unfortunately, though, even an improved version of Sony’s Slim Backlight Drive can’t completely hide the fact that with current edge LED technology there’s always a backlight-based price to pay for all that HDR-sating brightness. 

Last year the Samsung Q9FN won plaudits galore for its features and image quality. But it's now been replaced on our list of the best 4K TVs by the Q90 QLED TV. The Q9FN wasn't perfect and there were legitimate complaints about viewing angles and an over-aggressive local dimming system that crushed detail just above black.

Samsung has clearly taken these criticisms to heart, and directly addressed them in the Q90. The new model has a visibly superior viewing angle that holds its own against an OLED TV, and the local dimming delivers deep blacks without losing shadow detail. To that end, the new Ultra Black Elite filter is nothing short of a revelation, rejecting ambient light in a way that just staggers belief. 

It's not too much of a leap to say that the Samsung Q90 is the most impressive QLED we have reviewed to date, incorporating comprehensive features and cutting-edge picture innovations. As a result, this TV can deliver a performance that is capable of competing with and often surpassing even the best OLEDs.

Read the full review: Samsung Q90 QLED TV review

If LG's OLED isn't your thing, spend some time checking out Sony's version.

The 55A1 – and the A1 OLED series overall – are crowd pleasers in just about every way. Their ‘picture only’ design has been beautifully realized, managing to be simultaneously subtle and dramatic. 

Their vibrating screen delivers a far more powerful and effective sound performance than I’d thought possible, too. The real stars of the show here, though, are the A1’s exquisitely detailed, contrast-rich and colourful pictures. 

These prove emphatically what we’ve long suspected: More brands using OLED technology can only lead to good things. 

Only it's exceptionally high price tag prevents it from toppling LG's budget panels.

The TH-65FZ1000M is a luscious OLED that puts performance first. Its colour handling is class-leading, and its HDR talents are a match for any of its rivals. In fact, it just might offer the best picture performance that we’ve seen on a 4K OLED to date. 

The TH-65FZ1000M isn’t the complete package, lacking as it does Dolby Vision and Atmos compatibility, but it wins more arguments than it loses. We suspect you’ll appreciate the easy sophistication of its smart platform, the quality of that low-lag game mode, and the sheer musicality of the Technics soundbar. 

Continue on to page two to read about what to look for when buying a TV! 

What TV technology is best? Which is the best LCD TV? Which screen size is best for your living room? What's the difference between LCD and LED TVs?

The answers aren't always obvious. In fact, buying a new TV can be stressful even for the tech-savvy - there are so many brands, so many features, so many screen sizes, colors, technologies and flavors to choose from.

So which one is right for you, your family and your living space? In this guide, we'll walk you through everything you need to know about buying a new TV.

What types of TV are there out there?

There are a lot of different screen types out there, all working in different ways to produce the same results. Each technology has its own unique strengths and weaknesses so here are some basics to consider:

LCD TV: CCFL
Until recently, all LCD TVs were backlit by always-on, CCFL (cold cathode fluorescent) lamps. This ageing technology has been superseded by the superior LED method on more expensive sets, but is still standard on some cheaper models.

LED TV: Direct LED
These displays are backlit by an array of LEDs (light emitting diodes) directly behind the screen. This enables localised dimming – meaning immediately adjacent areas of brightness and darkness can be displayed more effectively – and greatly improves contrast. LED TVs are also more power efficient and capable of a wider colour gamut than CCFL sets. Because of the extreme cost of mounting these arrays of LEDs, Direct LED TVs have largely been out muscled by Edge LED...

LED TV: Edge LED
With these TVs, LEDs of the backlight are mounted along the edges of the panel. This arrangement enables radically slender displays and offers superior contrast levels to CCFL, but can't achieve the same picture quality as directly lit LED sets. However, they do come in far cheaper which is why most LED TVs out there now use this technology.

OLED TV
The backlighting on OLED (organic light emitting diode) sets is achieved by passing an electric current through an emissive, electroluminescent film. This technique produces far better colours and higher contrast and also enables screens to be extremely thin and flexible. This is the holy grail display technology and only in 2014 did a bigscreen OLED TV go on sale. So it's new, it's expensive and the top brands are still struggling to get their heads around it. To date, only LG has been able to release full sized OLED TVs.

Quantum Dot

Quantum Dot
As yet we're not quite at the stage where we're going to get self-emitting quantum dot LEDs, but they're a-coming. What we do have though is Samsung producing its Nanocrystal filter based on quantum dot technology to produce a seriously improved colour palette and contrast levels that get mighty close to the pinnacle of OLED.

