Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Apple : Sinch grabs SAP's Digital Interconnect in acquisition spree

Apple : Sinch grabs SAP's Digital Interconnect in acquisition spree

Sinch grabs SAP's Digital Interconnect in acquisition spree

Posted: 06 May 2020 02:35 PM PDT

The cloud communications platform Sinch has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire SAP's communications unit SAP Digital Interconnect (SDI) in its second acquisition exceeding $100m since late March.

Sinch will acquire all assets and IP belonging to SDI for $250m on a cash and debt-free basis.

SDI provides cloud-based communications products and the unit serves more than 1,500 enterprise customers throughout the world. 

Following regulatory approval, the combined entity will power almost 70bn engagements per year as Sinch will build upon a customer base which includes many of the world's most valued brands including technology companies, banks, payment gateways, retail brands and mobile operators.

Sinch and SDI

SAP Digital Interconnect is made up of three segments: Programmable Communications, Carrier Services and Cloud Solutions for Enterprises. Programmable Communications powers omnichannel customer engagement through SMS, push, email, WhatsApp, WeChat and Virber, Carrier Services includes a range of business-critical services to mobile operators such as products for person-to-person messaging, reporting and analytics and Cloud Solutions for Enterprises spans products for contact centers and critical event management.

The deal will significantly strengthen Sinch's customer facing operations and product and engineering resources in the US. It will also give the company a larger presences in the Bay Area where SDI is headquartered while growing the company's business in Europe, Asia-Pacific and India.

In a blog post, CEO of Sinch, Oscar Werner explained how the deal will strengthen the company's direct connectivity on a global scale, saying:

“With SAP Digital Interconnect now becoming a part of Sinch, we build on our scale, focus and capabilities to truly redefine how businesses engage with their customers, throughout the world. The transaction strengthens our direct connectivity globally. Plus, it enables us to expand and accelerate a range of business-critical services to mobile operators, including products for person-to-person messaging, reporting and analytics.”

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Memorial Day TV deals: Best Buy's early sale includes massive price cuts on 4K TVs

Posted: 06 May 2020 02:32 PM PDT

It's officially May, and that means Memorial Day sales are almost here with incredible deals from your favorite retailers. You can get an early start with Best Buy's Memorial Day TV sale which includes massive price cuts from top brands like Samsung, LG, TCL, and more. You can find fantastic deals on a range of 4K TVs with prices starting at just $189.99.

Best Buy's standout TV bargains include this best-selling Samsung 50-inch 4K TV on sale for $329.99, a $60 price cut on the Insignia 43-inch Fire TV, and the Westinghouse 55-inch 4K TV on sale for just $279.99.

If you're looking for a bigger screen size Best Buy has the Hisense 70-inch Roku TV on sale for $510 and the top-rated LG 65-inch 4K TV on sale for $529.99.

Shop more of Best Buy's top Memorial Day TV deals below and keep in mind, these promotions are limited-time offers, so you should take advantage now before it's too late.

Memorial Day TV deals:

You can see our guide to the best Memorial Day sales 2020.

Shop more TV offers with our list of the best cheap TV deals and sales that are happening now.

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Amazon Prime Day 2020 UK: is the date postponed and what deals will we see?

Posted: 06 May 2020 01:56 PM PDT

The Amazon Prime Day 2020 date is being postponed, according to a new report, but  an avalanche of the best Prime Day deals are expected to launch in August.

This is good news about Prime Day 2020 for both consumers eager to see big sales and manufacturers that need to start making money again. It just won't happen in its usual place of mid-July, according to Reuters.

A one-month Amazon Prime Day delay sounds reasonable, as people have been putting off making big purchases. But, come August, there may be pent-up demand for what manufacturers have sitting in their warehouses while essential goods are prioritized.

Having the Prime Day date in early August could allow extra time for economies to recover and buying habits to return to normal, yet not ride into Black Friday 2020 deals territory, another invented online shopping period that Amazon heavily relies on.

When it does land, we're expecting to see another raft of discounts for Amazon's own-brand Echo speakers and smart displays, Fire Sticks for the TV and Fire tablets, and a widening of savings on its smart home wares - like the Ring camera.

When will Amazon Prime Day happen? What Prime Day sales are expected in 2020? How can you get the best discounts in August (you'll have to subscribe to Prime, but you may not have to pay for it with our advice below)?

We're here to help answer those questions while official details are still in the offing.

Amazon Prime Day 2020 date: will it be delayed?

The official Amazon Prime Day date is reportedly in August, although no one knows the specific date or, more likely, dates. Well, maybe Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos knows.

Last year's Prime Day deals lasted 48 hours, so there were two full days of discounts, and we expect something similar in 2020. Amazon has historically picked a Monday to start the deals and Prime Day usually runs through Tuesday.

If August is indeed the month, that leaves one of four (or five) choices for the start of it: August 3, August 10, August 17, or August 24. The fifth choice? That's August 31, which is also a Monday, but Prime Day would then extend the sales into September.

We would have initially thought it would have happened on July 13, or possibly the week before on July 6, but as it stands we're fully expecting things to slip later in the month or not at all.

As soon as we catch wind of the Prime Day 2020 date, we'll be sure to update this page so you can prepare your Amazon wish list.

Is Amazon Prime Day postponed this year?

That seems to be the case, although, on the record, Amazon has only stated "Prime Day 2020 has not been announced," according to an Amazon.com retail page.

The shift from July to August was reported by Reuters, with the official cause being the coronavirus outbreak. In some parts of the world, Amazon has been limiting the number of items it ships, often prioritizing essential goods.

But, keep in mind, having no Amazon Prime Day date is not out of the ordinary. The company doesn't announce the date until mere weeks ahead of the kick off, when it teases a fraction of its deals list. So, even if it were July, we still wouldn't know today.

Prime Day 2020 deals list: what will be on sale?

The Amazon Prime Day deals list, while a mystery until the deals go live, quite often follows the same trends every year, so we can safely assume what to expect.

The best Prime Day 2020 will almost certainly feature deep discounts on Amazon's own tech. We're talking about Kindle deals, Echo price drops, and Fire TV discounts.

We've also seen Prime Day become known for amazing laptop deals, no matter what you're interested in. That includes cheap Chromebooks, Windows laptops and a few Apple MacBooks.  Now the latest MacBook Pro is on sale, expect it to go fast.

Then there are the staples of every major online shopping event: 4KTVs, DNA kits, and video doorbells – expect all of those to be reduced in price, too. It doesn't hurt that Amazon owns Ring, a video doorbell line it discounts heavily each year too.

How to shop on Prime Day in 2020

1. Check out our deals predictions and, eventually our Prime Day deals list

There are also too many deals available on Prime Day. It's never a problem finding discounts, it's always an issue of figuring out what deals are worth your money. That's why we always set up a curated list during the 48-hour sales marathon. 

We spent some good time last Black Friday thinking about smart ways to shop on Amazon - they're still some great Prime Day tips and tricks.

2. Amazon Prime Day has historically required being a Prime member, so be sure to have a subscription on Prime Day

Amazon started Prime Day in 2015 as a clever way to drive up its Prime subscription count, and this online shopping marathon – conveniently opposite Black Friday – accomplished just that. 

You'll need to sign up for Prime (you can get a free 30-day trial), which comes with two-day free shipping and Prime Video access, among other smaller perks. In some cities, Amazon has rolled out free one-day and same-day shipping on certain items. 

3. Create a wish list to curate what you want, as there will be loads of deals

You're also going to want to create a wish list ahead of time, which will let you sort out what you want and how much everything costs. This will give you a head start. You'll be able to see which deals dropped in price and which did not. 

4. Snap up the best Prime Day 2020 deals before they're gone

The numbers don't lie. Last year's Amazon Prime Day stats gave us insight into what sold in big quantities nearly 12 months ago. It's shocking, really.

The retailer shipped 100,000 lunchboxes, 100,000 laptops, 200,000 TVs, 300,000 headphones, 350,000 luxury beauty products, 400,000 pet products, 650,000 household cleaning supplies, and more than one million toys.

We often find the best deals to go in a matter of minutes, at which time Amazon rolls out a waitlist for those who were just behind the curve.

How competitive were Prime Day deals at Amazon last year?

