With the Galaxy Note 20 launch just a week away, all eyes will be on what upgrades Samsung brings to the table. While the chipset might remain unchanged, there might be a silver lining. While Samsung flagship like the Note series and the S series are powered by Snapdragon chipsets in the US and European markets, they come with Exynos chipset in Asian markets such as India. It often tends to lose out on the performance front against Qualcomm Snapdragon counterparts. However, a new leak suggests some good news in this regard. Samsung Galaxy Note 20 release date, price, news and leaks Upcoming smartphones in India: Specs, launch date, price (Image credit: Samsung/WinFuture) According to a tweet by Anthony, a Youtuber, Samsung Galaxy Note 20 will continue to be powered by the Exynos 990 chipset, but with major improvements in terms of the performance and efficiency. These optimizations should bring it closer to the Snapdragon 865 series. He even suggested that it is almost li...
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Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon smartwatch getting big chip upgrade
You're a rich dude. You want the finer things in life. Not content with a Fitbit or even an Apple Watch, if it isn't designer and full of top spec tech, it just wont cut it. Money is no object and Louis Vuitton is here to serve again with another pricey smartwatch.
The new LV Tambour Horizon, the follow up to the 2017 wearable of the same name, is again a Wear OS device aimed at the premium end of the market.
Its headline new feature? The inclusion of the Snapdragon Wear 3100 chip. Designed in collaboration between Qualcomm and Google, it promises far superior battery life than that which has graced wrists before, with the Tambour Horizon boasting not only a full day's worth of power with its screen on, but an additional five in a low-power mode displaying simply just the time.
Style countsElsewhere, the Tambour Horizon has a higher definition screen than its predecessor and comes in a new white ceramic style to go with your LV handbag.
In a tweak to the original design, the smartwatch also includes a 24 hour time ring that features a day and night indicator around its rim. You'll be able to use this even in ambient mode – the Wear 3100 new feature that keeps heart rate and step count on screen during the low-power state along with time.
We're still waiting on pricing and availability for the Louis Vuitton Tambour Horizon, but with the original costing $2,490 / £1,960, don't expect this to come cheaply.
Best smartwatch: stretch your money a bit further with these alternatives
Samsung might have another Galaxy Home smart speaker on the way
Remember the Galaxy Home, the smart speaker unveiled by Samsung back in August? It hasn't yet gone on sale, but reports suggest Samsung is working on a companion speaker for it – quite possibly a mini Galaxy Home designed to compete directly with the likes of the Google Home Mini and the Amazon Echo Dot.
The news comes courtesy of some digging by SamMobile, which has discovered Samsung is working on a speaker product with the model number SM-V310. We know it comes in black, but that's just about all we know for the time being.
Considering the Samsung Galaxy Home we saw earlier this year (model number SM-V510) has a relatively large form factor, eight microphones, directional audio and high-end AKG tech inside it, it's a reasonable assumption that Samsung might also try and fit in something that's a bit less capable and a bit cheaper.
All eyes on CESWe don't know how much the main Galaxy Home is going to cost yet, or when it's going to actually go on sale, but we might see both speakers break cover at the CES 2019 tech expo happening in January. Samsung usually has a strong showing at the event, and it's the perfect place to show off all the gear arriving over the next 12 months.
No doubt Samsung will have taken note of another busy Christmas in the smart speaker market – so many people were unwrapping and setting up Amazon Echo speakers in the UK this year that the Alexa system was briefly overwhelmed by the demand.
With the Echo, Google Home, Apple HomePod and Sonos speakers already well established, it's not going to be easy for Samsung to get a slice of the market with its own Bixby-powered devices – however it seems that it will be taking on the competition with more than one speaker when the time comes.
The best smart speakers 2018: which one should you buy?
7 wearables to look out for in 2019
The world of wearables continues to grow and improve as smartwatches get smarter, fitness trackers track even more and augmented and virtual reality headsets blur the lines between fantasy and real life even further.
So what can we expect for 2019? Predictions suggest over 245 million wearables will be sold next year.
Judging by the trends of 2018 there should be a continued push by companies to create the best possible smartwatch experience that crams more onto your wrist. That means more wearables that let you go out for a run without your phone but while keeping GPS and heart rate tracking along with music onboard. But expect deeper tracking too as ECG monitors become more prevalent.
As smartphones become more powerful and Google keeps making software smarter, both virtual and augmented reality are due to get even more awesome headsets. The price should start to drop too. Here are some of the exciting wearable tech innovations we may see appear in 2019.
Apple Watch 5
Apple Watch 4
The new Apple Watch 5 could be the ultimate wearable as the company continues to refine its smartwatch. But with the Apple Watch Series 4 already offering ECG and GPS, plus locally stored music already onboard, what more can be added?
One of the most sought after features would be a longer battery life. While wireless charging makes keeping it topped up effortless, more juice can't hurt. That combined with a thinner form factor would be ideal, making it more comfortable for running and slipping under sleeves.
