Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i TechLife

In addition to being able to collaborate in real-time on the web, one of the best things about Google’s suite of productivity apps is that they’re also available on mobile so you can work from anywhere. To make it easier for users to be productive from their smartphones, the company has announced a slew of updates for its Google Docs, Sheets and Slides mobile apps for G Suite users. As virtual meetings have become ubiquitous, teams are increasingly turning to presentations to keep everyone engaged and on the same page. To make it easier to quickly view content in Slides, Google has announced a new viewing experience with a vertically scrollable stream of slides that users can pinch-to-zoom. This new viewing experience will help users review slides faster and will…

When their pollen supply runs short, bumblebees bore tiny semicircle-shaped holes in the leaves of flowering plants, causing blooms to appear weeks ahead of schedule. Bee-bitten plants bear flowers about two weeks to a month sooner than untouched plants, according to a new study. Researchers attempted to recreate these bee-bite patterns using metal forceps and a razor, but even then the damage inflicted by bees boosted flower production more effectively than the scientists could; bee-bitten plants bloomed eight to 25 days before the artificially damaged ones did, depending on the plant species. In early experiments, buff-tailed bumblebees (Bombus terrestris) appeared to ramp up this biting behaviour when deprived of pollen, a key food source for both bee larvae and the worker bees themselves. To test the hypothesis the research team…

How do I improve my TV reception? An admission: by now GaGu is pretty far detached from over-the-air TV. After his roof aerial went on the wonk some 15 years ago, and the ever-prognosticating Mrs Guru cleverly predicted that any trip to the roof would mean a subsequent trip to the hospital, it’s been all cable and streaming in Guru Towers. That said, many of the classic principles remain relevant. A good aerial pointed in the right direction is the first step. If you’re on Android, try the app Digital TV Antennas (free) which maps out where your local transmitters are and tells you where your aerial should be pointed; there are fancy AR apps, too, though few that seem happy with modern phones. “If you’re jamming a coat hanger…

US$29.99, PC, Xbox One, PS4, www.ea.com Rocket Arena is a hero shooter like Overwatch or Apex Legends. Each of the 10 characters included at launch has their own unique look, story, and special abilities. They all fire rockets as their primary weapons, but they each have different takes on the idea: there’s Jayto, who fires a bunch of fast, hard-hitting missiles, or Kayi, who can charge up her explosive crossbow bolts for extra speed, or Blastbeard, who fires arcing cannonballs. Each character also has special ways of getting around the map or repelling enemy attacks. Though each design is distinct, I didn’t feel immediately drawn to any one character based on their looks alone - the way that I looked at Pharah or Pathfinder and knew right away I wanted…

With the Avengers having been disbanded for five years following the A-Day disaster, it’s up to the newly superpowered Kamala Khan (AKA Ms. Marvel) to get them back together, uncovering the nefarious schemes of Advanced Idea Mechanics (AIM), which filled the vacuum of power with science. Led by the villainous Modok, AIM’s plan to steal the Inhuman superpowers created on A-Day is hidden beneath a PR spiel that claims the organisation provides an alternate way to protect humanity. Marvel’s Avengers’ campaign promises a lengthy adventure where you get to play as Kamala, Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow to bring AIM down. But it’s also just the start. As you customise your heroes with lootdropped gear you team up with your friends to tackle War Zone missions…

$1,799, www.msi.com Gaming PCs are magical things, aren’t they? They come in all shapes and sizes and can be some of the most powerful pieces of technology on the market, or just scrape by with the minimum. The fact that you can pick up an entry-level prebuilt gaming PC like the MSI Trident 3 10th and upgrade it at a later date with more powerful hardware means that you can continually keep up to date – but sometimes the “entry level” is a bit too low. The MSI Trident 3 10th that was sent to TechLife for review is the bare minimum spec, packed with an Intel Core i5-10400F, an Nvidia GTX 1650 Super, and just a 1TB hard drive. Fortunately, this is also one of the smallest gaming PCs…

$119, www2.hp.com The HP LaserJet Pro M15w is aimed squarely at the booming micro economy and the legions of workers whose home is also their office, because HP’s latest laserjet is not only the smallest in its class, but the cheapest too. The M15w may be a very basic print-only monochrome printer with just one input tray that will only take A4 and a few smaller paper sizes. You won’t find fancy features like duplex printing here and if you require a flatbed scanner, then you should wait for the similarly styled HP LaserJet Pro MFP 28w. What the M15w offers is a fast printing (19ppm), with the economy and consistency associated with laserjet technology, in a compact unit that takes up little more desk area than a sheet of…