A price monitoring company called Minderest (as reported by PR Newswire) compared prices of 566 of the most in-demand products over Prime Day to see how they stacked up against rivals stores listed on Google Shopping. 

58.05% of them were cheapest on Amazon UK, compared to a massive 81.9% in the US where Amazon is annihilating the competition on a regular basis. 

If anything, that UK figure is a testament to how competitive the UK market it is and we did notice other stores having big sales of their own around Prime Day and a lot of price matching happening too. 

It's also a solid reminder to double check prices elsewhere on Prime Day (we always do this before highlighting a deal for you) as you might get a better deal from the likes of John Lewis, Currys and Argos.

Amazon devices, as expected, got the best deals with an average 45% reduction on their RRPs compared to 37% in 2018. According to audience research from Numerator, 65.8% of surveyed shoppers said they were extremely or very satisfied with the deals available.

Last year's best Amazon Prime Day deals

Amazon Prime Day 2020 is undoubtably going to be different than any other as the date shifts to later in the year. But we suspect many of the deals will mirror what we saw last year. 

Last year Prime members were snapping up products throughout the 48-hour event with over 175 million items sold. That's more than Amazon sold on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined.

That's why we're re-posting some of the top deals from last year's Prime Day event. It happened in mid-July, meaning some products may change (for example, if there's been a sequel launched since), but the low prices should match come Prime Day 2020.

amazon echo deals dot prices sale

What did Amazon's rivals do on Prime Day?

Currys kicked of its 'Black Tag' event before Prime Day and it was still going for a few days afterwards too. Out of all the other stores, we'd probably say Currys gave Amazon the biggest fight for TVs, laptops and gadgets. Currys' wide selection of home white goods beat out Amazon too, although Amazon has never really focused on those as much.

John Lewis deals were very popular for Google Home products (not sold on Amazon) and while it was generally price-matching rivals rather than coming up with its own deals, we were happy to send you its way due to most items coming with a free minimum two-year warranty at no extra cost. 

Having to pay for delivery on items under £50 was a bit off-putting though on cheaper items and shows a key area where John Lewis are lagging behind the times a little on the UK online retailscape.

So much shopping is done on mobile now either via a browser, or by using a retailer's own app. According to AppsFlyer (as reported by PerformanceIn), the top 100 retail apps took a bit of a beating during Prime Day, not only were new installs down, 53% of them had a decrease of in-app purchases. 

And seeing as Amazon's app got through the sale without freezing all the time like it did last year, it's not great news for rival apps.

Overall, more people shopped via mobile at Amazon than ever before on Prime Day. Gone are the days when people tended to browse more on mobile, then fire up the laptop when they got home to actually finish the transaction. And to be fair, on Prime Day, you can't really afford to wait that long due to the risk of deals selling out.

Amazon Prime

Did anything go wrong on Prime Day 2019?

Actually, yes. The UK start at midnight was a complete flop. Amazon's site didn't crash or anything like that, but the deal prices that were supposed to go live as soon as the sale started simply didn't. 

So despite us, and the rest of the informed media, prepping a huge amount of content to launch around midnight to tell you about the best deals of the sale, we were left scratching our heads as all the old prices were still showing.

It took until around 4am for the proper prices to come through, which was a massive disappointment to any keen shoppers who wanted to dive into the sale before heading to bed. It was a seriously poor start from Amazon and we're still shaking our heads in disappointment. You have to hope it'll up its game for Black Friday.

If you decided to wait until the morning to check out the Prime Day deals then thing's were running much more smoothly. We didn't experience any other technical problems on Amazon's site or with the mobile app for the rest of the sale either.

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The best Memorial Day sales 2020: a guide to the best deals going on

Posted: 06 May 2020 01:55 PM PDT

It's officially May, and that means Memorial Day 2020 is almost here. The holiday weekend not only marks the unofficial start to summer, but you can also find incredible Memorial Day sales from top retailers like Home Depot, Best Buy, Lowe's, and Amazon.

Memorial Day sales typically include huge discounts on outdoor items like patio furniture, grills, and lawn and garden essentials. You can also find incredible deals on mattresses, TV, laptops, and appliances. To help guide you through all the offers, we've put together a list of the best Memorial Day sales that are currently going on. We've also hand-picked the top standout deals from a variety of online retailers. 

We'll also tell you everything else you need to know about the Memorial Day sales event, such as the date, retailers that are participating, and what deals you can expect and from what categories. Make sure to bookmark this page as we'll be updating with all the best discounts leading up to the weekend sale event. This is the last big sale event until Amazon Prime Day 2020, so you should take advantage of these incredible deals while you can.

The best Memorial Day sales:

Our best Memorial Day sale picks:

When is Memorial Day 2020? 

Memorial Day is an American federal holiday that always falls on the last Monday in May to honor the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. This year Memorial Day is on Monday, May 25, with the long holiday weekend kicking off on Friday the 22.

When do Memorial Day sales start?

Most Memorial Day sales start the week before the actual holiday on Monday the 18, and some retailers don't start their promotions till the weekend before. All sales will last through the holiday weekend, and most will end on Memorial Day.

We'll be updating this page daily with all of the current sales so make sure to check back each day for new discounts and deals.

What are the best Memorial Day sales? 

The biggest categories discounted during Memorial Day include appliances, patio furniture, mattresses, and laptops. Because Memorial Day is the unofficial start to summer, you can find discounts on several outdoor items such as grills, patio furniture, planters, and camping equipment.

Memorial Day is also a fantastic time to find deals on mattresses with retailers like Casper and Temper-Pedic participating in sitewide sales. Home Depot and Best Buy are just a few retailers that will be discounting top-brand appliances all weekend long, and tech retailers like Dell have fantastic deals on laptops.

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AWS adds UltraWarm storage tier for Elasticsearch customers

Posted: 06 May 2020 01:49 PM PDT

AWS has announced that its UltraWarm storage tier for Amazon Elasticsearch Service that provides customers with fast interactive analytics of log data at one-tenth of the cost of existing storage options is now generally available.

Amazon Elasticsearch Service makes it easy for users to collect, analyze and visualize machine-generated log data from websites, mobile devices and sensors. 

UltraWarm for Amazon Elasticsearch Service provides Elasticsearch customers with a warm storage tier that is able to store large amounts of data cost-effectively and with a snappy, interactive experience.

There are no up-front investments required for businesses that want to use UltraWarm and customers pay a simple hourly rate for the storage they use.

UltraWarm storage

Amazon Elasticsearch Service now supports two storage tiers, hot and UltraWarm. The hot tier is primarily used for indexing, updating and providing the fastest access to data while UltraWarm provides a distributed cache for more frequently accessed data. UltraWarm also uses advanced placement techniques to determine which blocks of data are accessed less frequently so that they can be moved outside of the cache to Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

UltraWarm stores data in Amazon S3 and provides up to 50 percent faster query execution when compared to competing warm—tier solutions as well as 80 percent lower cost than the warm-tier storage from other managed Elasticsearch offerings. Customers can easily visualize search results from both their recent and longer-term operational data using the service's Kibana interface.

VP of databases and analytics at AWS, Raju Gulabani explained the benefits of UltraWarm storage in a press release, saying:

“Our customers tell us that log data offers a wealth of operational and security insights, but that the storage of log data quickly adds up, and proves cost-prohibitive over the medium and long term. UltraWarm is the most cost-effective Elasticsearch-compatible storage solution available. It is also performance-optimized, so customers can investigate and interactively visualize their data while they embrace data at scale.”

UltraWarm can be enabled on existing or new domains using the AWS Management console, CLI or SDK and the new storage tier is now available on Amazon Elasticsearch version 6.8 and above in the US East, US West, AWS GovCloud, Canada, South America, EU, Asia Pacific, China and Middle East regions with additional regions coming soon.

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Meet the Sonos Arc: the first Sonos soundbar with Dolby Atmos

Posted: 06 May 2020 01:00 PM PDT

Sonos is one of the leading premium audio brands of today, with a reputation for high-quality sound far beyond many of its competitors – and it’s just announced its first Dolby Atmos-compatible soundbar, the Sonos Arc.

Described to us as the “premium smart soundbar from Sonos for TV, movies, music, gaming, and more,” the Sonos Arc effectively replaces the Sonos Play:Bar and Sonos Play:Base models, making picking your next soundbar solution that little bit easier. 

