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If you've had your heart set on a brand new Samsung Galaxy S9 you may be running out of time to get it at its current affordable price. TechRadar has heard from a leading mobile phone retailer that an S9 price hike could be on the very near horizon. Whether that's because of the soon-to-be released Samsung Galaxy S10 or because the device at its current price has just proved so popular we're not really sure. But what we do know is that now is looking like the moment to grab that S9 deal you've been mulling over in your head. Or if they still feel a bit too expensive (or you get to this article too late), then Galaxy S8 deals are looking really attractive right now, so grabbing the cheaper predecessor to the S9 could be a very good call. We've listed our picks for the top offers on the device below so grab them before they go or head to our best Galaxy S9 deals page for options on big data or providers you don't see below. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VgyagGS9HpAEPUQtUJBfrg.jpg The best Samsung Galaxy S9 deals right nowDiscover today's other best mobile phone deals in the UKhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/vLIJvhf-wPw

Perhaps you snagged an iPhone 7 as an inexpensive option or you're just waiting to get a great deal on an iPhone XS – but either way, you understand good value. Since Apple updated the iPhone 7 to iOS 12, you have few reasons to abandon your functional and feature-rich phone for an expensive new device. But if you don't have a case, you're not protecting your investment. Sure, the iPhone 7's metal unibody can keep it safe from short falls, but an accidental plummet at the wrong angle can still shatter your display into splinters, and you'll have to pick shards of glass from your fingertips. It's not just the screen you should worry about: the phone's slick metal phone body can be scratched, dinged or dented, too. A case is a smart idea to help protect the frame and display of your iPhone 7. And lucky for you, the cases for the iPhone 7 will fit the iPhone 8 if you decide to upgrade sometime later. Here’s our list of the best cases out there for Apple's reliable iPhone 7. If you opted for the bigger version of the phone, head on over to our roundup of the best iPhone 7 Plus cases. Have you loaded iOS 12 onto your iPhone 7? Still have one of the older Apple devices? Here's our definitive list of the best iPhone 6 and 6S cases. Note: we've ranked these from cheapest to most expensive according to prices at time of writing. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zQpYHnyiUvhH8uvhmMsPmY.jpg Torras has put out a phone case that's just slightly bigger than the iPhone 7 itself, which is perfect for the person who wants a simple, no-nonsense look for their phone. There's even a little 1mm raised lip around the camera lens to protect it from errant drops. It's obvious that this won't protect your phone as well as, say, an Otterbox, but for those who want to wrap their device in simple elegance, the Torras Slim Fit case will do the trick. Pick one up for $11 (£8, AU$15) on Amazon here. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SxqhgCxM5BEzYM3xtnRh2K.jpg Spigen's Tough Armor series aims to provide solid protection at a low price. Its flexible TPU body envelops the phone, while a polycarbonate plate layers protection on the back. The latter even has a built-in kickstand if you like watching media on your phone. The Spigen Tough Armor [2nd Generation] iPhone 7/8 case retails for just under $16 (£12, AU$22) on Amazon here. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XrP5YEtToQbN7ZxvesMCom.jpg For all you marble lovers, here's the phone case for you. Baisrke has an inexpensive case that comes in several colors and hues accentuating white, black and pearlescent marble. The case itself is made of a soft rubber silicone, so don't expect much protection from serious drops. But if you can't live without this look, you can grab the Baisrke marble case for just under $11 (£8, AU$15) on Amazon here. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TV4pVaGWfs3ywy29nsvj8R.jpg The Caseology iPhone 7 Parallax case has a neat design and attractive burgundy-on-gold look for those who want to dress up their phone a little differently than their peers. It's got multiple layers to help protect your phone from drops from plenty of angles. It's decent protection and good looks at an affordable price – perfect for your less-expensive iPhone 7. Pick up the Caseology Parallax case for $14 (£11, AU$19) on Amazon here. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Hdt4seWw8QXZaLtSggbzfJ.jpg Most people would probably rather keep their phone unadorned by a case, particularly when their phone is as stylish as the iPhone 7. That’s why a sleeve can be a good option, as it keeps your iPhone protected while it’s in your bag or pocket, but shows it off in full when you’re using your phone. This Dockem sleeve also stands out thanks to its attractive faux-leather design and its low price tag, though of course, like any other sleeve it won’t protect your phone while you’re using it, so this isn’t one for the clumsy. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EPTHd54iUjH6EJpnjHxahJ.jpg Your iPhone 7 might be metal, but most cases aren’t, which means you’re inevitably left covering it in cheaper plastic, or pricey but still different leather. There are some exceptions though, such as this Ranvoo bumper, which although plastic on the inside has a layer of aluminum on the outside, and it comes in all the same colors as the iPhone 7 itself. As it’s just a bumper rather than a full case the back of your phone is left uncovered and the bumper itself is almost invisible – unless you choose a color that contrasts your phone, rather than matches it. The skeletal nature of the bumper means it’s not the most protective thing around, but the edges are raised, so even if your phone hits the ground on the front or back it should remain safe as long as the surface it collides with is flat. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tZkcPDTT7CrvvRU33GjdW4.jpg The construction of Uprosa’s cases is entirely pedestrian, as they’re simply made of flexible plastic. However, their designs are something else. Uprosa’s case graphics come from images submitted by researchers and science students, whose job it is to look at stuff under microscopes, so the images you see on these cases are shots taken using microscope photography. Here’s the description of the ‘flamingo’ design seen in the image: “The same chemical (citric acid) that makes a lemon tart forms colliding pink oceanic waves through the lens of a microscope.†Brian Cox would approve. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/y6Hp5Pt9ivDyhoMkuBp4N4.jpg A case is always a balancing act between making your phone look as it should and keeping it protected. The Griffin Survivor Clear has a shot at gaming the system, with clear walls and built-up bumpers designed to take the force of any impacts while keeping the look intact. Sure, you can tell there’s a case on your iPhone, no denying it, but at least you can see the color of aluminum you chose underneath. Griffin says the shell has 6H hardness, which is as hard as some tempered glass, and provides great scratch resistance. The case can also take drops of 1.2m, and as it doesn’t cost a bomb you shouldn’t feel too bad about replacing the Survivor should an unfortunate incident occur. Better than a bashed-up iPhone, right? http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dmJR6ocujBgxDEZ6ScWXU4.jpg Here’s an iPhone 7 case for a particular niche: the runner. It’s a neoprene armband case that lets you take your phone out for a jog without a) holding the thing or having it move around in your pocket. Unless you go on fairly long runs where taking a phone is a good idea anyway, the best reason to get a Sport-Fit is to use your phone as a GPS tracking tool, using an app like RunKeeper. The combination effectively turns your phone into the equivalent of a fully featured GPS sport watch. The case can also hold a debit/credit card, meaning you only need to find somewhere to stash your keys. And earrings, perhaps? http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RELHV5GWjdgjAB2AqFbmnF.jpg If you're looking for a case, but don't want to add any heft or thickness to the iPhone 7, this is the one you're after. MNML makes, you guessed it, cases with minimal aesthetic. They are cheap and come in a variety of colors. Better yet, they'll work on an iPhone 8 as well, should you have one laying around or plan to buy one. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QR6tGokdNpZC9wAGKGBEN4.jpg Let’s stop messing around, it’s time for a case that looks tough as nails. The UAG Trooper is a light-but-hardy case that also doubles as a wallet, as its back flips open to reveal a compartment in which you can store four cards. It has rubbery sides and uses hard polycarbonate for that lid on the back. The Trooper adds a fair bit of bulk to the iPhone 7, but not a great deal of weight. For a higher-end feel, the Monarch-series UAG cases use bonus metal and leather, although there’s no card slot. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AandsymyDkfC55tnvDE2N4.jpg We’ve been using OtterBox Defender cases on and off for years now: they’re veterans of the scene. While they add bulk to your phone, their aim is to offer complete protection that’ll leave your handset looking fresh 12 months down the line, and for a reasonable price too. They use a rubber inner cover, a hard plastic outer and an inbuilt screen protector, only leaving the Apple logo and camera on the back somewhat exposed to the elements. While the iPhone 7 is already waterproof, there are port protectors too. These will stop any muck clogging up your ports, perfect if you really do treat your phone a bit rough. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/SeD6w5fZEEPhPHiHYtcayd.jpg Back in the old days, Tech21 cases used to have orange blobs peppered throughout, as a way to show off the fancy shock-absorbing material the company uses. The Tech21 Evo Elite, though, is a case that color-matches the classic iPhone shades on its sides, with a transparent back to retain as much of that iPhone flavor as possible. Inside there’s still some of Tech21’s magic FlexShock material, which is what absorbs the force of impact to stop your phone from getting damaged. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RMpQv5WmwmGzKLMcVy3rSX.jpg Spigen's Slim Armor CS case for the iPhone 7 is a popular one, and the numerous color options for the hard shell can help it match the color of your iPhone. It features a soft and hard shell for extra protection for your phone. And, a hidden credit card case will let you carry up to two cards in case you don't like dragging your wallet or purse everywhere. See the Spigen Slim Armor CS case for iPhone 7 at Amazon here. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/LqYgjRya2ahtfAsqiauKgf.jpg If you want a case that doesn't sacrifice the premium look of your iPhone 7, then the Otterbox Strada case is a good pick. It combines Otterbox's multi-later protection into a folio-style case with a leather exterior. The case can hold a credit card, and thanks to the folio design, the screen of your iPhone 7 will get extra protection from falls. See the Otterbox Stada for iPhone 7 at Amazon here. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/naKLGqZtkeGYf5Dv99K7X4.jpg One of just a couple of problems with the iPhone 7 is that its battery life isn’t great. If you don’t fancy carrying around an external battery pack 24/7, this case can help. It’s an official Apple accessory that shoehorns a 2,365mAh battery into a smooth silicone case, roughly doubling the iPhone 7’s stamina in real terms. The downside is that it gives your iPhone a humpback, the battery unit sticking out from the casing. There’s also a ‘lip’ at the bottom that further spoils the phone’s lines. Battery cases aren’t for everyone, but this one is smarter than most, with clever management of when the phone is powered by its own battery and that of the case. You've protected your phone, now grab the best iPhone appshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/LrzG6_8Jri8

As many as 43 per cent of enterprises are still using Windows 7 despite the fact that Microsoft will officially end support for its ten-year-old operating system one year from now. Kollective's new “Death of Windows 7” report examined the potential costs and security threats that could arise from continuing to use Windows 7 after the OS is no longer officially supported. The firm's research found that nearly a fifth (17 percent) of IT departments don't know when the end of support deadline is while six per cent are aware of it but have yet to start planning for their migration away from Windows 7. Companies that continue to use Microsoft's ageing OS after January 14th, 2020 will either have to pay Microsoft quite a lot for extended support or leave their systems open to cyberattacks. For example, a company with 10,000 or more machines running Windows 7 would have to pay Microsoft a fee in excess of $1.4m a year for continued support. Migrating away from Windows 7Even more concerning than the number of businesses still running Windows 7 is the fact that 16 per cent of IT professionals admitted to still running Windows XP and Windows Vista on some of their machines even though support for these operating systems ended over three years ago. Kollective's CEO Dan Vetras provided further insight on the upcoming death of Windows 7, saying: “With only a year to go, these findings should be a major cause for concern among the business community. When it came to migrating away from Windows XP it took some large enterprises as long as three years to transfer their entire systems to the new operating system, now, many firms will have to make the transition in less than 12 months. Those that fail to do so will have to pay for extended support, with the largest organizations paying more than a million dollars a year in order to remain on Windows 7.” “Most worrying of all is that this migration is just the first step. Once businesses are on Windows 10, they will need to continuously update their systems as part of Microsoft’s new ‘Windows as a Service’ model. This means distributing increasingly frequent updates across their systems – something many IT departments will find impossible due to outdated infrastructure. At Kollective, we’re committed to raising awareness for this issue and helping enterprises solve their network challenges before it’s too late.” If you're business is still running Windows 7, now is the time to migrate to a different OS before it's too late. Considering an upgrade to Microsoft's latest OS? This is how to use Windows 10http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/oJDbUsfzA2Y