$1,599, www.lg.com On paper, the 34GN850 certainly ticks plenty of boxes. The 34-inch curved panel sports 3,440 by 1,440 pixels. If that’s predictable, LG’s Nano IPS screen is a bit special.LG says it’s good for 1ms response, which puts it on a par with the best TN panels. Impressive. Speaking of speed and slickness, you also get 160Hz refresh, plus both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium support. For the record, G-Sync support is G-Sync Compatible Verified rather than one of the fuller featured G-Sync offerings based on Nvidia’s in-monitor image processing chipset. But what of HDR support, you ask? It’s present, but also an area where the LG UltraGear 34GN850 is a little light on spec given the heady price point. You only get VESA DisplayHDR400 certification. That’s pretty…

$TBC, www.amazon.com With Amazon’s push to add Alexa to just about every tech product, a pair of Alexa-powered true wireless headphones was inevitable. The Amazon Echo Buds are the company’s first attempt at making a true wireless headphone with Alexa in-tow and although they’re not perfect, they have a lot going for them. While you’d expect Alexa to be the standout feature, it’s actually Bose’s active noise reduction (ANR) technology that makes the Echo Buds special. For commuters who want more than just passive noise isolation to drown out the outside world, the Echo Buds’s ANR offers a welcome respite, and can’t usually be found at the price range. Overall, the Echo Bud’s ANR, features and reliability, make them a great first pair of headphones for newcomers to the true…

The world of malware is constantly changing and evolving – who’d heard of nasties like ransomware, cryptomining or social engineering until relatively recently? In its State of Malware 2020 report, Malwarebytes noted some interesting trends. One was that malware is increasingly focusing its attentions on business rather than consumers – presumably because cyber criminals spy bigger gains to be made. That said, don’t ditch all your anti-virus software just yet – consumer infections were only down a paltry two percent on the previous year. Of more significance is the changing landscape. The biggest source of infections by far are adware – these are programs that don’t carry malware themselves, but try to trick people into either downloading malware or giving up personal details. The biggest jump in the list is…

As reported on the previous page, the biggest individual threat to consumers these days comes from adware. In the past, adware tended to simply mean ad-supported software, and later it evolved to include so-called PUPs (potentially unwanted programs), which are offered alongside the original program during installation. Sometimes these unsolicited extras are flagged and easy to avoid, but some use deliberately misleading language and confusing options to trick you into installing them. These days, PUPs are better known as bundleware, and are usually more annoying than outright malicious – most are ignored by your security software, so you’ll need additional help: Unchecky (www.unchecky.com) offers limited free protection, but Malwarebytes Premium is by far the best at blocking these. Most PUPs should be removable via ‘Settings > Apps > Apps &…

Ransomware may not be the threat it once was – these days, businesses are more frequently targeted than consumers – but that’s not to say you’re immune. If you needed reminding, ransomware is a form of malware that encrypts all or part of your drive before hackers demand a ransom to provide you with the decryption key required to get it back again. Most forms of ransomware target your data rather than locking you out of your entire PC. For those that do, check your security software’s website for a rescue disc. Ransomware that targets your files is trickier to remove – typically you’ll need to use a rescue disc or boot into Safe mode with networking to remove the underlying infection before you can look at recovering your files.…

Maps is one of Apple’s core Mac apps that will undergo a significant overhaul in Big Sur. As well as a stunning new design that makes it easier to find your way around using Apple’s detailed map, a new “Favorites” section will be added to the top of the sidebar – so your home, work, and favorite places to eat out will be just a single click away. You will also be able to create your own guides to the places you want to visit (see “Creating guides in Maps”) and explore cities in “look around” mode – which looks amazing on the big screen. You will also be able to see the journey progress of the people who share an “ETA” with you and request new map routes for…

A POWERFUL SEARCH Big Sur will have enhanced search capabilities to help you find anything in Messages. Click on the field and recent contacts, photos and documents will be placed within easy reach. B PHOTO-PICKER PERFECTION Click on the “A” icon to the left of the text field and a menu of iOSalike Message options will appear. Tapping “Photos” brings up an enhanced photo-picker to help find an image or video. C NEW MEMOJIS You can now create and edit your own personal Memoji right on your Mac and send stickers in the Messages app to better express how you’re feeling. D SEND GIFS Tapping on the “#images” option from the menu will bring up a window of animated GIFs to share through Messages, just like on your iOS device.…