2019’s Sonos Beam model will continue, however, offering a cheaper and Dolby Atmos-free alternative – though the Arc will reportedly offer a “bigger soundstage” than the Beam, with the same Google Assistant, Alexa, and AirPlay 2 support.

The Sonos Arc will be released on June 10 for $799 / £799 / AU$1,399, and will be available in both matte black and matte white coloring – but it’s now available for pre-order from Sonos.com.

Other Sonos models are also getting an upgrade for 2020, with the Sonos Sub (Gen 3) launching with up-to-date internals and an “increased wireless radius” ($699 / £699 / around AU$1,100), and the Play:5 (Gen 2) getting rebranded as the Sonos Five with a new all-white design ($499 / £499 / AU$800).

Enter the Atmos-phere

A new Sonos app is coming your way

Why does the inclusion of Atmos matter? The Dolby standard is a high-end audio format for 3D sound, meaning that the sound you hear has an element of height and depth, even if you don’t have a full surround sound speaker setup around your living room.

The Sonos Arc will feature an array of 11 drivers, including eight mid-range woofers and three dedicated tweeters for a varied multi-channel sound. You might want to combine it with a dedicated subwoofer, though, to complete the package.

A renewed Sonos app – launching June 8 – will also support the new 2020 products, with compatibility with Hi-Res Audio formats, and users’ personal settings carried over from previous versions of the app they might have used.

It’s also worth noting that the Sonos Arc supports the latest HDMI eARC standard, allowing a higher bandwidth audio codec for Atmos, and enabling easy connection from your soundbar to your TV.

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Buying PS5 or Xbox Series X? Your FIFA and Madden 21 purchases may get upgraded too

Posted: 06 May 2020 12:26 PM PDT

The FIFA 21 or Madden 21 release dates fall a few months before we expect the Xbox Series X and PS5 launches just before Christmas. Torn? Don’t worry about it, there’s a good chance EA will give you an upgraded copy of the games at no extra charge.

Certain games the company is launching this year on current-gen consoles “can be upgraded for free for the next generation" i.e. on the Xbox Series X and PS5. That's according to EA CFO Blake Jorgensen in the company's most recent earnings statement.  

Jorgensen doesn’t say exactly which titles will be included in the free upgrade or how EA will distribute the next-gen copies, but according to GameSpot the announcement was a prepared response, not something Jorgensen committed to right on the spot, which means that it has been in the works for some time.

That being said, Microsoft has already said that every Xbox One game will be backward compatible and could include free upgrades to Xbox Series X via its Smart Delivery program. So it’s possible that Jorgensen was merely reinforcing the already announced functionality rather than announcing a new program.

What does Xbox Series X-enhanced mean? 

So what does a next-gen version of these games look like exactly? Well, they’ll have higher base resolutions and better frame rates, primarily, but will also see faster loading times because of the next-gen consoles’ SSDs, too.

You’ll also probably hear a difference between the PS4 and PS5 version, too, as Sony says it plans on supporting spatial audio on the new hardware.

We’ll hear more about the plans in EA’s upcoming EA Play virtual keynote in early June if the games don’t pop up on the Xbox Series X partner showcase that's slated for Thursday first.

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Apple AirPods 3: all the specs and features we want to see

Posted: 06 May 2020 12:14 PM PDT

When will we see the Apple AirPods 3? With a year having gone by since the last iteration of Apple's true wireless earbuds, the AirPods (2019), there are naturally already murmurs of another updated model coming our way.

There have been rumors of an Apple AirPods 3 crashing into the market before 2020 is out, but recent comments from industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggest we may be waiting a while longer – speculating that the next-gen AirPods would start mass production in early 2021, with a new AirPods Pro model arriving in 2022 too (via AppleInsider). We might still get some over-ear Apple headphones this year – the much-rumored AirPods X – but we have more thoughts on that below.

Since the original Apple AirPods launched in 2016, the true wireless earbuds have dominated the headphones market, becoming an icon of the company’s slick design customs and user-friendly technologies. 

They weren’t perfect though – and in 2019, the upgraded AirPods (or AirPods 2, if you will) were furnished with Apple’s H1 chip, which brought with it faster pairing times, longer battery, and a cool hands-free ‘Hey Siri’ feature. 

These second-gen true wireless earbuds were a definite improvement upon their predecessors – but they were still easily eclipsed by the likes of the Sony WF-1000XM3, the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1, and Apple’s own AirPods Pro in 2019.

While we haven’t heard any confirmation from Apple that it will be launching the AirPods 3 this year, we’ve still had plenty of time to come up with a wish list of all the features we’d want to see from the company’s next true wireless earbuds. 

UPDATE: Notable Apple leaker Jon Prosser tweeted that there's a new Apple AirPods model that is ready to be shipped immediately. Prosser doesn't have specifics as to which model it might be, whether it's the AirPods 3 or AirPods X over-ear headphones, but says it could launch alongside a iMac at or before WWDC 2020.

Better sound than the AirPods 2

The AirPods (2019) were an improvement upon their predecessors in terms of connectivity, but the sound remained exactly the same as the originals – and that audio technology is now four years old. 

They have a lively, powerful presentation, although they can sound slightly harsh when it comes to higher-frequency sounds, and they aren’t the bassiest earbuds on the market.

Since the launch of the original AirPods, the sound quality offered by true wireless earbuds has soared; just look at the Sony WF-1000XM3 or the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1. 

There’s no reason why Apple couldn’t take a cue from these companies and really develop the sound of their earbuds, with more accurately-tuned drivers for improved bass response and rolled-off trebles.

Adjustable eartips

While we did respect Apple’s refusal to amend the design of the AirPods – for a time – we think it’s time that it furnished the true wireless earbuds with adjustable eartips, just like it has with the AirPods Pro. 

Why? Well aside from catering to more ear-sizes, silicone or foam eartips provide a better seal, and therefore superior noise isolation, and passive noise-reduction – making your music sound better, while simultaneously preventing the entire world from earwigging on your favorite songs.

The AirPods (2019)

Better battery life

True wireless earbuds like the Lypertek Tevi have shown that cutting the cord doesn’t have to mean sacrificing your battery life – and there’s really no need for the AirPods to only be offering a measly five hours of playback in 2020. 

Sure, the charging case offers a further 20 hours of battery, but that number is far surpassed by lots of models on the market these days – and many of them are far cheaper, too. 

Bluetooth 5 and aptX HD support

Again, Apple needs to get with the times in this respect – Bluetooth 4.2 is positively dated these days, with most new wireless headphones coming with support for the latest wireless transmission standard, Bluetooth 5 (and some, like the new Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 even support Bluetooth 5.1). 

Bluetooth 5 brings longer pairing distances, more reliable wireless connectivity, and more efficient power usage, which means headphones that support it come with longer battery lives.

Meanwhile, aptX HD support would allow for wireless streaming of Hi-Res Audio codecs at 24-bit/48kHz – which Qualcomm claims makes for better-than-CD quality.

The AirPods (2019)

What about the AirPods Pro Lite?

Before we see the AirPods 3, we’re expecting the release of the so-called AirPods Pro Lite, an entry-level version of the noise-cancelling AirPods Pro.

November 2019 brought us the AirPods Pro, which came with active noise cancellation, a better fit, and superior audio quality. Despite no official confirmation from Apple, and very hazy details on the earbuds, we even heard reports on how the current coronavirus outbreak will stall production on the AirPods Pro Lite – and then later reports disparaging these claims. 

Taiwanese industry publication DigiTimes (via MacRumors) reported that production on these earbuds will start at the end of Q2 this year, which suggests that Apple will start making the AirPods Pro Lite around the end of March / beginning of April. 

That means we could hear an announcement about the AirPods Pro Lite at Apple’s annual March event – after all, that’s when the upgraded AirPods were launched in 2019, alongside Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus. 

Otherwise? We could be waiting until WWDC 2020 in June, which we now know will be an online-only event.

In the meantime, don’t miss our wishlist of all the things we’re hoping to see from the AirPods Pro Lite.

The next Apple headphones could be an over-ear model like the Beats Studio 3 (pictured).

Will the AirPods 3 be over-ear headphones?

It’s possible that the next Apple headphones we see in 2020 will be a pair of over-ear cans – but we don’t think they’ll be called the AirPods 3.

