Tuesday, April 7, 2020

Apple : Sony PS5 DualSense controller release date, news and confirmed features

Apple : Sony PS5 DualSense controller release date, news and confirmed features

Sony PS5 DualSense controller release date, news and confirmed features

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:53 PM PDT

Update: Sony just officially announced the PS5 controller, dubbing it the DualSense controller, and it looks radically different from the company's previous designs. It'll launch alongside the PS5 console before the Christmas holiday this year.

The PS5 controller design have finally surfaced, and it indeed includes some of what the leaks predicted: adaptive shoulder button triggers with haptic feedback, a built-in microphone so you can talk to friends without having to wear a headset, and a new 'Create' button that replaces the PS4 Share button.

Sony is also moving the previous DualShock 4's LED Lightbar from the top of the controller to the surrounding the touchpad on the PS5. 

What's interesting (and going be divisive) is the DualSense two-tone color scheme that's black-and-white and devoid of color on the face buttons. Triangle, Circle, Square and Cross (or X) are still here, but they don't sport their usual hues. 

Sony says that this is a "radical departure from our previous controller offerings and captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5." The black-and-white design is likely to extend to the PS5 console, which is different than the usual black color Sony has used to launch its consoles since the PS2.

Sony hasn't revealed exact PS5 controller specs we're eager to hear about, including the expected battery life. However, it did say that the team made sure "to maintain a strong battery life for DualSense’s rechargeable battery, and to lessen the weight of the controller as much as possible as new features were added."

Developing...

Looking for the latest news on the PS5 controller? Then look no further. Sony has officially announced that the next-generation PlayStation 5 will land at the end of 2020 - along with a brand new PS5 controller to complement it.

Having waited aeons for more official news on the PS5, Sony finally hosted a live stream event on March 18, which was available to watch on the PlayStation Blog - Sony's go-to spot for game announcements and stories about PlayStation-related news.

Unfortunately we're still waiting for an official reveal date for the next-gen Sony console – along with the first glimpse of the console's new controller, which is likely to be called the DualShock 5.

Although we don't know what its official name will be (or what it will look like), we do know that the PS5 controller will have a big focus on player immersion and feedback. This means shaking up the typical PlayStation controller formula with new features, and even doing away with the DualShock 4's classic rumble technology.  

Despite adding some great new features, it looks like - when it comes to design - the PS5 controller may stay true to the DualShock 4, with some minor aesthetic adjustments. Here's what we're expecting to see when Sony finally lifts the lid on their new controller:

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? Sony's next-generation PlayStation 5 controller
  • When is it available? Late 2020 (to coincide with the release of the PS5)
  • How much will it cost? TBC

PS5 controller release date

The Sony PS5 controller will release alongside the PlayStation 5 during the "Holiday" 2020 period – so sometime between October and December. 

We're expecting that the PS5 controller, like the DualShock 4 before it, will work not only on the PlayStation 5 but also with PC.

PS5 controller price

A price for the PS5 controller has not been confirmed yet, but with the PS4 controller retailing for around £40/$50/AUD$80, we expect the new controller to be just a bit more expensive – maybe around £60/$70/AUD$120. 

This is pure speculation at this point, based solely on the confirmed features and Sony's previous price strategy for controllers. We're hoping Sony will confirm the PS5 controller price in the coming months.

PS5 controller confirmed features

PS5 controller

We've already been told that the PS5 controller will include haptic feedback to replace the DualShock 4's rumble technology. 

While the rumble technology seen in the PS4 controller vibrates intensely during particular in-game events, it wasn't particularly fine-tuned to the player's experience. Haptic feedback simulates touch, meaning the controller will output vibrations or movements to replicate a real-life touch experience. This aims to improve the controller's feedback and therefore player's immersion. 

The PS5 controller will also feature adaptive triggers which Sony says have "been incorporated into the trigger buttons (L2/R2)". These adaptive triggers will allow developers to program the resistance of the triggers to simulate actions more accurately.

In an interview with Business Insider Japan (translated by Gematsu), SIE CEO Jim Ryan said:

“3D audio and the haptic feedback support of the controller are also things that, when you try them, you will be surprised at how big a change they are. Even just playing the racing game Gran Turismo Sport with a PlayStation 5 controller is a completely different experience. While it runs well with the previous controller, there is no going back after you experience the detailed road surface via haptic control and play using the adaptive triggers."

PS5 controller news and rumors

PS5 controller

Wireless charging?

A new patent suggests that wireless charging could be in the works for the DualShock 5. Found by Saqib Mansoor of SegmentNext, the patent shows a “Wireless charging adapter with game control keys for computer game controller,” and seems to show a “wireless charging adapter that can snap onto a computer game controller and can be inductively coupled to a charging base to wirelessly recharge a battery in the controller.”

The images that appear alongside the patent show what appears to be a DualShock controller with an attachment on its back that keeps the controller charged along with a charging mat, no annoying cables involved. 

Patents, however, as we all know, are no guarantee. Just because a patent has been published doesn't mean that Sony has any intention of pursuing the technology so this should be taken with a pinch of salt. 

It is interesting, however, that this technology appears to be an optional extra rather than included as standard—it suggests that if Sony did opt for wireless charging capabilities it could make them available separately and maybe even later than the console's launch. Keeping this capability separate would also likely keep the price of the base controller lower for those not all that interested in wireless charging. There's precedent for controller accessories, too, given the DualShock 4's recent back button attachment. 

Heart rate and sweat sensors
The PS5 controller could tailor your gameplay based on your vital signs. That's according to a Sony patent (via Respawn First) which outlines a gamepad able to use biometric feedback to monitor players' heart rate and sweat levels, and then adjust gameplay based on its findings.

The patent's abstract describes a "biofeedback sensor attachment for a controller", that is made up of "one or more sensors" which gather types of biofeedback from players, such as heart rate and sweat secretion levels, with certain measurements potentially indicative of a player's emotional state. 

The information gathered would then aim to feedback the player's likely emotional state to the controller, and influence gameplay accordingly – although exactly how this would work hasn't been detailed.

Voice control
An unearthed Sony patent (published by WIPO and spotted by SegmentNext) describes "a controller device that is held by a user's hand, including a microphone, a tactile presentation device that presents a tactile sense to the user's hand, and a speaker.

"While the user is inputting voice from the microphone, the sound of the speaker is suppressed, and tactile presentation control by the tactile presentation device is performed."

What this means is we might be getting a controller that can accept voice commands through its built-in microphone, much like smart speakers such as Amazon' Echo range. Of course, this is just a patent which means these voice-controllable features may never actually come to the PS5 controller, but given how important voice tech is these days, it's one of the rumors we'd be willing to bet the most money on.

Backwards compatibility leak?
There have been a few rumors of backwards compatibility with regards to the DualShock 5 and although we don't have any confirmation as yet there may have been a leak.

First spotted by GamesRadar, a model comparison page listed by PlayStation France for the Sony PS4 and PS4 Pro appeared to list both consoles as being compatible with the DualShock 4 and DualShock 5 controllers, or “DS4 / DS5”. A screenshot of the listing was captured and uploaded to Resetera.

PS5 controller

It's possible that this was just a typo as the same information didn't appear on the UK version of the page. However, PlayStation has been quite vocal about embracing backwards compatibility for this generation, and they recently revealed that the PS5 will support "almost all" of the 100 most popular PS4 titles at launch. We won't know for sure, though, whether the DualShock4 will work on PS5. 

Is this the PS5 controller? We don't think so
We've seen a few leaked images of the PS5 dev kit so far, but the latest comes from a cleaner who posted images of the PS5 and a controller sitting at someone's desk (via GamesRadar).  

Despite the cleaner asking people not to share the images, they obviously made their way to Reddit where posters began speculating, not only about the kit itself, but about the controller attached and whether it could be the PS5 controller. We don't think it is the controller, though, and here's why.

The leaked images are very similar to those that we've seen before. The dev kit looks the same, a bulky V-shape with a disc drive in the front and a small screen. What we already know about the PS5 dev kits is that the final model is very unlikely to look like that. As the leaker pointed out in these photos, this is prototype 1. So the final model will look different to that, just in case you worried that thing would end up underneath your TV. 

What's potentially more interesting is that these images give us a much closer look at the controller attached - which some are speculating to be the PS5 controller. But there are plenty of signs that this isn't the case.

For one, the controller looks exactly like the current Sony DualShock 4 controller (minus the branding). Now, based on leaked patents, we think the PS5 controller will look very similar to the DualShock 4. However, if these leaked patents are to be believed, there's a lot of key details missing from the controller hooked up to this dev kit.

The PS5 controller is expected to have a chunkier design, larger touchpad, back buttons, a built-in microphone and smaller sticks. This controller doesn't have that. The PS5 controller is also meant to lack the lightbar, but we can't exactly see if that's the case here. 

Back buttons
A patent spotted by LetsGoDigital shows a DualShock controller with four new buttons around the back of the device – possibly to act as back buttons to match the capabilities of Xbox One gamepads.

The design shows two larger buttons that can be moved up and down, and two smaller buttons that can be pressed (and that can detect the pressure of a press). There seems to be some scope for adjusting the positioning of the buttons to suit the size of your hands.

As for how these buttons are going to be used, the patent doesn't go into too much detail: except to say that they'll be used to control video game characters, so no surprises there. 

PS5 DualShock controller patent

This is a patent focused on utility rather than design, so the finished product might not look like the drawing above. Also, as with every patent, the fact that it's filed doesn't necessarily mean Sony will go through with it.

What makes us think that these could be back buttons is that the sketches look similar to Sony's recently released Back Button Attachment for existing DualShock 4 controllers. Perhaps the DualShock 5 won't need any attachment.

Leaked images
We may have got our first look at the upcoming PS5 controller, thanks to yet another leaked Sony patent.

Published by the Japanese patent office (via VGC), the Sony Interactive Entertainment patent lays out designs for a new controller that looks very similar to the DualShock 4.

Compared the the DualShock 4, the new controller design has some key differences. For a start, the potential PS5 controller seems to have a slightly chunkier design, built-in microphone, larger triggers, no light bar and smaller sticks. It also seems the DualShock 4's micro USB port has been replaced by a smaller USB-C port, which is placed on the top rather than the bottom of the controller.

The lack of light bar does make us question how the PS5 would track the controller via when it comes to PSVR and PS Camera games. Usually this is done via the PS Camera, so we're hoping the console will have a different means of tracking the controller otherwise compatibility will suffer. Unless, of course, Sony is gearing up to move solely onto PSVR 2. However, this doesn't seem likely as Sony has promised the PS5 will be backwards compatible with PSVR.

It also looks like the stereo headset jack and extension port at the bottom of the headset has been replaced by two larger circular ports. We think these will still be for plugging in headsets, but the two jacks could be headphone and microphone slots respectively, to increase compatibility with headsets. There's also a rectangular design that seems to wrap around the headset, which is potentially for compatibility with a charging dock. Again, this is all speculation on our part. 

Check it out below: 

PS5 controller

The design we've seen lines up with nearly everything we know about the PS5 controller so far. We already know the controller will include haptic feedback to replace the DualShock 4's rumble technology.

Cloud gaming controller
According to a patent published by the World Intellectual Property Organization in September 2019, Sony is developing a "controller device for user interactivity with a server of a cloud gaming system" (via Techtastic). 

In other words, a cloud gaming controller that works like a normal gamepad but has the benefit of connecting directly to WiFi - improving input efficiency and potentially unlocking next-level functions.

"The controller device communicates directly to an access device for connection to a network that connects the controller device to the server without connecting to a client device", the patent states. "Wherein the server receives and processes the inputs to render gameplay video that is transmitted over the network for rendering to a display device that is local to the controller device."

While it's possible this technology may be being developed for the PS5, and could be key in the PS5 controller, it's more likely we'll see it used for Sony's game streaming subscription service PlayStation Now.

Last year, Sony slashed the subscription price for PS Now to take on Xbox Games Pass, but it could be this is actually part of a longer term plan to improve and invest in PS Now so it's in the position next-generation to take on upcoming game streaming services such as Google Stadia. 

Sony confirm PS5 controller
The PS5 will come with its own controller, according to Sony.The PS5 controller (we don't know the official name yet) will include haptic feedback (to replace the DualShock 4's rumble technology) and adaptive triggers.

PS5 release date
Sony has officially confirmed the PS5 will release "Holiday 2020", aka between October and December 2020. 

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Meet the PS5 DualSense controller

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:29 PM PDT

Sony has just unveiled the controller we'll be using to play the PS5 - it's called the DualSense Controller, and it sports a number of improvements that will help make the next-gen console feel even more immersive.

Among these new features are adaptive triggers with haptic feedback, a built-in microphone that will allow you to talk to friends without a headset and a 'Create' button that replaces the Share button we had on the PS4. 

In addition to those changes, Sony said on the PlayStation Blog that it chose to replace the lightbar at the top of the controller with an LED that surrounds the touchpad, giving the controller a slightly larger look and feel.

Check it out for yourself below:

The two-tone design is something new for PlayStation's controllers - never have we seen a console launch with one in the past (they've all been solid black or off-white) and could mean that the console itself is two-tone as well.

Like the PS4 DualShock Controller the DualSense will be rechargeable with a built-in battery and Sony says it's worked hard to keep battery life high without adding too much weight to the controller itself.

When can we get our hands on it?

While Sony has yet to commit to a specific date, the PS5 DualSense Controller post ends with a note from President & CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan that confirms its Holiday 2020 (November-December) release:

“DualSense marks a radical departure from our previous controller offerings and captures just how strongly we feel about making a generational leap with PS5. The new controller, along with the many innovative features in PS5, will be transformative for games – continuing our mission at PlayStation to push the boundaries of play, now and in the future. To the PlayStation community, I truly want to thank you for sharing this exciting journey with us as we head toward PS5’s launch in Holiday 2020. We look forward to sharing more information about PS5, including the console design, in the coming months.”

So why has Sony come forward with its new controller design? Well, apparently these are the controllers that will be going out to developers as they finish the first round of PS5 games and Sony wants to give them some hands-on time with the new hardware. And by revealing it on the PlayStation Blog, Sony is beating leaks.

Does it come in all-black?