A START PAGE When you open a new Safari browsing window or tab, the Start Page will be the first thing you will see. This groups together your essential web content, allowing you to jump anywhere with one click. B PRIVACY REPORT When you visit a new site, you’ll be able to click on this Privacy Report button to better understand how the current site is treating your privacy. Click the “I” icon within this for a full tracking report. C SIMPLE DESIGN By default, the Big Sur Safari interface will appear very minimalistic, with just the most essential items present on the toolbar. You will be able to right–click and choose “Customize Toolbar” to add more items. D POWERFUL TABS Safari will also be able to display more tabs,…

Random Freezes I have a slim form factor build: AMD Ryzen 2700, 8GB Team T-Force Delta RGB 3,000MHz RAM, a single PNY factory overclocked XLR8 RTX 2060, 250GB Samsung 860 EVO SSD, and 2TB Hitachi hard drive. They’re connected to an Asus ROG STRIX B450-F motherboard, which is stuffed in a Thermaltake Core G3 and connected to a Dell P1914S. Recently my PC started acting up. Sometimes if I leave it on, the entire thing freezes – mouse, keyboard, and even the power switch become non-responsive. The only solution is to switch the power supply off and on, then reboot. It may be the drivers, but I have an issue installing them – what do I do with the compressed folder that was downloaded? How do I get my other…

REQUIRES An iPad running iPadOS, and an internet connection YOU WILL LEARN How to access and use more than 12 new Safari features IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes At first glance, Safari for iPad in iPadOS might not seem that different from Apple’s browser in iOS 12, but a lot has changed. The latest version is packed full of new features, a dozen of which we’ll explore in this walkthrough. The main change, however, is that Safari for iPad is now effectively a desktop-grade browser. What this means is that instead of taking the iPhone’s version of Safari and blowing it up for iPad, what you get on your tablet is now akin to the browsing experience on a Mac. So when you’re using the likes of Google Docs and…

Over the past two months in this column we’ve been looking at the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), a tool that allows you to run Linux server apps on Windows without the hassle of setting up an entire virtual machine to do so. That makes it possible to enjoy the host of Linux-exclusive server apps, including staples like ownCloud (for creating a private cloud) and Rocket.chat (for creating private chat networks), without needing to run a separate or virtual Linux machine. Unfortunately, WSL is not without its limitations. Adding apps that aren’t included in the base Ubuntu repository can be a massive pain. Which is where Docker comes in, a tool that allows a much simpler install process – it makes the process of installing Linux servers easy. Understanding Docker…

According to Tom’s Hardware, a leaker has shared the link to a 20GB file-sharing folder that allegedly contains chip engineering files apparently stolen from Intel earlier this year in a Twitter post. This folder has been billed as “Intel exconfidential Lake Platform Release ;)” and was originally posted on messaging platform Telegram. The leaker notes that many of the files in the folder “have NOT been published ANYWHERE before and are classified as confidential, under NDA or Intel Restricted Secret.” in addition, it’s been revealed that the password-protected zips in the folder may be accessed using either “Intel123” or “intel123” as the password, which may have been set by Intel itself. Intel believes that the leak may have “come from the Intel Resource and Design Center, which hosts information for…

The Kobo Nia doesn’t bring anything new to the table in terms of design. It looks remarkably like the older Aura, the newer Clara HD and Amazon’s Kindle. In fact, it’s practically identical to Rakuten’s Tolino Page 2, with the exception of the branding on the lower bezel. The Kobo brand name is etched into the plastic of the chassis and that’s the only design embellishment on the top surface. The underside, like the Clara HD, bears the Rakuten branding on the top right corner of the housing, while most of the rear surface is textured to make the Nia feel a lot more secure in the hand than the Amazon Kindle (which has a smooth finish on the rear). The only button on the Nia is on the bottom…