Instead, it's rumored that the first over-ear Apple headphones will be called the AirPods X, after a recent Target product listing went live, accidentally leaking the rumored Apple headphones, and revealing a $399 (about £300 / AU$699) price tag. 

According to a report by respected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who correctly predicted the release of the upgraded Apple AirPods and the AirPods Pro in 2019, the wireless headphones were meant to launch alongside a number of new products in the first half of 2020. However, Kuo has now amended that prediction to late 2020 – and suggested that these inside rumors were actually about a new Beats headphones model, rather than anything in the AirPods range (via AppleInsider).

Whether we see the AirPods 3, the AirPods Pro Lite, or the AirPods X in 2020 remains to be seen – especially with so many retail stores worldwide having shut. Either way, Apple is almost certainly going to keep us busy in the coming couple of years.

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The all-new AirPods Pro are on sale and down to their lowest price ever

Posted: 06 May 2020 11:32 AM PDT

Verizon's Apple AirPod sale includes a rare price on the all-new AirPods Pro. For a limited time, you can get the AirPods Pro on sale for $224.99. That's a $25 discount and the lowest price we've seen for truly wireless earbuds.

You can also get the 2019 Apple AirPods with charging case on sale for $135.99 and the AirPods with wireless charging case on sale for $169.99.

The 2019 AirPods Pro feature Apple's H1 chip, which offers voice control with Siri so you can get directions, skip songs, and make calls completely hands-free. The wireless earbuds now include Active Noise Cancellation to block out unwanted noise, and the Transparency mode allows you to let outside noise in. The sweat-resistant AirPods also come with new silicon tips in three different sizes to provide a more comfortable and secure fit.

While the $25 discount might not seem like much, price cuts on the AirPods Pro are extremely rare, and this is the lowest price we've seen for the wireless earbuds. This limited-time offer ends on May 8, so you should take advantage now before it's too late.

Apple AirPod deals:

Learn more about the earbuds with our Apple AirPods Pro review.

You can also shop more offers with our roundup of the best AirPod Pro prices and deals and the cheapest AirPod prices, sales, and deals.

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SAP reveals security holes in certain cloud products

Posted: 06 May 2020 11:08 AM PDT

German software giant SAP has announced its plans to notify nine percent of its 440,000 customers regarding recently discovered security issues with several of its cloud-based products.

The products in question include the likes of SAP Success Factors, SAP Concur, SAP/CallidusCloud Commissions, SAP/Callidus Cloud CPQ, SAP C4C/Sales Cloud, SAP Cloud Platform, and SAP Analytics Cloud.

In a recently published advisory, SAP explained that the security issues were discovered during an internal review, saying:

“These findings were not identified in response to a security incident. As SAP continues with its review, it does not believe that any customer data has been compromised as a result of these issues. In an effort to ensure that the affected products meet relevant terms and conditions and in addition to technical remediation, SAP has decided to update its security-related terms and conditions.” 

Security issues

SAP did not explain the nature of the security issues it found in its cloud-based products as they have yet to be fixed. However, it has already begun working on remediation efforts to patch all of the impacted products which should receive security updates during Q2.

While SAP has already adjusted its revenue to account for the coronavirus pandemic, the company said that the cost of these security updates will likely not impact its current 2020 financial outlook.

SAP has also begun individually notifying each of its affected customers and the number of those impacted by the security issues in its cloud-based products is believed to be close to 40,000.

Via ZDNet

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Halo 2: Anniversary will finally arrive on PC next week

Posted: 06 May 2020 10:08 AM PDT

Though rumors had suggested the next installment of The Master Chief Collection would arrive as early as this week, Microsoft today debunked the speculation with confirmation that it will be released on May 12. 

Halo 2: Anniversary, which first came out as part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection on Xbox One in 2014, is a HD remaster of the first-person shooter, which now supports 60fps, Ultra HD resolutions, ultrawide 21:9 displays and optional modernized controls – and we'll be testing it at 8K, don't worry. 


“Now optimized for PC, witness the Master Chief’s return to Earth to prevent the Covenant invasion, leading to a battle with long-hidden secrets that will dramatically alter the course of the Human-Covenant Conflict forever,” Microsoft says.

For those that prefer an old-school gaming experience, the game – which comes complete with a remastered soundtrack and sound effects – will also users to switch back and forth from the original graphics to the updated visuals in the campaign mode.

The game joins the Master Chief Collection that initially arrived on PC last December, though unlike the Xbox One release that featured every major series entry released to date, only Halo: Reach was included at launch. That has since been joined by Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, which saw a PC release in March this year.

When it arrives on 12 May, Halo 2: Anniversary, will be available to play through Xbox Game Pass or to buy from the Microsoft Store and Stream priced at $39.99 (£29.99). If anything like Halo: Reach and Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, it will also feature a standalone price of $9.99 (£6.99, about AU$15).

According to Microsoft, the remaining three titles – Halo 3, Halo 3: ODST (Campaign) and Halo 4 – will complete the Master Chief Collection on PC before the year is out.

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

The Intel Core i9-10900K overclocks like a champion, according to latest leak

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:56 AM PDT

More leaked benchmarks for the Intel Core i9-10900K have surfaced online, showing the new top processor hitting an impressive 5.4GHz. 

The Intel Core i9-10900K was announced last week as the flagship CPU in Intel’s 10th-generation Comet Lake-S lineup. Improving on the Core i9-9900K before it, the new processor packs 10 cores, 20 threads and a TDP of 125W, a huge jump from the previous 95W, as well as boost clocks up to 5.3GHz on two cores. 


However, as reported by VideoCardz, a now-removed post on Baidu has shown the Core i9-10900K overclocked to 5.4GHz across all 10 cores. This has apparently enabled the 10900K to score 3,002 points in the Cinebench R15 multi-core test, way ahead of the Intel Core i9-9900K which managed a score of 2,184 and even besting Intel’s Intel Xeon W-2195 CPU, which managed 2,949 points.

However, perhaps unsurprisingly, Intel’s new flagship still fails to match AMD’s newest CPUs, falling behind the Ryzen 9 3900X and the 3950X which score 3,168 and 4,070 points, respectively.

Regardless, this does mean the Core i9-10900K should give AMD’s Ryzen 3900X a run for its money, and though we’re yet to see how the chip performed in single-core tests, it’s likely the Intel flagship will come out on top when it comes to gaming. Either way, we'll find out exactly how these chips will line up when we get to test them ourselves. 

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

1-800-flowers last-minute Mother's Day deal gets you 10% off flowers and gifts

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:54 AM PDT

Mother's day is just around the corner (this Sunday to be exact), and if you're still searching for the perfect gift for mom, then placing an online order for flowers is always a fantastic option. Luckily, 1-800-Flowers Mother's Day deal takes 10% off a large selection of flowers and gifts when you use code FLOWER10 at checkout.

1-800-Flowers' Mother's Day selection not only includes beautiful bouquets, but the florist also offers gourmet chocolates, jewelry, plants, and more. 1-800-Flowers uses a local florist, so your arrangement is guaranteed to arrive fresh and on time. Shipping fees and available dates depend on the bouquet you choose, but you can select Mother's Day as your delivery date for an additional cost. If you have the flexibility, you can choose to have your gift delivered between Friday and Sunday at no additional charge. 

Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, 1-800-Flowers has stated that no contact is necessary for deliveries, which you can learn more about here. 

Mother's Day flowers deal:

More Mother's Day sales:

  • Amazon- save on a large selection of gifts for mom
  • Overstock - save on jewelry, watches, candles, and more
  • Nordstrom - shop Mother's Day online gift cards
  • Zappos - save on clothing, shoes, jewelry, and more
  • Best Buy - save hundreds on great tech deals.
  • Apple: save on the new iPhone with select trade-in.
  • Dell - Mother's Day tech deals on a range of laptops, TVs, and more.
  • HP - deals on a whole range of laptops, desktops, and printers.
  • Lenovo - Up to 62% off on select laptops, tablets, and more. 
  • Minted - get a free upgrade to rush shipping on all gift orders $200+
  • Adidas - 30% off select shoes
  • Dick's Sporting Goods - deals on clothing, shoes, and more
  • Facebook - save $50 on Facebook's Portal smart display

See more offers with our roundup of the best online flower delivery services for Mother's Day.

You can also see our list of the 5 best flower delivery websites of 2020.