Apple also needs to add deeper music streaming integration for offline music storage on the watch for Spotify, Tidal and more. Finally a game changer would be great, something like a blood sugar measure for people with diabetes. We can but hope. Expect the Apple Watch 5 to be launched by Apple around the usual September reveal time.
Everything we know about the Apple Watch 5 Google Pixel WatchThe officially branded Google Pixel Watch didn't appear alongside the Pixel 3 in 2018 so we're pinning our hopes on a 2019 release with the Pixel 4. This could take the Wear OS to a new level with hardware integration offering a faster performance and more battery efficiency.
This is thanks to a power management system rumored to be called Blackghost, which is able to offer longer battery life while listening out for voice commands without impacting on how much charge is left. This should offer a great way to use Google Assistant without draining smartphone battery life too.
Other features we're hoping to see include an in-display fingerprint reader, rotating crown, swim-proofing, NFC payments, a three day battery and Garmin level fitness tracking.
Everything we know about the Google Pixel Watch Apple AirPods 2
Apple AirPods with an iPhone
According to ever reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, we can expect Apple to launch a new pair of AirPods in 2019. These may come packing wireless charging, meaning they could be thrown down on a charging pad to get back up to full power without the need for any wires at all.
This makes sense since the battery is small and charging times should be short. Apple AirPods 2 could also come with a newer version of Bluetooth for better connectivity and greater efficiency that may translate into better battery life. All this should mean that the addition of "hey Siri" integration works well for wider voice controls without needing to remove the phone from a pocket or bag.
While these 2019 AirPods should be an improvement, the source says that 2020 will see a major redesign of the AirPods. But one step at a time, ey?
Everything we know about Apple AirPods 2 New Microsoft HoloLens SydneyOne of the major jumps forward in augmented reality hardware could be due to happen in 2019 thanks to Microsoft's new version of its HoloLens headset, which is rumored to have the codename Sydney.
The headset is also rumored to be lighter and more comfortable than its two predecessors, and it may also be more affordable. All that and it should come with a significantly improved holographic display too.
This version of the headset is finally expected to be one that's aimed at consumers. That should mean the price is lower, around the price of a flagship smartphone, so that's the £1,000 mark. The Magic Leap competition is expected to offer a similar product and price so expect 2019 to be the year augmented reality goes to a new level.
What you need to know about Microsoft HoloLens Sydney Garmin Fenix 6
Garmin Fenix 5X Plus
The Garmin Fenix 5X Plus is one of the best GPS watches ever made as it combines super-accurate location and heart rate tracking with smart notifications, mapping, contactless payments and music storage. Plus it has really long battery life. How can Garmin top that with the Fenix 6 that's rumored for a 2019 reveal?
The Fenix 6 is rumored to appear towards the back end of 2019. One way this could bring an improvement is to offer a smaller form factor. While the current Fenix options pack in lots of features, they're far too big and heavy to wear day to day, let alone for sleep tracking. Wireless charging would also be a nice addition to save digging out that proprietary cable.
A high resolution touchscreen could also help make the Fenix 6 more smartwatch than simply GPS device. New sensors for glucose, blood pressure and sweat could all also appear to help make this even better than the Fenix 5X Plus.
Bose FramesBose is due to unveil a new type of wearable in 2019 which combines sunglasses and augmented reality. But, of course, these focus on audio rather than visual augmentation of reality. The company describes them saying the headset: "knows where you are and what you’re facing using a 9-axis head motion sensor and the GPS from your iOS or Android device — and automatically adds a layer of audio, connecting that place and time to endless possibilities for travel, learning, entertainment, gaming, and more.”
This sounds like a really cool idea and if they look good too, as Bose products generally do, this could be a really interesting way to stay connected without the need for a heavy, battery-robbing headset. Presumably they will also have microphones for voice integration allowing you to use a virtual assistant without the need to reach for a wearable or smartphone. These should get revealed at SXSW 2019.
Everything we know about Bose Frames WT2 real-time in-ear translator
WT2 real-time in-ear translator
This kickstarted product is finally due to become a reality in January 2019. This takes the Star Trek universal translator dream and makes it a reality. This should be able to offer real-time conversation translation all from the in-ear system. That should mean as a person talks, you hear it in your native language so you can respond in your own tongue and, presuming they're wearing a headset too, they'll hear it back in their native tongue.
If the WT2 works as well as it is claimed this could be the end to language barriers worldwide, at last. Will this be everything the Google Pixel Buds claimed to offer but fell short on? The company says that by launch time the translator will offer real-time translation via a smartphone with a decent internet connection. With 5G due in 2019 too this should help make for a genuinely useful translation device.