Photo credit: Joe Miller “When will farmers be able to hit a button and deploy a fleet of autonomous tractors?” My question took a John Deere engineer by surprise a little. As usual, I was jumping ahead a few years. I was about to climb into a massive full-size John Deere tractor, situated on a course far behind the Las Vegas Convention Center at CES 2019. In my head, I was picturing a farmer sipping a lemonade at watching cable news while the tractors in his field planted seeds or harvested corn, all without any intervention and all on their own. Automated agricultureWe’re not quite there, but it was easy to see how it might work. I sat down on a jump seat next to the main driver in the big green machine. The operator showed me how manually driving a tractor is somewhat laborious. On the course, bright yellow lines created a curved pattern that ran for about 100 feet or so. I’ve never operated a tractor, but to stay within the lines, the operator had to look all around the tractor constantly. With one button press, he enabled autonomous mode. Previously, his team had created an exact GPS map of the course. He said the tractor can be incredibly precise, down to a few inches. (He joked that fields have much tighter 'lanes' than any highway.) Since everything was already mapped out, the tractor could drive between a series of flags, remain centered perfectly on another section of the course, and tackle that curved pattern without either of us having to pay attention at all. In fact, he was mostly talking to me. Photo credit: Joe Miller Farming is a perfect fit for autonomous vehicle tech. For one thing, it’s tedious. The engineer said farmers can spend 16 hours per day harvesting crops, mostly because they have to finish the job before the end of the season and avoid rainy periods. A farmfield is a wide open, highly predetermined area. A robot never complains about traveling over the same area over and over again, and never gets tired. John Deere first started testing autonomous tractors about two decades ago, and the technology today is already in use. In fact, John Deere is one of only a handful of companies that uses a dedicated network for shared GPS satellites. And, it’s not that far of a jump ahead when farmers could safely deploy these machines, especially if the farmfield is fenced in such a way that there are no dangers for anyone else. The conditions are incredibly predictable, much more so than on any highway. Inside the cab, there are two screens for monitoring the tractor and the GPS map. You can see in real-time where the tractor is heading and the pattern it will use. Time-savingAlthough John Deere has used similar autonomous tech since about 2003, this is the first time the company has had a presence at CES, both on the show floor with a massive combine and in this backlot with a tractor. Once the tech becomes more commonplace, having a fleet of tractors that plant and harvest at set periods makes sense – it would not only save time in operating the equipment, but would free the farmer up to do other tasks. I’ve experienced this myself on a smaller scale. I once tested a Husqvarna robotic mower for a summer, and grew to appreciate the fact that the mower maintained my lawn all summer without me having to lift a finger. Photo credit: Joe Miller Check out all of TechRadar's CES 2019 coverage. We're live in Las Vegas to bring you all the breaking tech news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from 8K TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops and smart home gadgets.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/HIhbJyQwSJ4

Behold the Magic Leap One. After years of secretive development, and a huge amount of hype about its stylish design and holographic imaging, Magic Leap’s premium augmented reality headset is now on the market. Well, in North America at least. The rollout is starting slow – it’s only available in a handful of American cities from the Magic Leap website initially – though the headset is sure to come to Europe and other regions in the near future. For now though, very few people have had the chance to try out the Magic Leap One headset, and we’re here to give you our first impressions of using the $2,295 (about £1,700, AU$3,000) contraption, which allows you to see AR images overlaid on the world around you, as opposed to the closed-off virtual worlds of VR. Our demo was limited to few levels of Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot, an AR experience from Resolution Games that’s available for free on Magic Leap World, Magic Leap’s own store for games and other AR content. Based on the globally popular Angry Birds mobile game, the AR game sees you using a slingshot in three-dimensional space – so what was it like? What is augmented reality? Everything you need to know about ARDesignIt’s safe to say that Magic Leap hasn’t skimped on the headset’s appearance. AR headsets haven’t always had the best reputation for stylish design – see, for example, the infamously awkward-looking Google Glass. But unapologetically creating a ‘premium’ product has allowed Magic Leap to put some serious thought into the design, and create something that’s spectacular to look at. The Magic Leap One’s shape sits somewhere between smart glasses and virtual reality visor. It’s not bulky, but the thick band around your head stops it from looking like a pair of upcycled spectacles. While you can’t realistically fit in your own glasses underneath, you can source prescription lenses that clip magnetically onto the inside of the visor. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4gvGifu3FYg2qcLSiqAEgL.jpg The headset clasps along the sides and back of your head, without any straps over the top. You may think this would exert a lot of pressure on the temples, but even when clasped tight the Magic Leap One remains comfortable – at least, for our 20-minute play session – and Magic Leap seems to have thought through its weight distribution in a smart manner. The Magic Leap One comes in two sizes, with each unit having an adjustable band at the back for fitting to your head’s exact size. The rims around the lenses will block off the corners of your vision somewhat, but the lenses still offer a fairly broad field of view. The controller is much more in line with existing AR / VR headsets on the market. It’s shaped somewhat like an oversized thumb. You clasp it in one hand, using a touch-sensitive trackpad to move through menus, while the motion controls allow you to wave a cursor, slingshot, weapon, or otherwise around in front of you. There are also two buttons on the underside for various uses (in our demo, for ‘firing’ the slingshot), and we’re told that Magic Leap is aiming to patch in support for a second controller for games with more complex inputs. You’re technically untethered, not having to rely on an external PC or computer, though you will need to clip a small disc-shaped device to a pocket or waistband to power the simulations, which connects via a cable to the main headset (it hangs outside your pocket so as not to overheat). http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4F49yD7FR5vohs7SLLrMNM.jpg PerformanceDespite it being a highly-advanced, next-generation augmented reality headset, the Magic Leap One feels pretty natural to use. Rather than hemming you in behind a visor, the AR glasses generate ‘digital light’ at different depths to give the appearance of lifelike objects in your field of vision - all while letting you stay aware of the space around you. Rovio’s Creative Director for Extended Reality, Sami Ronkainen, commented how “in VR systems, you always have displays right in front of your eyes. But with these light displays, you can focus on different distances, which reduces strain on your eyes, and is more like looking at objects in the real world.” http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gcTfgvdFuK4v436HuuWBSZ.png Being able to view AR images in the real world around you means you don’t have the same sense of immersion – and isolation – that you experience when entering an entire other world in VR. You’re in the same room, with the same furniture; there’s just some other stuff there too. In a world increasingly dominated by technology, a headset that doesn’t entirely shut you off from the outside world seems like a pretty attractive way forward – it’s just a shame about the astronomical price tag. We found the Angry Birds game as joyful as any mobile entry, with plenty of added three-dimensional novelty. Built in the Unity game engine, the game’s cartoonish art style and humor come across well in 3D, while the glee of seeing crates collapse and green pigs roll across a real-life table can’t be underestimated. We’re very used to, and bored of, VR games that keep you on the spot while the world arranges itself around you. Playing an AR game that lets you roam around the room, looking for the best angle from which to take down a pile of rickety platforms, feels hugely refreshing. There is a slight sense of disconnect that comes with playing such a rudimentary mobile game on a headset costing over $2,000. As a proof of concept for Magic Leap’s AR technology, though, it’s hard to criticize the experience – and you’ll still get 28 levels and at least 10 hours of playtime in the free title. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NLCgy5JqLyvuwtZtLByf79.jpg Early verdictWhat makes the Magic Leap One so engaging is its awareness of the space that you’re in. It doesn’t just project images into the air, but rather fits them into a physical space. Angry Birds: First Person Slingshot fits itself perfectly to the surface of a living room table. Green pigs roll off onto the floor, or fly out the window. Virtual structures collapse in 360-degree space, just like real ones would. We’d expect to see future iterations of the Magic Leap One improving the user interface further, with additional scope for controllers, a less restrictive vision, and the computing power to create AR experiences on an ever grander scale. But already the sleek design and natural user experience offer a solid basis for developers to start creating interesting and innovative uses for the AR headset. For now, and given its price, the Magic Leap One could hardly be described as a compelling purchase. But if enough developers get on board, and the technology becomes cheap enough to get into more consumers’ hands – and in countries other than the US – it may yet prove worthwhile. Magic Leap One: release date, price and featureshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/-Om3UH-6YIM