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

PS5 release date, specs, news and features for Sony’s PlayStation 5

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:49 AM PDT

PS5 (or PlayStation 5) is the next-generation PlayStation, with a release date of late 2020, and although Sony has remained tight-lipped about its new console, it has drip-fed us a few juicy details on what we can expect from its next-gen offering.

We've alread had our first look at the DualSense PS5 controller, which boasts some impressive-sounding features such as haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and a built-in mic. But what is arguably most interesting about the DualSense controller is its radically different look and space-age black-and-white color scheme, which suggests the PS5 design will look something similar - and will be a big departure from its predecessors.

Just as important as the DualSense Controller are the PS5 specs discussed at Sony's March reveal event. Lead system architect Mark Cerny provided us with a deep dive into the PS5's system architecture, revealing the technical inner workings of the PS5. We'll cover them in more detail down below, but for now know that the PS5 is rocking an AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 8 cores at 3.5GHz, 16GB of GDDR6 memory and a custom RDNA 2 AMD GPU that puts out 10.28 TFLOPs of processing power.

In terms of features, we know the next-gen console will have ray-tracing, a super-fast SSD, a built-in 4K Blu-ray player and will be backwards compatible with a huge swathe of the PS4's game catalogue. So far, the PS5 is living up to the hype. 

Want all the juicy details? Here's everything we know about the PS5 so far – and what we hope will be revealed the closer we get to launch.

[UPDATE: The PS5's 'instant' demos could pave the way for a better PS Now.]

  • What is it? The Sony PS5 is the next-gen PlayStation console, replacing the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.
  • When will it release? "Holiday 2020" in the US, says Sony, so between October and December 2020. 
  • What can I play on it? Only a few titles have been confirmed, but expect all of Sony's big franchises, as well as the potential for upgraded versions of in-development exclusives like Ghost of Tsushima.
  • Will PS5 have VR? Oh yes. The next-gen console will be compatible with current PSVR hardware, and there are also rumors of PSVR 2.
  • What will the PS5 cost? TBC. The PS4 and PS4 Pro were both $399 / £349 at launch, but we expect the PS5 will cost somewhat more. Leaks have suggested around the $499 mark.
  • Can I play PS4 games on the PS5? The PS5 will definitely be backwards compatible with "almost all" PS4 games - earlier generations are still to be confirmed. It will launch with support for the majority of the top 100 PS4 games, according to Sony's Mark Cerny.
  • Will coronavirus delay the PS5 release? Sony has confirmed the PS5 release date is not currently delayed by coronavirus.

God of War

God of War (Image Credit: SIE)

Sony has officially confirmed that the PS5 will release "in time for Holiday 2020", so likely some time between October and December 2020 - putting it in direct competition with the Xbox Series X, which is releasing in the same window. A leak has suggested that the release date will be November 20, 2020 but that's yet to be confirmed. 

However, this date would be in the right window, as we're predicting the PS5 will release in November, 2020. November is historically when we've seen PlayStation's launch and it would leave time before Christmas to get those orders in.

Despite rumors, a Sony PR has confirmed the PS5's release date has not been delayed by coronavirus so we should still see the next-gen console release in late 2020 - even if we're not sure exactly when that will be. 

AMD, the tech giant that’s been commissioned to make the processor and graphics chips in both the PS5 and Xbox Series X next-gen consoles, is “ramping up production” to prepare for their respective launches, AMD CEO Dr Lisa Su confirmed in early May 2020. This timing too is also suggestive of a November launch window.

We're expecting to find out the PlayStation 5's official release date in the coming months, having not been revealed at the March 18 technical talk.

Death Stranding

Sony hasn't officially confirmed a PS5 price yet and, according to the company, that's because it hasn't actually decided how much the next-gen console will cost.

In a quarterly earnings call (via Spiel Times), Sony's chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki revealed the company still hasn't nailed down the PS5 price.

"What is not very clear or visible is because we are competing in the space, so it’s very difficult to discuss anything about the price at this point of time, and depending upon the price level, we may have to determine the promotion that we are going to deploy and how much costs we are prepared to pay," Totoki explained.

“First, we must absolutely control the labour cost, the personnel cost, it must be controlled, and the initial ramp up, how much can we prepare initially, we will work on the production and the sales and we will have to prepare the right volume as we launch this," Totoki continued.

“It’s a balancing act it’s very difficult to say anything concrete at this point of time," Totoki said. But we do know that Sony is aiming for "the best balance so that we will be profitable in the life, during the life of this product."

While Sony may not have a price nailed down, there have been rumors about how much the PS5 could cost. While the latest PS5 price leaks are wild – and can't be trusted - some predictions seem a bit more feasible (even if they're not reliable). 

One rumor has suggested that the console will cost $499 in North America when it launches. Naturally this should be treated with skepticism, but it would be welcome news if the console did launch at this price, as it's only $100 more than the launch price of the PS4 and PS4 Pro. 

PS5

We think this could be the most likely price for the console, however, that could be wishful thinking. A recent report by Bloomberg claims that Sony will not be making as many PlayStation 5 consoles for launch as it did for the PS4's launch back in 2013, despite no delay to production or on sale date being expected. 

Bloomberg's sources are anticipating shipments to max out at six million consoles through to March of 2021, whereas the PS4 sold 7.5 million over the same post-launch time period – despite itself suffering a delay.

According to the report, Sony is simply anticipating less demand. This is likely due to what is expected to be a higher asking price for the PS5 than the PS4 launched with. The PS5 is expected to really push the boat out in terms of high-end components, and as such will be met with a higher price tag. 

However, Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox Series X are key here, and Sony could well decide to sell the hardware at a slight loss to stay competitive with the other console. The PS4 benefited from a lower cost than the Xbox One, and Sony likely won’t be keen to reverse that for this generation. We hope.

We can expect that the console's price will be in line with the technology it uses, but Sony will also have to be aware of its competition. It's unlikely, with the Xbox Series X, that Microsoft will repeat the mistake it made by launching the Xbox One at a prohibitively high price point, so Sony will have to ensure that it doesn't make a similar mistake by making the PS5 too expensive.

PS5

Ghost of Tsushima (Image Credit: SuckerPunch)

  • CPU: AMD Zen 2-based CPU with 8 cores at 3.5GHz (variable frequency)
  • GPU: 10.28 TFLOPs, 36 CUs at 2.23GHz (variable frequency)
  • GPU architecture: Custom RDNA 2
  • Memory interface: 16GB GDDR6 / 256-bit
  • Memory bandwidth: 448GB/s
  • Internal storage: Custom 825GB SSD
  • IO throughput: 5.5GB/s (raw), typical 8-9GB/s (compressed)
  • Expandable storage: NVMe SSD slot
  • External storage: USB HDD support (PS4 games only)
  • Optical drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive

Sony finally lifted the hood on the PlayStation 5 during its first official PS5 reveal event, giving us a better idea of the specs the next-gen console will offer. But what do we think?

What's interesting so far is Sony's commitment to custom silicon, with a full focus on raising gaming capabilities to the next level, without alienating developers now comfortable with developing on the PS4. Custom hardware in the PS3 proved to be a difficult element for devs to get their heads around, but the PS5 aims to be as developer-friendly as possible.

PS5

The importance of the SSD
As has already been explored, the SSD is key to the PlayStation 5 experience. Internal storage will be built in at 825GB for the custom SSD – that's less than you'll find in the Xbox Series X, but with just as clever an implementation of the technology.

SSDs don’t just load faster, but allow for bigger open worlds, theoretically. Developers don’t need to make games with smaller worlds due to the limitations of mechanical hard drives, while SSDs will also allow system memory to be used more effectively.

SSDs have more bandwidth, so data can be loaded from the SSD when it’s needed, rather than heaps of potentially needless data being loaded into RAM. In pure gameplay terms that means that games will suffer less from texture pop-in, while load times will be hugely reduced when using a game's fast-travel option. Booting up from standby should be generally much faster, too.

You'll also have more control over how you install and remove games, meaning you could just install a game's multiplayer mode rather than the full block of data. This will allow for launch of direct gameplay, allowing players to jump straight into aspects of different games (such as match-making, continue save game etc) without having to boot up the full game.