Although it's only just been announced, reactions to the DualSense Controller have been... mixed. Some enjoy the change of pace, while others are calling it ugly. Some have even taken it upon themselves to make mock-ups of an all-black controller.

For now, the latter is just a mock-up and not an official release from Sony, but here are 100% genuine takes from Twitter about the controller:

OK, so the last one may not be genuine, but it's comedy gold.

Developing...

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Dyson deal alert: Dyson cordless vacuums starting at $249.99

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:09 PM PDT

If you're doing some spring cleaning while stuck indoors and need to upgrade your vacuum cleaner, you're in luck. Dyson, a brand known for top-of-the-line vacuums, is having a sale on its best-selling vacuums.

For a limited time, you can save on Dyson's cordless vacuums like the V7 Absolute on sale for $249.99, the Cyclone V10 on sale for $399.99, and the powerful V10 Absolute on sale for $449.99. If you're interested in an upright vacuum, you can get the best-selling Dyson Ball Multi Floor Origin on sale for just $189.99.

Dyson's sale isn't just about vacuums, the retailer also has a $70 discount on the Pure Cool Me purifying fan and the Dyson Pure Hot + Cool Link air purifier heater is on sale for $449.99.

Shop Dyson's best deals below that all qualify for free shipping. These are limited-time offers, so you should take advantage now before it's too late.

Dyson deals: 

If you want to shop other Dyson vacuum sales, see our best cheap Dyson deals and offers that are currently available.

Interested in robot vacuums? We also have the best robot vacuum cleaner sales and deals.

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E3 2020: the year's biggest gaming expo is cancelled - here's what you need to know

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 01:00 PM PDT

UPDATE: E3 2020 has been cancelled. After plenty of speculation and rumors, the show's organizer - the ESA (Entertainment Software Association) - officially pulled the plug on March 11, 2020, three months ahead of the scheduled event.

E3 2020 is not happening, as the gaming expo has been cancelled due to coronavirus fears and has said that it won't replace the event with an online equivalent. 

In a statement the show's organizer, the ESA said "After careful consultation with our member companies regarding the health and safety of everyone in our industry – our fans, our employees, our exhibitors and our longtime E3 partners – we have made the difficult decision to cancel E3 2020."

"Following increased and overwhelming concerns about the COVID-19 virus, we felt this was the best way to proceed during such an unprecedented global situation. We are very disappointed that we are unable to hold this event for our fans and supporters. But we know it’s the right decision based on the information we have today."

The chatter around the year's biggest gaming show was already in full swing when the cancellation notice came through, even though Sony had already ducked out for the second year running (unrelated to coronavirus).

Since then, the ESA confirmed in a statement to PC Gamer that it won't be running a virtual event in its stead as some had predicted, and will instead "will be working with exhibitors to promote and showcase individual company announcements," an ESA representative said.

With two next-gen consoles in the form of the PS5 and Xbox Series X set to launch not long after, there’s plenty of change afoot in the gaming world – and E3 2020 was set to be at the heart of it.

Why is E3 so important? As a place where the likes of Microsoft and Nintendo – both of whom were set to attend this year – tend to announce new hardware and titles, alongside countless third-party publishers showing off their wares to fans, players, and media, E3 tends to hold some massive announcements that shape the conversation around the year’s games for many months after.

However, with E3 2020 now cancelled, it throws up questions marks for the rest of the year regarding console and game launches.

As we investigate the knock-on effect of the E3 2020 cancellation, here's everything we had confirmed, rumored, and likely to be shown off at E3 2020 before it was shut down. 

What exactly is E3, anyway?

The E3 name stands for ‘Electronic Entertainment Expo’, and it’s been running in some form since 1995. Hosted by the Entertainment Software Association, E3 is a three-day convention to celebrate and showcase all things gaming, usually to publicize upcoming games and consoles – with a smattering of panel discussions and keynotes alongside the excitement of the show floor. E3 2020 will be the 26th time the event has happened.

While traditionally only an industry-only event, the ESA has been more willing to allow members of the public into the event, and is increasing the number of available of public tickets from 15,000 (in 2019) to 25,000. There’s also been chatter about an extra day exclusive to industry members, to minimise disruption and queuing times, but unfortunately that won't happen this year.

In short, E3 is crucially important to the video game industry and without it, we're all worse off.

e3 2019

What's the problem with E3 2020?

That said, even before its cancellation, E3 2020 was set to be the most controversial convention yet - with a number of big-name developers, publishers and personalities deciding not to attend this year's event. Sony was the first to say it wouldn't attend back in February, and around the same time big industry names like Geoff Keighley – who hosted the E3 Coliseum showcase for the previous few years – said he too would step away from the event.

That's not to mention the dropout of iam8bit, a creative merchandising company that had apparently been acting as a creative director for this year's show – though the ESA confirmed that "Endeavor’s creative agency 160over90, event innovators Mat+Lo and longtime E3 partners, GES, Dolaher Events and Double Forte" were all still involved in the direction and creation of the show (via GameSpot).

The argument the show's critics made is that, in the age of streaming, these types of opulent showings weren't really necessary - they don't reach as big of an audience as, say, a direct-to-consumer video, and are much more expensive to put on.

That said, having a single week that was agreed upon by the entire industry to show new games made it a showcase event, one that was covered around the world by both industry publications and international mainstream media. It's pros and cons will be debated long after the news of its cancellation has faded, but now at least you have some context for both sides of the argument. 

E3 2020 dates: when is the expo?

The E3 expo lands every year in June, and was supposed to take place from June 9 (Tuesday) to June 11 (Thursday) at the Los Angeles Convention Center (E3’s home since 2009). 

The expo hall was set to open on a Tuesday, but the weekend beforehand would've see the major console-makers and publishers hosting their own press conferences where the majority of announcements will take place - including a rare Warner Bros. keynote that would've updated us on the next game from Rocksteady. 

Some publishers have said they will instead host streaming video events in lieu of a big keynote at E3, but many of those details have yet to be finalized.

PS5 logo

E3 2020 exhibitors: who's going?

At this point, no one. Well, maybe Devolver Digital. Who knows what they'll do. But from the sounds of it, most of the big publishers won't be in LA that week. That's a shame because the E3 website had a confirmed list of exhibitors, which we've listed below, and a few other names had been floating around after the ESA apparently leaked a wider exhibitor list early, including Activision, Amazon Game Studios, Epic Games, THQ Nordic, and Tencent, none of which will likely be there without an event center to hold them.

Sony at E3 2020 – or not?

Sony didn’t make it to E3 2019, and it won’t be doing so in 2020 either. The makers of the PS5 seem content to showcase their wares at other events throughout the year – like the limp logo reveal at CES 2020 – rather than compete for attention at an event also hosting Xbox and Nintendo.

It’s clearly a different strategy to the PS4 console, which had its design formally unveiled at E3 back in 2013. Kotaku news editor Jason Schreier has suggested Sony’s doing this due to disagreements with the ESA, but for whatever reason, PlayStation won’t have a presence – beyond third-party devs and publishers working on PS4 and PS5 games.

Xbox at E3 2020

While we're still awaiting the details from Microsoft, Xbox Chief Phil Spencer tweeted that the show means a lot to the company and pledged that his team will find a way to get information about the next generation of gaming out there.

We expect to hear some new game announcements – particularly exclusives, which are being aggressively courted for the Xbox brand – and possibly more third-party studios brought under the Xbox umbrella wholesale. It’s likely we’ll get more gameplay footage of the upcoming Halo Infinite, and more information on its multiplayer and story, though a playable demo (sadly) may be a bit further off.

E3 2020 nintendo switch

Nintendo at E3 2020

What of Nintendo? The House of Mario could still offer us something around E3, though hopes for a new Switch Pro model have sadly been dashed, meaning we'll have to content ourselves solely with game announcements.

We also got the first trailer for the Zelda BOTW sequel at E3 last year, so we’re hoping to get more of a formal unveiling, perhaps with a title and an idea of when the game is scheduled to release. Metroid Prime 4, too, only got the briefest of teasers last year, so a better understanding of what the game will actually look like, and when we’ll get to wear Samus’ suit again, would be much appreciated.

We fully expect Super Smash Bros Ultimate to continue dominating Nintendo's press channels, possibly with information on new DLC fighters to come down the line.

Nintendo doesn't host a press conference any more, but it could easily release a Nintendo Direct on Tuesday, June 9.

E3 2020 gods and monsters

E3 2020 games: what would've been on show?

In terms of upcoming games, there are a lot of titles with vague 2020 release dates, so it’s very possibly we’ll see more footage, trailers, announcements, or release dates for the likes of Ubisoft’s Gods and Monsters, Little Nightmares 2, No More Heroes III, Bayonetta 3, Super Meat Boy Forever, Everwild, and Hollow Knight: Silksong (which releases the day after E3, on June 12). 

Bethesda always had a decent showing, and will likely resume its Sunday (June 7) press conference, though what it will be showing post-Doom Eternal is anyone's guess. The sci-fi RPG Starfield? Elder Scrolls VI? Given neither were shown off last year, either would be great this time around – both, if we're incredibly lucky.

With Google Stadia – announced just before E3 last year – now available to play, too, we may well see a bigger presence from Google this time around. Maybe some more games aside from Destiny 2 to play?

At this point what these companies will show via video streams is anyone's guess, but we'll continue to disseminate the information as it becomes available.

E3 2020 Starfield

Will we see more of Starfield this year?

E3 2019: what went down last year?

Even without Sony on show, there was still plenty to make 2019 a great year for E3. We had that wonderful Keanu Reeves appearance, and the news he was appearing in Cyberpunk 2077 (as seen above), new specs for the Xbox Series X, and that brilliant BOTW 2 teaser. We also got a full unveiling of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and updates on Apex Legends Season 2 from EA, and the announcement that Dark Souls dev From Software and Game of Throne's George R R Martin were collaborating on the upcoming game Elden Ring.

Square Enix had one of the better press events we've yet to see at E3 2019, packing in tons of new information on Marvel's Avengers, Final Fantasy VII Remake and the remastered version of Final Fantasy 8.

it wasn't all good news, though, with Animal Crossing: Horizons getting delayed, and the long-awaited Dragon Age 4 not getting so much as a mention. Ubisoft also didn't show off a new Splinter Cell game (cowards!) or its much-delayed Beyond Good and Evil 2 – though it did find time for Just Dance 2020, and the announcement trailer for Gods and Monsters.

Here's a slideshow of the 15 best E3 2019 games, and the full list of everything that was announced beneath that:

Nintendo

Microsoft

  • Halo Infinite (release window, coming to Xbox Project Scarlett)
  • Gears 5
  • Blair Witch
  • Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Xbox One and PC)
  • Bleeding Edge
  • Battletoads
  • Age of Empire II: Definitive Edition (PC)
  • Wasteland 3
  • Microsoft Flight Simulator (PC first, Xbox One later)
  • Minecraft Dungeons
  • Spiritfarer (coming to Xbox Game Pass)
  • 12 Minutes (Xbox One and PC)
  • Forza Horizon 4: Lego Speed Champions Expansion
  • Crossfire X
  • Gears Pop!

Take-Two Interactive/2K Games

Electronic Arts and EA Sports

CD Projekt Red

Konami

  • Contra Rogue Corps (Xbox One PS4, PC and Switch)
  • Contra Anniversary Collection

Bethesda

  • Deathloop (Platforms unknown) (Trailer)
  • Doom Eternal (Xbox One PlayStation 4, PC and Nintendo Switch)
  • The Elder Scrolls: Blades (debuting on Nintendo Switch; iOS, Android updates)
  • Fallout 76: Nuclear Winter (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC sneak peek)
  • Ghostwire: Tokyo (Platforms unknown)
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood (PS4, Xbox One and PC)
  • Wolfenstein: Cyberpilot (VR)
  • Commander Keen (iOS and Android)

Square Enix

  • Final Fantasy 7 Remake (PS4)
  • Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles (PS4, Nintendo Switch and mobile)
  • Final Fantasy 8 Remastered
  • Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers (PC)
  • Circuit Superstars (Square Enix Collective, developer Original Fire)
  • War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius
  • Romancing Saga 3
  • Scarlett Grace
  • Dragon Quest Builders 2
  • The Last Remnant Remastered (coming to Nintendo Switch)
  • Trials of Mana: Collection of Mana (coming to Switch)

Ubisoft

  • Ghost Recon Breakpoint (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC)
  • The Division 2 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC)
  • For Honor (Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC)
  • Watch Dogs Legion (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Stadia) (game play available)
  • Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (game update)
  • Roller Champions (PC download available now, other platforms unknown)
  • Gods & Monsters (Xbox One,PlayStation 4, PC, Stadia and Switch)

Sega

  • Panzer Dragoon: Remake (Nintendo Switch)
  • Phantasy Star Online 2 (Xbox One)
  • SEGA Genesis mini console coming September 2019 with mini games like Mega Man:The Wily Wars, Earthworm Jim, Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2, Ecco the Dolphin and 35 more classic games.

Bandai Namco

  • Tales of Arise
  • Dragonball Z: Kakarot
  • Code Vein
  • The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
  • RAD

Various

  • Elden Ring (via FromSoftware)
  • Dying Light 2 (from Techland)
  • Way to the Woods (Team 17)
  • Dauntless (coming to Nintendo Switch via Phoenix Labs)
  • The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics (En Masse Entertainment)
  • Dead by Daylight (coming to Nintendo Switch via Koch Media)
  • New Super Lucky’s Tale (coming to Nintendo Switch via Playful Corp.)
  • Empire of Sin (John Romero multi-console game)
  • Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (Playtonic)
  • Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin (via Edelweiss and XSEED Games)

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Zoom takes steps to prevent 'Zoom-bombing'

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 12:50 PM PDT

Zoom Video Communications has seen a surge in new users as a result of people working from home and trying to stay connected during the global pandemic. However, hackers and pranksters have begun to disrupt meetings by joining them without permission through a practice known as 'Zoom-bombing'.

The company has now announced that it will take a number of steps to prevent 'Zoom-bombing' such as enabling passwords on meetings and turning on Waiting Rooms by default along with additional security enhancements to protect its users' privacy.

Going forward, all Zoom meetings will now require a password to join. However, if attendees are joining by clicking a meeting link with a password embedded, there will be no change to how they join a meeting.