Update: The Samsung Galaxy X is all but confirmed to be landing on February 20. Plus, a source claims the Samsung Galaxy X could have 12GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, while another points to two batteries for a total capacity of 6,200mAh. We could have recently gotten our first real look at the Samsung Galaxy X - or Samsung Galaxy F, Samsung Galaxy Fold or Samsung Galaxy Flex as it might be called - at the Samsung Developer Conference. Samsung revealed something huge: its first foldable screen, which opens clamshell-style and flattens out for a tablet-size display. The Infinity Flex Display, as the tech is called, is an entirely new direction for Samsung smartphones that required development of new materials and processes to make it functional. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BfnXQmXeCAy3NtHF8tnfTU.jpg What's less clear is whether we saw the Infinity Flex Display mounted on the Galaxy X itself, or whether that was simply a placeholder phone to show off the screen. Samsung literally revealed it from the shadows to hide the design. You can rewatch Samsung's keynote from the Samsung Developer Conference on if you want to see the possible unveiling of the Galaxy X (skip to 1:23:00).In the meantime, you can read everything we know so far below. The Samsung Galaxy X launch has been rumored for a few years, and the leaks continue to roll in about the firm's fabled foldable, flexible, bendable smartphone. We've gone through all the flexible Samsung smartphone leaks, from the first reports of a folding phone back in 2011 to the most recent reports naming the Samsung Galaxy X, Galaxy Flex and Galaxy F directly. There's a lot to unpack from several years, but it now feels like we're getting close to a Samsung Galaxy X launch date, and things are beginning to get a little clearer on what we may be able to expect. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dhnbrYXirtyddQiz553eAa.jpg Cut to the chaseWhat is it? Samsung's much-rumored folding smartphoneWhen is it out? Probably February 20What will it cost? It'll likely be one of the most expensive phones aroundSamsung Galaxy X release date and priceThe Samsung Galaxy X could land on February 20. That's when Samsung is set to announce the Samsung Galaxy S10 range and Samsung has more or less confirmed in a billboard advert that we'll also see its folding phone there. Apparently the company was planning on an MWC 2019 launch roughly a week later, but has brought it forward to get ahead of Huawei, which itself is rumored to be announcing a foldable phone at MWC. We had previously heard that the phone would get a proper announcement at some point in February, so this isn't totally surprising. Of course, this is just an announcement that we're talking about. The Galaxy X probably wouldn't actually go on sale before March 2019, or maybe until April even. Samsung for its part has said that the phone will launch in the first half of 2019 in "select markets" and that at least 1 million units will be produced. However, it's rumored to be exclusive to the EE network in the UK (with the Samsung store also selling it SIM-free). Whether there will be other network exclusives elsewhere in the world is unknown. You may have to pay a lot for it too, as the latest report, coming from a source that apparently works for Samsung, is that there will be multiple models ranging from around £1,500 (approximately $1,930 / AU$2,660) to £2,000 (roughly $2,570 / AU$3,550). That's even more than earlier estimates, with for example an analyst reckoning previously that the Samsung Galaxy X price could reach ₩2,000,000 (around $1,850, £1,375, AU$2,400). That's a price we've heard more than once, but again, the £1,500-£2,000 price above is more recent. HubblePhone is an insane, dual-screen, folding smartphoneSamsung Galaxy X leaks and newsOur clearest look yet at the possible Galaxy X comes from Samsung showing off the Infinity Flex display it will be using. It's a clamshell design that can be unfolded to provide you with a big tablet screen, or folded down to more of a smartphone size. Prior to that, in November 2017 we got a look at the possible interface of the Galaxy X, revealing a familiarly Samsung UI, but where each half of the display shows a different screen, rather than just making everything bigger or smaller. This interface was shown in a patent, which also gave us another look at the possible design of the phone, showing something with a laptop-like design, but a second screen where the keyboard would be. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hK8pZ424XFfHrEVgyVnsf5.jpg The Samsung Galaxy X could essentially have two screens instead of one (credit: KIPRIS) The announcement of the Galaxy F seems to be on schedule, as in early 2018 an industry source claimed Samsung would likely start producing the phone - which will apparently have a 7.3-inch display - in November 2018, with a launch likely in December or early 2019. That matches what DJ Koh has since claimed. However, given that we only just got a partial look at the phone, a proper launch in early 2019 seems more likely than December. But apparently prototypes of the folding phone had already been shown off behind closed doors back at CES 2018, which took place in January. Meanwhile Samsung's Q4 2017 financial results included claims that foldable OLED panels and phones could be a big money-maker for Samsung in 2018 and beyond - which is yet more evidence that the Galaxy X is coming soon. In May 2018 we heard that Samsung had apparently changed the phone's codename from 'Valley' to 'Winner' and that the final handset will be made up of three 3.5-inch screens, which can be opened out to tablet size or folded like a book. Apparently the screens for this device will be ready by November 2018 and Samsung has created a curved battery for the phone with a capacity of between 3,000mAh and 6,000mAh. That claim is at odds with a newer rumor though, which says the phone will actually have two 3,100mAh batteries, for a 6,200mAh capacity in total. Either way though it sounds like the Galaxy X will have a lot of juice. Recently we've also heard that the Samsung Galaxy F - which could be the launch name for the phone - will have 512GB of storage, dual-SIM support, and the model number SM-F900U. Apparently the firmware is also in testing, which suggests it's coming soon. Another source meanwhile has said there could be either 512GB or 1TB of storage along with 12GB of RAM. Additionally, the Samsung Galaxy X might have a triple-lens rear camera according to one source. They say that it will offer similar performance to the rumored triple-lens camera on the Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, and that it will include a super wide-angle lens. Another report, this time out of the Wall Street Journal, says that the internal name for the phone is the Samsung Galaxy Flex, so that also could be what it launches as. Samsung Galaxy X: 8 years in the makingThe idea of a foldable phone isn’t new to Samsung, in fact way back in 2011 the company showed off a prototype of exactly that. The device looked chunky and awkward, but even back then it somewhat worked, remaining intact after 100,000 folds, with only a 6% drop in brightness at the center, where all the folding action happened. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dKMhmcgcha824VKGp7Dtqg.jpg A foldable phone (not the Galaxy X) shown off by Samsung in 2011 This clearly wasn’t a commercial product, but later that year Samsung launched a concept video (see it below) of a fully bendable (and transparent) mobile device. It could fold out from a phone-sized screen to a tablet-sized one, showing Samsung's ambitions for the technology. Now, technology hasn't advanced quite this far, so don't expect the Samsung Galaxy X to be just a folding screen - but the vision is an interesting one. While a device like the one in the video above is still years away, by 2012 Samsung was already hard at work trying to launch the first generation of flexible or foldable phones, but a report late in the year claimed that problems with the production of flexible screens would hold the first bendy display back until at least 2013. That didn’t stop Samsung showing off another video of a foldable future though, highlighting all sorts of transparent screens, made from plastic that’s thin, light and flexible enough to fully fold or roll. And as 2012 came to a close it seemed Samsung might be overcoming its production problems, with another report claiming that its flexible plastic screens were in the final stage of development, with the first phones sporting them likely to land in mid-2013. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/xy7cRkFGbmkpCTxkfyyGHC.jpg Samsung's foldable display on stage at CES 2013 (credit: Engadget) Samsung’s bendy plastic screens got a more real-world debut at CES 2013, along with a name – they were now called 'Youm', though it was clear from the flexible prototype on show that Samsung was still far from putting a Youm display on a commercial device. That was made even more clear when the tech was reportedly hit with new manufacturing issues in April 2013. Supposedly the previous problems had been solved, but now Samsung was apparently struggling with the encapsulation technology, which protects the screen from moisture and air damage. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/bc36ff9a4490465318d49ec9003e7b40.jpg The Samsung Galaxy Round - the starting point for the Samsung Galaxy X? The closest thing we actually got to a foldable phone from Samsung in 2013 was the Samsung Galaxy Round. This was far from the prototypes and concepts we’d seen, but as the world’s first curved screen smartphone it was a big step in the right direction. That was followed up by the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, which curved in a now more familiar direction, one which Samsung has since fully embraced and features in its latest flagship handsets including the Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S9 and S9 Plus. These are still far from being foldable, and while a Samsung executive did promise a truly bendable device by the end of 2014, whatever he was referring to never appeared. Talk of foldable phones went a bit quiet until mid-2015, when it was rumored that an upcoming phone codenamed Project Valley could be foldable. At this point little was known about the device, which would apparently have two screens, but it was said to be in early development, so was unlikely to arrive for a while, if at all. In September 2015 an "insider" claimed that we’d see a bendable phone in January 2016. It wasn’t clear whether this was Project Valley or not, but apparently it would come in both mid-range and high-end flavors. Though, of course, it didn’t arrive at all. In May 2016 Project Valley got a new name – the Samsung Galaxy X, which was believed to be the name it would release under. According to reports at the time it would be ready for release in 2017 and would have a foldable 4K display, so that the resolution would remain high even when the phone was folded. We were sceptical about that launch date at the time, and were right to be, as we're now in 2018 and still haven't seen it - though we might be about to. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/MtBzFgmaVJbV4Y4AhUGR2Z.jpg Samsung's roll-up, non-touch display at SID 2016 But that’s not quite the full story so far. At SID 2016 Samsung showed off a roll-out display (above) – but one which didn’t have a touchscreen layer, which would be pretty vital for a smartphone. Then in June 2017 "people familiar with the matter" reported that we might see two foldable phones from Samsung in 2017 - backing up those previous Galaxy X reports. Supposedly one would fold out from a 5-inch handset to an 8-inch tablet, much like the concept video Samsung showed back at the beginning of our story, while the other would fold in half like a cosmetic compact, along the lines of a folding phone patent we'd already seen. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mBe3jx3dfB8nBJkREeEfWG.jpg This 2017 launch didn't happen, but Samsung was clearly on the right track, with another patent looking to solve one of the biggest problems with folding phones – the ability to fold without damaging any internal components. The patent described an "artificial muscle", which would move in time with the screen bending to protect other components. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/n3ztE9bxNgYRc3j6xWoPC5.jpg Is this the Samsung Galaxy X? (credit: GalaxyClub) Another patent, spotted by GalaxyClub, highlighted a long device, with a shape more like a remote control than a smartphone, but one which could fold down to half the size. The shape doesn’t seem particularly practical, so we doubt this is the form the Galaxy X will take, but it’s vaguely along the lines of the phone-to-tablet convertible we’ve been hearing about, and a similar design has popped up since. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/St5AjriDvsMmkxdMfs3B66.jpg (credit: LetsGoDigital) One of the more recent bits of information that may point to the foldable X looks different than previous info. Much like the ZTE Axon M that came out in 2017, images from a patent filing (shown above) show off a bezel-licious device that folds in a clamshell design. So there were lots of signs of the phone being developed, and according to some sources, more than 100,000 units were going to roll out in the third quarter of 2017 - though they added that plans for a 2017 launch could apparently be changed, which has clearly happened if any such plans ever existed. That gelled with a tweet from tipster @mmddj_china, who claimed the Galaxy X would land in Q3 of 2017 - which again, obviously, did not happen. Elsewhere we were hearing that Samsung would only have a prototype ready by then, and supply chain sources speaking to DigiTimes said that a small production of foldable handsets would be made in Q4 of the year, but technical issues may mean we wouldn't see mass production before mid-2018 - yet another false prophecy. Other sources similarly said that several thousand dual-screen prototypes might land in 2017, but that a commercially available product wouldn't. One of Samsung Display's own engineers has claimed we haven't seen a foldable phone yet "because the bezel-free display currently sells well, we still have enough time to develop foldable display. The technology is expected to be mature around 2019." Although more recent news comes direct from Samsung's mobile boss, and is a little better, as he claimed the company was aiming for a 2018 launch, assuming it could overcome certain unspecified problems. Though he's since slightly backtracked on those claims. More recently still he's said that rather than being the first the company's goal is to make meaningful products and "roll out new products worth paying for". A polished product is probably worth waiting for, but it seems the wait might almost be over, because, as noted above, Samsung has now shown off aspects of its folding phone, which is a good thing too, as the foldable Royole FlexPai phone is already available. LG is working on foldable screens toohttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ExWNkJQsMZk

The topic of enterprises moving to the cloud has become ubiquitous within tech, as more and more companies recognise that legacy infrastructure can no longer cut it. Businesses are realising that they need to use data to differentiate themselves from the competition. However, while it has long been accepted that there will be a shift from on-prem to off-prem, the question now is to what extent that will happen, as well as how exactly it will play out. Last year saw cloud technology infrastructure maturing, with IDC predicting in January that $160 billion would be spent on cloud services worldwide – a 23.2% increase over 2017. This proved especially important for emerging use cases such as machine learning, which need powerful back-end tools. One example of this was Ocado Technology, which developed custom ML algorithms to predict and recognise potential fraud incidents, tapping into data taken from past orders. This year, however, will see businesses increasingly turning to the cloud to solve more complex problems. Regardless of whether those problems are data-centric, focus on growth ambitions or come out of wanting to respond to consumer demands faster, the agility and ramped-up processing power offered by the cloud will be crucial for enterprises in 2019. But how can businesses take advantage of the cloud in the year ahead? http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UaFuUvFHD33sqtSyfAuvPh.jpg A great user experience will continue to be the main driver for competitive differentiationToday, it is easy for us as consumers to retrieve information and access entertainment, browse online shops, make and maintain social connections and get what we want via personal devices. This mobile and internet-enabled landscape continues to propel new expectations in the way we want to consume the products and services we love. In the modern era we are reaching for the internet to look for even mundane items online. We expect instant gratification, with same day delivery and same day travel showing enormous growth, and we expect to be enthusiastically assisted at every touch point. These changes present huge opportunities for businesses operating in the cloud. However, in order to benefit from these opportunities, enterprises need to ensure that customers and clients are their core focus. The organisations that will succeed are those who not only put an emphasis on a great user experience, but also predict changing user habits, and course correct, fast. Agility, iterative software development practices and a culture of continuous innovation has become essential for keeping pace with rapid change – but getting ahead of this demands an ability to extract meaningful insights from large and distributed data sets in real time. The increased processing power offered by the cloud is key in enabling this. Established businesses can drive the next wave of disruptionFor the past decade we have come to expect that disruption will appear in the form of a scrappy, agile software startup. However, while it is true that incumbents are often disadvantaged by cultural inertia and legacy, many are well on their way to becoming truly agile, bringing software development back in-house, adopting the latest iterative techniques and utilising the tooling and modern cloud platforms that enable collaboration and rapid application development at scale. Alan Coad, Manage Director at Google Cloud UK & Ireland We've also highlighted the best cloud computing serviceshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/0SQBsEror-o

John Lewis is having a good old fashioned clear out and that apparently means it has no room for the excellent 2017 edition of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro on its shelves any more. Not that we're complaining when an iPad Pro price this low appears. The 12.9-inch iPad Pro is usually incredibly expensive. Actually, this version was originally £899, but today it's available for just £649 at John Lewis. Better yet, this is for the 4G cellular version, so you can pop in a data SIM card if you want to access the online features when away from Wi-Fi. That's entirely optional though, so you don't have to shell out for a data deal at all if you don't want. Plus, this iPad Pro deal is cheaper than the cheapest regular 2017 iPad Pro of this size, so you're not paying anything extra for a feature you might not want. Why this over a 2018 iPad Pro deal?The main reason we're super excited about this iPad Pro price is the epic saving. If you wanted the most modern version of the 12.9-inch super tablet, then it would cost you £949.99 at Amazon today - and that's for a standard Wi-Fi version with no SIM card slot. It's generally £969.99 at most stores too. Sure, the 2018 edition has those lovely curved corners on the screen and super small bezels, but internally, it's not massively more powerful than the 2017 version. So in terms of raw value as things stand today, going for the 2017 edition is a no-brainer at this price. If you'd like to compare all your options, check out our full iPad Pro prices and deals page. If the Pros sound like they might be a bit much for your needs, you could save even more money by checking out all the regular iPad prices. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/g1DOOSiZDYc