This means you could be able to jump into Overwatch match-making, for example, straight from your home screen and would prevent the need to take steps such as booting up an entire game and selecting particular games modes. It would also make it easier for players to quickly jump between the games they have installed.

As for expandable storage, Sony appears to be allowing for off-the-shelf NVMe PC drives, rather than proprietary storage systems that Xbox will primarily be relying on. However, there aren't many drives on the market right now that use the PCIe 4.0 interface required – they need to be capable of at least a 5.5GB/s transfer speed.

"NVMe PC drives will work in PlayStation 5," said Cerny. "The only problem is that PC technology is significantly behind PS5. It'll take some time for the newer, PCIe 4.0-based drives with the bandwidth required to match Sony's spec to hit the market." 

PS4 games on the PS5 will work just fine if saved to a regular HDD, however, so you won't need to tap into that precious SSD space unnecessarily. 

PS5

A custom processor and GPU – what that means for backwards compatibility
We were already aware that Sony will be using AMD's Zen 2 CPU processor tech, with eight cores and 16 threads. The reveal stream, however, also revealed that the PS5 will be delivering 3.5GHz frequencies – so, the PlayStation 5 would be running 8x Zen 2 Cores at 3.5GHz (at variable frequencies) over the PS4's 8x Jaguar Cores at 1.6GHz. That's a huge jump in performance.

Move over to the GPU, and you're looking at the AMD RDNA 2 GPU, itself customized. It makes use of 36 compute units capped at 2.23GHz. A compute performance peak of 10.28TF was stated.

PS5

What's smart is that the combination makes it simple for the PS5 to easily handle PS4 backwards compatibility – through GPU architecture rather than hours of coding. Almost all of the top 100 PS4 games will be fully compatible at launch. PS4 games will be supported natively on the GPU silicon, but here the GPU seems to be emulating PS4 and PS4 Pro graphics chips, which is a strange solution, and not as interesting as Xbox Series X's method, which will also be capable of upscaling previous Xbox generation games and adding HDR to previously HDR-less titles.

Tempest 3D audio tech
Perhaps the biggest reveal of the day was the 3D audio support, thanks to the new Tempest Engine. It's an incredibly powerful system: if the PSVR can support "50 pretty decent sound sources," according to Cerny – with the PSVR's distinct audio system being one of the more complex audio systems in gaming at the moment – the PS5's Tempest Engine can support hundreds.

The example Cerny used described it in terms of rainfall. Today, the sound of rain in a game is a single audio track, but the PS5 would theoretically be capable of letting you hear individual raindrops, in relation to where the player character is.

"Where we ended up is a unit with roughly the same SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) power and bandwidth as all eight Jaguar cores in the PS4 combined," said Cerny. 

PS5

"If we were to use the same algorithms as PSVR, that's enough for something like five thousand sound sources – but of course we want to use more complex algorithms, and we don't need anything like that number of sounds."

Perhaps best of all is the way you'll get to experience this – even a lowly pair of headphones at launch will be able to take advantage of the sense of presence and directionality Sony is promising here, with the company also committing to later support multi-speaker surround systems with the tech.

PS5

But this is an ongoing project for Sony. To accurately model surround data positioning, Sony needs to create a Head-related Transfer Function, or HRFT, map. Essentially, that's a distinct algorithm that works best if the system knows the precise shape of your ears.

"Maybe you'll be sending us a photo of your ear, and we'll use a neural network to pick the closest HRTF in our library," Cerny teased. "Maybe you'll be sending us a video of your ears and your head, and we'll make a 3D model of them and synthesize the HRTF. Maybe you'll play an audio game to tune your HRTF, we'll be subtly changing it as you play, and home in on the HRTF that gives you the highest score, meaning that it matches you the best.

"This is a journey we'll all be taking together over the next few years. Ultimately, we're committed to enabling everyone to experience that next level of realism."

There's still been no official PS5 design reveal, but the reveal of the DualSense PS5 controller has given us a fairly good idea of what we can expect the next-gen console to look like (we've even created our own PS5 render, which you can see above, based on what we know so far).

While we're mostly dealing with speculation, we can assume that the PS5 console's design will match (or at least be similar to) that of its controller. To date, PlayStation controllers have always matched their console counterparts – it would be odd for this not to be the case.

And, what's immediately striking about the DualSense controller is its new design; and, in particular, its two-tone white and black color scheme. This suggests that we could see a two-tone white and black PlayStation 5 console, similar to the controller, with the console itself boasting a primarily white design with black lining or sections. 

Not only is the DualSense controller's color scheme different from what we've seen in previous PlayStation gamepads, but its overall shape and design is also a huge departure. 

Sony has gone futuristic with the DualSense's design. And, while we know that the PS5 won't look anything like the dev kits we've seen so far, the alien-futuristic design may be in the right vein. The controller is white (as we've discussed) but looks pretty simple and sleek. With a boomerang-like rounded shape, no definition in the button colors, and a blue light on either side of the touchpad, it looks like Sony is aiming for a minimalistic, futuristic design for the PS5. 

As we pointed out with the color scheme, PlayStation controllers often match their counterpart consoles, so we can expect a similar minimalist design for the PS5 – likely with blue lighting, slightly rounded edges and little definition when it comes to buttons and ports. 

PS5 design render

However, all of this is mere speculation and we won't know for sure until Sony official unveils the PS5 design. We're expecting Sony to host another PS5 reveal around June or July to reveal the console's price and design - similarly to how it did with the PS4.

While we may not know exactly what the PS5 will look like, Sony did reveal the PS5's official logo at CES 2020. It's essentially just the PlayStation 4 logo with a '5' replacing the '4'.

PS5

The PS5 will come with a new gamepad, one that Sony is dubbing the DualSense PS5 controller, not the DualShock 5, like you'd expect. Also a departure is the black-and-white color scheme that is bold – and likely to be divisive. That's the confirmed design in the picture above.

The two-tone PS5 controller color scheme extends to the four face buttons, which still consist of Triangle, Circle, Square and Cross (or X), but they're devoid of color. There is a pop of color around the side of the central touchpad, as the PS4 Lightbar has moved from the top of the gamepad on the PS5.

The PS5 controller includes haptic feedback in the L2 and R2 shoulder buttons that are going to be adaptive. Sony explains that these adaptive triggers are important to let players feel the tension of their actions, like drawing a bow to shoot an arrow. This will let developers program the resistance of the triggers to simulate actions more accurately.

The DualSense will include a microphone inside of the controller, allowing gamers to ditch their headset to communicate with friends. And the 'Share' button is dead. Long live the 'Create' button. That's what Sony is calling the the button that's in the same spot and still intended for gameplay content to share with the world. Sony is teasing more details about this button ahead of the console launch.

The Last of Us 2

The majority of the PS4 library, including PSVR games, will be supported by the PS5; that much is known. But we're now hearing more about confirmed – and rumored – PS5 games.

At this point, any first-party PS4 game in the pipeline – from Ghost of Tsushima to The Last of Us 2, would be prime candidates for PS5 cross-gen upgrades. We've also heard enough chatter around a Horizon Zero Dawn sequel and new God of War game to assume we'll be seeing both land on the PS5 console. 

And while we don't know much about PS5 exclusives, we do know Sony will continue to focus on "strong narrative-driven, single-player games" with the PS5.

But what about third-party titles? We've had confirmation that Gearbox's new IP Godfall is coming exclusively to PS5, as is a title from Bluepoint Studios that's rumored to be a Demon's Souls remake. We will also see a remake of THQ Nordic's cult classic Gothic, Gollum, WRC 9, Battlefield 6, Dying Light 2 and Outriders land on PS5. In addition, Ubisoft has confirmed that Watch Dogs: Legion, Rainbow Six Quarantine, Gods and Monsters and Assassin's Creed Valhalla are all coming to Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 - with a new Far Cry also rumored to be coming to the platforms. However, Ubisoft has said that it could delay these games if the next-gen consoles don't make their launch window. We also know Rainbow Six Siege will be available on PS5 and Xbox Series X from launch. 

It's likely that we'll see the likes of Starfield and The Elder Scrolls 6 coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X, too.

While this is a good start, we're expecting plenty more third-party games to be announced in the coming months. However, while we know of a few third-party games in the pipeline for the PS5, there's still no confirmation on what the PS5's launch titles will be, but we're expecting first-party games to take the lead.