Two European satellites have spotted a catastrophic oil spill in the Arctic Circle. About 20,000 tonnes of diesel oil has leaked into a river in the Arctic Circle after a fuel tank at a power plant near the Siberian city of Norilsk collapsed at the end of May. The Russian Investigative Committee has launched an investigation into the incident, as the plant reportedly waited for two days before informing authorities about the spill. As you can see above, the oil travelled down the Ambarnaya River on 31 May and 1 June. The river flows into Lake Pyasino, which feeds into the Pyasina River. Watching from space, the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission has observed the spill, for which Russia has declared a state of emergency. The spill has contaminated…

Being touted by Panasonic as “the ultimate vlogging camera”, it’s quite clear what kind of person the company is aiming its new G100 at. Although the camera follows on from the Panasonic G95 / G90, it’s quite a departure from that model, using a smaller body and with more video-centric specifications to appeal to budding YouTubers. Thanks to that small body, though, it could also be considered by stills photographers as the ideal travel camera. Pair this up with some of the smaller Micro Four Thirds lenses on the market, and you’ve got a neat little portable bundle. Still, it’s those video specs which are the headline grabbers here. Most notable is the addition of an Nokia Ozo Audio-equipped microphone system, making it the first mirrorless camera to include such…

Call of Duty 2020 is in development at studios Treyarch and Raven Software and will drop later this year, as both studios announced on Twitter. “Activision will continue to build on its direct digital relationship with this expanded community as it delivers the next premium installment for Call of Duty, which comes from the wholly owned Call of Duty studios Treyarch and Raven Software,” Activision said on an earnings call reported by CharlieIntel.…

The latest Anthem 2.0 update from BioWare is all about the loot you’ll acquire in the rebooted shooter. Studio director Chris Dailey, who recently teased a new pirate faction coming to Anthem 2.0, discussed BioWare’s goals for its updated loot system. “A good player experience depends on the loot system being extensible and robust, and a lot can go wrong,” he said. “A lot did go wrong. We fell short here and we realised that building something new from the ground up was going to be required – starting with taking a long look and understanding the best in class of the many great games that inspire us.” “We fell short here and we realised that building something new from the ground up was going to be required.” Dailey outlined…

US$19.99, PC, Xbox One, PS4, Switch www.devolverdigital.com There is no overwrought origin story in Carrion; no scientist narrating the truth depths of danger that the seemingly underground laboratory now finds itself in. People are running, the monster eats those people, the monster – you – really does not like getting shot so it should probably eat people before they shoot. This is Carrion’s tutorial sequence, introducing the player to the smooth controls which allow them to traverse a dank underground laboratory by attaching tentacles to every surface with no interference or complication. The monster moves in the direction it’s told, evoking a feeling of flight as it slithers around the room and along the tops of ceilings. It is very rare not to know exactly where to go next for…

$229, logitech.com/en-au While there are countless peripheral options for Windows-based systems on the market, it can be a little tricky finding anything as solid for Mac outside of Apple’s own line of Magic Keyboards and Mice. Thankfully, Logitech has brought its much-celebrated MX series to the Mac, offering the same sleek operation and style as its PC counterparts, but with those final touches that make it truly integrate with your Apple ecosystem. Of those extra tweaks, the most obvious are the macOS-specific key layout and language, and the striking Space Grey finish (which is still quite pleasant to look at, no matter how used to it we are). Other than these changes (and the included USB-C to USB-C cable to better communicate with your latest MacBook), the two MX Keyboards…

$1,845, www.powervision.me In a market dominated by drones that you can’t fly in inclement weather, the PowerVision PowerEgg X provides an attractive option for photographers and videographers who want to be able to fly their drone in the rain and land it on water. But that’s not all the PowerEgg X does. As well as being a drone, it can also be used as a handheld gimbal camera and an autonomous AI camera that can be mounted to a tripod and controlled using hand gestures. There’s even a built-in microphone, for use in the two camera modes. The design of the PowerEgg X is like no other drone. It’s closest to the original PowerEgg, of course, but that drone featured foldable rather than detachable propeller arms. As the name suggests,…

$3,995, www.rayvoltaustralia.com.au The Rayvolt Torino is one of the most high-tech, head-turning e-bikes out there. The intelligent pedal assist system, E-Regenerative braking, electronic torque sensors and an EIVA app that allows you to customise the ride to your liking, all adds up to an impressive and exhilarating experience. The Torino’s standard 48V 504Wh battery pack offers a range of up to 40km, or when upgraded to a more powerful 48V 936Wh can breeze along for up to 80km, depending on the terrain. Take into account that the average daily driving distance is 40km and you’ve got enough juice to get around the city, with no need to charge it on the daily. Designed in Barcelona, this e-bike has a bold, retro style. The 26-inch tyres, steel frame and combined weight…