Best smartwatch 2018: the top choices you can buy
Best videogame vinyl and soundtracks to rock the new year
It’s funny how certain products come full circle. Vinyl records were thought to be a thing of the past, yet sales for the collector’s items are now hotter than ever. Thankfully because of this, videogame music aficionados can get their hands on an array of incredible soundtracks, that now have been beautifully pressed onto polyvinyl chloride discs.
From personal experience, we’ve learned that collecting records and rare soundtracks is frightfully addictive, albeit a little costly at times. One harsh lesson learned is that many popular soundtracks sell out rapidly. Consequently, this leaves many of us scouring the web for that rare special edition that won’t send us bankrupt just as Christmas rolls around. Ah well, the girlfriend can go without a present this year. Even so, the satisfaction gained by being able to cleanly listen to your favorite music tracks makes it ever the more fulfilling.
So, with that, this list has been catered to those of us that consider themselves a connoisseur of the medium, while hopefully being able to add intrigue to any curious newcomers. Late Christmas present or simply treating yourself, we’ve got you sorted. After all, you wouldn’t want to be a needle stuck in a groove this holiday.
Uncharted Vinyl Bundle
Uncharted vinyl bundle. Image Credit: iam8bit.
We start off with a series near and dear to our hearts - Uncharted. We wish that we held off picking up the Uncharted vinyl records individually, now that iam8bit is offering a collection which comprises the entire Uncharted legacy. In other words, Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection, Uncharted 4 Aside/Bside, and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy.
Another added incentive is that this particular set has 30% off until the New Year (December 31). Now that’s a goddamn steal even Sully would be proud of.
You can grab the Uncharted Vinyl Bundle from iam8bit for $90 (roughly £71 or AU$125).
Stardew Valley Complete Vinyl Soundtrack Box Set
Stardew Valley Vinyl Box Set. Image credit: Fangamer.
We all know that one person whose life was consumed by Stardew Valley for a period of time (maybe it still is). Well, now you can help contribute to their farming fantasies with this exquisite new vinyl collection. Although a Stardew Valley record released previously, this particular one includes the full 77-soundtrack for the first time ever.
A really cool extra feature is that all four vinyl discs have been colored to match every season. On top of this, the sleeve has all-new art-work created by Kari Fry, who was the designer behind the official guidebook. Forget whale noises, Stardew Valley’s harvest themes will help anyone relax come Christmas morning.
You can pick up the Stardew Valley Complete Vinyl Soundtrack Box Set for $59 (roughly £46 or AU$82) from Fangamer.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Original Videogame Soundtrack
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Original Videogame Soundtrack. Image Credit: Mondo.
What can we say about Symphony of the Night that hasn’t been said prior? Not only is it one of the highest rated videogames of all time but it also contains one of the best gaming soundtracks ever composed.
Partnering with Konami, Mondo has brought the Castlevania cult-hit to records. Featuring the full original mix, including the unforgettable ‘Dracula’s Castle’, these remasters come packaged with seven bonus tracks from the Sega Saturn version. There are some slick original designs used for the covers too, not to mention the choice of four different colors for the record itself.
You can pick up the Castlevania: Symphony of the Night Soundtrack for $35 (roughly £27 or AU$48) from Mondo.
Cuphead 4xLP Deluxe Vinyl Soundtrack
Cuphead 4xLP Deluxe Vinyl Soundtrack. Image Credit: iam8bit.
Talk about catchy tunes. If you haven’t experienced the weird and wonderful world of Cuphead, you can still appreciate the stylish mixes that Studio MDHR produced with its tribute to 1930’s cartoons. Promising a ‘thrill ride of jazz jollies and big band boisterousness’, the three-hour deluxe vinyl soundtrack will add an essence of class to any party you throw.
Packaged in a sleek 30’s inspired folio design, this is something to display proudly. Above all, what I love most it that you can tell the band are just having the a wicked time jamming together.
You can pick up the Cuphead 4xLP Deluxe Vinyl Soundtrack from iam8bit for $100 (roughly £79 or AU$139).
God of War Soundtrack - Vinyl/CD
God of War Soundtrack - Vinyl. Image Credit: Amazon.
Anger. Rage. Fear. Emotion. God of War’s pure storytelling is simply in a league of its own. Following Kratos and Atreus on their perilous journey into the realms of Norse mythology, Bear McCreary really outdid himself with this magnificent soundtrack, that only heightens the adventure.
Now you can pick up a copy of the 2018 phenomenon on both CD and Vinyl. We only wish there was a track of Kratos yelling “boy” continuously...
The God of War Soundtrack is available as either a CD or Vinyl. The vinyl is available from Amazon for $41.06 (roughly £32 or AU$57), while the CD is available from Amazon for $11.65 (roughly £9 or AU$160).
Hero of Time Vinyl (Music from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time)
Hero of Time 2xLP (Music from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time). Image Credit: iam8bit.