Plasma TV
PDP (plasma display panel) TVs use glass panels containing millions of tiny cells filled with a mixture of inert gases. Electricity excites the gases, causing them to illuminate the pixels across the screen. Plasma, while arguably superior to LCD in terms of contrast and colour accuracy, is only viable on large (42in+) screens and has been dropped by all but a handful of manufacturers. You'll be lucky to find one on the shelves these days.

Curved TV
Some manufacturers are now making TVs that have slightly curved screens. But unlike old CRT TVs, the curve is inwards rather than outwards. The idea is that this makes every pixel equidistant from your eyes, delivering a more satisfying picture. However, there are drawbacks for this type of screen - the main one being that if you sit far enough to one side – more than 40 degrees or so – the curve clearly starts to affect the image's geometry, foreshortening content near to you and compressing the image's centre.

What resolution tech should I go for?

HD
HD TVs come in two resolutions. Sets with the HD ready are required to be able to display a minimum 720p picture, and generally has a screen resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels. Meanwhile, Full HD TVs have a higher resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It's highly advisable that you don't go for anything less than full HD in this day and age.

Ultra HD and 4K
The resolution of Ultra HD is exactly four times higher than full HD - 3840 x 2160. It means a far more detailed picture, with content requiring a lot more bandwidth and storage space. 4K TVs tend to be good at upscaling HD video to Ultra HD but there are currently very few options for watching native 4K content. Read more about 4K.

HDR
Potentially the next big thing in TVs, HDR produces astounding levels of visual fidelity and can be found in some of the latest Ultra HD TVs. Arguably the shift to HDR video could make a more dramatic difference to your viewing experience than moving from HD to 4K. Like still HDR images, the moving version expands the range of both the light and dark ends of spectrum, providing more detail for both. HDR needs new filming methods though - at the moment there is no way to backfill HDR into existing video. It also needs new TV tech too, with Samsung the only ones to create specific screens, though LG and Sony are going be able to update some of their existing stock to be compatible.

What else should I consider?

Buying a flatscreen television is a major investment and one that you can't afford to take lightly. Just popping into the closest store and grabbing the first plasma or LCD you see won't get you the best deal, the screen that suits your needs, or the gear you require to make the most of your new purchase.

Size matters

People tend to pick the size of their flat TV based on the amount of space they have for it, this isn't necessarily wise. Flat TVs take up much less space than you might think, so your new TV may end up a foot or two further away from your viewing position, making the picture appear smaller.

Also, with hi-def, you can have a bigger screen and the same viewing distance without worrying about seeing blemishes inherent to the source. HDTV's lack of noise means that the ideal distance to sit from the screen is three to four times the height of the TV.

how to calculate the best tv size for you

How to calculate the right size HD TV:

The trick here is to ensure that your TV is big enough to fill your line of vision, but small enough to be sharp and clear. Remember, if you intend to only watch standard-definition sources, the bigger the screen gets, the worse the image will look.

The ideal screen size can be calculated by multiplying the distance that you intend to sit away from it by 0.535 and then rounding this up to the nearest size.

So, if you sit 80in away from your TV, the ideal size is 42-inch (80 x 0.535= 42.8).

What features should I look out for?

Features are too numerous to go into here, but here are some things you should consider.

Photo viewing: If you have a digital camera, a TV that has a slot for memory cards or a USB socket for a card reader will let you view your photos onscreen.

Here are some of the things we look for when we review a screen, so you should, too...

Contrast: Bright whites shouldn't have any signs of green, pink or blue in them, while blacks should look solid and not washed out, grey, green or blue.

Colours: Look at how bright and solid they are; how noiseless their edges are; how 'dotty' richly saturated areas are and how natural skin looks, especially in dim scenes.

Fine detail: How much texture does the screen give? Does a tree look like a green lump, or can you see the individual leaves

Edges: Check for ghosting, bright halos and jaggedness, especially around curves.

Motion: Check moving objects and quick camera pans for smearing or blurring, trailing, jerkiness and fizzing dotty noise.

Image artefacts: Look for blockiness, colour bands, grain, smearing, dot crawl: anything that looks like it's added by the TV picture processing or a weak TV tuner. Tinker with a TV's picture settings before making a final decision. Factory settings are rarely good for everyday viewing.

Sony Ultra HD

What about sound?

To provide the best audio to complement the pictures, your TV should be hooked up to a surround sound system, but this isn't always an option. So, here's what we listen for when testing a TV's speakers:

Bass: Deep, rounded rumbles that don't cause the set to rattle or speakers to distort, cramp or overwhelm the rest of the sound; but that expand when needed.