In most cases your security software should stop infections in their tracks, but if some creep through you may find them difficult to remove. Start by attempting to boot into Safe mode with networking – doing so usually cripples the malware enough to allow your security software to download the latest updates, perform a successful scan and remove the malware. The quickest way to do this is to type ‘msconfig’ into the Search box and click System Configuration. Assuming you’ve not been locked out by the malware, switch to the Boot tab to tick ‘Safe boot’ and select ‘Network’ before clicking OK and rebooting. If this doesn’t work, visit your security vendor’s home page on a clean machine to create a rescue disc – failing that, use Kaspersky’s tool (https://support.kaspersky.com/viruses/…

Many websites that sell products or services rely on third-party payment providers to process payments. When you make a purchase, you’re redirected to that provider’s website to complete the transaction before being redirected back. Sadly, scammers have found ways of intercepting traffic to these sites to pop up their own fake version of the payment site to trick users into giving up their credit card details. This form of a ‘man-in-the-middle’ attack doesn’t target the payment provider, but instead alters the code on the merchant website to redirect your traffic to the phishing site. Malwarebytes Premium’s web protection component offers users realtime protection against known phishing sites based on their behaviour, but you can take further steps to protect yourself: verify the payment provider’s website using the information in the…

Any network drive easily accessible from Windows is vulnerable to ransomware. Tightening security means changing your network shared credentials. First, if you’ve set up a user on your NAS that shares the same username and password as your Windows account for ease of access, log into your NAS’s user account settings and change the password to something unique. Also, make sure you’re not saving network credentials: when you’re next prompted to log on to a network share, make sure the box ‘Remember my credentials’ is left unticked. If – as is likely – you’ve previously saved credentials, type ‘credentials’ into the Search box and click ‘Credential Manager’. You should see entries for each saved network password under ‘Windows Credentials’ – click the downward arrow button followed by ‘Remove > Yes’…

ACCENT COLOUR ICONS The icons in your Finder sidebar appear in whatever colour you select by going to System Preferences > General > Accent Color. In Big Sur there will be more colors to choose from. FRESH FINDER WINDOWS Finder has enjoyed a top-to-bottom redesign for its window sidebars and a more compact, space-efficient look for the toolbar that makes it easy to get to all of your controls. NEW– LOOK DOCK The elegant new design of the Dock means that it floats along the bottom of your desktop, and gorgeous new icons have been created for the apps that reside in it. All-new Notification Center Your Notification Center will still be accessed by clicking in the top-right corner of your screen, but Big Sur does away with the split…

However much you use your macOS Notification Center at present, this feature will undergo a huge redesign in Big Sur, making it more essential than ever for managing your world. The way you access your Notification Centre in Big Sur will be slightly different than before. It’ll no longer have its own icon in the far-right of your menu bar, instead you will just click on the menu bar clock to access it. PANEL VIEW Perhaps the most notable difference between the new and old Notification Center is that there will no longer be split sections for Today/Notifications – they will be grouped together in one handy panel. Your notifications will appear at the top of the panel while your widgets sit underneath. You will be able to click to…

When macOS Big Sur is rolled out, Apple’s Safari web browser will enjoy its biggest websites, Big Sur’s Safari will load them up to 50% faster than Google Chrome – all while continuing to deliver industry-leading battery life on its MacBooks. Safari was the first browser to introduce private browsing, cookie-blocking and intelligent tracking prevention, and with the Big update since it was first introduced back in 2003 with MacOS X Panther. Building on its amazing performance, elegant design and pioneering privacy protection, Safari will be taken to a new level of excellence, becoming even more efficient and providing an even greater degree of privacy. In terms of efficiency, Apple says that when visiting frequently loaded Sur update Apple wants to provide its users with even more visibility into how…

As with any big Mac update, the new features drip way down into Big Sur’s core apps too. Notes, for example, will feature a collapsible “Pinned” section, a much more powerful search engine, and quicker ways to format your notes. And Reminders allows you to assign reminders to people who you share lists with and personalise your lists with emojis – if you like that sort of thing. Apple Arcade will also rise to much greater prominence than before. You will be able to continue playing where you left off on other Apple devices – so if you crushed a level on your commute home from work on your iPhone, you can continue playing from the same point on the bigger screen of your Mac. Then there’s the new Finder.…