For attendees that join meetings by manually entering a Meeting ID, they will now need to enter a password to access a meeting. For instant meetings on the other hand, the password will be displayed in the Zoom client.

Virtual waiting room

Zoom also announced that its virtual waiting room feature will be automatically turned on for users by default. The service's waiting rooms serve as a virtual staging area that prevents participants from joining a meeting until the host is ready.

To admit participants into a meeting, the host will have to click on the Manage Participants icon in the company's client to view the full list of people waiting to join. From there, they'll have the option to admit participants individually or all at once by using the Admit All option on the top right-hand of the client.

Zoom's recent surge in popularity has revealed a number of privacy issues with the service. However, the company's CEO Eric S. Yuan recently apologized for the service's major security vulnerabilities and promised a fix for these issues.

The steps Zoom has taken today will certainly help limit the number of users affected by 'Zoom-bombing' while also helping to boost the service's security. However, it may be too late as a number of schools across the US have already decided to ban the service over security and privacy concerns.

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Microsoft reveals new code integrity feature for Linux

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 11:24 AM PDT

Microsoft has published details about a new project called Integrity Policy Enforcement (IPE) that it has been working on for the Linux kernel.

IPE is a Linux Security Module (LSM) which are optional add-ons for the Linux kernel designed to enable additional security features. In its documentation page, Microsoft explained how IPE attempts to solve the issue of code integrity, saying:

“IPE is a Linux Security Module, which allows for a configurable policy to enforce integrity requirements on the whole system. It attempts to solve the issue of code integrity: that any code being executed (or files being read), are identical to the version that was built by a trusted source. Simply stated, IPE helps the owner of a system ensure that only code they have authorized is allowed to execute.

On Linux systems with IPE enabled, system administrators can create a list of binaries that are allowed to execute and add verification attributes which the kernel needs to check for each binary before allowing it to run. If a binary has been altered by an attacker, IPE has the ability to block the execution of the malicious code.

Integrity Policy Enforcement

According to Microsoft, IPE is not intended for general-purpose computing as it was designed for very specific use cases when security is of the utmost importance and administrators need to be in full control of what code runs on their systems.

Some examples of systems that could benefit from using the software giant's new LSM include embedded systems such as network firewall devices running in a data center and Linux servers that are running strict and immutable configurations and applications.

Microsoft has published the specifications for the new IPE module but it is currently in a RFC or request for comments state. It will likely be some time before IPE ships with the actual Linux kernel.

The Linux kernel already includes a LSM for code integrity called Integrity Measurement Architecture (IMA). However, Microsoft says that IPE differs from IMA because “it has no dependency on the filesystem metadata” and because IPE attributes “are deterministic properties that exist solely in the kernel”.

Via ZDNet

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Apple Watch sale: the all-new Apple Watch 5 gets a $50 price cut at Best Buy

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 11:16 AM PDT

Best Buy's Apple Event is happening right now, and the sale includes price cuts on the all-new Apple Watch 5. For a limited time, you can get the Series 5 smartwatch on sale for $349. That's a $50 discount and the best price we've found for the 40mm smartwatch. If you're interested in a cellular plan with your smartwatch, Best Buy also has the Apple Watch 5 with LTE connectivity on sale for $449.

The Apple Watch 5 is packed with new features, as well as an upgraded design. The smartwatch features an Always-On Retina display, which allows you to easily read the time, messages, and other important notifications. The Series 5 smartwatch includes an updated ECG app and new safety features that allow you to make emergency calls. The waterproof smartwatch also tracks activity, workouts, and calories burned and provides up to 18 hours of battery life.

As we mentioned above, this is the best price we've found for the latest Apple Watch and a fantastic price for a feature-rich smartwatch. We don't know how long Best Buy will have the Series 5 on sale, so you should take advantage now before it's too late.

Apple Watch 5 deals:

See more smartwatch offers with our roundup of the best Apple Watch 5 prices and deals and shop other models with the best cheap Apple Watch prices and sales.

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What is Zoom? How does it work, tips and tricks plus best alternatives

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:53 AM PDT

Zoom Meetings is a popular cloud-based video conferencing application, used primarily by businesses to host meetings with remote or international colleagues and clients - the basic version is also completely free of charge.

Zoom video conferencing is celebrated for its ease of use, high quality HD video and audio, and collaboration facilities such as text chat and screen sharing. Attendees can also join a Zoom meeting without signing into the app, but must sign up for an account to host a video conference.

Premium versions support Zoom meetings with up to 1,000 participants, call recording, unlimited phone calls and more.

With the ongoing pandemic forcing many of us inside, Zoom video conferencing has also become the new means of keeping in touch with friends and family - a select few have even held their weddings over Zoom.

The Zoom app is available on all major desktop and mobile operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Android and iOS.

For more information, visit our how to use Zoom guide.

Free Zoom or paid?

Zoom is available free of charge to anyone that might like to use it, and the basic free version offers all the facilities most people will need. However, as with anything, you get what you pay for, because the free version has its limitations.

Free Zoom offers video conferencing for up to 100 participants, provided the meeting runs for no longer than 40 minutes, at which point attendees are ejected from the conference. If you don’t mind the hassle of dialling back in, though, the host can simply start another call.

It also supports unlimited one-on-one meetings, screen sharing, chat, virtual backgrounds, whiteboard and more.

The paid version, meanwhile, effectively removes time limits for group video conferences (pushing the cap to 24 hours), and also allows the host to record meetings to cloud or on-device storage and schedule repeat meetings.  

The most basic paid version costs $149.90/£119.90/AU$209.90 per year when billed annually or $14.99/£11.99/AU$20.99 per month, which is a little more expensive in the long-run.

Quoted prices do not cover additional add-ons - such as webinar facilities, large meetings (up to 1000 participants) and additional cloud recording storage - which will bump up the price.

Zoom for mobile or desktop?

It’s worth bearing in mind not all Zoom meetings are equal - the desktop version is kitted out with a number of features unavailable on mobile.

Beyond the most obvious downside to video conferencing on mobile - the comparatively small screen - Zoom for iOS and Android contains watered down and less intuitive versions of the chat and screen sharing facilities.

The mobile version also only allows four participants to appear on screen at once (as opposed to a maximum of 49 on desktop in gallery mode) and presenting complex charts and documents is made challenging by the small screen.

It’s also worth noting that iOS and Android versions of Zoom differ slightly. Zoom for Android, for instance, does not support everyone’s favourite virtual backgrounds feature - sorry Android fans.

For large scale business meetings with colleagues or calls with multiple friends, Zoom for desktop is the only sensible choice.

Zoom alternatives

While the word Zoom is used by some as a byword for video conference, there are many Zoom alternatives on the market capable of rivalling the big name brand.

Here are a few alternatives to Zoom that make an equally good choice for businesses looking for the best video conferencing services around:

- Microsoft Teams
- Google Hangouts
- RingCentral
- Skype for Business
- Cisco WebEx

Zoom - latest news and guides

06/04/2020 - ‘Zoom-bombing’ is now a federal offence in the US

06/04/2020 - Schools ban Zoom citing security and privacy concerns

04/04/2020 - Zoom is buckling under the strain of remote working

03/04/2020 - Zoom apologies for major security vulnerabilities, promises fixes

03/04/2020 - Zoom-related domains grow significantly as malware threat rises

01/04/2020 - Concerned about Zoom security? Here’s how a VPN can help

01/04/2020 - Zoom calls are not end-to-end encrypted

31/03/2020 - Zoom app hijackers disrupting calls with pornographic imagery

30/03/2020 - SEC steps in to prevent investors from buying the from Zoom

30/03/2020 - Zoom ditches snooping Facebook code from iOS app

27/03/2020 - Zoom’s iOS version is sharing user data with Facebook

26/03/2020 - Zoom video calls get a new background tools courtesy of Canva

22/03/2022 - How to use Zoom video conferencing 

The best webcams

If you're after a new webcam for Zoom video conferencing - or indeed any other kind of video conferencing - these are our top recommendations right now.

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The Witcher season 2: release date, story, new cast members and what we know

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:28 AM PDT

The Witcher season 2 will be massive when it returns to Netflix. While the first season of Geralt of Rivia's adventures were a smash hit, we're certain that next year it'll be even bigger. With its mixture of monster hunting, fantasy politics and deep characterization, it's easily one of the best Netflix shows around.

In The Witcher season 2, expect no more funny business with confusing timelines. Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer will journey together, in the same timeframe, making the story a touch easier to follow. The Witcher's second season started shooting in early 2020, but like much of the entertainment world, work on the show has been disrupted by COVID-19. We're not yet sure how this'll affect its release date, which is still unknown, save for 2021 as a target year. 

Nevertheless, when the fantasy epic does return, we'll no doubt be treated to more of the excellent stories made famous in The Witcher books, but hopefully we'll have a few more original yarns thrown in there for good measure. So let's get into it: here's everything we know about The Witcher season 2's release date, cast, new characters, story and more. 

 The Witcher season 2 release date: 2021

The Witcher season 2 release date


The closest thing we have to a The Witcher season 2 release date is '2021'. This was reported by Variety but was also confirmed by writer Lauren S. Hissrich during a Reddit AMA. She said: "We don't yet have a target launch date for season 2, past 2021." 

It's not a great deal to go on, but it guarantees there'll be more than a year's wait between seasons. Our first guess was that we'd see it in early 2021, but COVID-19 could well push it back further than that. Ex-Game of Thrones actor Kristofer Hivju has tested positive for the coronavirus, so the set is being deep cleaned amid a two-week production suspension. While we don't know the specifics of how the release date is impacted, we'll keep you updated in case we hear anything. 

The Witcher season 2 was announced on November 13, around six weeks before the first season aired. Since that moment we knew the show would be a hit. Season 2 started filming in February 2020, this time in London, Scotland and parts of Eastern Europe. 

The Witcher season 2 cast: new characters confirmed for next year, including Vesemir 

Henry Cavill (Geralt), Anya Chalotra (Yennefer) and Freya Allan (Ciri) are all set to return for The Witcher season 2. The full cast for the show has now been revealed by Netflix, in fact.

Two new witchers are apparently joining the cast: Lambert, played by Paul Bullion, and Coën, played by Yasen Atour (Netflix confirmed only the casting detail, and Redanian Intelligence reported they're witchers). This has added fuel to the fire that a lot of The Witcher season 2 will take us to Kaer Morhen, where witchers are trained. Could we see Ciri completing her training here, too?

Killing Eve's Kim Bodnia plays witcher trainer, Vesemir and Kristofer Hivju – better known as Game of Throne's crimson-bearded Tormund Giantsbane – will play Nivellen. Other new castings include Mecia Simson as Francesca, Thue Ersted Rasmussen as Eskel, Aisha Fabienne Ross as Lydia and Agnes Bjorn as Vereena. Deadline reports that Carmel Laniado has joined the cast as a secretly sadistic young girl called Violet for at least three episodes. But despite the rumors, Natalie Dormer has not been cast, her representatives confirmed to Screen Rant.

Returning characters from season one include – thank the heavens – Jaskier (Joey Batey) and Triss (Anna Shaffer). Eamon Farren will be back as Cahir, too. Other familiar faces from season one will include Tissaia (MyAnna Buring), Filavandrel (Tom Canton), Stregobor (Lars Mikkelson), Artorius (Terence Maynard), Sabrina (Therica Wilson Read), Murta (Lilly Cooper), Yarpen Zigrin (Jeremy Crawford) and Istredd (Royce Pierreson).

Also, it appears that the fiery Queen Meve of Lyria and Rivia is in for season 2. The gutsy monarch debuted in single-player card game spin-off, Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, and it looks like an audition tape has surfaced with the Queen holding court with two other men: the transcript is available on Redanian Intellegience.

The Witcher season 2 story: what's confirmed, and what happens in the books

A big talking point of season 1 was how it told stories in multiple places and across a non-linear timeline (though the now-released official Witcher map and Witcher timeline really help) resulting in a multi-tale anthology of sorts. 

In an interview with Vulture, Hissrich said that while she believes she didn't give the audience too much credit – "the audience is incredibly smart" – she had "misunderstood what everyone was looking for in their entertainment". She said "I love to be challenged when I'm watching TV," but conceded that that wasn't the case for everyone. 

However, season one's climax brought all the separate threads together nicely, priming The Witcher season 2 for a simpler plot. Hissrich has confirmed that Geralt, Ciri, and Yennefer exist in the same timeline now. 

"That’s where we ended season one. That’s absolutely where we will pick up in season two. The stories will be told in a much more linear fashion. They won’t all be one story. It’s not like all three are together and happy all the time. But, I do want to employ some different ways to look at time series-wide."

That doesn't mean we won't see any of the episodic Geralt monster-hunting adventures that we loved in season 1. Hissrich will be mining "different short stories" for season 2, and suggests the chance of flashback scenes.

witcher season 2 story

Ciri will be "center stage" in season 2, apparently. In the books, Ciri's story makes up the central plot of 'the saga'. The saga covers five books, starting with Blood of Elves, and centers on Ciri, her importance as a magical royal with Elven heritage, her relationship with Geralt, her ongoing efforts to survive, and how all this shapes events on The Continent.

The setup for this has already begun, as the very start of Blood of Elves is covered in season 1 by the siege, the downfall of Cintra, and Ciri's subsequent escape. Elsewhere, expect to see more of life under Nilfgaardian rule in season 2, as tensions between humans and non-humans rise. 

The grand location of Kaer Morhen should appear prominently in The Witcher season 2 as well. This is the ancestral home and stronghold of the witchers, and Geralt is required to take Ciri to the fortress for protection and training. Here, he takes closer guardianship of Ciri, becoming a father figure. With the appearance of a mysterious, powerful wizard - also pursuing Ciri – some more war, prophecies, dark magic and, of course, monster hunting, in mind, season 2 begins to sound promising. 

In terms of story specifics, Redania Intelligence claims that another short story from The Last Wish will appear. This short story, A Grain of Truth, features Geralt meeting the cursed man, Nivellen (who we now know is played by Hivju), who has been turned into a beast. 


The witcher season 2

Asked by Pure Fandom for a teaser on season 2, Hissrich had this to say: "Without spoilers, I will say that there’s a crop of new monsters, a new cost to magic, and new and unexpected pairings of our favorite characters."