20 years on from release, Ocarina of Time’s musical melodies are still considered synonymous with videogames. Opting for a minimal approach with the exterior art-work, inside this vinyl you’ll find stunning depictions of both time zones that Link visits in his quest.
A nice added touch is the vinyl records themselves, which have been coated to represent green and purple Rupees. Koji Kondo’s triumphant orchestral was the theme music to millions of childhoods worldwide, and now sounds better than ever thanks to this newly recorded set by the 64-piece Slovak National Symphony Orchestra.
You can pick up the Hero of Time 2xLP (Music from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time) from iam8bit for $40 (roughly £32 or AU$56).
Celeste Vinyl Soundtrack
Celeste Vinyl Soundtrack. Image Credit: Fangamer.
Scoring big at The Game Awards, Celeste left a double-prize winner after a stellar debut in early 2018. Initially selling out its original allotment, restocks are now on the way. So, if you do want the option to hear the extraordinary polyphonic tunes like never before, you’ll need to keep your eye on the prize here.
The set comes with two crystal-clear records, that feature 19 tracks from the award-winning soundtrack. Don’t miss out.
The Celeste Vinyl Soundtrack is available from Fangamer for $33 (roughly £26 or AU$46).
Japan Studio Vinyl Bundle
Japan Studio Vinyl Bundle. Image Credit: iam8bit.
Part of the same deal offered for the Uncharted bundle, the Japan Studio focused collection contains soundtracks from both The Last Guardian and Shadow of the Colossus. Anyone that has explored either title will immediately remember the epic orchestral beats that preside over each world.
Takeshi Furukawa and Kow Otani’s scores have been heralded as masterpieces in sound, with many considering the latter to be timeless.
You can grab the Japan Studio Vinyl Bundle from Fangamer for $52 (roughly £41 or AU$73).
Doom (Original Game Soundtrack) Deluxe Double Vinyl
Doom (Original Game Soundtrack) Deluxe Double Vinyl. Image Credit: Laced Records.
Hell, yes! Doom has always managed to bring the house down with its great sense of rock. Who knew shooting up demons left, right, and centre would sound so good?
This collection offers the complete Doom 2016 soundtrack (31 tracks) on four black vinyl records, a deluxe double hard-slipcase, and four full printed deluxe inner spined sleeves. Interestingly, the music for this was cut at the world-famous Abbey Road Studios in London.
The Doom (Original Game Soundtrack) Deluxe Double Vinyl is available from Laced Records for roughly $80 / £63 / AU$111.
Golf Story Vinyl Soundtrack
Golf Story Vinyl Soundtrack. Image Credit: Fangamer.
Can’t get time for a round of golf? No bother, Golf Story’s superb mix of laid-back composites and energetic rifts are terrific for any day spent at home. Released for the Nintendo Switch in 2017, the indie-darling can be purchased for a subpar price.
What’s ace about this product is that the record is a striking fairway green color, while arriving with 17 toe-tapping tunes to keep you happy until the Masters. A hole-in-one indeed.
You can pick up the Golf Story Vinyl Soundtrack from Fangamer for $23 (roughly £18 or AU$32).
Best turntables 2018: the best record players for any budget
Nvidia in 2018: faster and faster, pricier and dicier
2018 started off with all the makings of a hot year for Nvidia. Everyone was still talking about cryptocurrency, and Nvidia’s graphics cards were caught up in the middle of the mining craze. The prices of existing Nvidia cards like the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti were nowhere close to as low as they should have been, and the company’s flagship cards were long overdue for an update. Thankfully, we just got that with three brand new Nvidia Turing GPUs plus a whole new ray tracing revolution – at least in one game anyway.
We’re going to take an in-depth look at how the year actually played out and it’s been a challenging one for big green, to say the least. Nvidia has arguably ended the year in a tougher spot than when it started. Although the company has made some of its biggest leaps forward, they’ve also came with heavy caveats.
Nvidia kicked off the new year at CES 2018 talking about its big moves with powerful cards that would go into data centers and power AI, like that used in self-driving cars.
It also hyped up the Max-Q versions of its 10-Series graphics cards, which offer desktop-like performance in thin-and-light laptops.
But, what the company wasn’t doing at that time was announcing the replacements to the 10-Series. It showed off the new Titan V that was hardly a gaming-targeted, consumer-facing product, but little did we know that its Tensor cores would make their way into its new line of 20-series GeForce GPUs.
Still, in spite of nothing for gamers to get too excited about early in 2018, Nvidia was doing well.
One thing that was driving Nvidia at the beginning of 2018 was cryptocurrency. Popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin were booming, and miners needed powerful graphics cards to mine many of them. Nvidia’s were the most powerful around and the demand was huge.
Nvidia recorded record revenue in early 2018 with a huge bump in graphics card sales. The company didn’t attribute the surge solely to cryptocurrency, rather crediting “new games, holiday-season demand, iCafe upgrades, esports and cryptocurrency mining,” in an earnings call.