SKILL LEVEL Anyone can do it Tricky in parts SUITABLE FOR… Windows 10 Windows 8.1 Windows 7 Jargon buster! EXTENSION An extra piece of software installed on top of your web browser to give you additional options and functionality. INCOGNITO MODE A feature found in many browsers that enables you to browse the web without leaving tracks on your computer. BOOKMARKS Save yourself having to type the same addresses time and time again by creating shortcuts to your favourite pages. Browsing the web can be what a computer is used for more than anything else, but have you ever given much thought about how you could improve the experience? Think of your browser like a car and the web as your destination. There’s a lot you can do to improve…

The Gigabyte Auros 17X configuration we tested was the most tricked-out configuration possible, with an i9-10980HK 2.4GHz (max boost to 5.3GHz), a GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-P GPU, 32GB DDR4 RAM, a 1TB M.2 PCIe SSD, and 2TB HDD. Design As far as the design goes, it has the typical stealth-bomber/Knightrider aesthetic with RGB lighting that you’ll find in just about every other gaming laptop out there. Fortunately, the lighting on the Auros 17X’s keyboard and chassis is a bit more modest than the ‘70s Berlin discotheques found with other gaming laptops. The two lights on the very front of the chassis look like the headlights of a car, which was obviously the look Gigabyte was going for. Other than that, there isn’t much to say about the visual design…

Mars may have once had a giant ring that eventually got smooshed to form one of its oddly shaped moons, new research suggests. Mars has two small, lumpy moons: Phobos and Deimos. Phobos orbits closer to the Red Planet and follows the line of Mars’ equator. Deimos orbits farther away along an orbit that’s tilted by two degrees off the plane of the Martian equator. The wonky orbit adds evidence to the idea that Phobos may once have been a giant ring that eventually coalesced into its present shape. In 2017 a team of researchers argued in Nature Geoscience that the Martian moons go through cycles, ripped apart into thin rings by the planet’s gravity, then eventually forming moons again. In each cycle the moon formed from the ring is…

To start off, it’s worth clarifying that the Eufycam 2 is a wireless outdoor camera. It’s IP67 rated to survive below-freezing temperatures and constant deluges of wet and winter weather. It’s an elongated, all-white camera that’s a seriously tough piece of equipment. That being said, a key component of its wireless-ness is the included HomeBase that comes in the box. The HomeBase looks like an all-white wireless router – it’s fairly plain but still a bit bulky. That’s ironic, of course, because you’ll need to connect it to a router and will find all the wires to do so inside the box. If you’re like us, you might hate the idea of giving up a precious port on your router for the Eufy hub, but it really is the brains…

This month’s developments in XR make it clear that we’re moving into a more expansive realm of mixed reality that is capable of precisely mapping and rebuilding the real world. Consider this month’s inclusion of a Lidar powered walking stick and the announcement of VR compatibility for Microsoft’s real-world-scale satellite-mapped Flight Simulator and it feels like The Metaverse isn’t too far off. AI is continuing to blur the lines between human and computer in projects like Elon Musk’s Nuralink brain chip. At the same time new AI ventures are teaching software the skills required for occupations like sports coaching and flying aeroplanes from takeoff to landing. AR Apple Glass object manipulation $TBC, apple.com While a Bloomberg report has pegged the earliest release date for Apple Glass to be no earlier…

With persistent rumors painting otherwise innocuous developments in a curious light, Microsoft has now confirmed that it is not planning any major changes to Xbox Live Gold. “The update to ‘Xbox online service’ in the Microsoft Services Agreement refers to the underlying Xbox service that includes features like cross-saves and friend requests,” Microsoft told GameSpot. “This language update is intended to distinguish that underlying service, and the paid Xbox Live Gold subscription. There are no changes being made to the experience of the service or Xbox Live Gold.” In other words, that service agreement change was just what it appeared to be: a verbiage thing and nothing more. This statement will put to rest any rumors that Xbox Live Gold is being discontinued entirely in favor of a more unified…