Expect to see more from magical villainess Fringilla, too. When asked by Vulture, Hissrich confirmed that "you will absolutely get more Fringillla [...] we're digging deeper into her past and how she ended up at Nilfgaard, who she is as a person, and how she and Yennefer ended up on such different paths." In other words, expect more metal mind-control earworms. Ugh.

The Witcher season 2 will be accompanied by a Witcher animated movie

In addition to The Witcher season 2, an anime-style Witcher movie has been announced for Netflix called The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. No release date has been set for that one yet.

It'll be written by Beau DeMayo (who scripted episode 3 of season one), and it focuses on Vesemir, Geralt's mentor. He'll be familiar to anyone who knows the games and the books. It'll be animated by Studio Mir, which was behind the acclaimed Legend of Korra series. The story will take us "back to a new threat facing the Continent." 

Now we know Kim Bodnia is playing Vesemir in season 2, it's likely he'll voice him here too. 

An official synopsis was added to Netflix for Nightmare of the Wolf, which was later pulled. "Long before mentoring Geralt, Vesemir begins his own journey as a witcher after the mysterious Delgan claims him through the Law of Surprise." 

The Witcher season 2: other rumors and details

The wrinkly Nilfgaardian armor, which some fans on the internet didn't like, will be changed in season 2. Hissrich told Flickering Myth's Writer Experience podcast that, "the Nilfgaard armor will be totally different. You have that opportunity [in season two] to go back and course correct if you want to."

The Witcher could run for seven seasons on Netflix

The Witcher could run on Netflix for a long time. Hissrich claims to have thought out ideas for a massive seven seasons. And we're pretty certain there's enough source material left for that to be viable. 

We've got the entirety of Geralt, Ciri and Yennefer's stories to play out. It takes them across The Continent to a rich variety of locations, and introduces us to some of the best fantasy characters around. Ciri's development is a great basis for future tales in The Witcher universe that combine themes of family and love, and mystery and magic. 

The Witcher feels like it's here to stay on Netflix

The first season of The Witcher shrugged off the idea that it was just here to replace Game of Thrones. It confidently told stories in its own way and presented a fantasy world that has already captures people's imaginations. And, while we are unlikely to see much spillover from the games - they are not really canon according to Sapkowski but rather a "free adaptation containing elements of [his] work" - we know fans will enjoy various subtle references to the series, as they did in season 1. 

Hissrich and company aren't in the business of rushing this out. Hissrich said that the series would need time: "We don't want to rush the product. That doesn't benefit anyone." If it's as good as season 1, it'll be worth the wait. 

If it'll help pass the time until season 2, you can finally listen to the official version of 'Toss a Coin to your Witcher' on Spotify. 

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The best 17-inch laptop 2020: top large screen laptops for your money

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:14 AM PDT

If you need serious screen real estate, then the best 17-inch laptop is the way to go. The biggest laptops on the market tend to stand out from the pack – as well as their 13-inch or 15-inch laptop counterparts – with their hulking designs, massive air vents, and at times, that sports car look that’s appropriate as many of them are designed for gaming. 

However, it’s really their 17-inch screen and spacious chassis that are their key selling points. Their massive displays and bigger form factors leave more space for multitasking as well as a more powerful processor and graphics card like the Nvidia’s Max-Q GPUs that top the market right now. It’s no surprise that these laptops are typically excellent for intensive creative work like video editing and 3D design, as well as gaming.

The best 17-inch laptops on the market can rival some gaming PCs out there in terms of performance. They make for the best laptops for photographers and for video editing as well. All while shedding some weight and millimeters since many of them boast slim form factors. We gathered the best 17-inch laptops 2020 has to offer, each one tested and reviewed by us, so you know you’re getting the best value for your money.

The best 17-inch laptops at a glance:

  1. Alienware Area-51m
  2. Alienware m17 (2019)
  3. Razer Blade Pro 17
  4. HP Omen 17
  5. Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701
  6. LG Gram 17
  7. Asus TUF Gaming FX705DT
  8. HP ZBook 17 G5
  9. Lenovo ThinkPad P73
  10. System76 Serval WS

The best 17-inch laptops of 2020

Best 17-inch laptop: Alienware Area-51m

The Area-51m benefits from a great build quality and striking design.

Alienware makes some fantastic gaming machines, including the best 17-inch model on the market in our opinion. The Area-51m benefits from a great build quality and striking design, but more importantly, some supremely powerful components to drive fast frame-rates.

This laptop can pack up to an Intel Core i9-9900K processor and GeForce RTX 2080 graphics, all backed with up to 64GB of RAM. All of this helps to make the most out of the Full HD display’s 144Hz refresh rate, with G-Sync on hand to keep everything super-smooth in demanding games.

There are plenty of other smart touches with this Alienware model, including the ability to upgrade the GPU and CPU for future-proofing, a quality keyboard, and some very impressive speakers delivering both clarity and bass. Notebook speakers that don’t suck? Yes, they do exist…

The downside is the amount of damage the Area-51m will do to your bank balance, particularly for a higher-end spec. Still, if you’ve got the cash, it’s well worth the outlay.

Read the full review: Alienware Area-51m

Alienware m17 (2019)

The Alienware m17 for 2019 boasts more powerful internal components and a bold new design.

The Alienware m17 2019 boasts more powerful internal components and a bold new design that you won’t see on any of its rivals. This Alienware gaming laptop looks good inside and out, so you can have the most immersive gaming experience of your life and look good while gaming, whether you’re at home on your couch or at a cafe. It’s portable as well, with an impressively thin and light chassis that’s ideal for gaming on the go. This is the most well-rounded 17-inch laptop for gaming you’ll ever find. Just be prepared to shell out a bunch of cash.

Read the full review: Alienware m17 (2019)

Razer Blade Pro 17 2019

The Razer Blade Pro 17 2019 boasts enough power and delivers a fantastic enough performance to deserve to be called a workstation.

You’d be doing this laptop a disservice by not taking it seriously. The Razer Blade Pro 17 may be a laptop designed for gaming – and an excellent one, at that. But, it also boasts enough power and delivers a fantastic enough performance to deserve to be called a workstation, making it one of the best 17-inch laptops to consider if you work hard and play hard. That comes at a steep price, but this laptop is future-proof and somewhat upgradeable, it should last you a long while too.

Read the full review: Razer Blade Pro 17

HP Omen 17

If affordability is a priority, the HP Omen 17's definitely a shoo-in.

The recently refreshed HP Omen 17 comes with many of the most powerful specs in a gaming laptop. The only difference between this and its rivals is, it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to take one home. It’s a nice surprise, especially considering that HP can and does charge a premium for many of its best laptops. The thing to really pay attention to here, however, is the display, as HP does offer a number of options that include a couple of 1080p ones with blazing fast refresh rates. If affordability is a priority, this one’s definitely a shoo-in.

Read the full review: HP Omen 17

Best 17-inch laptop: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701

The ROG Zephyrus makes it possible to have an incredibly powerful portable that is svelte.

Who says you can’t have your gaming cake and eat it, because with laptops like this ROG Zephyrus, it’s possible to have an incredibly powerful portable which isn’t even remotely hefty, but remains very svelte and, er, portable.

It is, in short, a gaming machine for which you don’t have to employ air quotes around the word ‘portable’, being 18.7mm thick (or rather, thin) and weighing 2.7kg. Compare that to the above Alienware which is 43mm and 4.8kg…

Yet with this Asus 17-inch laptop you still get a Core i7-8750H hexa-core CPU backed by a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q with 8GB of video RAM (there’s up to 24GB of system memory, incidentally). All this means you can ramp up the detail levels and enjoy any game you want.

The display is also a fabulous piece of work, and what’s more it’s Pantone Validated with 100% sRGB color gamut, meaning the color accuracy is spot-on out-of-the-box, and this notebook can be used for professional photo or video editing.

Bear in mind however that battery life is disappointingly short, and the price is disappointingly hefty. For those who don’t have the hefty budget to cope with this, or the aforementioned Alienware laptop’s price tag, breathe easier and check out our next entry for a more affordable gaming option.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701 

Best 17-inch laptop: LG Gram 17

The Gram 17 is extremely light for a large machine.

As you might guess from the name, LG’s focus with the Gram is on making a very lightweight and thin notebook which still manages to pack in 17-inches of screen real-estate. The Gram 17 is 17.8mm thick, appropriately, and weighs 1.34kg, making it extremely light for a large machine. Unbelievably light, in fact.

That 17-inch IPS display, incidentally, boasts a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 and is fantastic for a spot of movie watching on the go. Another major positive with the LG Gram 17 is a good level of battery longevity, which helps if you want to watch a couple of movies while on a long journey.

You also get a good selection of ports, and while the SSD may not be the fastest, this notebook still offers great performance for everyday computing thanks to an Intel Core i7-8565U processor capable of Turbo to 4.6GHz, along with 16GB of system memory.

The end result is an excellent all-rounder which can cope with everything, bar gaming – but it wasn’t designed for that. Furthermore, LG’s Gram can truly be dubbed ‘ultraportable’, which is a real achievement given the 17-inch chassis – and that’s why this LG machine snatches our accolade for best overall 17-inch laptop.

Best 17-inch laptop: Asus FX705DT

The Asus FX705DT gaming laptop packs a Ryzen 5 3550H processor with a GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card.

The words ‘cheap’ and ‘gaming laptop’ don’t mix well. Simply put, if you’re on a strict budget, you won’t get a machine capable of playing the latest games at palatable frame-rates – especially if you want a 17-inch screen to boot. So that’s why the FX705DT is our ‘affordable’ pick as opposed to ‘budget’. Remember, if you want to go really bargain basement, you’ll be confined to casual gaming only.

This Asus gaming laptop, however, packs a Ryzen 5 3550H processor with a GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card with 4GB of video RAM, plus there’s 8GB of system memory. The FX705DT also boasts a roomy 512GB NVMe SSD and a backlit keyboard optimized for gaming.

All of which makes it a great choice for tackling the majority of games at good detail levels while still keeping things pretty smooth – and remaining relatively wallet-friendly. At the time of writing, there are some pretty tempting deals to be had on this Asus machine, too.

Best 17-inch laptop: HP ZBook 17 G5

The HP ZBook 17 G5 is a top-performing machine particularly when fully specced-up.

If you want extreme performance from your 17-inch laptop, HP’s most recent ZBook is absolutely packed with power. We’re talking Intel Xeon processors at the top end – or up to a Core i9-8950HK – backed with heavyweight graphics in the form of up to an Nvidia Quadro P5200 (with 16GB of video RAM).

The ZBook comes with a 17.3-inch 4K IPS DreamColor screen which boasts 100% AdobeRGB coverage (or there’s an option for a more basic 1,600 x 900 panel). There are various storage options for PCIe NVMe SSDs or solid-state hybrid drives, or indeed Intel Optane Memory to accelerate that storage.

That display truly is a fabulous thing, and the HP ZBook 17 G5 is obviously a top-performing machine particularly when fully specced-up, but there’s an equally obvious downside in that it’s very (unsurprisingly) expensive. Still, if you want an incredibly powerful PC capable of crunching through heavyweight computing tasks which you can take on the move with you, well, here it is.

Best 17-inch laptop: Lenovo ThinkPad P73

The Lenovo ThinkPad P73 represents a somewhat cheaper – and indeed a slightly slimmer – alternative to the above HP machine.

This is another mobile workstation, but it represents a somewhat cheaper – and indeed a slightly slimmer – alternative to the above HP machine, with the P73 being ideally suited to content creators.

You get the choice of an Intel Xeon E-2276M processor or 9th-gen Intel Core CPU (up to an i9-9880H with vPro), with up to Nvidia Quadro RTX 5000 graphics and up to 128GB of system memory. But the display is the jewel in the crown featuring a 4K resolution, 400 nits brightness, Dolby Vision HDR and 100% coverage of the Adobe color gamut. The screen is, quite simply, ideal for serious photo or video editing.

The cutting-edge hardware support continues with Wi-Fi 6 on board, and you get a good selection of ports for wired connectivity, including a pair of Thunderbolt 3 connectors. Creative pros need look no further for something that can cater for all their needs, at a relatively reasonable asking price for the workstation market.

Best 17-inch laptop: System76 Serval WS 17

This dedicated Linux portable from System76 is a great pick if you want the Linux environment.

There aren’t many choices for your operating system if you want an alternative to Windows 10 with your 17-inch laptop – there’s no MacBook, or Chromebook at this size – but you could, of course, run with Linux. And this dedicated Linux portable from System76 is a great pick on that front (although it’s worth noting that some 17-inch workstations do have a Linux option, like the above Lenovo which can be pre-installed with Ubuntu rather than Windows 10 Pro).

With the Serval WS you can opt for either Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or Pop!_OS, and choose between a Full HD or 4K display. There’s also a choice of 9th-gen Intel processors (up to the Core i9-9900K) backed with up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 2080 graphics card. It’s possible to load this portable with up to 64GB of system RAM, as well, and up to 8TB of storage.

So there’s a good deal of power on offer here, and you get impressive connectivity, along with quality input peripherals like a very nifty backlit keyboard. Those who want a 17-inch Linux machine can’t go wrong here.

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Which supermarkets have food delivery slots available this week?

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:14 AM PDT

The number of food delivery slots in the UK is continuing to increase as we move further into April, although demand remains extremely high. At the start of the month, Tesco announced it had made an extra 120,000 food delivery and click-and-collect slots available, taking its total food delivery capacity to around 780,000 - with another 100,000 slots promised in the coming weeks. 

Asda says it has increased its food delivery slots by 300,000, giving it a total of 700,000. Meanwhile, Sainsbury's will have almost doubled its grocery delivery and click-and-collect slots by the end of this week, boosting its total from 370,000 to 600,000 by Easter. "[We] will continue to add more capacity over the coming weeks," said Sainsbury's chief executive Mike Coupe. 

Online supermarket Ocado, Co-Op and Iceland also claim to be making new food delivery slots available throughout the day as well. And if you can get through the online queue, Morrisons has increased its limit of three items per customers to four, so that customers can continue to donate to food banks. 