PR-wise, social media has really had a rough few years. After it was somewhat naively triumphed as an unambiguous force for good in the wake of the Arab Spring, people are waking up to its dangers. We’ve already covered the inconvenient truth that our brains may not be evolved enough to cope with it, and the awkward realisation that fake news and trolling could be a feature rather than a bug – but it’s hard not to have some sympathy for the companies struggling with the scale of a sociological experiment that’s unprecedented in human history. Every day, over 65 years’ worth of video footage is uploaded to YouTube. Over 350 million photos are posted on Facebook. “Hundreds of millions” of tweets are sent, the majority of which are ignored. There was one we knew was a terrorist – he was on the most wanted list, If you followed him on Twitter, Twitter would recommend other terroristsClint Watts, FBI All of these statistics are at least a year out of date – the companies have broadly come to the collective conclusion that transparency isn’t actually an asset – so it’s almost certain that the numbers are actually much higher. But even with these lower figures, employing the number of humans required to moderate all this content effectively would be impossible, so artificial intelligence does the heavy lifting. And that can spell trouble. If you’re skeptical about the amount of work AI now does for social media, this anecdote from former FBI agent Clint Watts should give you pause for thought. Watts and his team were tracking terrorists on Twitter. “There was one we knew was a terrorist – he was on the most wanted list,” Watts explained during a panel discussion at Mozilla’s Mozfest. “If you followed him on Twitter, Twitter would recommend other terrorists.” When Watts and his team highlighted the number of terrorists on the platform to Twitter, the company was evasive. “They'd be, 'you don't know that,'” Watts said. “Actually, your algorithm told me they're on your platform – that's how we figured it out. They know the location and behind the scenes they know you're communicating with people who look like you and sound like you." At its heart, this is the problem with all recommendation algorithms for social media: because most of us don’t use social media like the FBI, it’s a fairly safe bet that you follow things because you like them, and if you like them it follows that you would also enjoy things that are similar. Tracking the wrong metricsThis reaches its unfortunate end state with YouTube: a company that measures success largely on the number of videos consumed and the time spent watching. It doesn’t really matter what you’re absorbing, just that you are. YouTube’s algorithms exploit this mercilessly, and there are coal-mine canaries raising the alarm on this. Guillaume Chaslot is a former YouTube software engineer who founded AlgoTransparency: a bot that follows 1,000 channels on YouTube every day to see how its choices affect the site’s recommended content. It’s an imperfect solution, but in the absence of actual transparency from Google, it does a pretty good job of shining a light on how the company is influencing young minds. And it’s not always pretty. “The day before the [Pittsburgh] synagogue attack, the video that was most recommended was a David Icke video about George Soros controlling the world's money, shared to 40 channels, despite having only 800 views,” Chaslot told an audience on the Mozfest AI panel. We checked later, and he’s right: here’s the day on AlgoTransparency, although clicking through now shows that its been watched over 75,000 times. While it would be a pretty big leap to associate a synagogue attack with YouTube pushing a conspiracy theory about a prominent Jewish billionaire – especially a video that appears to have, comparatively speaking, bombed at the time – it’s not a good look for Google. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eQANrXZQpWKiGNXp5SYQQP.jpg Albotransparency is a bot that attempts to unpick YouTube's recommendation algorithm “It makes sense from from the algorithmic point of view, but from the society point of view, to have like an algorithm deciding what's important or not? It doesn't make any sense,” Chaslot told us in an interview after the panel. Indeed, the algorithm is hugely successful in terms of growth, but as others have reported, it has a tendency to push people to the extremes as this New York Times experiment demonstrates. It seems as if you are never ‘hard core’ enough for YouTube’s recommendation algorithm. Videos about vegetarianism led to videos about veganism. Videos about jogging led to videos about running ultramarathonsZeynep Tufekci “It seems as if you are never ‘hard core’ enough for YouTube’s recommendation algorithm,” wrote the author Zeynep Tufekci in the piece. “Videos about vegetarianism led to videos about veganism. Videos about jogging led to videos about running ultramarathons.” Some of us have the willpower to walk away, but an algorithm trained on billions of people has gotten pretty good at keeping others on the hook for one last video. “For me,YouTube tries to push plane landing videos because they have a history of me watching plane landing videos,” says Chaslot. “I don't want to watch plane landing videos, but when I see one I can't restrain myself from clicking on it,” he laughs. Provoking divisionExploiting human attention isn’t just good for lining the pockets of social media giants and the YouTube stars who seem to have stumbled upon the secret formula of viral success. It’s also proved a handy tool for terrorists spreading propaganda and nation states looking to sow discord throughout the world. The Russian political adverts exposed in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal were curiously non-partisan in nature, seeking to stir conflict between groups, rather than clearly siding with one party or another. And just as YouTube’s algorithm finds divisive extremes get results, so have nation states. “It's one part human, one part tech,” Watts told TechRadar after the panel discussion was over. “You have to understand the humans in order to be duping them, you know, if you're trying to influence them with disinformation or misinformation.” You have to understand the humans in order to be duping them, you know, if you're trying to influence them with disinformation or misinformation.Clint Watts, FBI Russia has been particularly big on this: its infamous St Petersburg ‘troll factory’ grew from 25 to over 1,000 employees in two years. Does Watts think that nation states have been surprised at just how effective social media has been at pushing political goals? “I mean, Russia was best at it,” he says. “They've always understood that sort of information warfare and they used it on their own populations. I think it was more successful than they even anticipated. “Look, it plays to or authoritarians and it's used either to suppress in repressive regimes or to mess with liberal democracies. So, yeah, I mean cost to benefit its it's the next extension of of cyberwarfare.” Exploiting the algorithmsAlthough the algorithms that explain why posts, tweets and videos sink or swim are kept completely under wraps (Chaslot says that even his fellow YouTube programmers couldn’t explain why one video may be exploding), nation states have the time and resources to figure it out in a way that regular users just don’t. “Big state actors – the usual suspects – they know how the algorithms works, so they're able to impact it much better than individual YouTubers or people who watch YouTube,” Chaslot says. For that reason, he would like to see YouTube make its algorithm a lot more clear: after all, if nation states are already gaming it effectively, then what’s the harm in giving regular users a fairer roll of the dice? A lot of alt-right conspiracy theories get extremely amplified by the algorithm, but they still complain about being censored, so reality doesn't matter to themGuillaume Chaslot, AlgoTransparency It’s not just YouTube, either. Russian and Iranian trouble makers have proved effective at gaming Facebook’s algorithms, according to Chaslot, particularly taking advantage of its preference for pushing posts from smaller groups. “You had an artificial intelligence that says, 'Hey, when you have a small group you're very likely to be interested in what it posts.' So they created these hundreds of thousands of very tiny groups that grew really fast.” Why have social media companies been reluctant to tackle their algorithmic issues? Firstly, as anybody who has worked for a website will tell you, problems are prioritised according to size, and in pure numbers, these are small fry. As Chaslot explains, if for example 1% of users get radicalized by extreme content, or made to believe conspiracy theories, well, it’s just 1%. That’s a position it’s very easy to empathise with – until you remember that 1% of two billion is 20 million. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5826f749f5866f01c5c428364e67626c.jpg Censorship and oppression can be powerful tools in the hands of propagandists But more than that, how can you measure mental impact? Video watch time is easy, but how can you tell if a video is influencing somebody for the worse until they act upon it? Even then, how can you prove that it was that video, that post, that tweet that pushed them over the edge? “When I talk to some of the Googlers, they were like 'some people having fun watching flat Earth conspiracy theories, they find them hilarious', and that's true,” says Chaslot. “But some of them are also in Nigeria where Boko Haram uses a flat Earth conspiracy to go and shoot geography teachers.” Aside from that, there’s also the difficulty of how much social media companies intervene. One of the most powerful weapons in the propagandist’s arsenal is to claim that they’re being censored, and doing so would play directly into their hands. “We see alt-right conspiracy theorists saying that they are being decreased on YouTube, which is absolutely not true,” says Chaslot. “You can see it on AlgoTransparency: a lot of alt-right conspiracy theories get extremely amplified by the algorithm, but they still complain about being censored, so reality doesn't matter to them.” They can change their terms of service all they want, [but] the manipulators are always going to dance inside whatever the changes areClint Watt, FBI Despite this, the narrative of censorship and oppression has even been picked up by the President of the United States, so how can companies rein in their algorithms in such a way that isn’t seen to be disguising a hidden agenda? “They're in a tough spot,” concedes Watt. “They can't really screen news without being seen as biased, and their terms of service is really only focused around violence or threats of violence. A lot of this is like mobilising to violence, maybe, but it's not specifically like ‘go attack this person’. They can change their terms of service all they want, [but] the manipulators are always going to dance inside whatever the changes are.” This last point is important, and social networks are constantly amending their terms of service to catch out new issues as they arise, but inevitably they can’t catch everything. “You can't flag a video because it's untrue,” says Chaslot. “I mean they had to make a specific rule in the terms of service saying 'you can't harass survivors of mass shootings'. It doesn't make sense. You have to make rules for everything and then take down things.” Can we fix it?Despite this, Watts believes that social media companies are beginning to take the various problems seriously. “I think Facebook's moved a long way in a very short time,” he says, although he believes companies may be reaching the limits of what can be done unilaterally. “They'll hit a point where they can't do much more unless you have governments and intelligence services cooperating with the social media companies saying ‘we know this account is not who they say they are’ and you're having a little bit of that in the US, but it'll have to grow just like we did against terrorism. This is exactly what we did against terrorism.” From the regulators' perspective, they don't understand tech as well as they understand donuts and tobaccoClint Watts, FBI Watts doesn’t exactly seem optimistic of regulators’ ability to get on top of the problem, though. “From the regulators' perspective, they don't understand tech as well as they understand donuts and tobacco,” he says. “We saw that when Mark Zuckerberg testified to the senate of the United States. There were very few that really understood how to ask him questions. “They really don't know what to do to not kill the industry. And certain parties want the industry killed so they can move their audiences to apps, so they can use artificial intelligence to better control the minds of their supporters." http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wBEd6bFb8rPWmzdk8tM4oT.jpg FBI agent Clint Watts says the US Senate's questioning of Mark Zuckerberg showed how little regulators understand about technology Not that this is all on government: far from it. “What was Facebook's thing? 'Move fast and break things?' And they did, they broke the most important thing: trust. If you move so fast that you break trust, you don't have an industry. Any industry you see take off like a rocket, I'm always waiting to see it come down like a rocket too.” There is one positive to take from this article though, and it’s that the current tech and governmental elite are being replaced by younger generations that seem more aware of internet pitfalls. As Watts says, young people are better at spotting fake information than their parents, and they give privacy a far higher priority than those of us taken in by the early social movers and shakers. “Anecdotally, I mostly talk to old people in the US and I give them briefings,” says Watts. “Their immediate reaction is 'we've got to tell our kids about this.' I say: 'no, no – your kids have to tell you about this.'” How to delete your Facebook accounthttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/l78WNWhfR3I

Apple is exploring the possibility of using modem chips from Samsung and MediaTek for a 5G-enabled version of the iPhone. The revelation is the latest to emerge from the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust probe against Qualcomm, which is accused of engaging in anticompetitive behaviour to maintain its dominance of the modem market. Qualcomm was the sole supplier of iPhone modem chips between 2011 and 2016, before Apple split the contract with Intel. Intel became the exclusive provider to the iPhone in 2018. Everything you need to know about 5G Qualcomm AppleReuters reports that Tony Blevins, head of Apple’s supply chain, told a court in San Jose, California that it was general practice for the company to look at between two and six suppliers for every component. However, it signed an exclusive agreement with Qualcomm because it offered unspecified patent rebates in exchange. He added that Apple had looked at using Intel chips for the iPad Mini 2 in 2013 but abandoned the idea because it would be required to forfeit those rebates. The relationship between Apple and Qualcomm soured soon after, and Intel joined the fray soon after. Apple is still keen on having multiple suppliers, hence discussions with Samsung and MediaTek, even though Blevins admitted that having to deal with Samsung was not ideal due to the fact the Korean giant is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer and a key rival in the market. Blevins did not offer any indication as to who would become the 5G modem supplier and when the 5G iPhone would arrive. It is widely thought Apple will wait until 2020. As part of the same case, Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf defended a $1 billion incentive payment made to Apple in exchange for exclusivity. He said that Apple had insisted on a payment – meant to ease the technical costs of switching to Qualcomm’s components – without guaranteeing how many chips would be bought. Mollenkopf said it had wanted exclusivity to ensure that Apple would purchase enough to make the payment viable. Antitrust investigators argue this payment is a sign of abuse of market position, something Qualcomm denies. Apple and Qualcomm are engaged in their own wide-ranging legal dispute. Qualcomm has frequently claimed Apple has violated its patents, while Apple says Qualcomm is abusing its dominant position in the market and charging extortionate fees. Here are the best iPhone deals for January 2019http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/nicAfTsLeqk

Today is an important date to note for Windows 7 users, because in exactly a year’s time, on January 14, 2020, all support for the operating system will cease, meaning that Microsoft will no longer deliver updates or critical security patches. In other words, you’ve only got a year left before you need to consider moving to Windows 10 (or some manner of alternative). Mainstream support for Windows 7 ended back in January 2015, but extended support, whereby Microsoft continues to deliver updates and fixes any vulnerabilities in the OS, runs for a further five years. So as mentioned, that means it all comes to a grinding halt in January 2020. At that point, if holes are found in the OS which allow exploits to be leveraged by malicious types, there won’t be any patches provided, so you will continue to use the operating system at your own risk. Of course, when it comes to businesses, they will be able to negotiate for extended support to continue – but companies will have to pay for the privilege. Forced migrationAll in all, this should mean that Windows 10 adoption will increase further next year, as many of those who have stuck with Windows 7 are forced to migrate. Unless the diehard holdouts choose an alternative path such as one of the many flavors of Linux, or simply stick with unsupported Windows 7, a choice many Windows XP users made (and still do, even to this day). Windows 7 has remained popular in many quarters, and indeed Windows 10 only overtook the old OS this month according to one set of figures that measures desktop operating system market share. Windows 8 is next on the chopping block, of course, and extended support for that flavor of Windows will cease come January 2023. The Microsoft Store has already stopped accepting apps for Windows 8/8.1 from developers. You can always grab a cheap Windows 10 dealVia Windows Latest http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/_4a7ji7kXnc

We've already heard rumors that the replacement for Canon's ageing 50.6MP EOS 5DS DSLR is likely to be mirrorless, with those rumors suggesting the new camera will sport a sensor delivering more than 75MP. Northlight has now been told this number could in fact hit 100MP, and if that turns out to be the case it would push the camera way beyond current mirrorless offerings, with more than double the pixel count of the 42.2MP Sony Alpha A7R III and both of Nikon's offerings, the 45.7MP D850 and 45.7MP Z7. Although it's not quite a fair comparison, it would also potentially see the new Canon EOS R mirrorless model competing with medium-format rivals like Fujifilm's forthcoming 100MP GFX 100S. Speaking of medium-format, Northlight's source also understands that development work on a Canon medium-format product line has been discontinued. What else do we know about Canon's potential high-resolution full-frame mirrorless camera? On top of the expected 100MP sensor, we could also see the arrival of in-body image stabilization (IBIS) according to CanonRumors.com. Evidently IBIS wasn't ready for the EOS R release, although prototypes with IBIS were being tested before launch. The absence of IBIS has been a bit of a black mark against the EOS R, so we'd expect Canon to include this tech in future camera releases. We're unlikely to see a 100MP camera this year though, with a 2020 launch more likely – Canon will need to bolster its native RF lens offering beforehand to take full advantage of a 100MP sensor. Camera rumors: the biggest and best camera rumors aroundhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/R0tEKpbWKjo

With Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked 2019 event scheduled for February 20, it's always been assumed that the company's upcoming Galaxy S10 smartphone range would be officially revealed at the conference. Now, it seems it won't be alone – thanks to some not-so-cryptic billboards installed at the famous Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, it appears that Samsung's highly-anticipated foldable phone will also be officially unveiled at the event. Written in Hangeul, which is the South Korean alphabet, the billboards read “미래를 펼치다” and “이월 이십일”, which translates to “The future unfolds” and “February twentieth.” http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/A5yYQJPKDzizKzC3tYVh9o.jpg Samsung's delightfully unsubtle messages back up previous claims that the Galaxy X (or Galaxy F, as it's also known) would be making an appearance at the event, which will be held just one week prior to MWC 2019. As clear as all of this may seem, we can't confirm anything at this stage – you'll have to tune in to Samsung's live stream, which will be hosted on its website, at 11am PT (2pm ET, 7pm GMT) on February 20 to see what Samsung truly has in store for us. Samsung Galaxy X: the brand's first foldable phonehttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/fHCaKGxVqNU

Eager to take the fight to Chinese smartphone manufacturers, Samsung is planning to launch a new range of budget Galaxy M series phones in 2019, with the handsets expected to arrive in India first, as reported by Reuters. Samsung's decision to debut the new budget handset line in India is believed to be a direct result of the South Korean company's market share having recently been overtaken by Xiaomi in the region. Expected to arrive in India by the end of January (or around a month before the flagship Galaxy S10 is revealed), the Galaxy M10, M20 and M30 will be sold exclusively through Samsung's online store and Amazon's Indian site, with plans for a full global rollout to come shortly after. Cheap... but good “The M series has been built around and incepted around Indian millennial consumers,” said Asim Warsi, head of Samsung's mobile business in India, telling Reuters that the new phones are expected to bring about a doubling in online sales of Samsung phones in the country. Though specs for the M Series are still unconfirmed, Warsi has stated that the phones will feature large batteries and fast charging, backing up previous rumors that the M20 would feature a massive 5,000mAh battery – the largest of any Samsung handset to date. Developed and made in India, the M Series handsets will be priced from 10,000 rupees (around $142 / £110 / AU$197) to 20,000 rupees (around $284 / £220 / AU$394). Photo credit: Patently Apple At the other end of the spectrum is the Samsung Galaxy X: the Korean brand's first foldable phonehttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/5tm2_ltnr7w

For subscribers of Nintendo’s Switch Online service, the platform allows for online multiplayer as well as offering a capable emulator of the gaming company’s debut console – the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Eagle-eyed Twitter user Kapu has spotted some clues hidden within Nintendo Switch Online’s coding that lists 22 SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System) titles that Kapu expects will be arriving with the service, joining the existing 20 NES games already on offer. The list is full of classic titles such as Super Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past, Yoshi’s Island, Star Fox, F-ZERO, Super Metroid and more, and if it proves accurate, will help boost the value of the Online service considerably. Best Nintendo Switch Online Games: 11 best online games for co-op and versus multiplayerSuper Mario KartSuper SoccerLegend of Zelda: Link to the PastDemon's CrestYoshi's islandStunt Race FXKirby's Dream CoursePop'n TwinbeeStar FoxContra 3Kirby Super StarSuper Ghouls 'n GhostsKirby's Dream Land 3Super MetroidSuper Mario WorldPilotwingsF-ZEROStar Fox 2Super Punch-OutThe Legend of the Mystical NinjaSuper Mario All-StarsBreath of Fire 2Obviously we don’t know if this list is accurate, let alone when these games will actually arrive on the service, or if they will at all, but the promise of having both a NES and SNES library on the portable Nintendo Switch is certainly alluring. While the NES emulator arrived with all 20 titles playable at launch, Nintendo may well take a different approach with these SNES games, releasing them sequentially over a period of weeks or months. Either way, we’ll have to wait and see what Nintendo has in store for us with its revival of the SNES and its games, but in the meantime, be sure to check out our list of the best online Nintendo Switch titles. Nintendo Switch Online: the paid service for NES games, cloud saves, and online multiplayerhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/x7Bn641cBN8

What better way to bring in the new year than to get that fit and healthy feeling with tennis? Yup, Grand Slam tennis is back for 2019 with the Australian Open from Melbourne. That means big prizes and fierce competition - and you can get an Australian Open live stream from absolutely anywhere that you are with this handy guide. The favorites to take away the silverware this year on the men's side of the draw are (as ever) Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, while Serena Williams is the woman to watch once again - the seven-time champion will want to let her tennis do the talking after that melt down in last season's US Open final. This may also be the last time we see Brit Andy Murray in big tournament action, with injury threatening his career. But the pros should be well catered for Down Under, with Australian Open Director Craig Tiley saying: "The players will see huge changes onsite in January, with what we believe are the best player facilities in world sport. "We have a new ‘Player Pod’ – a massive new four-storey structure beside Rod Laver Arena – and we can’t wait to unveil it in 2019. Everything from new locker rooms, restaurants and lounges, medical, treatment and training facilities have been designed with the players’ comfort and convenience in mind." Here's how you can live stream all the Australian Open 2019 tennis action from wherever you are in the world. See also: how to watch every single Premier League football game live from anywherehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/D39crXd3gob7KPsE3LAFUo.jpg How to live stream Australian Open tennis for FREE in AustraliaChannel Nine has secured the rights to broadcast all the action from the Australian Open for 2019 - a change from the norm, as Seven has had it up until now. So for those with access to the channel it's as easy as switching on the TV or using the app to enjoy all the action. There's also the option of using a VPN if you're away from home and still want to catch that Australian Open coverage. There are more details on how to do that immediately below. Live stream the Australian Open tennis 2019 from anywhere in the world For watching options in the UK, US, Canada and New Zealand, we have more details below - just scroll down the page. Check out our guide to the best VPN 2019http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/x4WvmjGdnEUCFeqhMUrnWo.jpg How to watch the Australian Open 2019: US live streamFor US residents, the Australian Open action will be broadcast by ESPN. That means those with access can enjoy it on TV as part of their usual subscription package. Don't already have ESPN or are a cable cutter that still wants to watch the Grand Slam tennis action? Then you have the option to go for ESPN+ instead for a mere $4.99 per month. So that gets you all of the best action from Melbourne, including the finals. As well as watching on your laptop or desktop computer, supported devices include Fire TV, PS4, Roku, Xbox One, Apple TV and Chromecast, with apps for Android and iOS as well. What's more, ESPN+ also has a FREE 7-day trial option. So if you're only interested in the all-important second-week action, you could always just wait until next Monday and then sign up to live stream absolutely free of charge. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/B9XNGCRYNHKJzN5zVfTMje.jpg How to live stream Australian Open tennis in the UKThis year UK residents will be able to catch the Australian Open action via Eurosport which has secured the broadcasting rights to the tennis Grand Slam event. That means you'll need to have a subscription to enjoy everything from your TV. This can be attained via Sky, Virgin Media, TVPlayer and the Eurosport app to name but a few options. It costs £9.99 per month, or £4.99 if you commit to a whole year. Alternatively, if you already have an Amazon Prime Video subscription (or fancy getting one), then it has an offer where you can get six months of Eurosport for just 1p per month. Outstanding value if you're a big tennis fan, as the service also has the rights to show the French Open later in the year. Plus, if you haven't used it before, you can get a 30-day FREE trial to Prime Video, too! Not in the UK this fortnight? Then don't panic, as downloading and installing a VPN as described above will let you watch via the above services as if you were back in blighty. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jgvvohCEmS99W9XuRfJMSo.jpg The best way to stream the Australian Open 2019 in CanadaIn Canada the rights to all the Grand Slams are owned by TSN, and the 2019 Australian Open is no exception. So that means you can access this via your TV, online or on the TSN app if you have access to the service. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kZWNrTtXZs7Ep2c7452KSo.jpg The best way to stream the Australian Open in New ZealandIn New Zealand you're going to be able to catch all the action on Sky NZ, although this is obviously a paid-for service. It includes access on mobile and tablets via the Sky Go app. If you want to catch it but are out of New Zealand over the fortnight, you can use a VPN to access the tennis coverage. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ebGZgkd4qVX7mUuvz3WNkH.jpg Image courtesy of Amazon http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/zipjp2zlb0I

Update: The OnePlus 7 could use the Snapdragon 855 chipset, be one of the first phones with 5G and have 10GB of RAM. The OnePlus 6T released last fall held up the company's tradition of flagship specs and features at a midrange price, but we're already starting to hear about the company's next phone, the OnePlus 7. Mind you, it's not much yet - OnePlus is keeping mum on how its next phone will improve on the OnePlus 6T, which included the first in-screen fingerprint sensor on a phone sold in Europe and the US. But the Chinese company has stated that the OnePlus 7 will accomplish a different milestone: it may be one of the first phones to come with a Snapdragon 855 chipset. We’ll be sure to add any leaks and rumors on the OnePlus 7 to this page when we hear them. In the meantime, here’s what we hope the phone will offer, along with some speculation about it. The OnePlus 7 will be the first phone to feature a Snapdragon 855Cut to the chaseWhat is it? The next numbered phone from OnePlusWhen is it out? Likely mid-2019What will it cost? Probably at least $549 / £499 / AU$599OnePlus 7 release date and priceThe OnePlus 7 will probably land sometime in the middle of 2019. The OnePlus 6 was announced in May 2018, so May 2019 is a possibility for the OnePlus 7, though we got the OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 3 in June of their respective years, so June 2019 is also a possible launch period. One outside possibility is that we'll see it on January 15, as OnePlus has teased that something is happening on that date, but that's so far removed from when we're expecting to see it that we're very skeptical. There’s no word on what the OnePlus 7 will cost, but the OnePlus 6T started at $549 / £499 / AU$599 and prices have been gradually creeping up since the range began, so we’d expect the OnePlus 7 will cost at least that much if not more. However, in the US you might be able to buy it from a carrier for the first time, as this is something OnePlus has said it's looking into, so you might not have to pay the whole cost upfront. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/i6uhakXJpzwRK6RRnnXavR.jpg The OnePlus range isn't as cheap as it once was OnePlus 7 news and rumorsThe big rumor about the OnePlus 7 so far is a claim from the company that it will launch one of the first 5G phones next year. The OnePlus 7 isn't named, but that's likely what they're talking about (though the company's first 5G-capable phone might end up being the next one released, the OnePlus 7T). Likewise, the company announced it will release the first 5G phone in Europe. OnePlus is partnering with the UK network EE to bring said phone to the UK at some point in 2019, though we don't know more than that - especially whether they're referring to the OnePlus 7 or 7T. But it's entirely possible that the OnePlus 7 won't be the 5G-connected phone the company has been talking about. Sources said that the 5G device will be the first in an entirely new line, and another rumor hinted that it may start at $649 (or $100 more than the 6T). We've seen one leaked photo of the OnePlus 7 that suggests the notch is going to go away completely – possibly to be replaced by a slide-out camera. The bezels are looking smaller than ever, and we wouldn't be disappointed if this ended up being the final design of the OnePlus 7. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8tkgy2iXZBiNBgXDZZhJWB.jpg OnePlus 7 leak (credit: Slash Leaks) Beyond that, the phone will probably have a glass back, since OnePlus only recently switched to glass with the OnePlus 6 and OnePlus 6T. It’s likely to also have an alert slider, since previous handsets in the range do, and it’s sure to have the best Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset available - the Snapdragon 855, which has now been announced and could offer a massive performance boost on the Snapdragon 845. The OnePlus 7 is sure to also have loads of RAM. The OnePlus 6T tops out at 8GB and the company is about to launch the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition which is rumored to have 10GB of RAM, so the OnePlus 7 may well match that. Don’t expect a microSD card slot though based on past form and the screen resolution is very much a question mark – OnePlus has consistently stuck with Full HD resolutions, but that’s feeling ever more dated so sooner or later we’d expect a switch to QHD or higher. Since the 6T got rid of the headphone jack, it's likely OnePlus won't bring it back for the 7. What we want to seeWe don’t know anything much about the OnePlus 7 yet but based on the OnePlus 6 and what’s going on in the rest of the phone world we know what we want from it. 1. A QHD screenhttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KYENBUmNsWqjUzFPMWNFTQ.jpg The OnePlus 6 has a good screen, but it could stand to be sharper OnePlus always packs its phones full of cutting-edge specs and features, yet it always sticks with a Full HD screen, which isn’t a match for most of the top-end flagships. That may well be keeping costs down, but it’s time the range made the jump to QHD, especially given that its screens are getting bigger, so we want to see that happen for the OnePlus 7. 2. A microSD card slotYou can get a decent amount of storage in the OnePlus 6 but you don’t get a microSD card slot, so if the amount it ships with isn’t enough you’ll have to start deleting things. That’s not ideal and while the 256GB top size should be plenty for most people it won’t be for everyone – especially those who plan to pack their phone full of music, films and games. So adding a slot into the OnePlus 7 would be much appreciated. 3. Proper water resistancehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ebJVCAVvyyquxX8kNkk9qR.jpg The OnePlus 6 should survive a spill, but we want more of a guarantee from the OnePlus 7 The OnePlus 6 has some water resistance, but it doesn’t have an IP rating. So it should be able to survive a splash if you dry it off quickly but can’t really be put in the water. Not that we’d advise doing that in general with most phones, but knowing that it would survive if you did – or if you use it in heavy rain - could give some real peace of mind that you don’t get with the OnePlus 6, so we’d like to see this improved for the OnePlus 7. 4. Stereo speakersThe OnePlus 6 has just a single speaker, and its placement at the base of the phone makes it easy to muffle, so we’d like to see it ideally moved and definitely doubled up for the OnePlus 7, with a second speaker allowing for loud stereo sound. Sure, you’ll probably mostly use headphones anyway, but having a quality speaker setup can make all the difference when you just want to watch a YouTube video or listen to a podcast without plugging in. 5. No notchhttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XzgvekSPBsvEtJcjizER8S.jpg For the OnePlus 7 we want no notch and no bezels The OnePlus 6 is one of many recent phones to get a notch, and while it can be hidden if you prefer, what we’d really prefer for the OnePlus 7 is no notch at all. But we don’t want a return to big bezels either. We’re starting to see phones like the Vivo Nex and Oppo Find X which have almost no bezel at all and we’d like the OnePlus 7 to join them. This isn’t out of the question, especially as Oppo is heavily linked with OnePlus. 6. Wireless chargingDespite having a glass back, the OnePlus 6 doesn’t support wireless charging, which seems like a major omission for a flagship phone. This is probably a cost-cutting measure and, in a sense, seems reasonable, since we doubt wireless charging is a heavily used feature, but it would be nice to have. 7. An in-screen scannerAlong with an all-screen design we’d like the OnePlus 7 to have an in-screen fingerprint scanner. That way it could still have a scanner without having to awkwardly place it on the back. And in-screen scanners are currently a high-tech novelty which could help the OnePlus 7 stand out from the crowd – or at least match up to it, depending on how many phones have them by the time the OnePlus 7 launches. Next year we'll also get the Samsung Galaxy S10http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/ZohU2TDV968