$79 , PS4, www.playstation.com The effects of this game didn’t hit me until a few hours in. The prologue is beefy and a little slow, introducing samurai Jin, the survivor of a terrible battle with the invading Mongols, now desperate to rescue his uncle Lord Shimura from captivity. At first, Jin seemed like just another stony-faced video game hero, and one I felt zero chemistry with. By the final scene, I had to wipe away a tear. Jin never really got my heart racing, but the stories of the people around him did. Lady Masako, the matriarch of clan Adachi who is full of anger and secrets, thief Yuna and her brother Taka, the warrior monk Norio whose grief threatens to swallow him whole. As their tales develop, one chapter…

Guardian Tales Free with IAP Regular readers of this feature will know that mobile RPGs have exploded over the last few years, with most of them following a similar playbook. Guardian Tales takes a slightly different tact, injecting humour, variety, and interesting characters into an increasingly tired and overworked genre. Fans of the older top-down Zelda titles will get a kick out of the familiar playstyle, with isometric exploration and combat with a wide range of weapons, skills, and magic. Each level is also packed with secret routes and quests, interesting puzzles, a genuinely funny story, and a spin on the usual “grind” to farm materials and items to boost your characters. For example, one of the repeatable dungeons involves your character demolishing illegally parked cars, to the horror of…

$599, www.lenovo.com When it comes to the 2-in-1 laptop market, the Lenovo Duet Chromebook is easily one of the biggest surprises of the year by far. Though not without its flaws, the Duet’s shortcoming simply can’t take away from the functionality, portability, and longevity that this tablet-laptop hybrid packs into its tiny frame. If you are a Chromebook skeptic, this just might be the device that wins you over. Design The biggest shortcomings of the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook come in its design. “Unfortunately, the biggest problem with the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook will be a dealbreaker for some people: the restrictive size of its keyboard and - to a lesser extent - the responsiveness of the track pad.” The magnetised kickstand cover and keyboard felt firmly-secured to the tablet…

“The key selling point of the G8 Power Lite is, as the name suggests, its battery capacity.” $249, www.motorola.com.au The Moto G8 Power Lite is an affordable counterpart to the Moto G8 Power, which is in turn one of the Moto G8 siblings along with that phone, the Moto G8 Plus and G8 Play. It’s also arguably a more apt successor to the Moto G7 Power than the G8 Power, as it’s cheaper than the 2019 smartphone, rather than pricier as the G8 Power is. The key selling point of the G8 Power Lite is, as the name suggests, its battery capacity: with a 5,000mAh power pack this is a phone that’s built to keep going for a long time, and thanks to its middling chipset and low screen resolution,…

$250, www.dlink.com.au In APC 482, TP-Link dazzled us with its boring-looking Archer AX50 Wi-Fi 6 router which offered speedy 802.11ax wireless technology in an uninspiring box that cost under $300. Up to that point, the Wi-Fi 6 market had seen Asus and TP-Link seeking to out-do each other by offering increasingly powerful UFO-lookalike devices for nearer $1,000. But the market is maturing and now here’s D-Link (finally) with a Wi-Fi 6 router that can already be found under $200. Should you buy it? First up, this really is dull looking. All effort has gone into the function-based value proposition with little attention being paid to form: it’s an unattractive, dual-band, Wi-Fi 6 black box with four, spindly antennae.. Set-up is very simple thanks to the D-Link Wi-Fi app and a…

$349, www.panasonic.com The Panasonic RZ-S500w are the company’s first true wireless earbuds, and we think they’re a successful first outing. Launched alongside the cheaper Panasonic RZ-S300w, these buds offer active noise cancellation at a lower price than both the AirPods Pro and the Sony WF-1000XM3, making them a compelling alternative to these well-established models. With an understated design, the RZ-S500W look subtly stylish, though those with a penchant for ear bling will probably be happier with models like the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. Nevertheless, they look and feel well-made, and a choice of five differently-sized silicone eartips makes it easy to find a snug and comfortable fit. They’re also suitable for working out, thanks to an IPX4 waterproof rating, though the lack of earfins means we’d be hesitant to…

Malware isn’t the only threat to your PC’s health – physical dirt, grime and dust can have a cumulative effect in shortening its life too, while harbouring germs that can be detrimental to your own physical wellbeing. Start with your keyboard. Unplug it, turn it over and shake any loose debris from it. Use compressed air to clean out dirt from between the keys and a non-bleach disinfectant wipe (not too wet) to clean the tops of the keys afterwards. The same type of wipes can be used to clean your mouse – focus on the optical sensor beneath it. Also take the time to check inside your PC case – you’ll be surprised how quickly dust builds up inside, leading to increased heat and stress on your components. Again,…