As good as the sales were for Nvidia, gamers were hurting for much of the first half of 2018. The high demand for mining graphics cards drove prices up, making it hard for gamers looking to upgrade or build new PCs without spending a fortune.
Nvidia made some efforts to ensure the core audience of gamers could still get their hands on GeForce graphics cards. One of the schemes Nvidia used to prevent miners from gobbling up all the GPU stock was encouraging retailers to prevent bulk buying. Some shops even went further by bundling graphics cards with monitors and other gaming PC components that gamers would need but miners wouldn’t.
Fortunately for gamers, the cryptocurrency gold rush didn’t last forever. By the end of the first half of the year, it already felt like no one was talking about it. In May, we learned Nvidia had continued seeing strong sales for graphics cards going to cryptocurrency miners, but the company was predicting a significant decline. And, not long after, it definitely started to feel like crypto was snapped away by Thanos right along with half the Avengers.
When July rolled around, gamers finally started to see things turn back into their favor. Amazon Prime Day kicked off, and with it actually came some good deals on powerful graphics cards. It was a major swing to go from cards scarce and priced hundreds of dollars above retail pricing to having plenty of cards available at discounts.
Any gamers who’d been starving for a new graphics card and snatched one up in these deals probably felt the sting of August’s announcement, though.
In August, Nvidia began announced the Turing architecture along with a new series of ray tracing Quadro graphics cards for the enterprise market. Although these ultimately weren’t the gaming GPUs we were looking for, it spelled out basically everything the next-gen GeForce series would be.
After kicking up a tempest of speculation, leaks and rumors, Nvidia would launch its new series of graphics cards just a week later: the RTX 20-Series. This new launch included a top-tier RTX 2080 Ti, an enthusiast-tier RTX 2080, and a mainstream RTX 2070.
Those new cards weren’t just shown off as the next step in performance with more compute cores and faster clock speeds. Instead, the company boasted its revolutionary real-time ray tracing and AI-assisted supersampling technology would vastly improve games visual fidelity.
None of the cards were announced cheap. Nvidia offered pre-orders on the Founders Editions of each card, with prices from $599 (£569, AU$899) to $1,199 (£1,099, AU$1,899). Cards from board partners were priced a bit lower, but those cards didn’t show up right away, and they didn’t show up at the lower prices too soon either.
Those high prices may have been part of a push to clear stock of older 10-Series graphics cards. GamersNexus reported in early November that GTX 1080 Ti stock was getting low, and that will hopefully lead to better prices for gamers, as the 20-Series cards can actually start to fill the void left behind by their respective 10-Series versions.
Putting the price of Nvidia’s new cards aside for a moment, there was a serious issue with the new cards that had the best GPU gamers could buy turning into hot garbage soon after installation.
Some gamers with the expensive RTX 2080 Ti were suffering crashes and errors from their cards, and some had their shiny new cards completely brick. That’s not the kind of issue you want to see from the newest and best graphics card on the market. Some customers who got their cards replaced even experienced the same issues on the replacements.
While those problems should be covered by warranty and may be sorted out by Nvidia in production or by board partners, there’s another issue with the 20-Series cards that gamers are facing: fancy new features that are all but non-existent.
The new 20-Series cards have a sizable portion of the GPU dedicated to AI-focused Tensor Cores and RT Cores. Those special cores promise the smart supersampling of DLSS and the real-time ray tracing that makes light and shadow look substantially more realistic, respectively.
That all sounds great until we consider that only Battlefield V supports real-time ray tracing and only Final Fantasy XV supports DLSS. No game to this date supports both. While many games have been slated to build in support for these features, it’s always worth being skeptical about future promises from tech companies when your cash is on the line — anyone who bought an Xbox One in hopes of playing VR games or Scalebound can surely relate.
The issue is made a little worse by performance hits that come from enabling ray tracing. The feature, as first implemented, resulted in dramatically reduced frame rates in Battlefield V. Though an update helped bump performance back up, the initial drop just further highlights the dubious state of the features 20-Series cards offer.
Though ray tracing and DLSS may still linger in a vaporware-like doubt, there’s no denying Nvidia’s new line-up of cards this year has kept it at the top for now. But, the focus on new features may come around to bite Nvidia.
AMD has yet to announce new cards, and rumors have suggested they’re coming. Worse still for Nvidia (better for gamers), the rumors suggest the new cards will drastically undercut the price of RTX 20-Series cards.
An AMD Radeon RX 3060 may come at half the price of a Nvidia RTX 2070 while offering similar performance and skipping ray tracing. AMD will likely leave the RTX 2080 Ti on its throne, as the company didn’t produce a card to match up against the Nvidia GeForce 1080 Ti last time around.
This all leaves the core market of gamers with the possibility of compellingly priced AMD cards stacked up against high-priced Nvidia cards and unfulfilled promises of ray tracing and DLSS. All the while, Intel is gearing up to introduce its own graphics cards.