So the situation is slowly improving. Despite this, demand for ordering food online remains extremely high. And with renewed calls from the government to stay at home for the foreseeable future, booking a food delivery slot still won't be easy. So which supermarkets have slots? And which other services are still running? 

Read on for our round-up of which food delivery services are delivering right now - plus our best tips for how to get a food delivery slot if you need one.

Food delivery: quick links

Grocery delivery

Recipe box and meal delivery

Pizza delivery

Takeaway delivery

Alcohol delivery

How to get a food delivery slot

Most supermarkets are requesting that you visit stores in person, if you can, so they can prioritise food delivery slots for elderly or vulnerable customers. Some, such as Waitrose, have closed their websites to new customers to help them do this. Others, including Sainsbury's, have been in touch with loyalty card holders who are aged over 70.

If you're a vulnerable person - or you know someone who is - you can register for support on the government's website. Tesco is prioritising orders for people on the government's vulnerable list, and will be in touch with anyone who is by email.

Our best advice, if you need to order food online, is to keep checking the website of your local supermarket throughout the day. If you can sign up for an account, do: this will make it easier for you to find a delivery slot in future. And book your delivery slot first - once you have one, most supermarkets give you around an hour to place your order.

Finally, if you can't get hold of a grocery delivery slot, don't forget that some meal delivery services are still operating too. Recipe box services like Mindful Chef deliver fresh ingredients to your door for you to cook, while meal delivery companies such as Allplants will drop off meals that have been cooked by their chefs. 

When will more online grocery delivery slots become permanently available? No one knows for sure. However, the major supermarkets are working around the clock to speed up the supply chain, and while it currently looks like it'll be mid-April before many new food delivery slots are opened up, we are seeing slots appear at supermarkets across the country throughout the day. 

We're assessing the situation daily, and we'll tell you which supermarkets are offering food delivery slots, as soon as we see them. 

Please remember to use all food delivery services responsibly. Only order what you need to preserve stocks for others who might be in need. 

Grocery delivery: our process

We signed up to all the major supermarkets below, and created a shopping basket full of popular goods. Every day, we compare five different locations - London, Leeds, Portsmouth, Manchester and Bath - to provide a sense of what stock is available in each area and whether delivery slots are currently offered. Here's the latest on which supermarkets are offering online grocery delivery today...

Tesco

Tesco online

Next delivery slot: none currently available - but new slots are added throughout the day (last updated 07/04/20)

Update (07/04/20): Tesco has expanded its food delivery and click-and-collect capacity to around 780,000 delivery slots. Our research has found a few Tesco home delivery slots popping up occasionally, but we're not currently seeing any in the areas we're testing. Hopefully this changes as Tesco expands its capacity. 

Tesco CEO Dave Lewis reached out to customers in a message two weeks ago: "We know that it's difficult right now to get a delivery slot for online shopping. We are at full capacity for the next few weeks and we ask those who are able to safely come to stores to do so, instead of shopping online, so that we can start to free up more slots for the more vulnerable."

Tesco has a decent selection of food items online, but getting hold of them at the moment can be tricky. Most brands are in stock, but eggs, hand soap and pasta are the exception, with some items sold out. 

According to Tesco, new food delivery slots are offered up as and when they're available each day.

How to sign up for an account 

Enter a valid email address and password, and confirm whether you have a Clubcard or not. You’ll receive one automatically upon registering if you don't. Fill in your personal details, including your phone number and UK Postcode. You can then select if you’d like to receive offers and vouchers from Tesco or not. 

Benefits and perks

Online shoppers can collect Clubcard points and Tesco has begun price matching Aldi on both its own-brand and branded products. A Delivery Saver pass is also available for regular customers, and comes with the added benefit of priority delivery slots during the busy Christmas and Easter periods. 

Coronavirus measures and policies

Customers who shop online are encouraged to shop in-store where possible to help free up delivery slots for the elderly customers and those who are self-isolating. 

Due to increased demand, Tesco isn’t accepting any new Delivery Saver customers right now either. A restriction of only three items per customer on every product line is in place, and multi-buy promotions have also been removed.

An 80 items limit is now in place for all online orders. 

Sainsbury's

Next delivery slot: none currently available - but new slots are added throughout the day (last updated 07/04/20)

Unless you’re already registered as a Sainsbury’s online customer, Sainsbury’s has paused all new online registrations. 

Update (04/04/20): Sainsbury's will have almost doubled the amount of food delivery and click-and-collect slots on offer by Easter next week. The elderly and vulnerable are being prioritised, and we have seen an occasional free food delivery slots during our research, although currently there are none available in the areas we're testing. 

In a message to customers, Sainsbury's Chief Executive Mike Coupe has provided more insight into how the company is delivering to the elderly or vulnerable: "Many of you have written to me to tell me you are elderly or vulnerable and are struggling to book online delivery slots. We are doing our absolute best to offer online delivery slots to elderly, disabled and vulnerable customers. These customers have priority over all slots."

Sainsbury's revealed that their customer Careline has had "one year's worth of contacts in two weeks". Mike Coupe went on to add, "I apologise to our regular online customers, who I know are feeling very frustrated at not being able to book slots. Please bear with us and I hope you can understand why we feel the need to prioritise elderly and vulnerable customers at the moment."

How to sign up for an account

Due to the huge increase in online orders, new registrations have been paused for the time being. To sign up for a Sainsbury’s online account, enter your email address and fill in your details on the following page. Once you’ve finished, you can start shopping. 

Benefits and perks

You can collect and spend Nectar Points with each online food shop. A Delivery Pass is also available, which can help you save up to £156 per year.

Coronavirus measures and policies

Elderly customers and those deemed as vulnerable will be offered priority delivery slots.

Asda

Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 07/04/20)

Update (07/04/20): Asda is increasing its online capacity in the coming weeks, adding an extra 300,000 home delivery slots to its website, meaning a total of 700,000 slots will be released each week. Despite this, we still haven't found any home delivery or click & collect slots.

In an email to customers, Asda CEO Roger Burnley has shared some information regarding how the company is working to deliver online shopping: "We're providing our drivers with hand sanitiser and gloves, and making as many online shopping slots available as we can. We're encouraging those that are able to safely shop in person to do so - this allows us to deliver to the highly vunerable."

Roger Burnely went on to add "If you are self-isolating or have additional needs, please advise us in the 'other information' section when placing your order."

How to sign up for an account

Registering is quick and easy with Asda (it says as much on its website), simply enter your email, a password and then enter your delivery postcode and you’re good to go. You can choose whether to receive exclusive offers and the latest info from Asda too if you’d like. 

Benefits and perks

Competitively priced and with a Delivery Pass available, Asda online shoppers can save up to £80 and £100 by choosing a 6-month or 12-month pass. Offers are clearly highlighted on the Asda website, so you’re never likely to miss a cracking deal. 

Coronavirus measures and policies

Customers are limited to a three item maximum on all food, toiletries and cleaning products when ordering online.

When placing an online delivery order, anyone who is self-isolating is advised to fill in the ‘Other information’ section to advise where their order should be left, i.e. on the doorstep.

If you're self-isolating, Asda has introduced a Volunteer Shopping Card. You can top it up with the amount of money you'd like to spend, and send it to your volunteer of choice who can then do your shop for you.  

Ocado

Ocado

Next delivery slot: next-day delivery slots currently available for priority customers (last updated 07/04/20)

Update (07/04/20): If you're an existing Ocado customer with priority access, 4,500 next-day delivery slots are now available. However, you should check that a delivery slot is available before filling up your basket.

Customers without priority access area advised to check back at 18:00 today to see if there are any remaining next-day slots in your area. 

The online supermarket has seemingly ditched its queuing system in favour of a daily update that states whether or not delivery slots are available. 

Ocado has also brought order cut-off times forward, so customers are encouraged to complete their order in one session to avoid disappointment later. In an email to existing customers on 25 March, Ocado Retail CEO Melanie Smith has said that "no matter how hard we work, we will not have enough capacity to serve the unprecedented levels of demand".

She went on to say that "new delivery slots will be released every day for the coming week, as and when we have capacity". 

It's currently unclear whether Ocado is allowing new customers. If you do not have a delivery booked already, Ocado's website notes that there is "limited availability over the next few days".

How to sign up for an account

You can sign up to Ocado using a Facebook and PayPal account, or simply fill in your details such as your email address and postcode to register.Tick the box if you’d like to opt out of Ocado’s offers, vouchers and gifts before you hit ‘Register’.

Benefits and perks 

New customers can enjoy three months free delivery with Smart Pass, and Ocado also offers one-hour delivery windows. 

Coronavirus measures and policies

Ocado had to temporarily suspend its service due to high demand, but is now its back online. Customers can only book one delivery slot every seven days to free up more slots for other customers.

Some products are limited to one or two per order, and a small number of bulky items have been removed from sale to make more room in each delivery van. The company has shared how stockpiling has affected its service during the coronavirus outbreak.

Anytime Smart Pass members who joined before 2020 will be placed in a temporary priority queue so they can book a delivery slot each week. Ocado will send an email and text message between the hours of 09:00 and 17:00 to give members access to the queue. 

Morrisons

Morrisons delivery

Next delivery slot: none currently available (last updated 07/04/20)


Update 07/04/20: According to Morrisons' website, no new delivery slots are available today. Morrisons has implemented a queuing system on its website, which is for customers who wish to edit an order already placed and with a delivery date outside 72 hours. 

How to sign up for an account

To sign up for a Morrisons online account, firstly enter your postcode to check if Morrisons deliver in your area. Once you’re given the all clear, enter your details and a password to register. You can also receive tailored offers, coupons and communications from Morrisons.

Benefits and perks

You can use a Facebook account to sign in, and Morrisons Quick Shop fills your trolley with the top things you might be wanting to buy with a single click. A Delivery Pass is also available with regular choices for those looking to do their weekly shop online. 

Coronavirus measures and policies 

Orders must be finalised 48 hours before delivery. Morrisons are working on introducing a number of measures to help reduce the amount of substitutes and missing items that some customers are encountering with their online food shops:

Morrisons' £35 food box delivery

Two weeks ago Morrisons launched a food box delivery service that aimed to supply customers who can't get to the shops with essential items. "A Morrisons Food Box could be a real help if you can’t currently get to a store to stock up on essentials," says the site. "We will deliver a box of selected food and household items straight to your door.

Unfortunately, Morrisons' food box delivery service doesn't currently have any available delivery slots. The company says it is "doing everything we can to increase capacity" - and we'll let you know as soon as we find any new delivery slots.

Waitrose

Waitrose

Next delivery slot: none currently available - but new slots are added each day (last updated 07/04/20)


Update 07/04/20: Waitrose is prioritising the vulnerable and elderly by giving them priority access to its home delivery and Click & Collect slots, however, you can now at least check for delivery slots on the website.

Customers are advised to check back each day as new slots are added daily and to only book one slot per week. 

Waitrose is still accepting new customer registrations and you can amend or cancel existing orders. 

How to sign up for an account

Signing up to Waitrose is simple - just fill in your details, such as your address and contact number, then click ‘next’ and you can start shopping straight away.

Benefits and perks

Waitrose has a number of attractive introductory offers, including a £30 saving on your first three online grocery shops. The website also includes hundreds of recipes and lists the ingredients so you can quickly add them to your basket. 

Coronavirus measures and policies

The company has paused its online voucher codes along with any offer incentives until further notice. Some products have are restricted for a limited time, with customers only allowed to buy a maximum of two packets of toilet roll and three of any specific grocery item. 

Entertainment products are also no longer available to order online for the foreseeable future. Substitutions for online orders cannot be returned to your driver if they have been handled, and drivers will not enter homes. 

All online deliveries will be bagged as well to make them easier to collect quickly.

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Dream up a Cyberpunk 2077-inspired PC case design to win a free Alienware gaming PC

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:06 AM PDT

CD Projekt Red has announced a competition to design a PC case mod which is themed on its upcoming much-anticipated Cyberpunk 2077 game, with a seriously powerful Alienware gaming PC as the main prize.

The ‘Cyber-up your PC’ contest requires you to submit a concept for your case design, based on the Alienware Aurora chassis (shown above) – you don’t have to actually build the thing. The publisher wants entrants to submit three images of their proposed case: one of the front, and one of the left and right-hand sides (up to 15MB in size each, as instructed in the submission form which you’ll find here).

Those images can be provided in any manner you see fit, including 3D renders which are screen-grabbed, or simply drawings on paper which are scanned in – providing the artwork is clear enough to allow a panel of experts to evaluate the design.

There are a few stipulations that each design needs to include, too – more on that in a moment.

The closing date is May 17, when all submissions will be examined by the judges who will pick the five best entries. These top five will actually be built by professional case modders, and the best of the bunch will be chosen at the grand final which will take place on July 17-18.

Hell yeah, remember Aurora

The winner will bag an Alienware Aurora PC with a custom AL5052 aluminum shroud, decked out in Cyberpunk 2077’s yellow styling, and including the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Cyberpunk 2077 limited edition graphics card (there aren’t many of these around, as you may recall).

The rest of this powerful gaming rig comprises of an AMD Ryzen 9 3900 (12-core) processor, 16GB of HyperX Fury RAM (2933MHz), along with a 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD backed up with a 2TB hard drive for extra storage.

You also get a bunch of extras in terms of an Alienware keyboard and mouse, a SteelSeries headset, and to top it all off, a 34-inch Alienware AW3420DW curved monitor. Nice.

The second to fifth place contestants won’t go unrewarded, as you might expect, and will pick up an Alienware Area-51m gaming laptop each – built around a Core i7-9700K processor and a GeForce RTX 2080 GPU – plus a SteelSeries headset.

CD Projekt Red states: “Entries will be judged on their feasibility, creativity, and faithfulness to the Cyberpunk 2077 styles.”

More specifically, as we already mentioned, there are three stipulations which each design must adhere to if they want to win.

For starters, one part of the case design must include recycled material (the example given is chucking an old circuit board into the mix as decoration).

CD Projekt Red also notes that in Night City, where the game is set, the rich and poor live next to each other, so you should “make this contrast visible in your design”.

And finally, there’s a bunch of Cyberpunk 2077 assets to download, and every design must follow one of the provided style guidelines, and it must feature a megacorporation or gang logo.

So if you have a creative leaning, and are looking for something to do during the extra hours you may be spending inside due to a coronavirus lockdown – you may just have found the perfect distraction.