The OnePlus 7 definitely makes the cut for one of our most anticipated phones of 2019, but aside from a potential sighting in the hand of OnePlus CEO Pete Lau we haven't yet seen any leaks of what the flagship handset might look like... until now. First posted on Slash Leaks – which has a better-than-average record at getting leaked images ahead of time – the image that purportedly shows the OnePlus 7 gives us a look at the top of the phone in its packaging. We've got some ultra-slim bezels here, and no notch at all on the front of the display. There also seems to be space up at the top of the phone's casing, potentially for a slide-out front-facing camera. Unless OnePlus has managed to embed the camera and the forward-facing sensors under the display, this is pretty much the only other option. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8tkgy2iXZBiNBgXDZZhJWB.jpg OnePlus 7 leak (credit: Slash Leaks) We don't have a whole lot else to report about the OnePlus 7 at the moment, but if it follows the release schedule of the OnePlus 6, then we can expect to see it sometime in May. A OnePlus 7T handset could then potentially follow later in the year. OnePlus has already confirmed that the phone is going to carry the flagship Snapdragon 855 processor from Qualcomm, which should mean plenty of power under the hood without too much of a hit on battery life. The phone should come with plenty of RAM included too, if OnePlus remains true to form. What's still up in the air is whether the phone is going to include any 5G technology. OnePlus definitely has a 5G phone on the way for this year, but it might not be the OnePlus 7. We might even see a 5G and a non-5G version of the OnePlus 7 go on sale. 7 upcoming flagship phones we expect to feature the Snapdragon 855Via Android Central http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/XEjh2oX8D_o

The story of the AirPower wireless charging mat has been a baffling one: Apple teased it all the way back in 2017 and promised a 2018 launch, but since then has been rather quiet on when we can expect to see it. Rumors have swirled of numerous delays amid speculation that development on the mat is on the verge of being canceled altogether. According to reputable charging experts ChargeLab, though, the AirPower mat is alive and well – and now entering mass production, finally. That's based on a tip from unnamed sources working in the Apple supply chain. ChargeLab's sources say that the AirPower is being made by Luxshare Precision, the same company that handles manufacturing duties for the AirPods and various USB-C cables on behalf of Apple. While we can't get guarantee that this is happening, it seems to be a tip off at the more credible end of the scale. Charging to a full launchApple remains silent on the matter for now, unless you count a mention of the AirPower mat in the instructional manual accompanying the iPhone XS: the manual details how to charge the phone with the mat, even though the mat doesn't exist yet. It seems clear at this point that Apple is having trouble getting the charging mat working in the way it wants. The AirPower base promises to charge three different devices at once, so you could pop down your iPhone, your Apple Watch, and your AirPods case on the device and watch them all start to charge up wirelessly. That's no mean feat in engineering terms, and earlier reports suggested that AirPower prototypes were slow, buggy and unreliable. If Apple has managed to iron out those problems, we might see an announcement in the next few months. Faster wireless charging could be one of the Galaxy S10 upgradesVia AppleInsider http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/4usHX6j0eKg

Action cameras are unlike any other kind of camera. They're designed to be attached to helmets, surfboards, cars and other objects, and they're small, tough and simple to operate, with a lens that captures the world in high-definition video and in a wide-angle fish-eye perspective. Their small size and dramatic POV ('point of view') footage has made them popular with extreme sports participants, who capture their adventures by attaching cameras to themselves or their equipment. They're also used by TV production companies where using a regular video camera would be impossible. GoPro is the market leader with its iconic box-shaped Hero cameras, but action cams also come in a 'bullet' style, like the iON Air Pro. There's lots of choice now, and you shouldn't just buy on brand – think about what you want from an action camera and how you plan to use it. If you're helmet-mounting, then a bullet cam will probably be the best choice. For a chest mount a box design will be more stable. And when it comes to features, do you really need Wi-Fi, 4K, GPS or even a screen? These all bump up the price, and while they are invaluable in some situations, you can still get great footage without them. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/DYofAE9FNpbtfi2kYUMfXG.jpg While it may appear to be a minor update from the Hero5 Black on the outside, a lot's changed on the inside. The Hero6 Black gets a new GP1 processing engine, allowing you to record super high-quality 4K footage at 60fps. Other highlights include an improved image stabilization system, while the Hero6 Black offers a wider dynamic range and better low-light performance than the Hero5 Black. Waterproof down to 10m, the Hero6 Black has a useful 2-inch touchscreen, voice commands and an updated app with QuikStories that automatically transfers and edits your footage for you. If you want the best action camera, this is it. Read our in-depth GoPro Hero6 Black review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FRoGfDLJPn4xGtrYrFKPVM.jpg It may have been overshadowed by the new Hero6 Black, but the Hero5 Black still has a lot to offer. Shooting 4K footage up to 30fps, video footage is incredibly smooth, while the ability to shoot stills in raw format brings even more flexibility. Waterproof down to 10m without the need for a protective case, it's also simple to use, while the addition of a rear touchscreen, voice control and GPS make it one of the most feature-packed cams currently available. Read our in-depth GoPro Hero5 Black review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/rdZpMfYs9pZdkXjkC29ByA.jpg Bullet shape cams might have fallen out of fashion recently thanks to GoPro and its box-shaped cameras, but the TomTom Bandit bucks the trend. In fact, the Bandit packs features that other manufacturers will need to follow if they're to keep up with this newcomer. Taking years of GPS experience, TomTom has built in a series of sensors that not only record location but speed and G-force too, so that when these sensors pick up that something exciting has happened they automatically tag the footage. Back in the pub and with the app open and connected, a quick shake of your phone and the app will automatically edit your footage ready for upload. It really couldn't be easier. Read the full review: TomTom Bandit http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dg7QPjEkasXSCGAMfrAaMb.jpg The TG-Tracker's futuristic design is hard to miss with an ultra wide 204 degree lens fronting a 1/2.3-inch CMOS sensor. Headline video resolutions include 4k at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps and an impressive 240fps at 720p for slow motion capture. This is an action camera ready for anything and even features a small LED video light built in. Sensors are the big news for the Tracker with GPS, compass, acceleration sensors plus a barometer and thermometer all capturing data from inside the compact case. The intel from these can all be displayed when viewing back the footage or in the video edit so you can show just how extreme you are. What's more, it's waterproof to 30m, features built in stabilization and can withstand temperatures down to -10C. Read the full review: Olympus TG-Tracker http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/8ucUJvoGKi9FNFKYqrZzYF.jpg How often do you take an action cam underwater? Most people never will, so in some regard the YI 4K ActionCam is about cutting corners, but what it leaves out – GPS, voice control, auto-upload, and raw shooting – are hardly core features. In fact, it gives as much as it takes, with a large and responsive touchscreen, a big battery and a fast file transfers. It may lack a few niceties – and we would include lens distortion correction and image stabilisation in that list – but the YI 4K Action Cam remains a great value addition to any adventurer's kit bag. Read the full review: YI 4K Action Camera http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/3sCvjAHpMDSdJam9jeM4K8.jpg All action cameras are now promising 4K at 30fps, but Sony’s effort is about a lot more than just resolution and frame rate. The diminutive FDR-X3000R's biggest claim is Balanced Optical SteadyShot (B.O.SS) image stabilization, which works across all resolutions and recording modes. It also includes an underwater housing – a rarity in the action camera market – and comes with a wearable, mountable live view remote, a smartwatch-sized contraption that allows the FDR-X3000R to be operated from afar, and its images previewed in real time. Read the full review: Sony FDR-X3000R http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ovLFnh2k5CeJoNU6kJ9KjB.jpg The original Garmin Virb introduced motion sensors and GPS tracking to action cameras, adding an extra element to capturing the action, like the TomTom Bandit. Building on the solid foundation of the original Virb, Garmin has revisited the design, losing the bullet shape and remodeling the camera around the popular 'box' style. This new shape makes chest mounting far easier and, as with the original, the build quality is excellent. The XE offers increased video quality, it's waterproof without an additional case, features Wi-Fi along with compatible app and software, this all makes the Virb XE one of the best action cameras at present. Read the full review: Garmin Virb XE http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CnLRgwr7TyYeSm8RVHWiDa.jpg The Hero5 Session follows on from the Hero4 Session, stripping back the action camera concept to its basics, but sharing many of the same specs as the Hero5 Black. That includes 4K video capture up to 30fps, image stabilisation, voice control and is waterproof down to 10m. The large Record button on the top starts and stops recording so there's no worrying about different modes and options – that's all handled by the app (though it does have a simple menu system if you wish). Back to basics, but still captures the quality of video that you'd expect from GoPro. Read the full review: GoPro Hero5 Session http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BxW56cEWVqb6Xy5hrJoKMR.jpg The SJCAM SJ7 delivers some good-looking footage, especially when shooting in 4K. However, this budget GoPro Hero5 rival doesn't boast the sort of professional features offered by the biggest name in the action camera game, such as voice activation, GPS and the ability to make quick and easy video clips via a smartphone app. If you want a action camera that delivers strong footage at a fraction of the price though, then the SJCAM SJ7 Star is worth a look. Read our in-depth SJCAM SJ7 Star review Top 10 GoPro accessoriesWhat camera should I buy?Best camerahttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/jnmhsFaNWZk

