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Dyson launched the Cyclone V10 cordless vacuum in 2018 – it was so powerful that is convinced James Dyson to stop making corded ones. In 2019, though, the British company may just have outdone itself. Only a year after launching the V10, Dyson has announced the release of the latest iteration of its cordless stick vacuum. The Dyson V11 looks pretty much like its predecessor, but ups the cleaning ante with a better battery and more suction power than the Cyclone V10. The V11 clearly reveals Dyson’s capability to take innovation to new levels, leaving us to wonder what else the company could have up its proverbial sleeve. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dHGWMgAg2zWpspr9X543ZX.jpg Image credit: Dyson Powerful smart cleaningThe innovation begins with the new High Torque cleaner head that has the ability to sense different surfaces. The cleaner head is able to detect brush bar resistance up to 360 times a second. This is then communicated to the motor and battery microprocessors, resulting in changing suction power as the vacuum glides between hard floors and carpets, thus removing the need to change cleaner heads for different floor types. And while the motor is similar to that of the V10’s, the new V11 motor contains a triple diffuser to reduce sound and vibrations. It also spins at a whopping 125,000 revolutions per minute and ups suction power by 20% over the Cyclone V10. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5zNShcrTDLVwLz8BQcoCGP.jpg Image credit: Dyson Cleaning gets intelligentAlthough the V11 shares a similar design to the V10, the addition of an LCD display on the top of the vacuum is a welcome addition. There are three battery modes to choose from – auto mode, boost mode and eco mode – and your chosen power mode will be displayed on the screen, along with performance information and remaining run time. The display will also let you know when it’s time to change the filter and, if it’s not connected properly, will throw up a notification for that as well. If there’s an airway blockage somewhere, the screen will provide details on how to get rid of it by playing a demo of how to take the vacuum apart. The filtration system comes with rubber seals to capture microscopic particles, while a wand clip allows you to store the accessories – like the crevice and combination tools – on the vacuum itself. To top it all off, the bin is 40% larger than before. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4sFr4cMLNusgxZHrEzhYAP.jpg Image credit: Dyson Pricing and availabilityPut all this together and you’ve got a vacuum cleaner that promises the best clean you can get for your home. That kind of clean, though, comes with a price. The Dyson V11 is launching with a starting price of $1,099 in Australia. There are three versions to choose from, all of them shipping with the High Torque cleaner head, the combination and crevice tools, a mini soft dusting brush, mini motorised tool, a stubborn dust brush and the wand clip to hold them all together. The models available in Australia are: Dyson V11 Torque Drive (in Fuschia) comes with no additional accessories – $1,099Dyson V11 Absolute includes the soft roller head for delicate hard floors – $1,199Dyson V11 Absolute Pro comes with the soft roller head, an extension hose, a mattress tool and a flexible crevice tool – $1,249The new vacuum cleaners are available for purchase from Dyson’s website from today. Best vacuum cleaners in Australia: from cordless Dyson to robot Roombahttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/x6ikkgaMwWQ

For users of Facebook Messenger that aren’t quite quick enough to get a reply in before their conversation has moved on, the social media giant has finally answered your needs. As first reported by VentureBeat, Facebook has begun rolling out a new feature to Messenger that allows users to respond to specific messages in a chat rather than to the last received message. When long-pressing on any message in a group or solo conversation – whether it be a GIF, video, image or just text – the option to reply directly will appear next to the series of emoji reactions that have been available for some time. Facebook Messenger app gets a secret 'dark mode' – here's how to enable itWish you hadn't said that? Facebook messages can now be unsentFacebook is integrating WhatsApp, Instagram and Messengerhttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tZCD3EyP4vaoLdtmkvNYRH.png Image credit: Facebook Messenger has seen a string of updates recently, with the ability to unsend messages and a new dark mode rolling out in the last few months. Considering Facebook intends to integrate WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger by 2020, it’s likely that more pre-existing features from each platform will be shared to the others. Facebook hopes that having a more unified infrastructure for its messaging and social platforms will help keep its users’ data secure, such as would be allowed by Instagram and Messenger adopting the end-to-end encryption already in use by WhatsApp, for instance. This push has been outlined by Mark Zuckerberg in an extensive post about Facebook’s change of focus from public posts to private messages – a response to the user data controversies the platform experienced in recent years. Facebook says it's switching focus from public posts to private messageshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/FzA_Not8w1w

In the latest update to its mobile browser, Opera has added a built-in VPN service which is free, unlimited and doesn't require users to login or create an account. As consumers and businesses alike have grown more concerned about their privacy, the use of virtual private network (VPN) services has grown to over 650m people worldwide according to a GlobalWebIndex estimate. However, this isn't the first time that Opera has experimented with VPNs. The company launched its own standalone VPN app for Android and iOS in 2016 called Opera VPN and then added VPN capabilities to its desktop browser shortly after that. Opera builds cryptocurrency wallet into browserAre free VPNs safe and can they be trusted?Facebook shutters Onavo VPN appLast year, Opera shuttered its VPN app as the company prepared to add VPN functionality to its Android browser. Free VPNFree VPNs have come under criticism recently as security flaws were discovered in many free VPN apps on the Google Play Store and this, combined with the fact that the companies running these services are likely selling your usage data to advertisers and other third-parties, could be enough to turn some users off from VPNs entirely. However, Opera's built-in VPN will be entirely free and the company won't attempt to monetize the service according to its VP of product marketing, Jan Standal who explained this to VentureBeat, saying: “The service is provided fully free of charge as a unique feature to improve the privacy and security. Opera monetizes from other unrelated mechanisms, and unlike other VPN services, Opera doesn’t depend on monetizing the browser VPN service” The latest version of Opera, which includes its built-in VPN service, is now available in the Play Store and users that do decided to give it a try can pick a server of their choice from a range of locations to browse the web securely using 256-bit encryption. Via VentureBeat Also check out the best VPNhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/Zvn3_7ZeeF0

March Madness has officially begun, and that means online retailers are slashing the prices on best-selling TVs and audio systems. Amazon is having a tournament time sound sale on speakers and soundbars from top brands such as Bose, Sony, and Vizio. The sale includes big discounts on wireless speakers, sound bars, receivers, subwoofers, and home theater systems. You can get the top-rated Bose 3.1 Home Theater Set on sale for $1,348. That's a $150 discount and the best price we've seen for this speaker bundle. The Bose home theater system includes the Bose Soundbar 700 and the Bose Bass Module 700. The Bose Soundbar 700 has Amazon Alexa built in so you can play music and control your other smart home devices with the command of your voice. You can also use the Bose Music App or the Universal remote to control the soundbar. The Bose Bass Module 700 is designed to be paired with the Bose Soundbar to produce deep bass and full-on surround sound. The wireless, compact subwoofer features an elegant glass-top finish, so it doesn't look like your typical subwoofer. The Module 700 also packs a powerful driver and generously sized port to deliver deep bass and clean sound. Shop more of Amazon's big tournament sound deals below and make sure take advantage of this limited-time sale while you can. Read more about the Bose speaker with our Bose Home Speaker 500 review and shop more of the best cheap Bluetooth speaker deals and sales that are currently going on. You can also shop the best cheap 4K TV deals and sale prices that are also going on. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/2HrRle5Xab4

Helpdesk software has become an important part of modern business platforms, not least for integrating with CRM solutions to ensure good productivity and efficiency within a business. This is especially as the larger the business and the larger the customer/client base, the more important it is to manage them effectively. Automation remains the key for business efficiency, especially for dealing with high volume communications, and helpdesk software aims to help manage the workload. Working with other product platforms, this means that helpdesk software isn't simply a way to receive and response to messages from customers, but can become part of a larger integrated management approach that connects support with sales to better track marketing effectiveness. However, finding the right helpdesk software for you can become a challenge when there are now so many different options available. Ultimately, your own business will have its own criteria, but no doubt issues such as features, volume handling, integration options, and-of course-cost will likely feature in there. Here at Techradar we'll try and make it easier for you by highlighting some of the major helpdesk software platforms of note, along with their features, pricing, and any other concerns to consider. We've also highlighted the best merchant serviceshttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/38qntRR2r3pVdHjVfKGNaZ.jpg Image Credit: Zendesk Zendesk Support is a software package that provides organization to put a variety of customer support interactions in one accessible database. It has the features for an efficient workflow, including web widgets, the ability to search a customer’s history, and predefined ticket responses. Another standout feature is integrated surveys for customer satisfaction ratings, combined with analytics and performance dashboards to track ongoing performance. Zendesk support also works with other pieces of the Zendesk software family, such as Zendesk Talk, which is their call center offering. There are five main paid tiers for Zendesk: Essential, Team, Professional, Enterprise, and Elite. As expected, this come with an increase in both pricing and features. However, there is a free trial to use Zendesk, so you can get an idea of what actual level you may need for you business. The basic Essential plan is charged at $5 per agent per month, which allows for email and social channels, pre-defined business rules, and interaction history. The mid-range Professional plan is charged at $49 per agent per month and allows for custom business rules, performance dashboards, integrations, multilingual content, and CSAT surveys. You can sign up for Zendesk Support herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vDYoxBmvGtGfpknbgvRiS3.jpg Image Credit: Freshdesk Freshdesk is helpdesk software that has a number of features to foster efficiency of workflow based around the tickets created. These include a team inbox to manage incoming tickets from several channels to one location, the ability to designate and create custom ticket statuses that work for your organization, canned responses to common trouble issues, and a team huddle to bring in expertise on more complicated challenges. This software can also integrate information from multiple channels including email, phone, social media and chat. There are trials for each of the tiers, and the lowest tier, Sprout, is available for free. The next rung up is Blossom, which goes for $15 per agent per month billed annually, and adds satisfaction surveys, time tracking and an advanced social channel. You can sign up for Freshdesk herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/w6zE5H8idVhkpjvqvmS3pF.jpg Image Credit: Zoho Zoho Desk is the cloud-based, helpdesk software offering that focuses on being context aware. It includes features such as prioritization of higher importance or overdue tickets, dashboards to track quality metrics, and the support to create a Knowledge Base for simpler issues that can be self-serviced. Zoho Desk can be used by agents with mobile apps for iOS and Android. Support for using Zoho Desk is provided via a number of avenues, including active user forums, a webinar series, a self-service portal, a user guide, and blogs, but live chat requires the top plan, and no plan has direct phone support. Unlike their competitors, a strong point of Zoho Desk is their simplified number of tiers which is only three, with the bottom being a free plan with a reasonable limit of three users, and the availability of free 15 day trials for the other tiers. Their most popular plan is the middle Professional Plan, which includes “Customer Happiness Ratings,” and cloud telephony for an affordable $12 per agent per month billed annually. Even their uppermost Enterprise Plan, which adds custom ticket templates, role based access control, cross department reports and the previously mentioned live chat support option goes for a competitive $25 per agent per month billed annually, less than most other top tier plans. You can sign up for Zoho Desk herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/jfP78T2P2Sk8YTZteeM7Mc.jpg Image Credit: Kayako Kayako is a helpdesk software offering that focuses on ease to use, and fosters a personal conversation with the customer. It is used by household name companies such as FedEx, Toshiba, Peugeot and General Electric. Standout features include support for the creation of multiple help centers each with their own content (termed Multibrand), live chat support, canned responses for common questions, support for SLA’s, and the ability to automate the workflow with smart business rules. There is also dashboard to track quality metrics including customer satisfaction, and custom reports can also be created. Pricing is based on a three tier model: Inbox, Growth, and Enterprise with free trials available. The lowest plan, Inbox, starts at $15 per agent per month, billed annually. You can sign up for Kayako herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/iCtrJBm93En3WM7b9xSNYo.jpg Image Credit: Jira Jira Service Desk, from Atlassian, takes a ‘modern approach’ to helpdesk software, with an uncluttered, and simple to use interface. Standout features include integration with over 600 other platforms such as Slack via available Service Desk apps. The Jira Service Desk can be used via mobile platform apps, and notable customers include Twitter, Sotheby’s and Spotify. On the one hand, Jira Service Desk has the shortest trial of our offerings here, only seven days, and no available free tier at the lowest end. However, their bottom tier offering starts at a monthly flat fee of $10 monthly, and covers up to three agents, and the next step up covers up to 15 agents for $20 per agent per month, with a custom discounted price for 16 agents or more - with the same feature set across all the plans. For those looking to commit to a year long subscription, they will get two months of service for free making this an even a better deal. You can sign up for Jira Service Desk herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YfZpzvVnYwERtZ8unGH57G.jpg Image Credit: NinjaRMM Other helpdesk software to considerNinjaRMM is a cloud-based helpdesk solution that allows you to monitor everything in real-time. The GUI is simple and easy to use, which can make the learning curve in setting up, using, and customizing short and sweet. The developers are also proactively adding additional features, not least to increase the number of available integrations and improving the available toolkit. AgilSoft is another helpdesk option that aims to streamline operations and efficiency, and make actionable insights more easily available. It's a very scalable solution but also offers some very good pricing options. AgilSoft have been a market leader since the 1990's, and the latest offering is slick and easy to both understand and use. Freshservice is another option worth considering, that offer's multi-channel support as part of an integration IT solution for communications. Incident management, asset management, release management, and service catalogue are all brought together in an easy-to-use interface which has plenty of automated features. Samanage also aims to make it easier to manage customer communications and integrate IT operations to serve them, with a focus on automating basic tasks and simplifying complex ones. As a service desk it aims to make incident and IT asset management work seamlessly. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/v_YE1aiLWs8