Time will tell, but it seems Nvidia has one of its biggest fights to stay on top in the coming year.
The big three in 2019: Apple, Google and Microsoft’s upcoming hardware year
While 2018 was a year of iterative updates, Apple, Google and Microsoft all released some of their best products yet, even if they weren’t as innovative as some would like. While many flagships went without any upgrades – we didn’t even see a new MacBook or Surface Book – devices like the MacBook Air and Surface Laptop 2 saw significant upgrades which impacted the user experience.
However, 2019 should see the big three push their hardware further than before – especially as 7nm and 10nm AMD and Intel processors become mainstream. So, what can we expect to see from Apple, Google and Microsoft throughout the next year?
Apple’s release schedule in 2018 was all over the place. After the insanely powerful iMac Pro dropped in December 2017, we got an iPad aimed at students in March, followed by a lot of nothing.
We were left waiting for WWDC 2018 for new MacBooks, but that show came and went without any new hardware. It wasn’t until the new MacBook Pro launched, totally under the radar in July, that we started seeing new hardware.
We’re not sure Apple is going to follow the same kind of release schedule in 2019, but now that it became the world’s first trillion-dollar valuation company this past year, we figure Apple can basically do whatever it wants.
New Mac Pro. We’ve been anticipating the new Mac Pro for a while now, but we know its coming, and we know it’s coming in 2019. The only thing we don’t know is when in 2019 we’ll see the new Mac Pro. Apple has come out and said that the computer will be modular and upgradeable, and if the iMac Pro was any indication, we might be seeing an extremely powerful Mac – we just want to know whether it’ll look like a trash can again.
New MacBooks. When it comes to Apple’s 2019 lineup of MacBooks, we’re not quite sure what’s going to happen. We’ll see a new MacBook Pro, that’s a given – Apple hasn’t missed an annual upgrade for its flagship professional laptop to date. However, beyond that, it’s anyone’s guess. Apple skipped the 12-inch MacBook for the new MacBook Air this year, though that laptop has more in common with the now-defunct MacBook Pro without Touch Bar. Regardless, expect to see new Intel silicon inside these laptops – Apple’s in-house computer processors are still years away.
iPhone XI. Another year, another iPhone. Apple releasing a new iPhone is inevitable, and the rumors are already starting to roll out. It might be thinner and lighter than ever before, thanks to a new touch-integrated OLED display, and Apple might even include its own modem, making it an almost all-Apple device. Also, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Apple take another three-pronged strategy with its iPhone models this year, with two high-end models and an entry-level version alongside them. Finally, don’t expect to see a 5G iPhone in 2019: Apple will surely sit on that for a while longer.
New iPads. Apple knocked it out of the park with the iPad Pro – it can outpower many full-blown laptops, on top of the fantastic new design. With the next non-pro iPad, we can see Apple bringing over the same bezel-less design as well as FaceID, like it did with the iPhone XR. We’ve also seen rumors of a new iPad Mini arriving in 2019. We fully expect to see more drastic software improvements than hardware, as iOS needs some serious work to both remain competitive in the phones space and improve productivity for its ‘Pro’ tablets.
Even if we didn’t get the Pixelbook 2, Google still had an exciting year, with products like the Pixel 3 and the Google Pixel Slate.
Google also doubled down on its Home line of smart speakers and smart-home technology – something we’re sure we’ll see more of in 2019.
However, with an arguably poor outing this year, we wonder whether Google will continue making tablets – or at the very least go back to the drawing board. Also, we’ve seen very little from Google in the home entertainment department in 2018, so perhaps we’ll revisit that in 2019.
Pixelbook 2. We wanted to see the next Pixelbook in 2018 – the original is by far one of the best Chromebooks we’ve ever used. However, Google had other plans, instead releasing the Google Pixel Slate: a sort of half-tablet half-Chromebook hybrid.
While we’re sure the Google Pixel Slate will have its niche, we hope Google will launch a true Pixelbook 2 with 8th-generation Core processors. The Pixel Slate doesn’t set as strong of a standard for other Chrome devices as Pixelbook did, simply put.
Google Pixel 4. The Google Pixel 3 and Google Pixel 3 XL are awesome – everything from the camera to the hardware makes either two of the best phones you can buy today. Of course, we’re sure that Google is brewing the follow-ups as we speak. What’s to come in that? Rumors are nowhere to be found yet, but we’d anticipate Google doubling down on its incredibly useful camera and machine learning software, because that’s what’s selling the Pixel 3 phones more than anything.
Mid-range Pixel phones. Google has made plenty of flagship phones in its time, but we’ve seen new Pixel devices hinted at in the latest ARCore update. These rumored devices are code-named Bonito and Sargo, and just like all other Pixel phones, are named after fish. We’d love to see new Pixel phones that almost anyone can afford – especially if Google keeps that camera software intact. All in all, this would be an incredibly smart move for Google.