Best Bluetooth Speakers Buying Guide: Welcome to TechRadar's round-up of the bluetooth speakers you can buy in 2019. Even if you're lucky enough to have a dedicated AV cabinet and a speaker system to rival some of the biggest and best stadiums across the globe, there are still going to be plenty of times when you need a portable, reliable and durable Bluetooth speaker. Whether you're looking for a speaker to take on your next adventure that'll need to be waterproof and drop-proof, a portable powerhouse that's capable of bringing the bass to an outdoor party or something small and compact that'll fit in your carry-on, we've collected together some of the best Bluetooth speaker options available to buy now. Of course there are some compromises to the form factor, like limited battery life and a drop in audio quality - but, when it comes to convenience and price, Bluetooth speakers can't be beaten. Your only problem is there's too much choice. So to help you decide which speaker to buy, here are some of our favorite possible portable audio companions for the beach, camping or on-the-go listening. How to pick out the best Bluetooth speakerWith so much choice it's no huge surprise that the question we've been asked time and time again when it comes to Bluetooth speakers is: How do I pick out the best one for me? Well, although it may seem like the choice is endless, there are plenty with unique selling points. Some are rugged. Some are stylish. Some are weatherproof and some aren't fit for the outdoors. If you're having problems figuring out what speaker might work for you, start by picturing where you're going to use it and find a speaker that matches that setting. If you're a beach person, that means water- and dust-proofing are key. If you're a party person, you might want the ability to connect two speakers together or a speaker with multi-point pairing that allows multiple devices to connect at a time. We'll break down these features for you below to help you find a speaker that first for your unique lifestyle. However, regardless of what features you want from your speaker, its imperative that it has a decent battery life and good level of sound quality. There's no point in having a device packed full of features if its battery dies quickly and it sounds rubbish. All of our picks fulfill these two requirements, so when you're picking from this list you can afford to focus more on features. Whatever your budget and whatever your needs, here are 10 outstanding Bluetooth wireless speakers, ranked by their price-to-performance ratio, that will surely work for you. The best Bluetooth speakers of 2019: http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/2HDpCP2po4CCGsXf8AH2s5.jpg While we weren't as impressed with the UE Boom 3 as we were with its predecessor, this is still the best Bluetooth speaker money can buy in 2019. This is a speaker that can get loud and not distort at higher volumes; be light enough to carry on a camping trip but remain durable enough to tumble in a bag unprotected. It's both water- and dust-proof, and now has a one-touch mix button that lets you pull up your favorite playlists without ever picking up your phone. There are certainly more detailed speakers out there (see: Bowers and Wilkins Zeppelin down below), but at a price that's relatively affordable to all, the UE Boom 3 hits all the right notes for the third year in a row. Read the full review: UE Boom 3 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/V9vXV9PhUYWAHYEqv5pcZH.jpg The Bose SoundLink Revolve is an excellent sound speaker for folks looking for true 360-degree sound. It’s great for sharing music during a party or for moving around the room without losing audio fidelity. However, the Bose SoundLink Mini II sounds slightly better and is slightly cheaper to boot. On the debit side, it’s also not fully dust or waterproof so you’ll want to think twice before bringing the Revolve to the beach. For half the price, the Wonderboom is a great speaker that is completely dust and waterproof and while it can’t match the audio fidelity or features of the Bose, it's still great for on-the-go listening. If bass is your game, the JBL Charge 3 is an excellent fully waterproof speaker that sounds great, but is big and heavy along with it. Read the full review: Bose SoundLink Revolve http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Jd4nJRCbu3HFUkuneoheVN.jpg As a package, the JBL Charge 3 offers a compelling set of features and excellent sound quality to boot. It punches well above its weight, playing loudly and distortion-free. The Charge line of speakers have been on our shortlist of recommendations for a long time thanks to the way they combine great sound quality with the ability to charge your devices over USB. The latest iteration maintains JBL's dominance in the portable Bluetooth speaker market. Read the full review: JBL Charge 3 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kzZ8KwQtZUQheYQzqWvG8V.jpg The Bose SoundLink Mini II is relatively ancient, having been released in June 2015. However, writing off the SoundLink Mini II because of its age would be a mistake, as it remains one of the best sounding wireless speakers. That said, it punches way above what its size would suggest, producing deep bass, sparkling highs and a lush midrange. While most wireless speakers sound OK, the Mini II proves that small speakers don’t need to compromise on sound, and other Bose conveniences like a charging pad. Read the full review: Bose SoundLink Mini II http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/unJ9YvU4gqTMU7hh2Bfmn4.jpg When someone asks us for a recommendation for a waterproof speaker, the UE Roll 2 was always on the top of our list. We loved the Roll 2’s unique form factor, 50-foot wireless range and, obviously, it sounded good, too. Where it was lacking was in the bass department. Logitech, UE’s parent company, has fixed the Roll 2’s lack of bass by creating the appropriately named UE Wonderboom. In our eyes, the UE Wonderboom bests the Roll 2 in just about every way –except for the Roll 2’s handy bungee cord. Still, ignoring that, if you’re looking for one of the best waterproof Bluetooth speakers on the market today, it’s hard to do better than the UE Wonderboom. Plus, it comes in some interesting colors, including Avocado and...you guessed it, Unicorn. Read the full review: UE Wonderboom http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/UT9JBqVkQXo7uvjBSAeXR6.jpg B&O created a hit with the Beoplay P2. It’s a well-designed speaker that’s extremely easy to use, has a well-built companion app, and it sounds great. On top of that, the speaker is ultra-portable without compromising on much bass content. Sure, you could get something a little bigger (and stereo) for the same price, but at this size the sound quality justifies the price. The smart gestures are a nice touch too, although we wouldn’t buy the device solely for that reason. Read the full review: B&O Beoplay P2 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/kY9DyWqRuURB6zqqrkeERQ.jpg The Marshall Kilburn might not appear to be the best choice in Bluetooth speakers. It’s large, heavy, doesn’t have USB charging and isn’t waterproof – plus, AED 1,299 is a lot to pay for a Bluetooth speaker. But none of this matters because the Kilburn sounds so darn good. Over a month's time, we fell in love with the Kilburn’s design, feel and pristine sound quality. There’s no other portable Bluetooth speaker on the market quite like it. It’s a head turner and conversation piece. It’s a piece of audio art that you’ll be proud to show off to your friends during a party. Read the full review: Marshall Kilburn http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/zUZBDmn75V7bAHMrDHpLHT.jpg It seems just about every speaker company has a wireless speaker that can take the abuse of being outdoors and Bose, a company most well-known for its brand of excellent noise-canceling headphones, is no different. If you’re looking for something from Bose to take with you on your next hike, the AED 549 SoundLink Color II is the company’s only splash-proof speaker that can stand up to the elements with an IPX4 rating. Read the full review: Bose SoundLink Color II http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cXv8Zr7k9UEmi4BFsMK4im.jpg Bringing bluntness over refinement, the JBL Flip 4 is a good Bluetooth speaker for the rugged outdoorsman in your friend circle. It’s rough, tough design makes it perfect as a portable speaker to accompany all aspects of your life while its sound is solid without worrying your home audio system. It’s all weather friendly design is a win, but a lack of definition and distinction in the mid-range ultimately means its sound quality is not quite up to scratch when compared with some, more high-end portable speakers. Read the full review: JBL Flip 4 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dY24xjQFeMkpdzBFZCDVJX.jpg The newest speaker in the Denon Envaya line is one of the first speakers to absolutely blow us away in 2018. It offers powerful, room-filling sound that will sound great to most ears, plus comes with an IP67 rating, make it both dust and waterproof. It's also built like a tank, making it one of the most durable speakers we've ever laid our hands on. Despite a nearly flawless performance, the Envaya isn't perfect: While sound quaity is full, powerful and rich, it doesn’t have the treble bite some like and the buttons located along the side can feel stiff and difficult to operate. These are ultimately minor complaints, however, and the Denon Envaya remains a great Bluetooth speaker – easily one of the best you can buy this year. Read the full review: Denon Envaya (DSB-250BT) Now need something to listen to? Check out our collection of the best podcastshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/T4mYkrkDEWQ

A fitness tracker is the perfect way to monitor your activity and health effortlessly and with unmatched accuracy. Think of it as an electronic finger on the pulse, constantly measuring your vitals, quality of sleep and step count. Today's fitness band market is stuffed with fantastic devices, most of which can do a pretty good job at the basics of tracking. But frankly, we're only interested in the best, and you should be too. We won't be looking at all the techiest wristwear here - check out our best smartwatch guide for that, which includes the Apple Watch 3, LG Watch Style and Samsung Gear Sport. You also won't find the Fitbit Ionic or Fitbit Versa here either, which despite the brand name are both toted as smartwatches and are priced accordingly. On a budget? Here are the best cheap fitness trackersWant a Fitbit? Best Fitbit 2019 or best Fitbit fitness bandsPlus here are seven of the best fitness tracker tips to get you startedThis guide will show you the best of the best activity trackers money can buy and show you how each ranks in terms of stand-out features, specs, price, design, the quality of the software you'll be using on your phone and much more. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7PhLjcFWrdu5p2PawBVuVh.jpg The Moov Now is officially our favorite fitness band in the world right now. It's cheap, offers everything you'll want in an everyday tracker and there's a phenomenal six month long battery life. The Moov Now isn't just designed for step tracking though - it comes with boxing and rep-based training, as well as a swimming mode on top of run coaching and sleep monitoring features. That's a lot to get stuck in with. You won't get GPS or some of the more complex fitness tracking features that others on this list offer, but if you're looking for a great everyday tracker that doesn't cost a lot of money the Moov Now will suit you perfectly. Read the full Moov Now review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/CKdcnukUMesPgEPMoLMnaC.jpg More refined than the Fitbit Charge 2, the Charge 3 is Fitbit's newest device and has a more lightweight design that looks better on your wrist. It's also one of our favorite Fitbit products money can buy right now. The display is bigger and clearer than a lot of other fitness trackers on this list, but it's still a black and white screen. There's no onboard GPS, like some other trackers on this list have, but it's waterproof and offers a full fitness suite including a heart rate tracker. You can track GPS by pairing your phone with the tracker too. You have to spend a bit extra on this than other fitness trackers you can buy in this same list, but if you enjoy the whole Fitbit app and experience and would also like access to notifications and Fitbit's fantastic sleep tracking, you'll want to opt for this as it's one of the company's best trackers ever. Read our Fitbit Charge 3 review What's next? We don't expect to hear about it soon, but we've brainstormed what we'd like to see come to a Fitbit Charge 4. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/qLSiyFntnRsLvKuim45cCo.jpg Our highest ranked Garmin product in the best fitness tracker list is also one of the most accomplished in its range of health bands. This device isn't made for serious athletes like a variety of other products from the Garmin brand, but instead this is for those who want to be able to track the odd bit of exercise and have an attractive band to do it. The screen is bigger on this version than other Garmin products, and it has a battery that should last you around a week depending on how much exercise you'll be doing. There's also an innovative feature called body battery that helps you learn when exactly is the best time to exercise depending on how much energy you have. This is great for those who are just as interested in their recovery and general wellbeing as they are clocking up the miles. Read the full Garmin Vivosmart 4 review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nMW3LxcJ82hHFoMCoat43Z.jpg In fourth place is the Huawei Band 2 Pro. a sleek little fitness tracker that manages to pack a decent amount of features into its diminutive frame, and for an impressively small amount of money. The Band 2 Pro has heart rate monitoring, VO2 max, GPS, step and sleep tracking and a seriously impressive battery life. The slim screen means that this tracker will work just as well with running gear as it will with a business suit, although the slim screen isn’t going to be as easy to read as some of the competition. If you’re looking for a device that’s going to give you totally precise metrics, this isn’t it. But if you want an affordable entry-level device for your first foray into the world of fitness tracking, this is a great place to start. Read our Huawei Band 2 Pro review What's next? The company has now announced the Huawei Band 3 Pro, but we've yet to be able to review it properly. We hope to have one to test in the next few months. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/B7s8UmmfqyLAwieucjBN4U.jpg The Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro hasn't made hefty changes to the company's wearable line since the Gear Fit 2, but there are a few improvements to an already great tracker that sits it in second place. The Gear Fit 2 Pro has a gorgeous design that looks fantastic on your wrist and as it's sporting a big, beautiful AMOLED display you'll be able to see all of your stats nice and clearly. It also comes with GPS built-in so you can leave your phone at home while you go for a run as well as a top-notch heart rate sensor that should give you one of the most accurate readings possible from a wrist based tracker. Plus it will track your swimming too. Read the full Samsung Gear Fit 2 Pro review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/eTHDHzBqZvQbR4MzcDEKAn.jpg In sixth place is the Garmin Vivosmart 3, which is on the more expensive side of the fitness trackers listed but offers almost everything you'll want from an exercise tracker. With a six-day long battery life, a heart rate monitor and fitness age feature, this is a device created more for gym-goers than runners. The Vivosmart HR+, the device Garmin released before this tracker, came with GPS built-in but this newer version has dropped the feature and it's a big shame for anyone who wanted to take this watch running. Even so, you should definitely consider the Garmin Vivosmart 3, especially if you're looking for a band that can do high-end fitness tracking with an almost week long battery. Read the full Garmin Vivosmart 3 review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/H98eYEcca9TkKjRLdCjnX9.jpg The Polar M430 has a lot of things going for it, including GPS, a heart rate monitor and sleep tracking skills, along with good battery life. For the most part it’s also reliable and accurate, which is something not all fitness trackers can claim. The M430 is designed primarily for runners, and can monitor the likes of your pace, distance, speed and cadence, but with all of the above, plus daily general activity tracking, it’s a strong choice for tracking most kinds of exercise and activity. Given all the tech packed in, the Polar M430 also has a reasonable price tag. It’s not the best-looking fitness tracker, but it’s comfortable and functional. Read the full Polar M430 review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/AbDTuE5mbCVe6VNVaMzGDM.jpg It's not as stylish as most of the Fitbit products, but the reason the Garmin Vivosport appears in this list before products from the latter company. This is cheaper than most Fitbit products but it comes with GPS built-in and offers a solid seven days battery life from a single charge. Although it's waterproof, it wont' track your swimming easily but the Vivosport excels for other kinds of workouts and is great for tracking your jogging and cycling. Read our full Garmin Vivosport review http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Y37qUWb3uhrqYNhKdiXsdJ.jpg Want a fitness tracker that looks more like a watch? You'll likely like the look of the Fitbit Blaze - it's one of the best fitness watches on the planet. The first tracking watch from Fitbit is a strange looking device, but suits a lot of people and comes with automatic fitness tracking features that make it possible to just jump into an exercise and wait for the results to roll in right away. With good battery life and a plethora of extra features compared to most other Fitbit devices, this may be the best tracker for you. Read the full Fitbit Blaze review Buy now for AED 1,049 Looking for a more affordable fitness band? Read our guide on the best cheap fitness trackers of 2018 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/VIUrbgwjduQ