Another growing threat to your computer – and wider network – comes from so-called hack tools. These are part of a wider range of tools known as ‘riskware’, which are tools that aren’t in themselves malicious, but capable of being used for nefarious ends by hackers. This is a grey area usually ignored by security software because the targets are perfectly legitimate programs that perform useful functionality – for example, Nirsoft’s ProduKey is designed to help you recover Windows and Office product keys from your computer, but because it can also be deployed to pull product keys from other computers on your network is designated a hack tool by Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. Other types of tool that fall into this category are network scanners, SSH and even tools designed to perform…

WHEN APPLE SHOWCASED its successor to macOS 10.15 Catalina at June’s WWDC20 virtual event, its name couldn’t have been more apt. Big Sur, the area in California where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean to form one of the most beautiful stretches of undeveloped coastline in the world, was chosen to moniker macOS version 11.0 (the first time the primary version number has changed in two decades – a pretty big deal). And like its geographical namesake with its scenic coastal road, it’s simply stunning. With the Big Sur announcement came talk of some major new updates to some of the most essential apps on the platform and an entirely new design, the biggest cosmetic overhaul since Mac OS X was introduced way back in 2000.…

1 Improved Retouch The Retouch tool that you will find in Photos’ “Edit” mode now uses advanced machine learning to remove blemishes, dust specs, and other objects from a photo. 2 Tweak the filters In Big Sur the photo editing capabilities will be expanded to include the new “Vibrance” effect and more freedom to adjust the intensity of filters and Portrait Lighting effects. 3 More video editing Big Sur will also expand the video editing capabilities of the Photos app. Adjustments, filters, and cropping will be added to give you better options for creating the perfect video.…

GENIUS TIP You can calibrate the color profile of your external display. Select System Prefs > Displays > Color and choose the profile you wish to use. Or click Calibrate to create your own. REQUIRES macOS, an external display, Apple TV and/or an AirPlay 2 compatible TV YOU WILL LEARN How to use a second display with your Mac IT WILL TAKE 5 minutes Good as the displays on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are, they’re not exactly... roomy. Even the biggest model only has 16 inches of screen real estate to play with and, while you can tweak the display resolution to cram more windows in or use Mission Control to create multiple desktops, sometimes nothing beats having a bigger screen. A much bigger screen. And it’s not…

There was a time when Tor (formerly known as The Onion Router) was everybody’s go-to solution for online anonymity. These days VPNs tend to be the more popular option than Tor – they’re simple, have vastly better performance, work for everything, and provide a similar level of online anonymity… assuming you can trust your VPN provider. And that remains the kicker, and the big difference between Tor and a VPN (apart from the fact that Tor is free). Using a VPN service for online anonymity requires complete trust in your VPN provider, since that provider can see all the traffic coming to and from your PC and knows exactly what your IP address is. Most VPN providers say that they record no logs and keep no records, so there’s no…

There are many things you can still photograph if you’re stuck indoors, but you can really only practise portraiture with somebody to sit for you – and recently, hiring and being in close proximity to a model isn’t the best idea. If you’re lucky, you might have a partner, family member or housemate willing to let you take some photos. But what if you don’t have someone under the same roof, or you don’t have someone willing to sit there for hours while you perfect a bunch of lighting setups? Yes, you can try self-portraits. However, to really learn how to use your lights and to see how their placement affects your subject, you need to be on the other side of the camera. The solution? Purchase a mannequin head!…

Bugatti Baby II US$35,000, bugattibaby.com Bugatti doesn’t do electric cars… or it hasn’t since releasing short run of child-sized replicas of the Type 35 race car that the brand was built on. It’s paying tribute to this toy car with a modern take on the Bugatti Baby by recreating the Type 35 at a 75% scale so that it can accommodate the full sized man babies that will buy the short run 500-strong collectors item. This mini masterpiece will feature removable lithium ion batteries, regenerative braking and two modes that will limit the top speed to either 20km/h or 45km/h. There is also an optional speed key to fully unlock the Baby II, doubling its power. Hybrid Autonomous Rover - Venus $NA, nasa.gov Venus may be our nearest neighbour in…