Small businesses need to understand their customers, and clearly while cash used to be king when it comes to payments, the reality is that it no longer is. In a 2017 survey of over 1,000 consumers conducted by TSYS, 45% preferred debit cards, 33% go with debit cards, and paying with cash is a distant third place at 12%. Therefore for your business to keep its competitive edge, you need to offer the payment options that your customers prefer, and that means debit and credit cards. As a business, accepting cards for payment is streamlined by setting up a merchant account. A merchant account acts as an intermediary to navigate the complexities of payment processing, and ensures that you receive funds as quickly as possible, and helps to avoid your business being the victim of a scam. Let’s take a look at the best merchant services available to bring your business up to speed to accept payments. In making our choices, we considered features, pricing, ease of use, and both professional and customer reviews. We've also highlighted the best payment gateways of 2019http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/uXprJuJteECnXsbzart5hQ.jpg Image Credit: Helcim Helcim offers an array of merchant services, including the obligatory credit card processing, merchant accounts, along with credit and debit terminals. The company also distinguishes itself with multi-currency processing, and international card processing for businesses that operate overseas. As a show of confidence, Helcim is one of few companies that offers a 30-day free trial of its service. The firm’s transparency when it comes to fees is appreciated, with the Retail plan costing $15 monthly, and the Online offering is $35 per month – although if you happen to be a business that does commerce in both spaces, there’s no bundle discount for taking both plans. There are also additional fees that vary by volume. For example, a retail merchant with less than $25,000 in monthly volume pays a low additional 0.25% plus $0.08 per transaction. You can sign up for Helcim herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YguFnEbJgjhFFfHCULjjmg.jpg Image Credit: Payline Payline is a merchant service that promises to make it easy to accept credit card payments, and offers a variety of plans to suit any company's needs. It offers a variety of services including mobile, online, in-store, enterprise and integrated payments, and also Payline Medical for the healthcare field, and business loans as well. Payline offers a Payline Gateway, that can be used as a plugin on a business website to accept payments, and also a ‘virtual terminal,’ that is used to manually enter payments received over the phone or through the mail. Payline offers pricing based on the service. A swipe falls under Payline Start, which has a $10 monthly fee with an additional 0.2% per transaction, which now includes AMEX as well – note there is an additional $0.10 per transaction fee here. For a keyed-in, or online transaction, Payline Connect is also $10 monthly, with a more expensive 0.3% plus $0.20 per transaction, with AMEX also included. With Payline Connect there’s a further option for the aforementioned Payment Gateway for an additional $10 monthly fee. You can sign up for Payline herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NFgbcSVDJ2aXiXEgbu8AzW.jpg Image Credit: QuickBooks QuickBooks is another option worth considering, as the company has expanded from simply providing accounting software to the arena of online payment processing, and now full merchant services. Options include a card reader for store purchases, phone payments, and online processing. What is especially useful is its direct integration into the QuickBooks accounting software, which means even POS purchases appear immediately in your accounts in real-time. Charges are provided upfront and are relatively straightforward. There's a Pay-as-you-Go payment plan with no monthly fee, with transactions charged at 2.4% + $0.25 per swipe, dip, or tap, or 3.4% + $0.25 for keyed-in entries. However, there is also a Pay Monthly subscription option available for desktop users, which costs $20 per month and reduces card swipe transactions to 1.6% + $0.30 and may especially benefit volume users. A free card reader is provided at sign-up for taking card payments, but if you'd also like to be able to deal with NFC payments from Apple or Android devices, you will need to buy the all-in-one card reader for $49. You can sign up for QuickBooks herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/56XLnq3Yd5swuTnYvZ3F8b.jpg Image Credit: PayPal PayPal Merchant Services is the business version of the ubiquitous online transaction tool, and it claims to be in use with over 17 million firms. It features the secure transactions that PayPal is known for including fraud protection and risk modeling, a customer service team, and allows a variety of payment methods including mobile and in-store credit cards. Logically, it also provides support for acceptance of PayPal from its 200 million account holders. The service is better suited for a lower volume of transactions. This is because the fee structure does not require a monthly charge, and there are no long term contracts. However, the cost is 2.9% and $0.30 for an online payment, and 2.7% per US swipe, with an even higher cost for keyed sales. You can sign up for PayPal Merchant Services herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Zzgzd7PmrTAJ2526nTg6NL.jpg Image Credit: Square Square (previously known as Square Payments Processing) is a merchant service designed to “start selling fast”. It will attract smaller and new businesses starting out with its promise of quick setup, no long term contracts and no monthly fees, and even includes a free mag-stripe reader. Square offers a robust feature set including being able to send invoices (even from a mobile device) to customers for payment, storing the card information for regular customers, plus support for third-party e-commerce platforms such as Wix and Ecwid. It also boasts the ability to take keyed-in payments directly via the Square Virtual Terminal without a card reader, and an offline mode for those occasions when an internet connection is not available. Square further offers a variety of card reader hardware, beyond the free mag-stripe reader, such as paid devices that can handle card chips, and NFC payments. The pricing is simple, with a single tier, and only transaction fees. For a “swipe, dip or tap,” the cost is a fixed 2.75%, and keyed-in transactions are a steep 3.5% plus $0.15 per transaction. You can sign up for Square herehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Tyc3TsSEDqtwvUH6fjdXpC.jpg Image Credit: Transparent Merchant Services Other merchant services to considerTransparent Merchant Services offers a wide range of payment services for a monthly fee which starts from $49.97 for up to 500 transactions per month. Although that might sound a little high, this comes with interchange-plus pricing, which means each transaction costs cents, and could especially benefit those businesses charging for higher-worth products or services. Fattmerchant offers a comprehensive suite of merchant tools for all payment types and situations, and has an especially good POS offering. It does charge $99 per month, but transactions are charged at interchange fees with no mark-up. This cost-plus pricing model means no high fees even for phone transactions, so costs can scale really well with volume compared to other providers. Flagship Merchant Services allows business owners to take credit card payments online, in store, on the go, or over the phone. There are a range of pricing models available, but unfortunately Flagship is not transparent about fees on its website. However, Flagship won't hold you to a contract term and you can cancel at any time. Dharma Merchant Services promotes itself as a low-cost, low-fee merchant service that can provide credit card processing in-store and online with a POS, virtual terminal, and even a mobile app. While the company does list its processing fees on the website, cost for the POS terminal and card readers aren't provided so you'll need to ask directly about those. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/1_TfCId1CGc

Amazon has launched a new Kindle featuring a front light, marking the first time the illumination tech has been included in the firm's entry-level ereader. It replaces the ereader with the same name (but no light), while witnessing a price rise to $89.99 (£69.99, AU$139) - the previous Kindle was $49.99 (£59.99, AU$109). You'll be able to adjust the level of brightness on-screen, allowing you to find the most comfortable level for your surroundings. Other features on the new Kindle 2019 include Bluetooth connectivity allowing you to pair it with headphones or a speaker for audiobook playback, an updated design and a 6-inch, 167ppi e ink display. The screen isn't as sharp as the 300ppi display on the Kindle Paperwhite, but considering that's almost double the price of the new Kindle it's no surprise. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BMABUsa6wcepvnCrrYXcQA.jpg Image Credit: Amazon Available from April 10Amazon also promises that the new Kindle can still offer weeks of battery life from a single charge, which is good news for bookworms. Unlike its pricier siblings however, the new Kindle isn't waterproof, so be careful if you plan to take it by the pool when on holiday. You can pre-order the new Kindle 2019 from today, with the ereader landing in hands from April 10 in either black or white. Read our ereader reviews: Kindle Paperwhite | Kindle Oasishttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/fIQnBHIKbOE