When it comes to hardware, it’s hard to predict what Microsoft is going to do in 2019, as its release schedule is all over the place.
However, you can bet that you’ll see new Surface devices along with Windows 10 updates. We might even see the next Xbox creep out of the woodwork
Surface Book 3. The Surface Book 2 is still one of the best laptops on the market, even if it launched way back in October 2017. This year, however, we should see the Surface Book 3 launch, packed with Intel 9th-generation processors and Nvidia Turing graphics. If Microsoft could provide the Surface Book 3 with a 4K display and a black color option, that’d just be gravy.
Surface Pro 7. We’re putting our money on another Surface Pro launching next year, but hopefully with more drastic improvements. Microsoft followed the Surface Pro 2017 with the Surface Pro 6 this year, packing 8th-generation processors and some snazzy new color options … but that’s it, really. We’d love to see a Surface Pro 7 with even smaller bezels and USB-C connectivity for 2019.
Surface Phone. It seems like we’ve been waiting for the Surface Phone for ages, but we feel like 2019 might be the year we finally see it. The latest rumors about the Surface Phone, code-named Andromeda, point to it being a foldable smartphone, which would make it prime competition for Samsung’s similar device, also likely launching in 2019.
These are the best laptops of 2018 – no contest
Mayweather vs Nasukawa live stream: how to watch fight online from anywhere
Well who saw this coming? We assumed Floyd Mayweather was done and dusted after his victory over Conor McGregor completed a perfect 50-0 record. But never underestimate the lure of a big fight purse! Read on to find out how to live stream Mayweather vs Nasukawa no matter where in the world you are - it isn't easy, but there is a way.
"Just for promoting this event, I’ve made seven figures. Just me talking about the event… I’ve already made crazy money.” It's not hard to see why Mayweather has been motivated to return to competition, and the spectacle of fighting 20-year-old kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa is an obvious fit for the great showman.
And the risk for Mayweather is low. It's an exhibition fight rather than a sanctioned bout, meaning that his flawless record won't be affected either way. The duo have agreed that it will take place with regular boxing rules over three rounds of three minutes each. The only difference is that Mayweather and Nasukawa will wear Rizin 8 ounce gloves, rather than classic boxing mitts. And if there's no knockout, it will be a draw - there are no judges to crown the winner.
It's a bit of a strange one, for sure. Stranger still for the fact that no major Western broadcaster has picked up the rights to show it and that makes finding a stream difficult (a legit one that is, not some grainy feed from a link on Reddit). So read on to see our guide for getting a Mayweather vs Nasukawa live stream from wherever you are in the world.
See also: How to watch and live stream the best sport and TV online from absolutely anywhere
Main image courtesy of FITE TV
Android Messages is getting a new feature to help fight spam
If you find your SMS inbox blighted by spam, and your phone is running Android, help is on the way – Google is rolling out a new spam protection tool inside its Messages app, according to users who've seen the update on their devices.
First reported by Android Police, the change seems to happen server-side – which means you don't actually need to update your app to see it – but it doesn't appear to be live for everyone at the moment. The new feature is announced via an on-screen pop-up and can then be toggled on and off in the settings for the app.
Based on a support page that has since been deleted, the feature does send some information back to Google (like the numbers behind incoming messages), but strips out data that could identify you personally, and the message content.
AI vs spambotsIn the absence of any official announcement from Google it's not completely clear exactly how the feature will work. Presumably Google's famous machine-learning algorithms will be deployed to identify messages that could be suspect.
Google seems committed to focusing on the Messages app for Android and the web in the near future, and on the RCS messaging protocol that underpins in. If this app is to be Google's latest iMessage challenger – following on from the likes of Hangouts and Allo – spam controls could be another feature to tempt users in.
If an official introduction for the feature is forthcoming from Google, we'll update this article to include it. In the meantime, if you use Messages on Android, open up the app to see if the new spam controls have gone live for you yet.
Google's new iMessage rival plans to completely replace SMS messaging
Best workout apps we've used: improve your fitness in just 20 minutes a day
We all have busy lives, it comes with the times we live in, and while this does wonders for productivity, it can mean that it is increasingly difficult to find the time or energy to stay in shape. Either we’re neck deep in social obligations or we’re constantly grinding for a paycheck – either way we’re not exactly eager to set aside huge amounts of time to work out every week. However, the best fitness apps will help you stay fit, and they’ll do it without requiring a huge time commitment.
Winter is coming, and the warm summer weather is a distant memory, so everyone is going to want to spend their time indoors. While this is great for your video game backlog or Netflix queue, it’s more important than ever to stay active, especially with all of those delicious – albeit high-calorie, holiday meals. The best fitness apps are ready for this cold weather snap, and will supply you with quick High-Intensity-Interval-Training (HIIT) routines that will fill your exercise quota in no time flat.