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Intel surges against AMD in latest Steam user survey

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:03 AM PDT

The AMD vs Intel rivalry has had another strange turn, as Team Blue has reversed a long-running trend, clawing back processor market share from AMD. However, this is probably just because so many people are working from home.  

That’s according to the latest Steam Hardware Survey, which shows that during the month of March, Intel saw its share of the CPU market rise from 78.2% to 81.25%. 



This, naturally, comes at the expense of AMD, which saw its slice of the pie shrink slightly to 18.75%.

This marks a rare gain for Intel, which has seen its processor usage in Steam’s hardware survey tumble for many months. As PC Gamer notes, it’s likely this comeback – albeit a small one – can be credited to the rise of home working in light of the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Steam’s breakdown of processor speeds, for example, shows a shift away from Intel’s more powerful chips running at 3.7GHz and above, with users instead flocking to Intel’s more mediocre CPUs that clock in at 3GHz and below. This is likely due to people digging out old Intel-powered laptops so that they’re able to work from home, though it’s worth noting that the chipmaker saw bigger gains in Linux usage (+1.23%) than on Windows (0.24%).

Not just processors

Steam’s GPU chart paints a similar picture, showing that usage of Intel’s integrated graphics also surged during March. The Intel HD Graphics 4000 saw a 2.95% increase in usage, while Intel HD Graphics 3000 saw a similar 2.75% uptick.

Elsewhere in the Steam Hardware Survey for March, the stats reveal that there are now at least one million VR gamers using Valve’s online platform.

The vast majority of these gamers (27.05%) are using an Oculus Rift S headset, 26.67% are using an HTC Vive headset, and a further 15.56% are using the original Oculus Rift. The company’s own headset, the Valve Index HMD, has managed to claim just more than 10% of users, despite its top-of-the-line $999 (£919, about AU$1,425) price tag.

The same can’t be said for Microsoft. Despite aggressively lowering the price of its Mixed Reality HoloLens devices, the Steam Survey shows that they account for less than one in 12 headsets.

News of Intel making rare gains on AMD come just days after the chipmaker unveiled its Ryzen-rivaling 10th-generation Comet Lake-H CPUs, which are its first mobile processors to break the 5GHz barrier.

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Are the budget AirPods Pro, the so-called AirPods X, almost ready?

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 10:02 AM PDT

There’s a fresh rumor circulating on Twitter that Apple is on the cusp of announcing a new pair of true wireless earbuds, called the AirPods X, that will be a lower-cost version of the AirPods Pro with many of the same features.

The leaker at the forefront of the rumors is Jon Prosser, who said on Twitter that he expects the AirPods X to launch for $200 (around £160, AU$320) and could be available starting in September or October. 

In addition to AirPods X, Prosser believes that Apple will be releasing a rival to the Bose 700 Noise-Cancelling Headphones that will cost a bit more - $350 (around £280, AU$560) by his predictions - and those could be available around the time of Apple’s virtual WWDC event.

Now, admittedly, even he wants to take these rumors with a grain of salt, saying in a followup tweet that “Reliability on this is [toilet paper emoji x 4]” before stating that he believes Apple plans on phasing out the Beats line of headphones. It's a lot to parse, but a big deal if there's any truth to it.

What's the deal with the over-ear cans?

We've heard rumors about the AirPods X before, and the over-ear headphones have been spoken about by tech journalists for the last three years. 

While Apple has yet to confirm any of it, the general thinking here is that Apple wants to create a more premium version of the Beats Studio headphones with noise-cancellation, Siri and the H1 Wireless Chip. 

Should that be the case, Apple could then potentially phase out the Beats series of headphones in a few years once it replaces the entire line with Apple AirPods equivalents - but why would they kill an incredibly popular brand they already own? That theory doesn't make a ton of sense.

In any event, premium new over-ear headphones are always welcome and a low-cost version of the uber-popular AirPods Pro could win over anyone who just can't get themselves to drop $250 on a pair of true wireless earbuds.

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Dreamhost unveils automated WordPress website migration tool with a catch

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:55 AM PDT

DreamHost has unveiled a new free tool to make it easier for its customers to migrate data between WordPress providers.

New customers of the company's managed WordPress offering DreamPress as well as all new shared website hosting customers will now get access to a plugin that automates the process of migrating their WordPress sites to DreamHost.

This free BlogVault-powered plugin is capable of moving website content, themes, plugins and configurations between WordPress sites up to 80 percent faster than similar tools.

Before now, moving WordPress websites between hosting providers was often a largely manual process. Website owners often had to rely on software developers or advanced WordPress consultants to help migrate their data across the web which led to additional costs.

Automated WordPress migration

By bringing the power of automation to its customers, DreamHost has condensed a number of complicated technical processes into a simple web-based roadmap that can be navigated with just a few clicks. WordPress sites of all sizes, across hosting providers can now be migrated to DreamHost through a series of simple and easy-to-follow web-based prompts.

Vice president of corporate communications at DreamHost, Brett Dunst explained why data portability is so important in a press release, saying:

“Data portability is an integral part of the continued success of the Open Web. Widely-adopted, powerful open source tools like WordPress are supported by user-generated content that is, by its nature, never anchored or locked down to a single provider. Making tools available to WordPress users that help enable this portability is key to the future of user-generated content and is something we’re proud to offer.”

Automated WordPress migrations are now available for all DreamHost customers currently using the company's shared website hosting or its DreamPress managed WordPress hosting service.

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The AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS is faster than the Intel Core i7-9700K

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:46 AM PDT

When AMD Ryzen 4000 for mobile was announced way back at CES 2020, AMD made some lofty promises about its performance, even stating that it is faster than Intel's 9th-generation desktop chips. And, well, now we know it actually is. 

After completing our review for the Asus Zephyrus G14, we were curious just how well the AMD Ryzen 4000 chip in that laptop would hold up against the Intel Core i7-9700K, a desktop processor with a 95W TDP, and the results were very surprising. 

In Cinebench R20, the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS in the Zephyrus G14 scores 4,194 points, compared to the 3,726 points scored by the 9700K. Now, sure, it's easy to see a large part of the reason why this happened – the 4900HS is a hyperthreaded part, and the 9700K has just 8 single-threaded cores. However, Intel's chip takes up nearly three times the power – the 4900HS has just a 35W TDP.

What about single-core, though? Well, it's not super pretty for Intel here, either. Intel's desktop chip did get a stronger single-core score, getting 497 points to AMD's 481. Again, this is Intel's desktop chip against AMD's laptop chip which has a 60W lower TDP – and it's only about 3% faster. This is totally within the margin of error at this point, and you'd be excused for saying that AMD has essentially matched Intel's single-core performance. Now, just imagine what AMD Ryzen 4000 desktop will look like when it comes out later this year. 

We admit that we are looking at the Intel Core i7 against a Ryzen 9 processor, but with how much extra power desktop chips have at their disposal, even this shouldn't be an even match-up. And, don't worry, we intend to more fully explore the differences between the Ryzen 9 4900HS and both the 9700K and the more powerful Core i9-9900K.

Intel needs to come out swinging

AMD Ryzen 4000 processors are offering truly desktop-class performance in a mobile form factor while also providing better battery life than we've ever seen in a gaming laptop – the Asus Zephyrus G14 lasted a mind-blowing 8 hours and 10 minutes in our battery test. 

Laptops with Intel's 10th-generation Comet Lake-H processors should be hitting store shelves any day now, and they have a massive uphill battle if they're going to retain relevance. Intel's processors are in all the flagship gaming laptops right now – from the Razer Blade 15 to the Alienware m15 – and if AMD can continue to deliver performance and battery life that's in another class altogether, we could start to see that shift. 

That's not even to mention Intel's desktop lineup. Intel's 9th-generation Coffee Lake Refresh-S processors came out way back in October 2018, so we're nearing two years without new silicon for desktop users. 

There are rumors of Intel 10th-generation Comet Lake-S processors hitting the streets in May, but with AMD's own next-generation Ryzen 4000 desktop processors also coming out this year, the bump up to a rumored Core i9 processor with 10 cores and 20 threads might not be enough to combat AMD's rumored 15% IPC improvement, according to this AdoredTV leak. 

With AMD Ryzen 4000 mobile, Intel has officially become the underdog here. Team Red is beating Intel on every front at this point, Intel can barely even claim dominance in single-threaded workloads anymore. Intel needs its own Ryzen, and until that happens, we might be waiting quite a while before Intel can come out on top again. 

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Best free blogging site of 2020

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:38 AM PDT

Free blogging sites have come a long way in recent years, and it’s now easier than ever to create a professional-looking blog to share a hobby with likeminded people, express your opinions, and establish an online presence.

These free blogging sites are aimed at hobbyist bloggers – blogs are created and managed online, and hosted on the blogging platform’s own servers. If you want to create a self-hosted blog, the downloadable version of WordPress is an excellent option, with total flexibility, support for third-party plugins, and as much storage as your hosting plan allows.

If you're interested in making a static website rather than an online journal, take a look at our guide to the best free website builders.

Wix makes it dead easy to design and realize your blog, and you can do a lot more besides

Wix has a range of paid-for subscription plans, but also a free offering, although it’s best to note upfront that this has some caveats. With the free product, your site will have Wix branding, and you’ll be limited to 500MB of data transfer per month, so it’s not for heavily trafficked sites. You also only get 500MB storage, too, so bear that in mind.

You are, however, free to build a blog with an unlimited number of pages, and where Wix really shines is with its powerful blog functionality. The editor may be simple, but you get access to all the stuff you need – from image galleries through to videos and music – and there are a ton of ways to customize a post.

There’s also a lot of flexibility in the way you can schedule posts, and neat touches like being able to set things up so that posts are automatically pushed to Facebook when they’re published. For instance, you have a feature called WiX Bookings, that allows customers to schedule appointments and classes right on your website.

And what makes Wix truly compelling is on top of this, you get the run of the rest of what this website builder offers aside from blog support. That includes using Wix’s ADI (Artificial Design Intelligence) editor to make building your site a snap even for novices, plus impressively diverse support for various different types of media, and quality customer support to boot (yes, even on the free plan).  As of recently, Wix introduced Wix Turbo, which increases the speed and performance of websites considerably.

When you consider what you’re getting for nothing, the bandwidth and data limits don’t seem like such a heavy set of shackles. And you can always upgrade at a later date if you want to break free of them in the longer run.

Try it online: Wix

You can host a WordPress blog yourself, or create one online and have it hosted at wordpress.com

Powerful and highly customizable, WordPress is a brilliant platform for blogs of any size, and bloggers of any level of experience.

Creating your first blog is very straightforward, with a simple wizard that guides you through the process of choosing a name and suitable theme. You can leave it there and begin writing posts immediately, but the real fun lies in the more advanced editor, which lets you customize virtually every aspect of your blog’s appearance.

Unlike some blogging sites, WordPress isn’t a drag-and-drop affair, and you’ll have to familiarize yourself with its system of menus. It’s well worth the effort, though, and enables you to create something truly personal. The editor also lets you create static pages – like a writer’s biography, for example.

The post-writing interface is much like an ordinary desktop word processor (though some options are presented in a toolbar at the top, while others are in a menu at the side, which can be a little confusing at first). Again, time spent getting to know the interface is rewarded with advanced features like customizable social media sharing buttons, geotagging, and the ability to pick a custom style for individual posts.

Sometimes you might want to create a photo gallery, for example, and other times a more text-focused style would be more appropriate. You can also view and edit the HTML source.

As your blog grows, WordPress lets you track its stats, including page views, visitors, likes and comments over time. You can also see how readers reach your site, which content they viewed, and where they are in the world, so you can tailor your content accordingly.

Your site is hosted on WordPress servers, with an address in the format yoursite.wordpress.com. Users of the free service don’t get email or live chat support, but the WordPress community forums are very active and questions are usually answered within a few minutes. Additionally, privacy protection for domains that are registered at WordPress.com is free.

WordPress displays ads on free blogs, but provided you can live with that, it’s a top-notch solution for a free blogging site.

Try it online: WordPress

Blogger has been around for many years, but has kept up with current trends and technology, including responsive blog templates

Blogger is another superb blogging platform. It’s not quite as powerful as WordPress, but more accessible for new users, which comes as no surprise when you learn that it’s owned by Google.

Blogger offers an excellent selection of templates, all of which include mobile versions optimized for smaller screens – a very sensible addition with so many people accessing online content through smartphones. 

Blogger’s post-editing tool is much like WordPress, but offers fewer options. As a result, its toolbars are less confusing – a trade-off between power and usability.

One of Blogger’s best features is its integration with other Google apps and services. For example, it uses your Google Drive account to store images and other files for your blog. Google Drive gives you 15GB of space free, so Blogger is a good choice if you’re planning to share a lot of high-res photos.

Spam comments are a big problem on blogs, so Blogger’s automatic spam filter can help save your sanity. You can monitor comments via Blogger’s dashboard, which also lets you see visitor stats. There are some handy visualizations here, including a world map to show the global distribution of your readers.

Your blog will have an address in the format yoursite.blogger.com, and, like all Google services, will include ads. Support is available through the Blogger user forum, which is very active but has a strange layout that can be a little off-putting.

In all other respects, Blogger is brilliant – one of the best free blogging sites if you prioritize ease of use over flexibility and are a fan of the Google ecosystem.

Try it online: Blogger

Blogs on Weebly are built from a combination of content blocks

Weebly takes a modular approach to blog building, with a drag-and-drop editor that lets you choose which elements to add to your site, and where. 

Pick a basic template, then plonk various types of content onto the page, including social media links, text, images, maps, and sections of code. It’s a refreshingly simple way to build a blog that feels unique to you, but doesn’t require any messing about with menus.

It’s worth noting, however, that certain content blocks can only be positioned in certain areas; it isn’t a total free-for-all. This makes sense – forcing you to stick within the confines of your chosen template stops the page looking messy – but you might find it limiting. 

Blog posts are made in the same way: drag text boxes, picture frames, buttons and page breaks into position, then click to edit them. One particularly nice feature is the ‘secret draft link’, which lets you preview your unpublished post, and even share it with others via email before releasing it into the wild. 