A gazelle isn’t just a nimble antelope. Now, it’s also a Dalek-a-like machine that can ingest your phones, buy them off you - for instance, £431 for a 256GB iPhone X - and help make the world a bit better. Created by ecoATM, the largest direct-to-consumer smartphone trade-in company in the US, the Gazelle has already been rolled out in North America, with the UK being the market of choice for phase two - Morrisons and Westfield domination. The efforts have already begun, and below you'll find everything you need to know about it, including how the system works and where it's available. Check out our guide to selling your phoneApple wants to make the future iPhone from recycled materialsHere's how to sell your iPhoneWhy is it so good and how does it work?On first impression, the thing that strikes is the convenience Gazelle is trying to bring to the smartphone recycling process. The kiosks have been rolled out in places most people go to as part of their routines, and they're easy to operate. Walk up to one, and you’re greeted by a big touch display. Easy-to-press buttons are coupled with spoken instructions (complete with a British accent), guiding users through the journey of selling their old phone. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/farPvAmSuJCfBM4EyRBH7C.jpg Image credit: ecoATM Even if you don’t know what smartphone you have, the Gazelle can ingest it. The first step is to punch the condition of your phone into the system, with three presets ranging from ‘as good as new’ through to ‘not working’ on the other end of the scale. Next, it prints out a sticker which acts as a phone identifier. This can be stuck on the back of your phone, after which, the Gazelle’s mechanized mouth opens. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/NYzoxowZD2utNUcXA2kS4C.jpg Image credit: ecoATM It’s definitely intimidating, but it’s also enticing (in a 'cave of wonders' way) with an inviting glow that bathes your smartphone in light as you insert it into the Gazelle. It also makes your phone’s relevant charger available, so you can hook it up, then as its mouth closes, the Gazelle gets busy identifying your device. Scanning your phone for scuffs and scratches, reading information via the data port, which can relay everything from battery degradation right through to water damage, it pauses, then gives you a price. Once done, you can choose to accept the offer, or reject it. Pick option number one - accept offer - and you can opt to receive either a PayPal or bank transfer payment, as well as being very well guided on how to make it ready to sell, without compromising your personal data. As for option number two - reject the offer - the Gazelle’s jaws open up and your freshly-priced phone is ready to take back. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/WR7TupSkgJZD7dkPiRzd4D.jpg Image credit: TechRadar Gazelle is also big on security. In addition to filming the transaction process with a camera at the top of the kiosk, it grabs key information from customers, including an email address and a scan of a form of ID. Why Gazelle is planet-friendly and where you can find oneecoATM’s big claim is that all the phones that its Gazelles process are recycled responsibly, or resold. There’s no landfill that happens off the back of a kiosk transaction, and ecoATM even audits every one of its partners, (though we weren't told specifics as to how it goes about doing so). Conflict minerals found in all smartphones are still being mined en masse in the Democratic Republic of Congo. An increase in phone recycling therefore is only a good thing, as it means these materials would become available by extracting them from old devices that can't be resold. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/YcVqaRFV93q9HY78JpxxgC.jpg Image credit: TechRadar Recycling with Gazelle is also way more convenient than sending your phone off to a postal service, provided you’re going to one of the destinations a kiosk is set up anyway - and with austerity in full-force in old Blighty, there has never been a better time to get some cash for your old tech. With expansion across the US having been swift - 3,500 kiosks deployed since its first iteration launched in 2015, they could be plentiful in the UK in the coming years if the current trial proves successful. As it stands, the initial rollout has seen the Gazelles let loose in nine locations in London, and seven locations across the rest of the UK. So if you want to get a machine-audited price for your phone, here's where you can do it: London Morrisons, 1 King StMorrisons, Chalk Farm RdMorrisons, 10 Hertslet RdWestfield London, Ariel Way (x2)Westfield Stratford City, Olympic Park (x2)Morrisons, 19 Aldermans HillMorrisons, 6-7 Salisbury Hall GardensMorrisons, James Watt Way, ErithPentagon Shopping Centre, High Street, Chatham (Kent)Midlands and others Newlands Shopping Centre, Gold St, KetteringMorrisons, Redditch, Warwick HighwayChelmsley Wood Shopping Centre, 33 Maple Walk, BirminghamMorrisons, 264 Chester Rd, BirminghamWaterside Shopping Centre, High St, LincolnIdlewells Shopping Centre, Sutton in AshfieldMorrisons, Rushton Ave, BradfordThe iPhone 11 could scan the veins in your face to unlockhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/90P-TRwr9Vg

Salisbury is to become the first city in the UK with universal access to Openreach’s fibre to the premise (FFTP) network. Openreach is embarking on a major build of FTTP, with ambitions to reach 10 million premises by the middle of the next decade. It has pledged to expand the scope of this rollout if the investment conditions are right. To date, 900,000 homes and businesses have been connected across the UK, but Salisbury will be the first place where every property can gain access to ultrafast speeds. In total, 25 locations nationwide have been earmarked for upgrades. Openreach recruits more fibre engineersEE to launch 5G in 2019What is 5G? Everything you need to knowOpenreach FTTPOpenreach is working with local authorities and partners to accelerate deployment without disrupting residents in the city, with a view to launching in April 2020. This, the parties say, will provide an economic boost to local businesses. “This is the first location in the UK where we’re aiming to upgrade an entire city network in a single year, so it’s a hugely ambitious project,” said Clive Selley, Openreach CEO. “As a medieval city, Salisbury’s narrow streets won’t be the easiest for our engineers to access and work in, but we’re confident that it’s achievable thanks to the close partnership we’ve built with the Council and the unrivalled experience and skill of our engineering teams.” “Full fibre will significantly improve the attractiveness of Salisbury for companies looking for a location with cutting-edge connectivity, boosting the number of high-quality job opportunities for constituents,” declared John Glen, MP for Salisbury and South Wiltshire. “With speeds of 1Gbps, I very much look forward to seeing how this investment will transform opportunities for local residents and businesses, as well as driving innovation in the provision of public services.” The government’s Future Telecoms Infrastructure Review (FTIR) has called for 15 million properties to be covered with fibre by 2025 and for nationwide coverage to be completed by 2033. It would then consider switching off the UK’s copper network. As part of its commitment to the FTIR, Openreach will publish information about its FTTP rollout – including exchanges to be upgraded – every three months. Here are the best BT Broadband deals for March 2019http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/skAt1aG7KMw

After months of speculation, Apple has launched new-and-refreshed AirPods 2 true wireless headphones, boasting improved battery life, smart Siri assistant functionality and an optional wireless charging case. At first glance, the new AirPods 2 look very similar to the original Apple AirPods. Again, they're completely cable free, drawing battery from a pillbox-like charging case, with stem-like protrusions from the buds. But the next-gen improvements are under the hood. First up is a newly-designed H1 chip which Apple has built specifically for the headphones. It improved connectivity pairing times, as well as the efficiency of the battery life, which Apple claims will give you 50 percent more hands-free talk time. The original AirPods offered 5 hours of use, with a total 24 hours of battery life when taking into consideration their charging case, for comparison. Best true wireless earbuds: the best truly wireless AirPod alternativesApple AirPods review: here's how we ranked the first generationPrefer Samsung? Here's our Samsung Galaxy Buds reviewhttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BoNkQwLsYs9RBTrQiTC5C4.jpg Image Credit: Apple New case, new Siri functionalityBeyond battery life, the most significant addition is that of hands-free "Hey Siri" functionality. Pop the AirPods 2 into your ears, and you'll be able to use the voice assistant command to place calls, change songs and more – basically anything Siri can do, direct from the AirPods 2, without needing to pull your iPhone out. The AirPods 2 ship with a charging case, though Apple is also introducing a new Wireless Charging Case for the earbuds, using Qi-compatible charging mats to power the case without having to stick a cable in. This is, presumably, in anticipation of the launch of Apple's long-awaited Air Power charging mat. The new Wireless Charging Case will also be compatible with the first-generation AirPods 2. As for any difference in sound quality, Apple has yet to reveal any differences between the generations. We'll update you on how the AirPods 2 sound once we've given them a play. The AirPods 2 go on sale from today, priced at $159/£159/AU$249 with the standard charging case, and $199/£199/AU$319 with the new Wireless Charging Case bundled in. A standalone Wireless Charging Case can be bought for $79/£79/AU$129 separately. If you're feeling particularly swish, you can add a personal engraving to the cases at checkout on Apple.com. Best headphones 2019: your definitive guide to the latest and greatest audiohttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/qUUJ_D0KXoU

Respawn has responded to criticisms levelled by some players concerning the freshly unleashed Wild Frontier Battle Pass for Apex Legends, with these folks distinctly unhappy with what’s on offer in terms of the content you can unlock (and more besides). Complaints include the fact that there are a lot of pretty trivial additional bits of content when levelling up the battle pass, such as basic stat trackers, and that even the new skins aren’t all that interesting – with others frustrated that there’s no quest system introduced. Lead Product Manager of Apex Legends, Lee Horn, addressed these concerns in a post on the philosophy behind the Season 1 Battle Pass. And essentially, the central idea is that players should be left to “learn and experiment” with the game, and not be distracted by having to deal with some sort of “complex quest system where you need to do a 720 backflip off of Watchtower Artemis and get two Wingman headshots before hitting the ground”. Apex Legends may one day land on your phoneApex Legends: which is the best character for your playstyleThese are the must-play best PC games of 2019Horn does, however, acknowledge that there are ‘cool’ possibilities for quests and challenges in future battle passes, but “we wanted the initial version to allow our players to just play and learn the game”. That sounds like a fair enough initial stall to set out to us, and indeed not everyone enjoys the challenge/quest side of battle royale anyway, feeling that these sort of elements are rather chore-like anyway (but that’s a whole other argument). Speaking of whole other arguments, a separate thread of criticism has also sprung up concerning the amount of experience required to level up the battle pass. Grinding your gearsAs one Reddit poster puts it: “Filler badges, weak character skins, and dire weapon recolors are your only rewards for the grind on offer, and the grind from 1-100 BP [battle pass] is significantly more than the grind from 1-100 player level.” There has been quite a bit of back-and-forth of maths calculations and counterarguments on Reddit regarding exactly how the ‘grind’ will pan out, with Horn himself chiming in, noting that: “The battle pass takes approximately ~100 hours if you use the bonuses and get a few kills here and there. Which is a little over 1 hour of in game time per day.” It is worth underling that the bonuses are key, with additional XP accrued for playing with friends, but particularly noteworthy is the bonus experience for playing different Legends (based on time survived with those characters). The essential idea is to encourage folks to play a number of different characters. As Horn wrote in his blog post: “We’ve added a Battle Pass progression bonus tied to playing a variety of characters, because we believe true mastery in Apex Legends means being a badass with anyone in any situation at any time. “This season is about exploring the new meta and variety of team comps driven by the launch of our first new Legend, Octane.” Again, that makes sense, although again some ire has been provoked by tying said bonuses into survival time, given that this seems to be encouraging a more conservative play-style tilted towards hiding and surviving, as opposed to risk-taking or hot-dropping into highly contested loot-rich areas. Clearly, everyone needs to give this new introduction to the game a little time to settle in some respects, but it seems that Respawn’s first battle pass is off to a controversial start on several levels. These are the best gaming PCs of 2019Via Wccftech http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/1S8iK99sE5I