Vocals: Voices should sound open, rich and clear, not boxed in, nasal or thin.

Trebles: Treble effects should sound clean, rounded and smooth in loud scenes and shouldn't dominate the soundstage.

Soundstage width/depth: A good TV should throw the sound away from the TV, to the sides, forward and back, to give an extra dimension to what's on screen, without losing any coherence.

Questions to ask before you buy

Taking the time to consider these questions will make choosing the best TV easier...

HD or 4K?

4K TVs are stunning and even though there is currently little native 4K content to enjoy, the good ones are able to upscale HD to 4K very well. That being said, unless you're buying a very large TV - we're talking 65-inches plus - full HD should be adequate.

What size do I need?

This is dictated by the dimensions of the room where the TV is going and the amount of cash you're prepared to spend. As a general rule of thumb, work out how far from the set you'll be sitting (in inches), multiply that distance by 0.535 and then round up the result to the nearest screen size. Bear in mind that a decent smaller telly is often a more sensible investment than a larger, less accomplished one. And if you're going to buy a 4K TV, you can sit much closer because of the higher resolution.

How many HDMI sockets do I need?

For a living room TV you should be looking for a minimum of 3 HDMI inputs. If you want to attach a set-top box as well as games consoles etc, those HDMI ports will fill up fast.

Can I connect my older, analogue kit?

Most new sets carry no more than two composite connections, while S-video is fast approaching obsolescence. Check that your new TV can hook up to older digiboxes, VCRs or DVD decks that you might want to plug into it.

Do I want to hang my TV on the wall?

First off, you'll need to consult a construction expert to check that the wall in question is strong enough to support a flatscreen. Then find out if the set you want is designed to be wall-mounted and, if so, ask if the relevant bracket is included in the basic package or as an optional extra.

Will I be connecting it to a home cinema?

If the answer is no, you might want to think more carefully about your set's audio performance. Look for a screen that can go as loud as you'll need without distortion or cabinet rattle. Consider how dialogue sounds and how much low-end rumble the bass is capable of.

Conversely, it's pointless paying out more cash for exceptional built-in speakers if you already have a decent home cinema system.

Happy shopping!

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The Samsung Galaxy S11 launch date is set for February 11

Posted: 04 Jan 2020 10:46 PM PST

The wait for the Galaxy S11 is almost over, as Samsung has officially announced the date for its next big smartphone launch event: Tuesday, February 11.

Samsung's Unpacked keynote will take place in San Francisco at 11am Pacific Time on February 11, according to the official invite sent to TechRadar and other media outlets. This mirrors last year's Galaxy S10 launch event timing and city.

There are some differences in 2020: we're expecting three Samsung Galaxy S11 phones instead of four, all containing a 5G modem. That means there’s no need for a sequel to the standalone Galaxy S10 5G. While we still expect the new phones to be dubbed S11, there have been rumors of Samsung will leapfrog nine names and use the Galaxy S20 numbering scheme. 

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 could show up at the Unpacked event as well. And, if Samsung has sorted out the issues that held up the first Galaxy Fold, the new model could manage to launch on time (last year, the Galaxy Fold release date was delayed by five months). 

It may also take on a completely different form, as the foldable flip phone we saw in a Samsung video back in October 2019.

Samsung Galaxy S11 expectations

At present, we're expecting the Galaxy S11 line to include a base model, a S11 Plus model, and an Ultra model, per a recent rumor. The lineup is also expected to offer display sizes from 6.2 inches up to 6.9 inches. 

All three should be powered by either a new Samsung Exynos chipset (most of the world) and the Snapdragon 865 chipset (likely in the US), region dependent. 

Given the fact that the event lines up with 2019's timeline, we can expect to see the new Galaxy S11 phones go on sale toward the very end of February or early March, right around MWC 2020. Last year's phones were first released on March 8.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is less of a certainty. While we expect the company will include a new foldable device at its February event, there's less concrete evidence of an immediate release date. After all, there was gap between the original Galaxy Fold and the Galaxy S10 phones.

It's also unclear if we can expect the new flip phone-style design like the new Moto Razr, or whether Samsung is planning a direct follow up to the mini-tablet-like Galaxy Fold, one that's expected to have a similar design but further refinements.

The February Unpacked event isn't the only place to see new Samsung tech though. Keep an eye on our CES 2020 coverage for more, and we'll let you know if we hear more about the device from Las Vegas.

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