In addition, Sony has confirmed that the PS5 will prioritize AAA games over indie games in an effort to focus on "serious gamers".

One rumor also introduces the concept of "Instant Demoes" on the PlayStation 5 in-console store. Before purchasing a game, it's been claimed that you'll be able to use PlayStation Now streaming technology to instantly play a chunk of a title to see whether or not it's something you'd be interested in. There's the possibility that making such a demo available would also be mandated for all PS5 developers.

Sony has already hosted a PS5 specs deep-dive reveal but, while it was informative, it wasn't exactly the event we were hoping for. We didn't see the PS5 in all its glory, we heard little about features and nothing about price or PS5 games. 

We're expecting that Sony will host another (likely digital) PS5 reveal event in the coming months, showcasing the PlayStation 5's features, design, price and some of the games we'll be playing on the next-gen console. 

According to a Restera post by GamesBeat's Jeffrey Grubb (who correctly leaked last month's Nintendo Direct date) the PS5 reveal event is "currently planned for June 4". But this hasn't been confirmed by Sony.

However, this date would fall into the predicted PS5 reveal event window. The company has previously said that it's following a similar reveal roadmap to that of the PS4, although the Covid-19 pandemic may have disrupted this somewhat. The PS4's specs were revealed in February 2013 before Sony revealed the console, its pricing and launch lineup of games in June of that year, at E3 2013.

Sony revealed the PS5 specs in February of this year (in lieu of a GDC presentation), so we've been expecting a full PS5 reveal event to take place in either June or July (this has been made harder to predict by the fact that Sony wasn't planning to attend E3 2020). 

But, it's worth noting that, when its come to the revealing details about the PS5, Sony has been somewhat of a wildcard - posting the controller reveal as a blog post and spec details by interview. 

We will update you as soon as we have official news on the PS5 reveal event.

PS5

Rumors have cropped up suggesting that Sony will double down by launching the PlayStation 5 Pro at the same time as its base-model PS5.

Spotted by Wccftech, noted Japanese games journalist Zenji Nishikawa made the claim in a video on his YouTube channel, and while that kind of thing wouldn't normally be considered a rock-solid lead, Nishikawa has been proven correct in the past with his predictions about the PS4 Pro and Switch Lite.

According to Nishikawa, the PS5 Pro will cost around $100-$150 more than the basic PS5 console. The report states that Sony is taking this approach because it has "acknowledged the interest in a high-end model and wants to give players what they want right from the beginning of the generation".

NeoGaf user FXVeteran (via TweakTown) has since added fuel to the fire by claiming Sony plans to release two PlayStation 5 models at the same time: a PS5 Pro and a PS5, with the PS5 Pro being "top of the line" to compete with the Xbox Series X's potential iteratively more powerful versions. 

While a PlayStation 5 Pro is likely on the cards, we don't think it'll release at the same time as the regular PS5. In our opinion, it's more likely that Sony will wait around three years (2023) before giving the console an upgrade - usually this happens mid-cycle and the PS5 lifecycle is estimated to be around six to seven years. 

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

Thousands of WordPress sites redirecting users to dangerous domains

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:43 AM PDT

Over 900,000 WordPress sites have been targeted in a new attack campaign which aims to redirect visitors to malvertising sites or plant backdoors into a theme's header if an administrator is logged in.

The majority of these attacks appear to be the work of a single threat actor based on the malicious JavaScript payload they are attempting to inject in vulnerable sites. The attacker also leveraged older vulnerabilities that allowed them to change a site's home URL to the same domain used in the cross-site scripting (XSS) payload in order to redirect visitors to malvertising sites.

In a blog post, Senior QA at Defiant, Ram Gall provided further insight on the sheer scale of the campaign, saying:

“While our records show that this threat actor may have sent out a smaller volume of attacks in the past, it’s only in the past few days that they’ve truly ramped up, to the point where more than 20 million attacks were attempted against more than half a million individual sites on May 3, 2020. Over the course of the past month in total, we’ve detected over 24,000 distinct IP addresses sending requests matching these attacks to over 900,000 sites.”

Targeting older WordPress vulnerabilities

According to Gall, the attacker targeted multiple vulnerabilities in WordPress plugins that have either been removed from official repositories or patched within the last few years.

More than half of all of the attacks targeted sites with the Easy2Map plugin which contains an XSS vulnerability. Although the plugin was removed from the WordPress repository in August of 2019, it is still installed on less than 3,000 sites. The attacker also exploited an XSS vulnerability in the Blog Designer plugin that was patched in 2019 and the Newspaper theme that was patched in 2016.

In order to change a site's home URL, the attacker took advantage of an options update vulnerability in the WP GDPR Compliance and Total Donations plugins. WP GDPR Compliance has more than 100,000 installations but Defiant estimates that no more than 5,000 vulnerable installations remain. Total Donations on the other hand was permanently removed from the Envato Marketplace in early 2019 and it is estimated that less than 1,000 total installations remain.

If your site uses any of these plugins or themes, it is highly recommended that you update them immediately and remove any that are no longer in the official WordPress repository.

Via BleepingComputer

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

Xbox Series X controller release date, news and confirmed features

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:16 AM PDT

If you’re clamoring for more information about the Xbox Series X controller, you’ve come to the right place. Microsoft has revealed the new Xbox pad in all its glory, and we can’t wait to get our grubby mitts on it when it releases – alongside the Xbox Series X towards the end of 2020.

So what exciting additions can we look forward to from Microsoft’s new controller? Well, it’s designed around accessibility first and foremost. With a slightly smaller overall footprint along with some quality of life improvements, the controller should feel familiar in the hand yet subtly different.

Popularized by Microsoft’s many limited edition Xbox One controllers, the Series X pad will include a tactile texture on both the triggers, grips and bumpers, which have been rounded and reduced in size. The previously glossy accents of the original are also gone in favor of a matte finish that closely matches the console’s design.

Microsoft has clearly cleaved pretty close to the design of the Xbox One controller, though – unlike Sony, which unveiled quite a drastic visual departure for its next-gen PS5 controller, named the DualSense (rather than the DualShock moniker of previous controller generations).

While neither company can up-end the traditional button and trigger layout too much, it's clear that players can expect a step up to match the beefed-up consoles coming later this year – even if we might not know the exact applications until testing out these controllers ourselves.

For everything we know for sure about the Xbox Series X controller, though, read on below.

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? Microsoft’s next-generation Xbox controller
  • When is it available? Late 2020 (to coincide with Xbox Series X release)
  • How much will it cost? TBC

Xbox Series X controller release date 

The Xbox Series X controller will release alongside the Xbox Series X during the “Holiday” 2020 period - so expect it sometime between October and December.

Xbox Series X controller price

A price for the Xbox Series X controller has not been confirmed, much like the console itself. However, with the Xbox One controller retailing for £40/$50/AU$80, it’s likely that the new controller will be a touch more expensive - probably around £60/$70/AU$120.

Of course, this is only a speculative guess based on the previous pricing strategy for Microsoft’s controllers. We’re expecting Microsoft to confirm a price for the Xbox Series X controller in the next few months.

Xbox Series X controller confirmed features 

New D-pad and share button
Visually, there are quite a few changes that stand out. A long-awaited share button has been added to the center of the controller, letting gamers capture their favourite screenshot or clip a short video with ease. The D-pad has also undergone a noticeable transformation, combining the benefits of both a traditional cardinal D-pad with the disc pad found on the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2. The goal is to give gamers the best of both worlds.

Backwards compatible
Microsoft has promised that all your existing Xbox One accessories will work on Xbox Series X. That means all those controllers you’ve collected in the last five years will carry across, which is a huge relief. The recently released Xbox Adaptive Controller and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 will also work perfectly, too.

Better connectivity
With Project xCloud on the horizon, more gamers will be connecting their controllers to a phone or Windows 10 PC. Microsoft has taken steps to ensure that switching and pairing between devices is more seamless than ever and has included Bluetooth Low Energy (BTLE) to make the controller more efficient.

Lower latency
Though latency isn’t something you can always see, it’s something you can definitely feel. With competitive games growing increasingly popular, Microsoft has made significant strides in reducing latency by reworking how the Xbox controller sends information across the system pipeline.

Data is now transmitted just before a game asks for it, keeping the controller in sync with the game for both analog and digital inputs and preventing any unforeseen latency spikes. 