Weebly has some other interesting tricks up its sleeve too, including an area for pasting in Google Analytics tracking code (though it doesn’t offer analytics itself).

You’re only given 500MB for uploaded content, so photographers might want to look elsewhere. Weebly puts an ad in your site’s footer, but it doesn’t obscure any of your content.

Try it online: Weebly

Penzu is a personal blogging tool that lets you create your own private diary

Whereas the other free blogging sites are designed to get as many eyeballs on your posts as possible, Penzu is the equivalent of a locked diary stashed in a safe.

Penzu is a journal platform that makes your posts private by default and locks them down with at least one password (even after you’re logged in, you need a second one to read or edit your posts). That’s because it’s designed for private thoughts and personal reflection. There are free apps for iOS and Android that enable you to update your Penzu diary anywhere, but the contents are for your eyes only.

Penzu isn’t a tool for self-promotion, so although it’s far from ugly, it understandably focuses on function rather than looks. Custom colors and backgrounds come at a price – currently $20 (about £14, AU$25) per year.

It’s a shame that 128-bit AES encryption is also limited to the paid-for version, and there’s a fair amount of pressure to upgrade. Extra options are often dangled under your nose then yanked away, but the core offering is a good one, and if you simply want a place to record your thoughts and practise writing, Penzu could be just what you need.

Try it online: Penzu

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Bored of Netflix? Try these alternative streaming services instead

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:22 AM PDT

The big streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus have plenty of content between them, but if you're a really big fan of movies, TV shows or documentaries, you might find their offerings lack a little something.

Thankfully there are services that offer more. Indie films, world cinema, Hollywood classics, lesser-seen documentaries and film festival fare, for example, are easier to find on certain other streaming services and websites.

So if you're bored of Netflix, tired of Amazon Prime and don't want to pay actual money for a whole streaming service that only has Disney content, these are the best streaming services for you.

Best Netflix alternatives at a glance

  1. Mubi
  2. The Criterion Channel
  3. Kanopy
  4. Fandor
  5. BFI Player
  6. IndieFlix
  7. Acorn TV

Best Netflix alternatives

Mubi has a wide collection of world cinema releases, as well as indie releases and early films from famous directors. There are, of course, also a few big films on the service at any time.

Every day Mubi adds one film and removes another in a rotating calendar, so it's one of the only streaming services where you're always excited to log into to check what's new for the day. This does mean you need to be pretty quick to see films before they're removed. The line-up also differs between regions. 

A highlight of the streaming service is that it often has exclusive rights to new films from other countries, so it's your only way to catch certain releases, and there are frequently themed seasons with multiple movies from a cinematic tradition or movement, which is great for learning about the history of cinema.

You can check out Mubi by clicking here

Film fans likely know The Criterion Collection, a company which restores and distributes classic films, and The Criterion Channel is its streaming service which gives plenty of those masterpieces a digital home. 

The Criterion Channel is only available in certain countries (and not the UK, sadly), so the films don't have a digital home everywhere, but if you live in the countries it caters to, you can have access to its wide range of older films as well as select tiles from around the world.

Also worth noting is that there's plenty of extra content available as well as films, like interviews with popular filmmakers and names in the movie world, as well as mini-documentaries introducing you to different cinematic movements.

You can check out The Criterion Channel by clicking here

free streaming services - kanopy

Kanopy isn't a streaming service as you might know them - instead, it's better described as a digital library, mainly because you actually need a library membership to get access.

If you've got a library card for one of the participating libraries (of which there are many around the world, not just in the US), or you're a student or professor at a university, you can enjoy free access to Kanopy's wide selection of movies and documentaries. 

Many of these are the kind of classics you'd be studying for history or film classes, but they're also worth watching if you appreciate the history of cinema anyway. There are quite a few newer indie films too.

If you don't have a library card or don't attend a university, you might be out of luck here, though.

You can check out Kanopy by clicking here

If you want to immerse yourself in the wider world of older, world and indie cinema without really having a preference on exactly what you're watching, US-only platform Fandor is the best streaming platform for you. That's because most of its content sits in a nebulous space.

Fandor's films aren't old enough or popular enough to be classics, but they're all worth viewing for one reason or another, especially thanks to Fandor's editorial side which guides your viewing and provides recommendations. There seems to be a particular focus on 1970s and 1980s cinema from around the world, but there's also lots of variety. If you're not a picky viewer, and just want to watch some great older cinema, Fandor could be a good choice.

Sure, the selection isn't as wide as some of the other entries on this list, but if you live in the US, you should check it out. 

You can check out Fandor by clicking here

The BFI Player is the streaming service of the BFI (as the name implies), the British Film Institute, so you know it doesn't just put any old film on its platform. No, its selection is only of the highest class. In the UK, you can get BFI Player on mobile devices, and in the US you can get it on The Roku Channel. Expect differences in the line-ups. 

For a monthly price that's fairly low compared to some of the others on this list, you get a curated selection of classics from across the world. In the UK right now, that includes BAFTA winner Bait, as well classics like Paris, Texas, 8 1/2 or Ghost World. 

In the UK, there's also the option to rent nearly 2,000 films, many of which are new, in cinemas, or hot off the film festival circuit, and the rental price is far lower than the average cost of a theater ticket. In addition there's a selection of over 11,000 pieces of free content, most of which are short films or non-fiction footage of Britain through the years.

You can check out BFI Player by clicking here

IndieFlix's name rather gives away the game - it's a streaming service for independent movies. This includes both feature films, shorts, and documentaries, as well as select TV shows and slow cinema.

It's unlikely you'll have heard of much of the content on IndieFlix save for some of the classics they have on there, but watching some of these independent films from around the world supports artists everywhere and broadens your horizons too.

At time of writing, it seems like IndieFlix's library is a little limited compared to some of the competitors on this list, but its ranks could grow over time. It's also got a few originals, too, and streams globally according to its FAQ.

You can check out IndieFlix by clicking here

If you love British TV, then Acorn TV might be the streaming subscription service for you, because that's the main thing it does (well, there's some content from other countries too, but British-ness is Acorn TV's thing).

The service has plenty of Agatha Christie content as well as British shows from the last few years like Midsomer Murders, Doc Martin and Detectorists. It puts out some originals too, if you can't get enough of people talking about murders in middle-English accents.

Acorn TV isn't actually available in the UK, although a release is slated for later in 2020, but most of the shows are available on TV there anyway. Another alternative for similar content in the US is Britbox, which is available in the UK. 

You can check out Acorn TV by clicking here

Honorable mentions

There are plenty of streaming services out there, and while we capped this list at seven, there are a few more we'd recommend glancing at too.

The Film Detective is an archive of older classics that are in the public domain, yet the site restores them, making them much easier to watch. You can check out The Film Detective by clicking here.

Crackle, part-owned by Sony Pictures, has a limited collection of new films from a few big companies, including certain originals, although it's not available everywhere. You can check out Crackle by clicking here.

Vimeo might not be your first port of call for new movies, since it's more commonly known as YouTube's biggest competitor, but it's actually used by most indie and up-and-coming filmmakers to post their short (and, sometimes, feature) films, so you can sometimes find gems there. You can check out Vimeo by clicking here.

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Best cloud storage of 2020 online: free, paid and business options

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:08 AM PDT

Businesses and consumers are increasingly reliant on cloud based storage solutions instead of in-house, on-premise local storage hardware.

Your files are stored in the cloud, which is a simplified view of what is essentially someone else's infrastructure (data center, server, hard drive, connectivity etc).

Ever since Amazon popularised storage online with S3 (Simple Storage Service), 13 years ago, Google data shows that interest for "Cloud Storage" alone has increased by 40x over the past decade. So much so that people less frequently refer to it as "online storage".

Given the multitude of cloud storage providers out there, one has to wisely choose a provider who will offer the maximum amount of low-cost storage and bandwidth, while still keeping your data safe.

This list represents our top picks for cloud storage: most offer a free tier allowing you to see if they're right for you before handing over any hard-earned cash. And it's iDrive that leads the way thanks to how fast, thorough and easy to use it is. 

  • Want your company or services to be considered for this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line.

Also consider these options:

Business users will need to consider carefully what their needs are as terms and conditions as well as quality of service is likely to differ significantly from their consumer alter ego.

Go straight to your desired option through the jump links below:

Best cloud storage of 2020 at a glance:

  1. iDrive
  2. pCloud
  3. Zoolz
  4. Degoo
  5. Mega cloud storage
  6. OneDrive
  7. iCloud
  8. Google Drive
  9. Box
  10. NextCloud

IDrive secures servers, desktop system and mobile devices with equal aplomb (Image credit: IDrive)

IDrive offers continuous syncing of your files, even those on network drives. The web interface supports sharing files by email, Facebook and Twitter. Cautious or click-happy users will be pleased to hear that files deleted from your computer are not automatically deleted from the server, so there's less danger of removing something important by accident. Up to 30 previous versions of all files backed to your account are retained.

Another thing to note is that IT admins have access to IDrive Thin Client application, which allows them to backup/restore, manage settings, and more for all their connected computers via a centralized dashboard.

For photos, you have a neat facial recognition feature that helps you to automatically organize them as well as syncing them across all your linked devices. IDrive also offers IDrive Express which sends you a physical hard disk drive if you lose all your data, allowing for the swift restoration of all your backed up files. That applies to the newly introduced disk image backup feature.

A business version exists and offers priority support, single sign-on as well as unlimited users and server backup. Furthermore, IDrive Cloud, an enterprise-class cloud object storage is also available.

pCloud delivers an affordable Cloud storage facility with a selection of apps (Image credit: pCloud)

While some bandwidth limits apply, there seems to be no limit to the size of files you can upload, so feel free to sync large media files with pCloud. The service is available for all desktop and mobile platforms – users can also log in via the website. The company itself is registered in Switzerland which has strong privacy laws and you can also pay a premium of $4.99 a month for pCloud Crypto to lock (and unlock) individual files with passwords.

Note that it is one of the very few cloud services that offer lifetime subscriptions. The latter come with 30 days trash history and unlimited remote upload traffic (you only need the URL of the file); you are - as expected - limited on the download link traffic: 500GB for the Premium package and 2TB for the Premium Plus package.

Image credit: Zoolz

There are lots of things to like about Zoolz Cloud Backup for both personal use and business deployment. It offers an easy to follow interface with excellent web management options, and the ability to combine cloud operations with local external storage.

This UK-based company leverages Amazon’s Glacier infrastructure to deliver a compelling price/performance ratio, with prices far cheaper than the competition. With 20PB of data stored for three million users for more than a decade, Zoolz is also not as ephemeral as some of its rivals.

Image credit: Degoo

Swedish outfit Degoo is not a household name, and therefore it comes as a surprise that it has managed to carve itself a niche inside the ultra-competitive cloud storage market.

With only two offerings, this outfit has managed to attract more than 15 million users globally since its inception earlier in 2019 – an estimated 20,000 people join Degoo every day. It is one of the few cloud storage companies worldwide that encrypts stored files and disperses them across four different continents. It also supports two-factor authentication via the Google sign-in.

Image credit: Mega

With an insanely generous free tier and a simple drag-and-drop interface, New Zealand-based Mega is one of the cloud storage heavyweights. There's a handy mobile app to allow you to upload files and photos, as well as sync clients with desktop machines. The company also has business tailored plans.

Mega claims that all data stored in its cloud is encrypted on your device before it reaches the firm’s servers. As the company has released the source code to its sync client, experts can check that there are no vulnerabilities. 

Price: 50GB free. 400GB for $6 a month (£4.50, €4.99, around AU$7.50). 2TB for $12 a month (£9, €9.99, around AU$16). 8TB for $23 a month (£17, €19.99, around AU$30). 16TB for $35 a month (£26, €29.99, around AU$46).

Image credit: Microsoft

OneDrive is integrated into Windows 10's File Explorer. You don't have to download an additional app – it's there to use out of the box, which is obviously very convenient for those who have made the jump to Microsoft’s newest operating system.

Microsoft's Photos app can also use OneDrive to sync pictures across all your devices. As of late March, Autodesk AutoCAD has been integrated with OneDrive which is good news for anyone using the software's drafting tools. In addition, you have a feature called Personal Vault, which gives you an added layer of protection. There's an app for Android and iOS devices, and there's even one in the App Store for Mac users (although it has received mixed reviews).

Price: 5GB free. 100GB for $1.99 a month (£1.50, around AU$2.9). 1TB for $7 a month (£5.99, around AU$11). Unlimited (as part of Onedrive for Business) for $10 a month (£7.99, around AU$14)

Image credit: Apple

If you want to back up your iPhone to iCloud, you'll need more than the free 5GB allowance Apple gives you, but compared to rivals iCloud prices are very reasonable. 

The Mac Finder app integrates iCloud Drive, where you can store any files you wish. Documents created in the iWork office suite are also saved to iCloud and can sync across your devices. Windows users can also sync their files with iCloud Drive using the official client, and access the iWork apps on the iCloud website. 

Price: 5GB free. 50GB for $0.99 a month (£0.79, AU$1.49). 200GB for $2.99 (£2.24, AU$4). 2TB for $9.99 (£8, AU$13)

Image credit: Google

Google Drive is a natural choice for owners of Android devices as it's already integrated, but users of other platforms may appreciate the generous free storage too. You can also store high definition photos on your mobile phone with companion app Google Photos, and make use of Google's own office suite (now known as G Suite). Also, upgrading to paid Google Drive plans is now called Google One (although it might not yet be available, depending on the region).

Downsides include the fact that the web interface isn't very easy-to-use, although Windows and Mac users can download a desktop app to drag-and-drop files easily. 

Price: 15GB free. 100GB for $1.99 a month (£1.59, around AU$2.50). 200GB for $2.99 a month (£2.35, around AU$4.10). 2TB for $9.99 a month (£8, around AU$13). 10TB for $99.99 a month (£74, around AU$130). 20TB for $199.99 a month (£148, around AU$260). 30TB for $299.99 a month (£236, around AU$426).   

Image credit: Box

Box's website currently seems to be pushing its Business plans as clicking ‘sign up’ takes you to the pricing page where for $15 per user (£11, around AU$19) you can benefit from advanced collaboration options and unlimited storage. But there is a 10GB free option, too.