Best Earbuds and In-Ear Headphones Buying Guide: Welcome to TechRadar's round-up of the best earbuds, in-ear headphones and earphones you can buy in 2019. Earbuds. Earphones. In-Ear headphones. Whatever you call them, these ear canal-adjacent headphones are undoubtably one of the most convenient ways to listen to your music. They're sold with almost every major smartphone in existence and can be found in check-out counters, airports and gas stations worldwide. But just because you can find them down at your local convenience store doesn't mean that's where you should buy them. Instead, the best earbuds and earphones are often found online from manufacturers like 1MORE, RHA, Shure and Nuforce. Of course, there are plenty of big brands making some of the best earbuds, and with Apple rumored to drop its second generation true wireless AirPods 2 in the near future, there could soon be even more to choose from. If those names don't sound familiar, don't worry - we've got information on all of the best buds and their manufacturers. Can't decide which type of headphones to buy? Check out our guide video below: To that end, not only are the best pairs of in-ear headphones ultra-comfortable to wear for extended periods of time, but newer models can be completely wire-free and support Hi-Res audio codecs like LDAC and aptX HD. While you won't find any discount-bin earbuds on our list, you can rest easy knowing that the 'buds you see below are durable, long-lasting and sound (for the most part) out-of-this-world. As we review more models this list will change, which means you can expect that you're getting the best headphones on the market at any point and any time you buy them. The best earbud and in-ear headphones FAQ: quick questions answeredWhat brand of headphones is the best? That totally depends on what you're looking for. But we're careful with our lists. That means all of the earbud and in-ear headphones below come from brands we trust – you can't go wrong with our picks below. What are the best cheap earbuds? At least half of the buds in this list are below the £80/$80 mark, which makes them ideal for those who need a new set of headphones but can't justify a splurge. We recommend taking a good look at the RHA MA390 Wireless, as well as the 1More Triple Drive In-Ear Headphones. If they're still too pricey for your current budget, then check out our guide to the best cheap headphones of 2019. Which is better, earbuds or headphones? It's up to you. Some people love the feel and immersive sound experience of over-ear headphones, others prefer the freedom and compact size of in-ear headphones and earbuds. It all depends on what your priorities are. How do I keep my earbuds from falling out? Although most of the high-end in-ear buds and headphones are designed to stay put, everyone's ears are different. Which means there's still a chance they'll fall out – especially if you're running or moving. If this keeps happening, we recommend opting for a pair built with sports in mind, these tend to have better support and even a different design that anchors them into your ear better. The best earbuds and in-ear headphones of 2019:After spending a few weeks with both the 1MORE Triple Driver in-ear headphones and the 1MORE Quad Driver in-ear headphones we were blown away at just how much value each one gave in their prospective price ranges. For $100 (£100, about AU$168), it’s hard to think of a better sounding and built headphone than the 1MORE Triple Driver. That said, if you want just that little extra refinement and luxury materials, the 1MORE Quad Drivers are still a bargain at twice the price. There’s very little we can fault the Triple Drivers for. Their rubber cable is annoying and its remote control feels cheap but these are just nitpicks. But, for their price, it’s impossible to do better than 1MORE's Triple Driver in-ear headphones. Read the full review: 1More Triple Driver In-Ear Headphone http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4DHbqU4d7cYA6aEzaCoQA6.jpg While truly wireless earbuds are undoubtedly the future of portable audio, they still present compromises in battery life and wireless reliability. Plus, they’re easy to lose if you’re not careful. Neckbuds, or earbuds that are worn around the neck, are a great alternative to true wireless earbuds as they offer longer battery life for continuous listening and stronger wireless performance. That being said, if you're interested in picking up a pair, it's hard to do better than the RHA MA390 Wireless, which easily stands as one of the best neckbuds on the market. After spending several weeks with them, we came away impressed with the package RHA has come up with: The headphones are built extremely well, have a fun sound signature, can take a beating and still remain relatively affordable. It’s main rival, the OnePlus Bullets Wireless (featured below), are also excellent, however the RHA MA390 offer more dynamic sound and better build quality. Read the full review: RHA MA390 Wireless http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/4UxjsiJGeNU8UYT9gEp6G7.jpg RHA T20i Good sound is subjective, yes, but there are things that we can all agree on that make a headphone sound good: Bass should be tight and impactful, highs detailed but not harsh, and mids that are smooth like honey. Most headphone manufacturers shoot for these specs, but what if you want a little more bass or want to increase the energy of the highs? For most headphones, your only option is to mess with equalization. But RHA has a different idea. The RHA T20i is an excellent sounding pair of in-ear headphones with a neat party trick: customizable filters. These filters thread into the headphone housings and let you choose from Bass, Treble, and Reference. Each filter makes an audible impact and are easy to swap out on the go. As a package, the build quality, sound, and customizable filters make the RHA T20i a must-have for audiophiles on the go. In fact, they sound so good, they made us want to give up our wireless headphones. Read the full review: RHA T20i http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mK592np95TDZtoz3AV58XN.jpg Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 The NuForce BE Sport4 wireless earbuds are that rare find: earbuds that are good for basically all situations. While they're specifically designed for use in the gym and on the track, the BE Sport4 do an awesome job isolating audio in a crowded city environment and are even good enough for home listening. The BE Sport4 earbuds have claimed 10-hour battery life, which we found to be pretty close to the mark in our time with them, and from empty you can get two hours of use from just a 15-minute charge – ideal for those needing a quick top-up while they put on their trainers and pack a gym kit. Consider this a warning shot fellow audio manufacturers: build and audio quality do not need to be sacrificed in order to keep earbuds affordable. Read the full review: Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/PRR6k9ArAHuXZhjipkNQMQ.jpg OnePlus Bullets Wireless OnePlus is most known for its “flagship killer” phones like the OnePlus 6, but the company also makes headphones - the best example of which are the company’s excellent Bullets in-ears. For $70 (£70, about AU$124), the OnePlus Bullets Wireless offer an incredible value in the neck-bud headphone category. Sure, true wireless headphones are en vogue now, but tethered wireless headphones offer better battery life and signal strength for much less money. Read the full review: OnePlus Bullets Wireless http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KLyREfbmxzY6obe2BQBfMk.jpg Optoma NuForce BE Sport3 NuForce knocked it out of the park with the BE Sport3 headphones. They're an incredible value for a pair of wireless headphones that sound good, last all day, have a bulletproof build and incredible noise isolation. While they're not the most dynamic or resolving headphones, NuForce shows us that the future of wireless headphones is a bright one. Read the full review: Optoma NuForce BE Sport3 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hRNc47ZbEXMAHts6Ach8Vk.jpg Jabra Elite 65t True Wireless If you want a pair of high quality truly wireless earbuds that aren’t the Apple AirPods, then the Jabra Elite 65t should be at the top of your list. After spending over a month with them, we came away impressed with the well-rounded package that Jabra managed to create: The earbuds offer a subtle, mature look and a reliable wireless connection, which isn’t always the case with truly wireless earbuds. Plus, they sound great compared to the competition. While the Jabra Elite 65t are easily one of the highest scoring true wireless headphones we've reviewed, there are a few others on the market worth considering: If you want a pair of exercise earbuds, there’s the Jabra Elite Sport which has a higher water resistance and handy sports-oriented features. For audiophiles who don’t mind stretching the budget, the active noise cancelling Sony WF-1000X are an excellent choice. Bassheads will want to try the SOL Republic Amps Air. If you only have the budget for one of these, though, go for the Elite 65t. Read the full review: Jabra Elite 65t http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/717a40c56c7b47bd53aba76a2898ad2a.jpg Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear With the appealing candy apple detailing, Sennheiser gets you in the door. But once you're in, you'll stay for the killer sound quality that comes from the Momentum In-Ear earphones. These are the among the best deals in the headphones market as it stands today. The company has a version available for each flavor of mobile OS –Android and iOS – so everyone can get in on the goodness. Read the full review: Sennheiser Momentum In-Ear http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vvyqCHgdGeFhZPadXUikH7.jpg 1More Quad Driver In-Ear Headphones They're expensive, but the 1MORE Quad Driver in-ear headphones are worth every penny. 1MORE hit it out of the park with this flagship pair of in-ear headphones with its balanced sound build quality, smartphone compatibility and price. These in-ear headphones will make mobile audiophiles very happy. The only reservation that we have is that the Quad Drivers face tough competition from 1MORE’s own cheaper Triple Driver sibling which costs half the price (which sit pretty at the number one spot on our list). In terms of value, the 1MORE Triple Driver headphones are the winner but for those who want just a bit better build and more detailed sound, the 1MORE Quad Driver headphones are worth the extra money. Read the full review: 1More Quad Driver In-Ear Headphones http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cf5fdd017c19569cad77fe0d483fca58.jpg Optoma NuForce HEM6 While they can't quite top other in-ears like the exceptional1MORE Triple Driver or RHA's T10i, Optoma's NuForce HEM6 does bring a lot to the table. Namely, that includes a great-sounding – and ultra-comfortable – pair of headphones. So, why are they so far down the list? While the NuForce BE Sport3 strikes the perfect balance between performance and price tag, the HEM6 skews a bit towards the expensive side without offering enough of a difference in performance to warrant the sticker price. That's not to say these are a bad pair of headphones – they're quite the opposite – it's just that we feel there are better values out there in the headphone world. Read the full review: Optoma NuForce HEM6 Additional resources: Check out TechRadar's exhaustive guides to the best headphones to buy today including the best on-ear headphones and the best over-ear headphones.For some more specialist pairs, take a look at our guides to the best wireless headphones, the best true wireless headphones, and the best noise-cancelling headphones.Looking for some headphones you can take in the pool or on your run? Check out our guide to the best swimming headphones and best running headphones.http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/1WDsNGpc7vc

The summer of 2018 saw England almost ‘bring football home’ (and I emphasise ‘almost’ as a proud citizen of Paris), the marriage between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Irish Referendum and the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century. It was also the summer GDPR was bigger than Beyoncé, according to Google. Platforms such as Facebook were held accountable for their data practices globally, and companies finally woke up to the fact that they had to adapt to GDPR’s new rules, to ensure compliance with the new European regulation. Whilst, to the football fan or loyal monarchist, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) may not have been as exciting as some of the big events that complemented the UK’s heatwave, the lasting impact of GDPR on consumer’s day-to-day lives far outweighs that of the others. Majority of companies still aren't GDPR-compliantData Privacy is having its dayHere is the one reason why companies are getting data protection wrongThe significance of this European regulation has already been huge. We’ve seen the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforce fines to the big players, making an example of them so all businesses realise the seriousness of breaching the rules. With so much achieved in 2018, it begs the question: what can we expect from 2019 and the plight of data? Will this year continue to be as pivotal for the battle for consumer privacy rights and what does GDPR still have yet to achieve? E-receipts show that GDPR might still need to solidify its celebrity status In January, we once again saw Data Protection Day, an international holiday to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. Whilst this day does so much to keep these topics within the mainstream agenda and at the forefront of people's minds, there is still quite far to go as GDPR becomes the new normal. Already, regulators are keeping a close eye on some industries that are going through a lot of innovation at the moment, and on their practices when it comes to customer communications. In a recent study by consumer body Which?, several major retailers were potentially at risk for violations of data protection regulations by sending marketing content to customers via e-receipts – customers who hadn’t requested to be contacted for promotional offerings. Although e-billing is an exciting new technology that many in-store retailers are now embracing, companies must never lose sight of being fully transparent with their customers on how their personal data is used, and the communication they can expect to receive. When done properly, e-receipts are a fantastic marketing opportunity. Triggered by a user’s action (like an online purchase), transactional emails have 8x the open rate compared to traditional marketing emails. However, it does not take a GDPR expert to work out that turning transactional communications into a marketing opportunity requires a thorough understanding of the rules about what can and cannot be done. Even though this is still a grey area, opportunities to include ‘marketing’ within these post-purchase emails can exist if the brand can balance its interests with the rights of their customers, all whilst clearly informing them how they use their data. Something retailers and many other businesses will need to carefully navigate this year is the balancing act between innovation and the use of customer data. Brands will need to ensure there is a legitimate interest for an offer within an e-receipt, meaning that there should be a reasonable link and purpose between the user’s purchase and the brand’s offer. It is not just e-receipts that have led to trouble for businesses, many have already fallen foul of the new laws due to the way they are collecting and using user data. The likes of Microsoft, Facebook, Instagram, Amazon and TSB have all faced investigation by the ICO since May. Therefore, this highlights that as functioning businesses, we still have a long way to go to ensure perfect data compliance. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nc3LDDvvKxigsEU7A5Qqca.jpg Image Credit: Shutterstock Is there a new superstar set to take GDPR’s shine?GDPR, you did so much in 2018, but could ePrivacy be the new buzzword of 2019? Also known as the “cookie law”, it is set to cause another headache for businesses whilst they are still trying to settle into the new GDPR routine.   This regulation, which repeals the Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive of 2002, is lex specialis to GDPR, meaning it can override the existing regulation. Like GDPR, it pertains to data on devices, processing techniques, storage, browsers – affecting all electronic communications ubiquitously. The regulation requires organisations capturing any third party data from online consumers do so only with their explicit permission. As its pseudonym the ‘cookie law’ suggests, users who don’t set browser-level cookie permissions will face cookie request pop-ups when arriving on a website. 91% of marketers expect this to directly cause a loss in global web traffic, although 57% anticipate that this drop will be 10% or less. Likely more concerning for marketers, is the decreased ability to extensively track the actions users take on their website. With 31% of marketers in the UK stating that the most important information they collect via cookies is Google Analytics data, there is good reason to be worried. This is going to leave the relevant teams under pressure to find a sensible and legal alternative to this, which can compensate for the significantly large data hole that is going to remain. Plan of actionWith so much at stake, what can businesses do to ensure they are prepped when ePrivacy actually does hit, and what does this mean for GDPR this year? Forward-thinking brands should have already considered that ePrivacy will redefine the limit of personalisation based on the available data sources, and other businesses should take note. They will need to have a strategy in place that clearly outlines to customers why they will benefit from providing access to their data to be tracked - like they did for GDPR ahead of the last May deadline. Sensible businesses will also be looking to invest in direct communication channels. In fact, our recent research discovered that, 79% of marketers predict they will use email marketing more as a channel post ePrivacy. Whilst GDPR might seem like it came into force a long time ago, ePrivacy could be set to stir up the way people think about their data again. But will it be as popular as GDPR was in 2018 or have as much of an impact and continue to maintain people's interest in the topic? Ultimately regardless of which regulation will be the most Googled or written about, raising awareness of consent when it comes to personal data should be a joint effort between all - regulators, businesses and consumers. Darine Fayed, Head of Legal and DPO at Mailjet This is everything you need to know about GDPRhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/qap53FiWfEw

