TechLife September 2020

Subscription enquiries: Please call CRM on (02) 8227 6486 Editorial Editor: David Hollingworth david.hollingworth@futurenet.com Senior Journalist: Shaun Prescott Journalist: Joel Burgess Journalist: Stephen Lambrechts Journalist: Sharmishta Sarkar Journalist: Harry Domanski Creative Director: Troy Coleman Designer: Sharnee Swinnerton Contributors Tim Bothwell, Hope Corrigan, James Pinnell, Harry Domanski, Charles Handmer, Nathan Taylor, David Nield, Ted Kritsonis, Taylor Clemons, Rob Clymo, Stephen Lambrechts, Duncan Bell, Srivats Lakshman, Cliff Jospeh, Ian Evenden, Chelsea Gohd, Leon Hurley, Alex Avard, Austin Wood Photography All copyrights and trademarks are recognised and respected. Advertising Advertising Manager: Lewis Preece lewis.preece@futurenet.com 0434 439 032 Divisional Manager: Jim Preece jim.preece@futurenet.com 0400 808 90 Management Managing Director: Neville Daniels…

Managing your work/life balance in the 21st century has been tough at the best of times. In 2020, it’s made even more complex – for many of us, ‘work’ and ‘home’ are now the one place, and with Victoria locking down as we speak and the rest of country practically holding its breath, it’s plain to see that a lot of us are going to be working from home for quite a long time to come. Staying in touch with the office and workmates can be hard, but it doesn’t need to be. In this issue we’ve got some essential advice for Mac users on how to work smarter through these tough times. On top of that, our guide to boosting your home Wi-Fi is handy for everyone stuck at…

Protect your precious files “BackUp Maker provides a highly secured encryption of up to 256 bits (AES).” Create a foolproof backup process with ASCOMP BackUp Maker Full version after registration. BackUp Maker automatically stores your files while at the same time offering an intuitive functionality. Select your data, optionally set automatisation for scheduled backups, select its destination and within an instant, your valuable documents are transferred in zip format to a hard drive, USB flash drive or directly to the Cloud as scheduled or according to circumstances. To ensure that your sensitive data remains secure at all times, BackUp Maker provides a highly secured encryption of up to 256 bits (AES). It also enables you to transfer protected backups to a webserver through an FTP/ FTPS upload. Download link: www.techlife.net/exclusives…

$879, microsoft.com As our most used work applications continue to be integrated into web browsers, our files become increasingly stored in the cloud, and the advanced processing power required for gaming or technical work can now be easily outsourced via remote desktop subscriptions; the need for having a really powerful laptop is decreasing by the day. Well-priced compact devices like Microsoft’s Surface Go 2 are perfectly positioned to cater to that seemingly inevitable future, and we couldn’t be happier about it. The price and performance balance The most affordable Surface Go 2 you can grab locally starts at $598 and comes with an Intel Pentium 4425Y processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of onboard storage, which is an offering that seriously competes with some of the best Chromebooks available. While…

The doomed social media network has been in limbo since Google announced its closure last year, but has now officially been re-branded as the company launches an entirely new service. From today, Google+ is known as Google Currents, which is available to download now on both iOS and Android. Google Currents looks to explicitly target enterprise users, taking on the likes of Slack and Microsoft Teams by allowing users within an organisation to stay in touch and collaborate online.…

Facebook may soon allow users of WhatsApp and Messenger to chat directly with one another, from within their respective apps. Few people would disagree that there are probably too many messaging apps and services out there. While choice is undeniably a great thing, it can be annoying to have to install a specific app simply because just one of your friends is using. The fact that Facebook owns not only Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, but also Instagram – all of which can be used for sending and receiving messages – means that managing communication across the three platforms can be a pain. While the Instagram app currently advises people to use Facebook Messenger for chats, references to WhatsApp messages have been spotted in Facebook Messenger. The findings by developer @Alex193a,…