As Box has been around for a while, it is supported by a number of mainstream apps such as Google Docs and Office 365. It's also integrated with G-Suite, which means Docs, Sheets and Slides are automatically saved and managed in Box. Additionally, like OneDrive, it's also been integrated with AutoCAD. Box is also integrated with Slack and Microsoft Teams. The Box Sync client is available from the Downloads page for Mac and Windows, plus there's also an official Android client.

Price: 10GB free. 100GB for around $10 a month (£7.50, around AU$13)

Image credit: NextCloud

NextCloud isn’t an online cloud storage provider itself, but offers free software to download and install a cloud storage service on your own server. Using a server on your home network for cloud storage is much faster. You can also enable encryption and make sure the information never leaves your home network, which is far safer. 

If you've no server or IT experience, you can even purchase a preconfigured NextCloud Box (if you can find one) which comes with a 1TB hard drive and will work with an inexpensive Raspberry Pi board to keep your data synced. Unfortunately, NextCloud Box is sold out but you can check out the alternatives on their website

Price: Free to install and use. Self-hosting so storage costs vary.

Image credit: SpiderOak

SpiderOak is part of a new trend of zero knowledge cloud storage providers. The website claims that after installing the client your data is encrypted before syncing. Unfortunately since SpiderOak hasn’t made the client source code public, there's no way to confirm this. 

The SpiderOakOne client is available for Windows, Mac and Linux as well as Android and iOS (although, both Android and iOS are read-only apps, meaning you can only view files, and can't upload or sync anything). You can also log in via the web interface but privacy lovers may prefer not to as it exposes your password to SpiderOak employees. 

Price: 21-day free trial. 150GB for $6 a month (around £4.5, AU$8.25). 400GB for $11 a month (around £8.4, AU$15). 2TB for $14 a month (around £10.7, AU$19.25). 5TB for $29 a month (around £22.1, AU$39.9)

Best free cloud storage

Google Drive

Image credit: Google

Free storage allowance: 15GB (expandable)

If you're a Google user, you already benefit from Google Drive integration, such as the ability to save email attachments from Gmail. However, anyone can sign up for the free cloud storage, even if they don't have a Gmail address, by creating a new Google account. Google is also in a process of releasing Google One as a sort of substitution for Google Drive, although depending on your region it might not be available yet.

With 15GB of space for new users, Google Drive is one of the more generous cloud offerings, and there are occasional ways to boost this capacity free of charge. The catch is that this Google storage space is also shared with a user’s other Google services including Gmail and Google Photos.

Mobile apps are available to allow easy access for iOS and Android users, and Google’s Backup and Sync desktop app lets you synchronize files from your PC to the cloud. Google Drive also includes online office tools for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations which can makes sharing files with others effortless.

pCloud

Image credit: pCloud

Free storage allowance: 10GB (expandable)

You might not recognize the name, but if you're looking for a decent chunk of cloud storage free of charge, pCloud could be just the ticket. To kick things off, you're given a fairly generous 10GB to play with, and there's a bandwidth allowance of 50GB of downlink traffic per month.

While we're primarily interested in the free version of pCloud, note that you can upgrade to 500GB of space for a monthly plan of $4.99 (£3.70), or 2TB for $9.99 (£7.50) a month – both of which are great deals for storage. You also have annual and lifetime plans, which are a cheaper option in the long run.

The initial 10GB free offering can also be expanded up to 20GB via an additional 4GB for completion of offers, as well as referrals that add 1GB each. It’s also worth noting that pCloud offers well-designed desktop and mobile apps that supplement the website for seamless integration into a user’s workflow.

With no limit on file sizes, and simple sharing options, pCloud is a great way to send large files to friends and colleagues – it's even possible to share with people who aren't using the service themselves. Add in decent streaming options and a neat online interface, and pCloud is well worth a look.

Microsoft OneDrive

Image credit: Microsoft

Free storage allowance: 5GB

Coming from Microsoft – a company with plenty of money to throw at the cloud – it's a little disappointing to find that OneDrive doesn’t include more space free of charge. Free users get a mere 5GB of storage, although it's relatively inexpensive to increase this to 50GB.

If you have Office 365, you'll automatically get boosted to 1TB of space, but not everyone wants an Office subscription.

Like Google Drive's appeal to Google users, OneDrive will be a good fit for anyone who is committed to using Microsoft's services. There's neat integration with Outlook.com, for instance. It's also integrated with non-Microsoft services like AutoCAD. OneDrive also ties in nicely with Windows 10, and there is a selection of reasonable mobile apps to facilitate access on the move.

It's possible to share files with other people even if they aren't OneDrive users (complete with customizable permissions), and the ability to edit files online without downloading them is a welcome touch.

Dropbox

Image credit: Dropbox

Free storage allowance: 2GB (expandable)

Dropbox is a stalwart of the free cloud storage world, with a web interface that remains streamlined and easy-to-use.

Despite its popularity, Dropbox actually has one of the least generous free packages for new users (just 2GB), but there are various ways to boost this space without paying, including inviting friends to join (you get 500MB per referral up to 16GB), completing the Getting Started guide (250MB) and contributing to the Dropbox forum (which elicits 1GB per 'Mighty Answer' provided).

DropBox really comes into its own when you start delving into the service’s extra features. There's a great collaborative working tool called Dropbox Paper that acts as a group workspace, and – if you install the desktop app – you can back up photos automatically. The File Requests feature also allows you to request another user to upload a file to your Dropbox account. Additionally, a feature called Dropbox Rewind lets you restore folders or your entire account to a specific point in time.

There are desktop apps for Windows, Mac and Linux, and mobile apps including Android, iOS and even Kindle. This gives Dropbox broad appeal, as does the support for third-party apps and services.

The web version of Dropbox lets you edit files without needing to download them, and really the only thing that counts against the cloud storage service is that most alternatives offer more space to free users.

MediaFire

Image credit: MediaFire

Free storage allowance: 10GB (expandable)

MediaFire has been around for over a decade, and those years of experience really show. You're given 10GB of free space initially, but you can boost this by an extra 40GB through activities like referring friends and following MediaFire's social media accounts. Few people would disagree that 50GB of free cloud storage is impressive. Free accounts carry ads, but this is a small sacrifice to make.

There's support for large files up to 20GB, and the sharing options are very impressive, even allowing sharing with non-users.

The web-based interface is excellent too, and MediaFire offers mobile apps for convenient uploading and downloading on iOS and Android. These make it easy to access files you're storing in the cloud, and include convenient features such as automatic photo syncing.

Best business cloud storage

Image credit: SpiderOak

SpiderOak is a collaboration tool, online backup and file hosting service founded in 2007. The platform allows users to access, synchronize and share data using a cloud-based server.

The company places a strong emphasis on data security and privacy. They offer a cloud storage, online backup and sharing service which they claim uses a ‘zero knowledge’ privacy environment. This means the client is the only one who can view all stored data. Not even SpiderOak themselves have access to your data.

SpiderOak’s main focus is on privacy and security. As a result, the tool itself has a very basic design. This makes the admin console and all central device management very straightforward to use. They also include a handy drag and drop feature for organising files.

From the centralized device management dashboard, users can access settings for all applications such as backup selection and sharing. The dashboard also allows users to manage their accounts, set group permissions and gain insight into usage.

Prospective business clients will need to contact SpiderOak’s Sales Team directly to obtain a quote. 500 users minimum is required.

Online commentators have observed that SpiderOak lacks many of the collaboration tools available from other cloud storage providers.

Image credit: Tresorit

Tresorit is a cloud storage provider based in Hungary and Switzerland. It was founded in 2011. The provider emphasizes enhanced security and data encryption for businesses and personal users alike.

If you are concerned with ensuring that your stored data is kept safe online then Tresorit is the service for you. This provider allows you to keep control of your files through ‘zero-knowledge encryption’ meaning that only you and the chosen few you decide to share with can ever see your data. Your Tresorit account can also be secured by two-factor authentication login and you can choose where to keep company data with Data Residency Options. Furthermore, you also have features like Document Scanner which securely scans and uploads documents directly to Tresorit.

Tresorit’s ‘Small Business’ Packages starts at $25 (£19.60) per month (or $20 monthly for the annual plan) for teams with 2-9 users. This includes 1000GB encrypted storage, secure access on up to 10 devices and synching of existing folder structure. 

Tresorit’s ‘Business’ plan begins at $30 (£23.30) per month (or $24 monthly for the annual plan) for businesses with over 10 users. This comes with extras such as digital rights management, remote wipe and phone support. At the time of writing there is a 50% discount on "Business plan", so you can pay as low as $12 (£9.4) per month

For Enterprise solutions, users will need to contact Tresorit directly. Extras included in this are personalized staff training, admin API and on-premises deployment.

All tiers come with a 14-day free trial.

The extra security offered by Tresorit makes it relatively expensive compared to other cloud backup solutions. However most users will probably appreciate the greater piece of mind and extra features offered by Tresorit.

Image credit: Egnyte

Egnyte was founded in 2007. The company provides software for enterprise file synchronization and sharing. 

Egnyte allows businesses to store their data locally and online. All types of data can be stored in the cloud, whilst data of a more sensitive nature can be stored on servers on-premise. This makes for better security.

Business teams can work how and where they want with an easy to use collaboration system through Egnyte’s content services platform.

Egnyte integrates with popular industry applications such as Office 365 or Gmail. This allows both remote and internal employees to access all files with ease.

Egnyte’s ‘Office’ plan starts at $8 (£6.21) per employee per month. This covers 5-25 employees, 5TB of storage and 10GB max file size.

The ‘Business’ packages starts at $20 (£15.7) per employee per month. This includes 25-100 employees, 10TB online storage and 10GB max file size.

In order to take advantage of their ‘Enterprise tier’, which includes over 100 employees, 25GB max file size and unlimited storage, you will need to contact Egnyte directly.

Egnyte offer a 15-day free trial for all packages.

Users have observed that some files, such as photos, can take a long time to load.

Image credit: Dropbox

Dropbox is one of the oldest cloud storage providers. It was founded in 2007.

To date it is one of the simplest storage providers to use. Dropbox can be installed on most computers or devices and syncs easily between apps. The app can store almost any kind of file while never having any issues with compatibility. You can drag and drop files into the desktop app with ease.

You can also share files with other users easily through links. These can be shared with users who don’t have a Dropbox account. Also, teams can make use out of Dropbox spaces, which transforms folders into collaborative workspaces. Furthermore, with Dropbox Transfer you can send up to 100 GB of files in just a few clicks.

As Dropbox has been around for a long time it integrates with most other apps such as MS Office and Slack.

All files and folders can be shared with other users even if they are not part of your account. These users will be limited to their own plan's storage limits.

Dropbox Business can be connected to your personal account so you can access all your files in once place. Personal account feature "automatic camera upload" is now also available to Business accounts, as of November 2018.

The dashboard is simple and easy to use. From here, admins can see how many team members they have as well as any pending invites. You can restrict sharing, and allow/block commenting as you see fit. The dashboard allows you to access settings and to monitor usage.

Dropbox offers a 30-day free trial which asks for your payment details. Your plan will automatically upgrade after the trial at which point your card is charged.

The ‘Standard’ plan starts at $12.50 (£9.71) per user per month starting at 3 users and includes 3TB storage.

The ‘Advanced’ package begins at $20 (£15.70) per user per month with unlimited storage.

In order to subscribe to the ‘Enterprise’ tier, users will need to contact Dropbox directly.

Some users have commented on the lack of online editing tools. 

Image credit: Box

Box is a cloud content management and file sharing service for businesses. It was founded in 2005.

Box offers strong management capabilities and security features. The interface is made for ease of use and is simple to navigate. 

The dashboard allows access to settings, files and folders. Admins can manage all users, monitors activity and control sharing.

As Box has been around for a while, it is supported by a number of mainstream apps such as Google Docs and Office 365. The Box Sync client is available from the Downloads page for Mac and Windows. There's also an official Android client. Box also has integration with Slack and Microsoft Teams. In March 2020, additional features have been added like Premium support and Dropbox Rewind.

Box offers a 14-day free trial for all packages. Their ‘Starter’ plan is priced at $5 (£3.88) per user per month. This includes 100GB secure storage, 2GB file upload with a maximum of 10 users.

The ‘Business’ plan starts at $15 (£11.80) per user per month which includes unlimited storage, 5GB file upload and no maximum number of users.

The ‘Business Plus’ package is $25 (£19.60) per user per month and comes with unlimited storage, 5GB file upload and unlimited external collaborators.

In order to subscribe to Box’s ‘Enterprise’ plan, users will have to contact them directly for a quote.

If you choose to share files external users are limited to read-only access.

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Get TalkTalk's cheap fibre broadband deals by tomorrow and get a £40 Amazon card

Posted: 07 Apr 2020 09:04 AM PDT

Get your mouse at the ready because the clock is ticking on TalkTalk's latest broadband deal. Get in there before 11.59pm tomorrow and you could secure yourself both cheap bills and a tasty freebie.

To be slightly more exact, with TalkTalk's Faster Fibre plan, you're not only getting speeds averaging 38Mb at a price of £23.50 a month, but TalkTalk is also throwing in a free £40 voucher.

This voucher can be for Amazon.co.uk, M&S, Tesco or just given as a Mastercard. Whichever option you choose, this is a nice bonus on what is already one of the best value fibre plans out there.

It is well worth mentioning though that getting broadband deals installed right now is somewhat of a challenge due to the country-wide lockdown. If you do not already have a phone line installed, TalkTalk won't be able to get it installed for quite a while.

For those without a phone line set-up who need an internet connection now, 4G home broadband could be a quick and helpful solution.

TalkTalk's great value cheap broadband deal:

What other broadband deals are there?

There are loads of fibre broadband deals out there, but  TalkTalk's closest competitor is Vodafone. Currently offering speeds averaging 63Mb for a price of £22.95, Vodafone beats TalkTalk out for price.

However, you won't be getting the voucher mentioned above and Vodafone has recently started offering 24 month contracts, making it a longer investment.

Or if you don't mind relying slightly on cashback, Plusnet has an excellent fibre offer. Costing £22.99 a month for speeds averaging 36Mb and currently, coming with a £70 Mastercard.

Like TalkTalk above, you will need to have a phone line already installed to make use of these offers.

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