After reaching an astonishing 50 million players in less than a month, Apex Legends has now officially launched its first season, dubbed Wild Frontier. Players on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC are now able to purchase the Wild Frontier Battle Pass for 950 Apex Coins, entitling them to a new character in Octane (available separately for 750 Apex Coins or 12,000 Legends Tokens) and the ability to earn 100 new items, such as Legend Skins, Apex Coins and a new legendary Havoc skin. As a reference, Apex Coins start at $9.99 (around £7.50 / AU$14.15) in real world money for a pack of 1,000. Octane is a colorful character who possesses robot legs, incredible speed, self-healing abilities and a Launch Pad Ultimate Ability which other team members can also take advantage of. You can find out more about Octane's play style and special abilities in the character trailer below. Apex Legends: characters, trailers and newsApex Legends: which is the best character for youApex Legends: essential beginner’s tipsAlong with this speedy new Legend, the Wild Frontier Battle Pass also offers the ability to earn 100 new items, such as Legend Skins, Apex Coins and a new legendary Havoc skin. Players who want to get a head start can immediately unlock the first 25 levels (out of 100 available in Season 1) by purchasing the Battle Pass Bundle, which costs 2,800 Apex Coins. Check out the trailer for Apex Legends' Season 1 Battle Pass below. Apex Legends may one day land on your phonehttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/vWX7r4If9uc

Google has introduced Stadia, its streaming game platform that will let you play graphics-intensive mainstream games from within a Chrome browser window using a basic internet connection, no hardcore hardware needed. These are big claims, but if Google can pull it off, Stadia could change the gaming landscape. Here’s why it might take a chomp out of the marketshare from the upcoming PlayStation 5 and Xbox Two. First up: we know very little about either next-generation console... not even their release dates. Some rumors have suggested a PS5 could be coming some time in 2019, others say we won’t get it ‘til 2021. Yet more rumors about the Xbox Two consoles (plural!) have them coming possibly in 2019 but likely 2020, though news has been thinner about Microsoft’s consoles. In other words, they’re coming so soon that it’s doubtful that either Sony or Microsoft could make dramatic changes to their consoles in response to Stadia before their release – the trains have left the station. But it’s unlikely that they’ll come out before Google’s platform launches, which the company officially announced would be some time in 2019. Let’s start with the stakes. Google Stadia runs entirely off of company servers – players simply have to open up a Chrome browser window, load up the service, pass a connection test (Google requires a streaming rate of 15Mbps, latency below 40ms, and data loss below 5%), and they can play anything in Stadia’s catalogue. So far as we know, there aren’t any other requirements. On stage, Google demonstrated playing the graphics-intensive game Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey through Stadia on low-specced computers and a Pixel tablet. Hardware doesn’t seem to be holding the platform back, and Google claims it will work on a wide array of desktops, laptops and devices – as well as use a plethora of existing controllers, keyboards and peripherals. Google’s service was effectively demoed as Project Stream, which wrapped up in January after a public beta had players streaming Assassin’s Creed on everyday machines. Assuming all the broad components of Stadia work as advertised, the PS5 and Xbox Two consoles may have serious competition when they launch – and might even look a bit old-fashioned. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EsgR3Vyo4DrPrc2ExP9dhn.png Image credit: Google Leaving the console behind“The future of gaming is not a box,” as Stadia’s official page boldly proclaims. This is a very clear shot across the bow of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, which have dictated progression through generational consoles. Instead, Stadia will operate on Google servers packed with custom GPUs built in partnership with AMD that aim to deliver 10.7 teraflops of power (compare that to the 4.2 teraflops of the mid-generation PS4 Pro or 6 of the Xbox One X). Players with a basic internet connection will be able to play on what will, presumably, be a very wide range of devices, many of which players already own. All they have to do is run Chrome. In short, Google is handling the march of progress for game tech – all you have to do is sign up for Stadia. Sure, we don’t know how much it’ll cost (are there sign-up fees? Subscription dues? Price per game?), but it would have to be a seriously expensive service to out-price a next-generation console. Again, we don’t know how much the PS5 or either of the rumored Xbox Two consoles will cost, but seeing as the Xbox One was priced at US$499/£429/AU$599 at launch back in 2013, we’re assuming the next ones will be pricier. Tack on extra peripherals and/or services like the $10-per-month Xbox Game Pass and console gaming could face a lot of competition so long as Stadia is priced right. Streaming possibilitieshttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/k5KqdHsifmWGsSHpe6mGaA.png Image credit: Google Google is audaciously claiming that players will get a norm of 4K resolution at 60fps on Stadia, which will eventually climb to 8K and over 120fps. Doom Eternal will be one of the first games on the service, and id CEO Marty Stratton said on Google’s stage that the Stadia version of the game will support 4K/HDR/60fps. How? Because Google, really. The company runs the servers where games are rendered, eliminating intermediate steps, which means the only thing that changes from player to player is latency. The experience is standardized. Which means... well, a lot of things. Google can integrate a lot of its services directly into the experience, which we saw demonstrated at the Stadia announcement. Stuck in-game? Ask Google Assistant for help. Watching a streamer play a game on YouTube? Join that game with a button press. Friend stuck? Join their game by clicking a link. This is streamlined even further by the proprietary controller, which has buttons dedicated to each of these perks. There’s a lot of integration and optimization that consoles won’t have. Their big advantage, of course, is local processing, which is a feather in their cap to appeal to players in areas without robust internet. But given the intermediate steps Stadia eliminates, this may not be as much an obstacle as we’d expect. We’ll have to see how much connectivity players need to make the most out of Stadia. It’s not like console makers have ignored streaming game platforms, obviously: one rumor has the first Xbox Two console, codenamed Lockhart, as a cheaper disc-less console that streams games from the cloud. It’s Google’s infrastructure advantages that might make the difference in this fight. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Gp73gkYBNjmWaPE7FNExDS.png Image credit: Google Co-op so easy, it should be required“Stadia will, of course, embrace full cross-platform play,” said Google’s Phil Harrison during the platform’s announcement. The prospect of cross-play has been so contentious that only enormously successful games like Fortnite have had the clout to more or less force cross-platform play. But it’s not just playing with your friends – Stadia enables developers to let players bring over their game saves and progression. This is a bigger deal than just storing your progress on one company or platform’s cloud: it’s obnoxious to have made a lot of progress in the PC version of a game and buy it again elsewhere (like, say, the Nintendo Switch), only to have to start all over. The death of couch co-op is another popular lament, and some developers have stated that performance suffers with local co-op in today’s high-performing games. Of course, when you have hundreds of server-side GPUs rendering your game, this is a thing of the past, and those developing exclusively for Stadia should expect zero performance dips during couch co-op. How does local console processing compete with that? http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hMNoKsiMFoPbHLzBimkovL.png Image credit: Google Developers, start your enginesOn stage, Google showed off a cool trick for Stadia: using machine learning, the platform lets developers feed an image into a game engine, which applies a matching art style to the visual landscape of whatever game the developer is building. That’s cool, and shows off artistic applications of Stadia’s (and Google’s) processing muscle. It’s unclear how many more toys Google will provide developers to incentivize them to build on its streaming platform, but one thing we can predict: developers won’t have to fret over a lot of the downsides of digital gaming, like downloading patches or players with different versions of games. Just update on the server, and everyone plays the same edition. It’s hard to imagine next-gen consoles achieving that kind of game version parity. There’s another advantage developers have for working on Stadia, and it involves State Play, a feature that lets anyone click a link to immediately load up an instance of a game with a particular world, player-character and item state. “Can you get yourself out of this sticky situation?” the on-stage demo suggested. But think about what else a developer, especially smaller ones, might do with that feature. Players can send dev teams their favorite moments, and the dev teams can rebroadcast those moments on social media. Sure, players can use ‘share’ buttons on PS4 and Xbox One to broadcast screenshots and clips, but who knows if next-gen consoles will have pathways letting players and developers jump into each others’ game-states by something as easy as clicking a hyperlink? http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/t4yXqy2hdgmYPwjt5XAVfP.png Image credit: Google Players playing... anywhereThis might be the cheapest shot, but it bears mentioning: if you can play some of the latest games on a cheap tablet anywhere, why would you buy an expensive console that’s stuck in your home? Google is claiming a lot with Stadia, but the platform could change how and where we play. The Nintendo Switch has cruised to record sales on its hybrid portable-home form factor. Imagine that same portability, but at a cheaper cost and not bound to a single system. Play on your tablet while out and about and then on a bigger screen when you get home. Heck, you can even play on a huge screen linked to a Chromecast. And if you lose your device? Don't worry – just pick up the game on another. All you need is something that runs Chrome and a decent internet connection. This might not be a death sentence for Xbox Two and PS5; one TechRadar editor pointed out that Fortnite has attracted plenty of younger players on their phones, and some have likely invested in more established gaming as a result. The question is whether Stadia can achieve the same experiences as the Xbox Two and PS5, or if the latter will have their own must-have features or interoperability. Who knows? Not us. We’re still in the dark about the next generation of consoles. But if they can’t justify their high cost against Google’s colossal network advantages, this could be one of (if not the) last console generations. Before Stadia gets here, check out the best PC games you can get right nowhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/n7HWsal6DlM