Further improvements have been made to the performance of the existing radio design used by Xbox One accessories today so games receive inputs faster and can access them quicker, without impacting performance.

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Slash the upfront spend with these superb Sky broadband deals

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:16 AM PDT

Sky remains one of the UK's most popular ISPs, giving competition to the likes of BT and Virgin. And if you're looking to get your hands on a Sky broadband deal, we've got an offer here to help you save on the cost.

With both of Sky's broadband only plans - Essential and Superfast - you can completely wipe away the upfront costs. That means a saving of £19.95 on both options. And the great news here is that this is exclusive to you readers of only a few websites - you won't even find these offers directly through Sky!

Of the two available plans, Sky's Superfast Fibre feels like the better value, scoring you speeds averaging 60Mb for just £27 a month. If that feels too high, there is also the Broadband Essential option with ADSL speeds for £22 a month.

Now...for the catch. Because of the events of the UK-wide lockdown, engineers are unable to do visits in the same way as before. That means if you don't already have a phone line set up in your house, it might be a good few months until you can get Sky. If you need something temporary until then, 4G home broadband could help.

This exclusive Sky broadband deal:

What other broadband deals are there?

There are plenty of great internet offers right now. BT for example has its Fibre 1 plan with speeds averaging 51Mb for just £28.99. On top of that, BT throws in a £60 Mastercard for a bit of extra value.

But the best value internet plans seem to come from TalkTalk and Vodafone right now. With TalkTalk you're getting speeds averaging 68Mb for just £21.95. Vodafone on the other hand is £22.95 for similar speeds of 64Mb but existing Vodafone customers can drop those bills even lower.

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How to watch Code 404 online: stream the new Sky comedy from anywhere

Posted: 06 May 2020 09:03 AM PDT

Set in the not-too-distant future, this Sky-produced show has a pretty original take on the buddy cop comedy format - read on to find out how to watch Code 404 online from anywhere in the world, including all the free viewing options available.

Starring Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays - dab hands at playing crime-related roles having both appeared in the altogether more serious Line of Duty - this new 6-part show hingas the pair work for the Special Investigation Unit at the London Met.

Mays' character, Detective Inspector John Major, is a celebrated Met Police special investigations. But he's (minor spoiler alert) killed off at the start of the first episode after being shot in an undercover sting operation.

The twist comes when he's brought back to life, thanks to some revolutionary technology. Sadly, some of the AI tech used in his resurrection was a little off, meaning it's a new but not necessarily improved DI Major that comes back to life.

To complicate matters, in the time that it has taken for him to be brought back into action, his partner Detective Inspector Roy Carver (Graham) and his wife Kelly (Anna Maxwell Martin) have started an affair and moved in together.

With a stellar cast and an interesting twist on the genre, it's a new show you won't want to miss. Find out how to watch Code 404 online no matter where you are in the world.

How to watch Code 404 for free in the UK

How to watch Code 404 from outside your country

As Code 404 is a Sky One exclusive, anyone from the UK who's currently away from home won't find it being aired simultaneously in places like the USA, Canada or Australia. Moreover, trying to tune into Sky or a related service like Now TV will likely be impossible because of geo-blocking restrictions.

We know that this might not be a likely scenario for many, due to coronavirus travel restrictions, but the fact is people are still being required to travel - and some are even regrettably stuck abroad during this difficult time.

Fortunately, there is a solution in the form of a VPN. This nifty bit of software changes your IP address so that you can access all the content you normally would at home, from anywhere in the world.

However, note that some services require you to verify local credit card or cable subscription details before gaining access, so make sure you have these to hand before signing up for anything.

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How to watch The Masked Singer online: stream the US show from anywhere

Posted: 06 May 2020 08:58 AM PDT

Think you know the difference between a Turtle and a Night Angel? Not so fast - this top-secret Fox singing competition will trample over all your assumptions like a Rhino on heat. Here's how to watch The Masked Singer online and stream the latest season 3 episodes from anywhere today. 

Note that minor spoilers might be found below, so divert your eyes if you're not fully up-to-date with the latest season of The Masked Singer in the US.

Based on the popular South Korean series King of Mask Singer, the show's premise is fairly self-explanatory - celebrities compete in a singing competition anonymously, with their identity protected by an outlandishly themed costume. 

Most recently, Poison singer Bret Michaels was voted off and discovered to be the voice behind the Banana! Who knew the heavy metal frontman was an Andy Warhol fan?! The following week, country music star Hunter Hayes was outed as the Astronaut. That leaves just five competitors - Rhino, Night Angel, Turtle, Kitty and Frog - going into episode 17.

The US show, which also boasts UK and Australian versions, is hosted by actor Nick Canon and features a star-studded panel of permanent judges including TV personality Jenny McCarthy, singer-songerwriter Robin Thicke, global megastar Nicole Scherzinger and comedian Ken Jeong.

Want to know what happens next? Read on and we'll explain how to watch The Masked Singer online and stream the show for free no matter where you are in the world.

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How to watch The Masked Singer online in the US for FREE

How to watch The Masked Singer in Canada

How to watch The Masked Singer online from outside your country

If you happen to be away from home at this tricky time, don't despair. You can easily watch The Masked Singer from nearly anywhere, despite the pesky geo-blocking many services impose to region-locked content.

The solution to this comes in the form of a VPN, which changes your IP address so that you can access your favorite shows just like you would at home, including The Masked Singer.

This is particularly important if you're in countries like the UK or Australia, which both have their own versions of The Masked Singer - airing exclusively in these markets and at different times to the North American iteration of the show.

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Argos online bank holiday sales: the best home, garden and tech deals available now

Posted: 06 May 2020 08:56 AM PDT

The Argos bank holiday is only a few days away and if they follow last year's exceptional example, then we'll be seeing great discounts on a whole range of home, garden, and tech deals. We've been getting ready this week to catch all the deals as they go live and to highlight the very best ones right here. We'll be updating this page hourly on the day, so make sure you bookmark this page and revisit if you don't want to miss all the best deals.

Even though the official bank holiday sales aren't starting until Friday by the earliest, there are still some great deals to be had over on the Argos online store in the lead-up.  So, if you're not in a patient mood, you don't even have to wait to bag yourself a great deal because we've got some good ones right here, right now.

We've rounded up our top Argos bank holiday sales below, but you can head straight to Argos's entire online range, or simply jump to where you need to be with our quick links here.

Argos online: bank holiday sale quick links

When will the Argos bank holiday sale begin?

Argos online bank holiday sales normally begin on the Friday before the bank holiday weekend. In the UK that's VE day this year, and we're certain there's going to be tons of excellent sales of great home, garden and tech deals coming through almost immediately.

Be sure to bookmark this page as we'll be constantly scanning the Argos store page to find you the very best deals this Bank Holiday and updating this page accordingly. If you don't want to wait until then, then we've also got some great deals right now for you to check out below, so you don't have to leave empty-handed.

We'd also recommend checking out our main Bank Holiday sales page, where we're looking at not just Argos, but a whole range of UK retailers and brining all the very best deals into one handy article.

Early Argos Bank Holiday sales 

Argos home delivery

Quick delivery is what really sets Argos apart as a retailer as you can get same-day delivery for just £3.95 and Argos will even deliver 7 days a week - super useful if you're trying to fit delivery around a busy working from home or home schooling schedule.

If you're buying small items, which can be delivered by one person, then you're entitled to same-day delivery as long as you get your order in by 6pm. All small items cost £3.95 for delivery, so make sure you're taking advantage of the fast track same-day service that's on offer.

If you're buying large appliances then you'll get the added bonus of free delivery, although be aware that the fast track same-day delivery doesn't apply to these items. You can of course still go for the next-day delivery option, which also means you can pick the delivery time slot that's best for you.

For more information on Argos's delivery times and charges, you can visit their delivery FAQ here.

Are any Argos stores open right now?

Certain Argos stores that are part of Sainsburys supermarkets remain open for business currently, meaning you can make use of their click and collect policy if you’re on your way to pick up essential food items. We'd of course strongly advise against this, as it's essential that everybody puts the health of themselves and others above any other considerations right now. Thankfully Argos has some of the best home delivery in the business - it's fast, cheap, and above all else convenient - so there's no reason to not use it under current circumstances.

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