Update: We've checked and updated this guide to make sure it gives you the best possible advice. Only the very best printers are included in this guide. If you're looking for a new printer for the office, check out our best business printers guide. Looking for the best inkjet printer money can buy in 2019? You've come to the right place, as we've listed the top printers for home and office use. Because there are so many decent multi-purpose printers at very competitive prices, you're spoilt for choice when looking for a new printer. We're here to make thins easier, so here's our pick of the best printers on the market right now. In choosing the best printer your first decision is whether to go for a standard printer, or a multi-function device which includes a scanner and which can also work as a standalone copier. These aren't much larger than regular printers, but they're a whole lot more versatile, especially when you need to keep a copy of a letter, a bill or any other important document, so our first list includes the best inkjet printers and best multi-function devices. We've listed the best inkjet printers in this guide, so no matter which type of printer you'd like, we have the best choice - with the best prices - for your needs. Check out what printers made it into our top 10 best business printer roundupBest inkjet printershttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/00de9433713f70473e0037c921612d2b.jpg The Deskjet 3630 is a decent printer for the price, offering reasonable print speeds and the ability to connect to mobile devices without breaking the bank. Just be wary as its ink cartridges can be priced when picked up from shops. It doesn't quite have the build quality of HP's more expensive Envy models, but if you're looking for an initially cheap model that catches the eye when sat on a shelf, the Deskjet 3630 is a great option. Read the full review: HP Deskjet 3630 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/90aa43cf75d4e15afb432c79187b142b.jpg A very quick colour all-in-one bristling with print, copy, scan and mobile printing options the Officejet Pro 6830 is also very affordable, especially if you opt for the pay-per-page Instant Ink service. Read the full review: HP OfficeJet Pro 6830 e-All-in-One http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/oZQL9bxC8L79B3DXcFNVGd.jpg Great for the traveling professional or someone who needs a small printer for occasional use, printing photos or using the scanner function. It's a bit pricey to buy - and to run - but the flexibility and quality of the printouts is excellent. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/36f0e84001dd51fbddcfccb036dfcc69.jpg Consumables are usually expensive when it comes to printers. So it is quite surprising that one vendor, Epson, single-handedly decided to challenge that status quo by allowing users to refill their printer using ink bottles. What's even more surprising is that Epson includes two years of ink with the package; no more expensive cartridges and instead, you have enough material to deliver 11,000 pages worth of black and colour inks (that's 700ml worth of liquid). Oh and there's even a three-year warranty making this a great choice for bean counters fixing the TCO of their printers. The L655 lacks the features found on cheaper competitors – it is relatively slower (although it has a higher printing resolution) and has a small paper input tray. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/03b48d745a6b81932c9f6944a9755a75.jpg If you're looking for a great all-round printer which doesn't skimp on print quality for your photographs, then I don't think you will be disappointed by what the MG7150 has to offer. While it's certainly more expensive than some of the cheap two in one printers you can pick up, it's not a bad price for something which produces high quality prints, especially if you only need to print at A4 or below. Read the full review: Canon Pixma MG7150 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Bb5qWpDTKhb8eSjbUucLPf.jpg This is a big and bulky printer, that would look more at home in an office than a house - but it's a fantastic performer that can handle both A4 and the larger A3 sizes. It's cheap to run, and most importantly, the print quality is very good, making this a worthwhile investment if you're looking for a fast and flexible printer. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/93c89e34e310314329edb70c0366f7a7.jpg We've come to expect simple setup and operation from Envy printers, and this one is no exception. It's quiet, packs in a lot of features and delivers excellent print quality, especially on photo paper. We particularly like the ability to use smartphones as well as computers, and to connect wirelessly without a router. Read the full review: HP Envy 5540 All-in-One printer http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/05867b5037e787c64eeef85f42caed29.jpg You won't get fancy features like wireless printing, duplexing or scanning, but if you don't need all the frills of an all-in-one printer, the HP DeskJet 1010 offers solid print performance and quality at an unbeatable price in a compact package. Read the full review: HP DeskJet 1010 review http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/VJacy6SKNDU

You have a smoke detector in your home, and it may even be 'smart,' but it doesn't actually detect fire like the Safer Alarms system we checked out at CES 2019. There's a big difference between smoke and fire detectors, according to the CEO of the company with the same name. "For 60 years, detectors have been detecting the derivative of fires: smoke, and it's the smoke that kills you," explained Marc Toland, Safer Alarms founder and CEO before going in for the hard sell. "Why risk inhalation when, with our products, you don't have to?" Safer Alarms, the product, starts shipping in late January and was buried in the South Hall of CES, in a small unassuming meeting room. Surrounded by booths touting copycat drones, it was a true hidden gem in the Las Vegas Convention Center. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FqE9yi6DWd3fHggzrxz55b.jpg It consists of a heat detector and a companion alarm, and works by having you stick the heat detector in the highest-risk locations in your house: near a washer and dryer, furnace, humidifier, and anywhere in the kitchen or a baby's bedroom. Once the temperature hits "the danger zone" aka 150 degrees F (66 C), the sensor wirelessly transmits a signal to the companion alarm located in a safe location. That's the patent pending technology that makes Safer Alarms an intriguing product. Inspired by safety of his own kids"For the first time, our product allows the consumer to place this sensor in harm's way, right where fires begin," said Toland, who came prepared with two specific examples in his own life that anyone could relate to. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RSkMBMPmH6TtNXXbnZgh6b.jpg "I've got an 11-year-old kid," he said. "When she has her friends over and they have a power strip with every charger you can ever imagine plugged into it, it gets hot. So when this reaches the danger zone, and there's an event – a fire – I've got it immediately." He noted that a signal is wirelessly sent to the remote alarm, which is in a safe traditional location. "I have a four-year-old," said Toland, illustrating another example in his personal life. "Around her crib is a baby monitor, infrared, humidifier, dehumidifier, etc. And when I put her down for a nap and I shut the door, that traditional smoke detector is outside. So if there's a problem is my nursery, she's risking inhalation before I get the alarm. [With Smart Alarms], I've got you right at the source." Why just a smoke alarm doesn't cut itDid you know you shouldn't stick a smoke alarm in a laundry room, even though there are 10,000 dryer fires every year in the US alone? "As it stands, you're not supposed to place traditional [smoke] detectors anywhere near the potential source of a fire," said Toland. "They get really hot really fast, and fires melt the detectors. They won't be effective. That's why you often see a smoke detector in the middle of the ceiling in a hallway." http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/gMq65ZHBYXwyVNU32xNveb.jpg The Smart Alarms CEO promises that his remotely-located alarm transmits a signal before the sensor melts and, even when it does, he says "we're still screaming as it goes." It also solves the problem of humidity created by washers and dryers, which doesn't affect a heat sensor like it can a smoke alarm. Maybe the most convincing thing Toland mentioned was this: "Most fires happen in the walls first because of the electrical. So you don't get that smoke billowing out because it's in the wall and until you're ablaze." The Smart Alarms CEO believes his idea also tackles false detections that leave many smoke detectors uninstalled in critical areas, like kitchens. "About 80% of people, when they burn the toast, they take the batteries out and shove them in a drawer. Because we're a heat sensor, you can blow cigar smoke all day long and we'll still work. We eliminate those nuisance alarms." Product roadmapSmart Alarms has three products shipping in late January, and showed us all three. The 1:1 heat detector and a companion alarm costs $69.99, while the 4:1 package with four heat detectors and a companion alarm costs $149.99. Toland, who has a Wall Street background, called this "the deal of the century." No international pricing or release date has been announced, as Safer Alarms is just getting started in the US. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TVFjnpzf93UiMa6R4KgB7b.jpg You're three times more likely to have fire during Christmas, so Safer Alarms also has a clever Christmas tree heat sensor shaped like a Christmas ball. It's meant to blend into your tree and ornaments with its evergreen green color, and gave Toland the chance to say, "Christmas trees tend to go up, well, like Christmas trees." This sensor is priced at $69.99 and comes with its own companion alarm. At CES, the Smart Alarms CEO was pitching to nationwide retailers, though he didn't want to publicly share which at this point. You'll recognize the names, though. He did also talk up a next-generation product when we asked if it could communicate with a smartphone one day. "This generation does not. But we will. We've engineered that into this," he said. "We will be able to do that with next-generation products in the third-quarter [of 2019]." Fire sale: ripe for Apple, Google, Amazon and othersIt's not a question of will Smart Alarms sell. If it works as advertised, it may be: will Toland sell? The idea is already catching the attention of insurance companies. "Insurance companies' ears go up," said Toland when his conversation with them went from getting people out of a house to also salvaging insured belongings. "Now we're talking loss of property. Their ears perked right up and they said 'We'll mandate this.'" http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/h9iU2TuRrRF2ChW845Qp7b.jpg The big story at CES 2019 has been the expansion of smart home gadgets, with Apple, Google, and Amazon leading the way. When we asked if he'd be interested in selling to one of these companies, it seemed to be a yes – with a caveat. "Right now, there's a major consolidation," he said, citing, "Google bought Nest, Amazon bought Ring, Newell bought First Alert, and UTC purchased Kidde." Toland said he'd still be interested because it's about more than money, it's about market penetration for his life-saving product. "So yeah, I'm going to take the check, and yeah, I'm going to go away. Because what they can do is better than what I can do because they have billions of billions of dollars. "My goal is, if you can't beat them, join them," he said, with some hesitation toward a worst case scenario. He doesn't want to become "the Netscape of Microsoft. 'Here's a billion dollars,' and they bury my technology. I don't want that. This saves lives." Google Assistant's Interpreter Mode is a world-changing, real-time translatorhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/wWWQqEKBqR0

Cybershoes had a wildly successful Kickstarter this fall, so it makes sense that they’d make an appearance at CES 2019. After a short time with the foot peripheral, we can heartily confirm that they do exactly what they say on the tin: let you walk through VR one step at a time. Just don’t be surprised if you get a little winded. VR has had, and continues to have a locomotion problem: move the player too unnaturally, and they might get queasy. Solutions like the Virtuix Omni thought to solve this with a large omnidirectional treadmill rig, which was predictably pricey for a peripheral (around $499 / £297 / AU$528) and took up lots of room. The Cybershoes are an ingenious alternative that look like the love child of a ski boot and a Heelie. Take a seat, strap them on, and slide your feet along the ground (making sure to spin the wheel on each Cybershoe’s bottom) to move in-game. It takes some getting used to, and you’ll feel as if you’re sprinting in place like a Looney Tunes character. You’ll have to spin your feet pretty fast to get anywhere, and it took surprising hustle to get anywhere. Running in VR requires, well, runningCybershoes set up a pair of demos that showed off different paces of navigating virtual reality: Doom VR for frantic action and Skyrim VR for more leisurely exploration. Both demos took some getting used to, especially in combat: you’ll spin around in your IRL chair to rotate your character and then frantically “run” by rolling your Cybershoes on the floor. It’s a bit disorienting, but not insurmountable. Just make sure not to lose yourself in the game, as I saw another CES attendee get so frantic he almost spun out of his chair. Thankfully, Cybershoes works just like other VR mobility alternatives, so you can just defer to the analog stick or touchpad on your controller if you get tired. One of the Cybershoes staff recommended traditional controls for long treks around Skyrim, then switching to the ‘shoes when I started fighting. The Cybershoes connect over Bluetooth to a small box that plugs into your computer; on it is a dial to calibrate the ‘shoes to your step-length. The peripheral is natively integrated with SteamVR, the company recently told Kickstarter backers, and should work with games that enable mobility functions. A VR solution among several at CES The Cybershoes shared the CES floor with its polar conceptual opposite, the 3DRudder, which is a circular pad players tilt with their feet to move in-game. Which one you chose may come down to personal taste. Or, really, platform taste: the 3DRudder debuted at CES 2017 as a PC VR peripheral, but has now been regeared for PSVR. The 3DRudder is a less expensive option, and will retail for $119/€119 (£92, AU$164) when they go on sale in April. Assuming you already have a PS4 console and PSVR, of course. While Cybershoes will likely be sold in a pair (like many of the lower-cost Kickstarter tier choices), the team plans to bundle them in with a particular chair and circular carpet combo for or above $300 (they haven’t finalized the price). Why? The carpet they’ve chosen is non-static, which comes in handy when you’re sliding the Cybershoes up and down around your chair. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/software-news/~4/TSBKtIr2_kQ