At Google’s opening keynote at this year’s Game Developers Conference, CEO Sundar Pichai unveiled the future of game-streaming: Stadia. The correct plural pronunciation of the word ‘stadium’, Stadia will offer gamers an arena to watch and participate, game and stream their games to the wider world. It’s ambitious and, despite some huge unknown factors like cost, game library and recommended specs, potentially game-changing. Part and parcel of Stadia is the new Stadia Controller – a Wi-Fi-enabled gamepad created by Google’s hardware team that will help you get the most from the streaming service when it launches later this year. Now, you don’t need the controller to use the streaming service: Stadia can be played with any controller you already own, including your keyboard and mouse if you’re playing on a laptop and PC. But this first-party controller unlocks the next-level functions Google is building into its streaming service, like Google Assistant, that offers in-game help on-demand and its share button that will trigger Google to start a second stream of your game live on YouTube Gaming. Inside the halls at the Game Developers Conference we got the chance to check out the controller for ourselves and while we weren’t allowed to put it to the test for ourselves, we could get up close and personal with the bridge between you and Google’s hyper-powered streaming service. DesignWhatever it says to the contrary, Google is a relative newcomer to the AAA gaming space. Sure, it single-handedly created the gaming-enabled Android TV, the operating system of both microconsoles like the Nvidia Shield and stellar Sony TVs like the Sony X900F, but it’s not the first name that comes to mind when you think of mainstream gaming manufacturers like Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. That said, it’s no wonder Google has sought inspiration from 'the Big Three' in terms of its controller the design – the Stadia Controller is exactly what you’d get if you mashed the Xbox One gamepad with Sony’s DualShock 4. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nE3dQctALsoRw3yGky64TU.jpg Image Credit: TechRadar The result is a flatter gamepad that doesn’t have the sharp contours of the DualShock 4 or the indents of the Xbox One. Instead, it has this almost space-age look to it that some will love for its simplicity and others will decry as uncomfortable, awkward-looking and cheap. Where gamers will find some crossover between this new pad and the controllers they’ve come to know and love is with the Xbox-style face buttons (A,B,X,Y) and in-line control sticks that mirror both the alignment and the concavity of the sticks on the DualShock 4. There’s a D-pad in the top-left corner that looks like it could be either fantastically responsive or awfully mushy depending on the resistance. (Though, the same could be said for literally every button on the controller including the left and right triggers and bumpers located on the back of the controller.) Pockmarking the face of the controller where you’d expect to find the Start and Select buttons are four new buttons in addition to the home button located in between the joysticks that we’ll cover in the next section. Last but not least, while Google has mostly shown images and video of a white controller, we were also able to track down a black version that was in a case outside the show floor. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/mEqrRr6Z7uXMpDoYaUirkU.jpg Image Credit: TechRadar PerformanceSo what will it be like to use the controller to play games like Doom Eternal or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey? At this point no one really knows – Google included. That’s because the controller has not actually cleared the FCC certification process yet and could, theoretically, change how it works before it comes out later this year. That said, while we can’t give you the final verdict on performance right here right now, we do know that the wireless Stadia Controller will have a slight edge on the Xbox One in terms of latency, as Google built it to work over Wi-Fi instead of Bluetooth. Connecting directly to your router could cut out crucial milliseconds of delay and save you lives in platformers and frustration in the real world. That said, although the controller looks like it’s meant to be used wirelessly, there is a USB-C port on the back that will be used for charging. Every Google rep we spoke to couldn’t comment on battery length (again, FCC clearance is key here) but told us that information will be made available publicly before the Stadia launch. What about all the new buttons on the front of the controller? Google Assistant (the three bubbles) is relatively self-explanatory – it’s your direct access to Google’s virtual assistant. During its opening keynote at GDC, Google told the audience that the Google Assistant could potentially offer tons of in-game functionality like walkthroughs, guides or another feature set specifically by the developer, but didn’t say whether we’d be able to use it for everyday tasks like turning off the lights or setting reminders. The other even-more-nebulous feature that you'll find on the Stadia Controller is the YouTube button that connects you straight to the streaming service. In its keynote, Google said that pressing the button will cause the service to create a second identical stream that will be posted live to YouTube Gaming that will act as a record of all your adventures in-game. When we asked reps to elaborate on that, however, most said that we'd have to wait for more information. For now we can assume that the controller and the service itself will have a close tie to YouTube Gaming and while we're not 100% clear on what form that will take, it seems like the Controller is the device that will be crucial to closing the gap. Final thoughtsThe old adage about not judging a book by its cover seems to apply nicely here: Until we know what it's like to hold and to use for an extended period of time, it's impossible to pass judgment on the Stadia Controller. That probably won't stop everyone else from doing it, however.To that end, expect to see a lot of polarizing opinions out there on the internet. Some will love it for its integration of Google Assistant and direct access to YouTube. Others will likely label its flat, space-age design as out-of-touch and awkward. But hey, if anyone can take a good hardware design and re-purpose it, it's Google. Stadia: everything you need to know about Google's game-streaming servicehttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/LiW87TX_dKE

Nvidia launched G-Sync five years ago, promising the end of screen tearing and visual artifacts. And, while the technology has certainly had its fair share of controversy, it’s become one of the best monitor technologies. Recently at CES 2019, Nvidia decided to port its G-Sync technology to FreeSync monitors designed to work with AMD graphics cards. After testing 400 FreeSync monitors, Nvidia recently announced that 15 of them were worthy of G-Sync, opening the tech up to more affordable displays. But, how do you find the best FreeSync monitor for G-Sync? So, when you go out to pick up the best FreeSync monitor for G-Sync, there are just a couple of things you need to take into consideration. First, is obviously going to be a high refresh rate. Because G-Sync will automatically change the monitor’s refresh rate to match your framerate in-game, shoot for the highest refresh rate you can get. 144Hz should be perfect for most people. Then, of course, you’re going to want to find a monitor with fast response time. If you’re big into esports, finding the fastest monitor is literally game-changing, so 1ms should be the goal. However, if you’re more into laid-back adventures, like Astroneer, this is not as big of a deal. This is a lot to take in, but we here at TechRadar have your back. We’ve picked out the five best FreeSync monitors for G-Sync, so you can spend less time shopping and more time gaming. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ZovbFze23Pu4jrM4F54Q8a.jpg Image Credit: Asus TN panels make for great gaming monitors, even if they aren’t the most beautiful things in the world. They’re fast, affordable, and they’re color accurate enough for games, without going to the extremes needed for professional work. That’s why when we heard that the Asus MG278Q was one of the FreeSync monitors approved for G-Sync, we were appropriately excited. This monitor checks all the right boxes for an esports monitor, without driving the price through the roof. Read the full review: Asus MG278Q http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XWfe6qDbQUfQmZD6Td4oN8.jpg Image Credit: AOC The AOC Agon AG322QC4 isn’t the fastest gaming monitor out there (look at the entry above this one for speed), but it might be one of the prettiest. One of the prettiest that doesn’t cost a fortune at least. Not only is this a FreeSync monitor that now supports G-Sync, but it also supports HDR 400, so games that support it will look especially vibrant, on top of being tear-free. We wouldn’t recommend it to esports players, but everyone else should keep their eyes on this one. Read the full review: AOC Agon AG322QC4 http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/HYHgGphgzxUmD5MxgueyuX.jpg Image Credit: Asus Let’s say you’re practicing to become the next big CS:GO or Overwatch world champ, but you just don’t feel like your monitor can keep up. You could go for some 144Hz panel, but why not go all the way? Why not go for a 240Hz 1080p panel, especially one packed with RGB lighting and a slick 1ms response time? We’ll that’s what you’re getting with the Asus ROG Strix XG258Q, and while that price tag seems high, it’s worth it for buttery-smooth frame rates. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/RggWAdYPLZz6uMR49z83R6.jpg Image Credit: Acer We know we’re not the only ones that love tech that looks as good as it performs, and the Acer XG270HU definitely fits the bill. This beautiful red monitor is packing a 27-inch TN panel with a 144Hz refresh rate and 1ms response times. This is one of the best FreeSync monitors for G-Sync, and it’s got the style to back it up – even if we wouldn’t exactly call it the ‘gamer aesthetic.' http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/cu7CB9cbjvLX22DPAfvtT4.jpg Image Credit: BenQ BenQ’s Zowie monitors are beloved for their esports cred these days, so when the BenQ Zowie XL2740 showed up on Nvidia’s list of FreeSync monitors for G-Sync, we were excited. This pro gaming monitor features a 240Hz refresh rate, 1ms response time and decent color accuracy for a TN panel. These specs, combined with an attachable screen shield make for a gaming monitor that esports players will want to take to every tournament. Find the best Nvidia GeForce graphics card to go with these G-Sync displayshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/DFFb_QrrgBs

A new variant of the Mirai malware targeting IoT devices has been discovered in the wild by security researchers from Palo Alto Networks. The researchers first discovered this new strain earlier this year and now it is being used in a new IoT botnet targeting smart signage TVs and wireless presentation systems. The authors of the botnet have spent a great deal of time upgrading older versions of the Mirai malware with new exploits and according to Palo Alto Networks, this new Mirai botnet uses 27 exploits with 11 that are completely new to Mirai altogether. New Mirai variant set to hit IoT devicesYour Android device could be affected by a crypto-mining botnet"Most sophisticated" Torii botnet targeting IoT devicesMirai's built-in list of default credentials has also been expanded by the botnet operator to allow the malware to more easily gain access to devices that use default passwords. In total, four new username and password combinations have been added according to a new report from Palo Alto Network's Unit 42. IoT devicesThis new Mirai botnet is intended to infect IoT devices with exposed Telnet ports through the use of default credentials which many hardware makers continue to leave unchanged despite the security risks they pose. While previous botnets using the Mirai malware have targeted routers, modems, security cameras and DVRs, the latest one is intentionally targeting smart signage TVs and wireless presentation systems, specifically LG's Supersign TVs and the WePresent WiPG-1000 wireless presentation system. Both of these exploits have been available online for some time but this is the first instance researchers have seen of them being weaponized. To avoid having your devices fall victim to the Mirai botnet, it is recommended that you only use devices from trusted manufacturers and immediately change the default passwords on those devices. Via ZDNet This is everything you need to know about the IoThttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/hqOoKseho5w

Imagine a world where you don't need expensive gaming hardware to play the next big release – a world where all you have to do is open the Chrome browser, pick out a game you want to play and instantly have it start without any need for a lengthy download or surprisingly large patch. That’s the idea of Google’s cloud gaming service, Stadia. From Chrome tab to 4K, 60fps game, in five seconds. No installation. Google promises that Google Stadia's cloud computing power is the equivalent of a console running at 10.7 GPU terraflops, that's more than the PS4 Pro and Xbox One X combined. If Google delivers on this promise, then it could be a game-changer. Rather than needing high-end hardware, Stadia (which was prototyped under the Project Stream moniker) allows you to use whatever computer you have around to play videogames. Google handles all the heavy lifting on its own servers, which can process the latest version of the game at high resolutions and frame rates, encode it into a stream, and deliver the stream to you over the internet. At launch Google promises Stadia will support desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones - without the need for a hardware box, instead running on Google's own data center. We got our first taste of the service during an extended beta that ran back in 2018, and now it's been fully revealed at GDC 2019. There's still much to learn as Google's Stadia rolls out, but based on what we played last year, the renamed Project Stream serves as an impressive showcase of what the future of cloud gaming could look like. Cut to the chaseWhat is it? Google's big gaming play – a 'Netflix for gaming' streaming service that's a true console competitor, one to rival (and potentially lead) the next generation.When is it launching? At some point in 2019, with launch territories including the USA, Canada and UK.How much will it cost? That remains to be seen – it's not yet certain if you'll need to pay for individual games, or pay for a subscription pass, or a combination of both.http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5n3MpUs5uML3CBgzKZyDzH.png How Google Stadia worksAs long as you’re connected to the internet with a fast and stable connection and you’re using a recent desktop version of the Chrome browser, you’ve got the setup needed to use Stadia. Playing a videogame on Stadia is as simple as opening a new tab in Chrome and going to the service's Stadia.com homepage, or even jumping from a YouTube video link about the game. Google will prompt you to run a connection test that checks your internet bandwidth, the latency between your computer and the servers, and any data loss. Google requires a streaming rate of 15Mbps, latency below 40ms, and data loss below 5%. With these requirements met, you’ll be ready to dive into a game. The beta of Project Stream offered Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which is nothing short of a demanding title. When you launched the game in your Chrome tab, it would go fullscreen, and run exactly as if it has been launched on a proper gaming computer (except without a deep graphics settings menu). You can play with a keyboard and mouse or connect a game controller and play that way. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/ECS7yRTQQ2YNP8oL9eGQpm.jpg All of your inputs on the computer get sent over to Google’s servers, processed in the game, and everything happening gets streamed right back to you. This is why that latency is so important, because you can’t have a good game experience if everything you do in the game shows up a second later. The limits of Stadia are still being detailed, but Google has stated that Stadia will eventually be able to scale up to 8K / 120+fps frame rates, with 4K/ 60 fps play as the norm. That's way above the standard bar for quality PC gaming. All of your inputs on the computer get sent over to Google’s servers, processed in the game, and everything happening gets streamed right back to you. So, in effect, you’re opening a new tab that pipes all your inputs to a high-end gaming PC that streams back the visuals and audio to your computer screen. This system is simpler than some others, which set you up with a virtual desktop that then remotely runs Steam, Origin, Battle.net, or what have you. In the case of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on Stadia, you are still required to log into a Ubisoft account to play, but beta testers aren’t required to own the game. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/fiutjxNqMQMpW6zr8BPVAf.png Stadia will also work with Google Chromecast – you'll be able to stream its games straight to any TV using Google's streaming dongle, not to mention phones and computers. You'll be able to use keyboard and mouse or a gamepad to play Stadia, and Google's Stadia gamepad, a brand new piece of hardware, seems particularly smart. First off, the issue of latency – the gamepad itself connects directly to Google's cloud, which take a few of the steps out the data transfer chain, reducing the lag between your inputs being registered by the game. It also has a dedicated Google Assistant button, which Google claims will be loaded up with information on the title you're playing, offering tips when needed, or allowing you to access special in-game features from developers. In addition, it'll support cross-platform multiplayer – so long as the other major game players want to take part, of course. It’s unclear at this point whether Google will require players to buy games and pay for the streaming service in separate transactions, or whether access to select games will be bundled into the service. What games will be available on Stadia?Through the Project Stream beta, the only available game was Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. While this didn’t give us much idea of what games Google will offer in the future, it did give us a good idea of what games Google's Stadia could be capable of offering. For a 1080p 30fps game experience at High settings in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, Ubisoft recommends a system with the following specs: OS: Windows 7 SP1, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 (64-bit versions only)Processor: AMD FX-8350 @ 4.0 GHz, Ryzen 5 - 1400, Intel Core i7-3770 @ 3.5 GHzVideo: AMD Radeon R9 290 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 (4GB VRAM or more with Shader Model 5.0) or betterMemory: 8GB RAMVideo Preset: HighStorage: 46GB available hard drive spaceDirectX: DirectX June 2010 RedistributableSound: DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card with latest driversFor 4K at 30fps and high settings, the recommended specs bump up to include 16GB of RAM, a more powerful AMD Ryzen 1700X or Intel Core i7 7700 processor, and a beefier AMD Vega 64 or Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. With Stadia streaming in video, this limitation could be eradicated, bringing AAA gaming to even entry level laptops. In addition, id Software confirmed Doom Eternal is coming to the Stadia - with the team only taking a few weeks to transfer the title onto Google's cloud streaming service. id Software's Marty Stratton revealed Doom Eternal is capable of running at 4K 60fps at native HDR on Stadia. If the service can handle Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at 1080p 60fps and Doom Eternal at 4K/60fps, Stadia is going to be capable of playing a whole lot of games at these settings. Other major titles could easily see support on the service. Games with a major online focus may have dicier prospects on Stadia. Since competitive online games are often fast-paced and require split-second reaction times, the extra latency introduced by streaming will likely be an issue for serious competitors. But Stadia looks better placed to beat this issue than other similar services, with infrastructure that no-one else has in terms of fibre optic cabling, and a Wi-Fi controller that connects directly to Google's cloud. That could mean online multiplayer titles such as Fortnite supporting thousands of players rather than just hundreds. A recent Chromium update also added support for Nintendo Switch controllers to Google's browser, so it looks like we could be getting more than just streams of PC releases. Google also announced the launch of Stadia Games and Entertainment. This will be a new arm at Google, with the sole aim of designing games exclusively for Google's game streaming platform. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/56j2y83aP8d64QWkwfr2B3.jpg Google Stadia will also allow for developers to implement split-stream local couch co-op easier, through Stream Connect. This should allow players to not only view but interact in each other's worlds. But, perhaps the biggest development for content creators and their viewers, is Crowd Play which will allow viewers to play games with their favorite streamers by simply clicking a button. The big focus here is on designing a system that's both easy to play and easy to show off to your friends. To that end, Stadia will send both a 4K signal to both your device and to YouTube simultaneously, allowing you to record what you're doing. The last feature Google showed off was called State Share - i.e. the ability for you to share any spot in your adventure with anyone via a Google link. One use case would be that State Share would allow you to record your spot in a tough boss fight and challenge your friends to beat it. If you're stuck, either in your game or your friend's, Google Assistant integration will allow you to access guides and walkthroughs on-demand. What was Project Stream like to use?At its best, Project Stream was good. At its worst, well, Google won’t let you play below a certain threshold of quality, and you wouldn’t want to anyway. We tested Project Stream on varying setups. We played on an unstable 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection, a fast and nearby 5GHz Wi-Fi connection, and on an ethernet connection held steady and offered high bandwidth. Keep in mind this was without the dedicated hardware Google has now introduced. The highly dated Chromebook hardware didn’t hold it back from playing. We also played on a 5-year-old Chromebook, a 2-year-old Razer Blade, and a modern desktop gaming rig that would be happy to run Assassin’s Creed Odyssey at 1080p/60FPS on its own hardware. We even started one computer up while another was running the stream, and Google simply transferred control over to the second computer, with no stop in the stream. Across the board, we’d describe the experience as at least playable. The highly dated Chromebook hardware didn’t hold it back from playing. The biggest issues come from a bad connection: if the connection speed drops, so does the game quality, with lower resolutions, latency, and far more noticeable compression. That said, in our experience, the visual degradation came before the latency, so we were able to continue battling enemies smoothly even if they started to look like ghostly swarms of pixels. Overall, the graphics were fairly good throughout, especially when playing on a high-bandwidth connection using ethernet cables. Colors, shadows, and anti-aliasing look fine, and the frame-rate seems to vary between 30 and 60fps. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/g2Wem4Xd84iCeCzGRsQyk3.jpg The low frame-rate was one of the two issues we noticed. The other was compression. Most of the time, it’s not super jarring, but when there’s a lot of detail in a scene and a lot of movement, the compression turns it all into a bit of slop. Character faces become a blur and hard edges (noticeably the character’s hair) go soft. Will Stadia have fixed these issues by launch? It would seem to be a sign of the lower bitrate enabling this type of streaming, but the truth is that most of the time it’s unnoticeable, and would be even harder to spot if you weren’t looking for it (we were looking for it). Panning the camera and running through dense wooded areas in the game (and combining the two) were the only times we were turned off by the dips in visual quality. The experience isn’t mind-blowing, at least until you remember that it’s using so little of your computers processing power that you’ve literally got a full-system virus scan going in the background and nothing changed. The visuals are comparable to what you’d get on a console, except with compression artifacts here and there. And, with a stable connection, it compares rather favorably to in-home streaming on a Steam Link. While the price and service model Google adopts will go a long way in determining whether Stadia is worthwhile, we can say right now that its prototype works, and it looks good doing it. But, will Microsoft’s xCloud do it better? Looking for a fully baked game streaming service? PlayStation Now is available nowhttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/SArRHkeYRG0

Adtech trackers from Google and other firms were found on all but three government websites belonging to EU member states raising privacy concerns as citizens were tracked without their knowledge. Following an analysis of 184,683 EU government web pages, Cookiebot has released a new report revealing that 112 companies have been tracking EU citizens' browsing habits when visiting such sites. Adtech trackers were discovered on 25 of the 28 member states' sites with only those belonging to Spain, Germany and the Netherlands found to be free of commercial cookies. Firefox's upcoming releases will block ad trackers by defaultAd trackers aren't just a privacy threat – they can double page load timesAvoiding unwanted tracking onlineAccording to Cookiebot's analysis, 52 companies were identified on France's government sites, 27 on Latvia's and 19 on Belgium's. However, twenty cookies were discovered on the UK government's website, GOV.UK, with 12 related to marketing and all the cookies belonging to Google. Ad trackersThe firm's report describes the US search giant as the “kingpin of tracking” and the company's trackers were found on 82 percent of all the sites scanned. YouTube, DoubleClick and Google accounted for three of the top five trackers according to Cookiebot. This was particularly concerning to the report's authors who pointed out the fact that Google can cross-reference trackers by using account details from its own services such as Gmail, Google Search and Android apps. Cookiebot's analysis also examined public health service sites to discover that cookies were widespread with 52 percent of the sites tested found to contain commercial trackers. The firm's founder Daniel Johannsen explained why finding ad trackers on government websites is such a big deal, saying: "How can any organisation live up to its [European General Data Protection Regulation] GDPR and ePrivacy obligations if it does not control unauthorised tracking actors accessing their website? Public sector bodies now have the opportunity to lead by example – at a minimum by shutting down any digital rights infringements that they are facilitating on their own websites." Via The Register Also check out the best VPN to avoid unwanted tracking onlinehttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/4ZEAN6XFViM

In the ever-changing landscape that is BT Broadband deals, we are yet again greeted with a brand new free incentive making the popular ISP's fibre broadband deals just that bit more tempting - this time in the form of massive cashback in reward cards. While this offer can't quite touch BT's impressive free gifts from last week, there's no doubt that this is still one of the best broadband deals available right now. Putting all of the attention onto BT's reward cards, these offers focus fully on getting you the effective cheapest price on BT. Whether you're looking to save around £5.50 a month on BT's Superfast fibre package or go all out and save almost £8 p/m on BT's bigger Superfast fibre 2 package - you can see these offers in full down below. Or if this still feels too expensive, even after the reward cards then check out our cheap broadband deals guide. Best broadband deals - see how BT compares to the competition with our guidehttp://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VgyagGS9HpAEPUQtUJBfrg.jpg BT's fibre broadband dealsWhat is a BT Reward Card?The Reward Card that BT sends out is a pre-paid credit card that you can use anywhere that accepts Mastercard. In short, that's around a million shops, cafes and restaurants around the world, so you shouldn't find it difficult to find places to spend, spend, spend. It's an old-fashioned chip and pin card, rather than contactless. But do make sure that you claim your Reward Card within three months of installation, otherwise you'll lose out on all that cash. Today's best broadband dealshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/xUuOxLwVNtg

Super-wide-aperture lenses usually arrive with a painful price tag, particularly when they’re designed for full-frame cameras. And yet, Zenit has just confirmed a 50mm f/0.95 optic that arrives with a three-figure asking price. The Zenitar 0.95 | 50 is being launched in Russia with a 50,000 ruble price tag, which works out at about $780 /£590 /AU$1,100, although there's no word yet on when it'll become available in other markets. If you’re thinking that price sounds too good to be true, you’re right (kind of). The lens is manual focus only, and doesn’t communicate with the body on which its mounted at all. It's also only available for Sony's E-series cameras, such as the A7 III pictured above. On top of that, it sports an all-metal barrel, which is great from the perspective of solidity, but it makes an already heavy lens even heavier at 1.1kg. Best Sony lenses 2019: 14 top lenses for Sony mirrorless camerasBuilt around nine elements across eight groups, the lens is encircled by an aperture ring that runs from f/0.95 through to f/16. A manual focus ring lies behind this, while depth-of-field markings in both feet and meters are also engraved. Other features include an impressive 14-blade diaphragm, which bodes well for smooth and rounded bokeh. Markings that indicate a 72mm diameter are also visible, although it's not clear whether the lens can accept standard, screw-mounted filters. The lens, which was first unveiled three years ago without confirmation of pricing or availability, arrives ahead of Nikon’s manual-focus Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S lens, the development of which was announced at the same time as the company’s Z6 and Z7 cameras. Exact pricing and availability for Nikon’s lens is still to be confirmed, although the company has stated that it will arrive later this year. Best full-frame camera 2019: 10 advanced DSLRs and mirrorless camerashttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/r7eBMMiZpfc

This plus sized iPhone from Apple was launched alongside the iPhone 7 in September 2016. Until the iPhone X landed, we thought it was the best iPhone on the market, with big improvements on the camera and battery fronts from previous large-screen iPhones. If you're looking for a big screen iPhone that won't break the bank then the 7 Plus could be a good fit. Prices fell very nicely on the advent of the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus and it is far cheaper than the big iPhones like the XS Max - if you go for the earlier iteration you could even end up paying around £300 less than it costs to get the newer massive iPhones. 7 Plus prices can now be found for less than £30 per month. If you're dead set on grabbing this huge iPhone now, then to help you navigate we've got a handy comparison tool which is designed to help you zero in on the cheapest deals. Underneath that we've chosen what we think are the best value options overall for the biggest networks out there. And if you still need some persuading, we've added a brief review of the iPhone 7 Plus to the bottom of the page. See also: iPhone 8 Plus deals | iPhone 8 deals | Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus deals | iPhone 7 deals | iPhone 6S Plus deals | Mobile phone deals http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/6RBUNUeGymHirar8HAKZVd.jpg Top 5 best iPhone 7 Plus deals this month:Unlike some other sites we don't manipulate the order of these deals for commercial gain, so the handpicked deals below really are the best iPhone 7 Plus deals for EE, O2, Three and Vodafone right now. Don't forget - if you're looking for something a little different, our comparison widget above is the perfect way to sniff out your perfect deal. This page is for the best iPhone 7 Plus deals in the UK, but if you're after Australian deals, check out the best Australian iPhone 7 Plus deals page. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/VgyagGS9HpAEPUQtUJBfrg.jpg http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/BWMynFYXHLS9uruYQPMxa9.jpg There's no denying the iPhone 7 Plus's brilliance - just look at the fantastic cameras, supercharged performance and waterproof design. But that doesn't disguise the fact that it doesn't build massively on the iPhone 6S. If you want true innovation, you'll have to pay the extra for 2017's iPhone X. Read more in TechRadar's full iPhone 7 Plus review http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/f2HDpF6eaNU

Apple has now officially announced the iMac 2019, and offered us some tantalising information about what we can expect from this year's all-in-one Mac. As we've said from the start, the iMac 2019 needs to offer a decent leap in hardware power because, almost immediately after the iMac 2017 hit the streets, backed with a 7th-generation Intel Kaby Lake processor, Intel announced the new 8th-generation Coffee Lake chips – which have been succeeded by 9th-generation Coffee Lake Refresh chips. With the current iMac two generations behind the curve when it comes to silicon, the iMac 2019 needs some serious hardware upgrades. The good news is that Apple has done exactly that, announcing a refreshed iMac 2019 that doesn't look any different from the iMacs that have come before it, but with new 8th generation and 9th generation Intel processors. While we don't currently have all the information about the iMac 2019, we've updated this page with everything we know so far, as well as any rumors and speculation we've found as well. Cut to the chaseWhat is it? A new version of the Apple iMacWhen is it out? Pre-orders begin March 19, 2019What will it cost? Starting at $1,299/£1,249 / AED 4,619 (about AU$1,899)iMac 2019 release dateApple has just announced that the iMac 2019 will be available to order on March 19, 2019 from Apple.com and the Apple Store app. If you want to walk into a store to pick one up, then Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Resellers will begin selling them in the week beginning March 25. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/FYijprZopCE6fzTstCdm3T.jpg The iMac 2019 (Image Credit: Apple) iMac 2019 priceApple has also now officially revealed the iMac 2019's price. The 21.5-inch iMac 2019 starts with an 8th-generation quad-core Intel processor at $1,299/£1,249/AED 5,459 (about AU$1,899), but you can upgrade that to a 6-core processor for an additional cost. Meanwhile, the 27-inch iMac 2019, with a Retina 5K screen, comes with a choice of 9th-generation 6-core and 8-core processor configurations and starts at $1,799/£1,749/AED 7,559 (around AU$2,699). The base price of 2017’s non-retina iMac is $1,099 / AED 4,619 (£1,049, AU$1,599), and will be continued to be sold. Boosted specsWhile know pretty much nothing about the hardware that’ll be included in the iMac 2017, we’d love to see it include the latest and best components when it’s revealed. Now, what we really want to see is Apple shoving the latest 9th-generation Coffee Lake Refresh processors into the iMac 2019, so that Apple fans could have access to these octa-core behemoths. But, even if Apple is more conservative and sticks with an 8th-generation Coffee Lake processor, the iMac 2019 will still get a huge performance boost over last year’s model. We’re also fairly certain that Apple will use one of its T2 co-processors in the iMac 2019, probably for ‘Hey Siri’ commands, much like the rest of Apple’s recent devices. Apple is also reportedly working on crafting its own processors, in a rumored program called the ‘Kalamata Initiative”. This will see the Cupertino giant replace all Intel processors with its own by 2020. This is a huge ordeal, to be sure, but Apple seems to be well on the way working on its own chips in a super-secret lab. Fingers crossed we see some – or all – of these predictions come to fruition. These are the best Macs that 2019 has to offer so farHere's how to get the best VPN for your MacGabe Carey has also contributed to this report http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/XvnKPgFssuQ

Anyone in a technology job knows that education doesn’t end with a degree or certificate. The rapid pace of technology advancement means that any programmer or IT administrator needs to constantly take lessons or even full courses to stay current. Anyone who isn’t familiar with the latest tools and techniques, isn't going to be in practice for long. But the traditional method misses a key opportunity for learning: people learn best while on the job, and they often need help applying the skills they learned in a real or virtual classroom. People spend an amazing amount of time researching answers to problems. According to an IDC survey from all the way back in 2013, the average knowledge worker spends up to 30 percent of a workday researching solutions to problems. Six years later and with ever more complicated business and IT systems to deal with, it is easy to imagine that percentage is even higher. AI can help, though it won’t replace human beings in the learning process. Certainly, artificial intelligence systems will likely replace a small number of jobs that involve repetitive processes in the near future, but AI will mostly be used to help people do their jobs better rather than doing the job for them. In the case of learning, AI can bring learning into day-to-day work through assistance with on-the-job training and corporate e-learning. The future of work in the age of AIAI is transformational for businesses of all sizesUK leading the way in AI jobsStart with the right questionsOutside of the classroom and on the job, AI can help a worker learn while doing by answering questions about a specific training topic. The first and most obvious way AI can help is natural voice recognition, driven by machine learning. Modern consumer products like Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa show how far such systems have come in being able to recognize normal human speech. This ability is vital to AI’s ability to help field natural language questions on the job, particularly in a noisy environment. But the most important role for AI in remote on-the-job education is being able to have the correct answers readily at hand. And to do this accurately requires the AI to understand not just the meaning of the words, but also the context of the question. Without a good understanding of a question’s context, we risk replicating the “Google Doctor” problem, where users get answers that best match the exact words of the query from a vast database of information, but ignore the context required to narrow down the exact problem being asked about. In a best-case scenario, this can lead to answers that may be technically correct for the question asked, but unrelated to the actual problem. More often, the answer could be completely wrong. Just ask any doctor, and they’ll tell you how frequently their patients come to them with a bad self-diagnosis or treatment thanks to a few minutes with a search engine Similarly, the level of experience of the student may result in significantly different answers that would be appropriate. For example, a network administrator learning a new transport protocol on the job, such as NVMe over Fabric, may ask questions early on that seemingly aren’t related to the particular nature of NVMeoF, because they aren’t familiar with it. Once the question is understood in context, the AI can then help provide an answer. But it shouldn’t do this all alone, because even with a database of prior course content to draw on, a human expert should sign off on the initial answer to a question to ensure accuracy. However, after that question is answered, the AI can handle similar queries from students, and only kick up answers to experts for approval on questions for which it has not previously received sign-off. Additionally, the AI can act as an alert system to both the experts and the course creators, if it finds the questions about topics for which it can’t find answers in the course materials. This process can create a virtuous feedback loop, helping course designers ensure their classes keep up-to-date with students’ needs and new advancements in the field. http://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/tXTYe4cFeJXBqU6rQfyx84.jpg Image Credit: Google Make it open and transparentWhatever the mix of human expert and AI, the artificial intelligence part needs to be as open source as possible. The proprietary “black box” type of AI is fine if you are creating a one-off demonstration system, such as Google’s AlphaGo AI family, which learned to play the game Go at the very highest level, beating some of the best professional players. Developed by Google’s DeepMind division in London, the family includes the original AlphaGo and increasingly powerful successors AlphaGo Master, AlphaGo Zero and AlphaZero. It’s an incredible achievement in AI. Because Go does not lend itself to the kind of brute force tactics that apply to a more confined game like chess, mastering the game has long been a holy grail of sorts for AI researchers. But, unfortunately, AlphaGo is a black box, unable to explain why it makes so many unintuitive but clearly excellent moves. Black box AI does very little to help us learnLikewise, when it comes to e-learning, open source platforms such as Open edX can make it much easier to integrate an AI, because you can see exactly how the system works, and it can also make it easier to swap content between applications. Based on open source software such as Ubuntu, Docker, django and React, Open edX is the education software platform behind edX, the joint e-learning project from MIT and Harvard. I will be speaking at greater length about how AI to enhance on-the-job training and corporate e-learning at Open edX 2019, scheduled for late March at UC San Diego. The more corporate knowledge and training officers know about how AI can work with them to enhance e-learning and training, the more efficient their training and become and the more productive their workforce will become. AI isn’t some science fiction creature that will put vast numbers of people out of a job and onto the streets. It can be a way to improve the work experience of many workers, improving their personal skill sets and knowledge base, while increasing the productivity of an organization’s workforce. Natural language query recognition, AI-assisted answer databases and AI-driven problem detection and reporting are just a few ways that artificial intelligence will significantly improve the lives of corporate knowledge departments in the very near future. Walter Bender, CTO at Sorcero We've also highlighted the best AI platforms for businesshttp://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/techradar/digital-home/~4/g9c0aHpbSm4