There are three golden ideals that all of the best fitness apps will strive to reach: convenience, affordability and sports science. These features combine to make fitness apps that can revolutionize the way you look at fitness and exercise. Plus, with the best running gadgets, you can finally say goodbye to those pricey gym memberships and personal trainers.
There is a catch, though. There are hundreds of fitness apps on iOS and Android – as with any other kind of app – which makes finding the best fitness app for your personal needs and goals a hassle. Don’t worry though, you can save your energy for those intense workouts you’re already planning, because we’ve gone ahead and created a list of the best fitness apps you can install right now.
Best fitness tracker: the top 10 activity bands on the planet 1. Nike+ Training Club
With this very comprehensive and extremely stylish app, Nike offers 100+ workouts varying from endurance, mobility and strength with a host of both swift, 15-minute workouts and longer endurance sessions, so you can constantly change up your workout.
AirPlay and AppleTV support (along with Chromecast mirroring) will display the instructions on a larger screen or speaker system, and it even features a lot of famous athletes (including Rory McIlroy, Ellie Goulding and Serena Williams) busting a sweat with you as ‘motivation’.
An added bonus exists if you use the Nike+ Run Club app, as all your jogging efforts will be automatically synchronised to your Nike profile too, giving a complete picture of your fitness.
2. FreeleticsFree (Coaching from £2.28 ($2.69 / around AU$4) per week): iOS, Android
Freeletics offers a host of workouts that are all centered around high intensity interval training, or HIIT. This platform revolves around four free platforms – Gym, Bodyweight Workouts and Training, Nutrition and Running.
Bodyweight was the app that started it all, and really pushes you to your limit through moves (that unsurprisingly use the weight of your body) such as sprawls, jump squats, pull-ups, burpees and sprints that you must finish as quickly as possible.
There are videos for each exercise demonstrating proper form, and there is a great social aspect to the app which motivates you to stick to your plan, and push yourself to beat your personal bests.
If you opt to pay the subscription to access 'Coach', you get all the different workouts (satisfyingly named after characters from Greek mythology) and a workout plan tailored to your goals and current fitness levels.
There is a further subscription that you can pay to access Nutrition, which gives you weekly nutrition plans to complement the intense workouts.
3. Sworkit
Free (£3.98, ($4.99 / around AU$7) per month): iOS, Android
Tell Sworkit the type of workout you’re looking for (strength, cardio, yoga, or stretching) and the amount of time you’ve got to do it (anywhere from five minutes to an hour), and the app delivers moves to follow during your sweat session.
Choose to upgrade and the app will enable you to customise your workouts by setting the number of reps and the areas of the body you want to focus on.
It’s a simple system that offers great workouts for those already armed with knowledge of the areas they want to target.
4. Fiit
Free (Premium service is £120 a year (around $150, AU$215): iOS
There are lots of workout apps that you can cast up to your TV, but not many are like Fiit. This fitness app allows you to participate in boutique fitness classes from wherever you are using your phone, or you can connect it up to your TV for a full and far more extensive experience.
Fiit is presented by a series of personal trainers from all over the globe, and the aim is to give you a high-end studio fitness routine whenever you want without having to travel miles to your local gym to do it.
There's a plethora of classes with all expertise levels covered and a variety of activities from yoga to HIIT workouts all covered. At the moment the app is only available on iOS, but Fiit plans to launch on Android in the future.
Something to note is the free app isn't the most extensive experience. If you like the idea of Fiit, you can subscribe either monthly, quarterly or yearly to get the full experience. That comes with a heart rate tracker to help you improve your performance, and that's when the Fiit experience comes together and makes the most sense.
It isn't cheap, but it's far more affordable when you compare it with what it'd cost you to attend boutique classes like these in real life.
5. Daily Yoga
Free (with in app purchases): iOS, Android
Fitness isn’t just about squat-thrusts and burpees, and this app explores alternative ways to stay fit by packing in high definition video as an ideal introduction to the ways of the Yogis.
All the routines are under 30 minutes and there are 50 classes available – the Yoga for Runners is particularly recommended if you’re a jogger and getting worryingly stiff – and each session is categorised according to the body part you want to focus on.
6. Seven
Free (£3.99 ($3.53 / around AU$7) per month for premium): iOS, Android
Treating fitness like a classic (but basic) video game, Seven sets you the challenge of working out for seven minutes a day for seven months using no more than a chair, wall and your own body weight.
You start with three lives but missing one day will lose one of them (shown as a heart, rather menacingly) and missing three in a month will reset your progress to zero.
If you stick to it you’ll see results, but it’s worth paying the extra per month for the premium workouts to avoid the monotony of the free routines.
7. Workout Trainer
Free (pro version £5.58, $6.99 (around AU$10)/month): Android, iOS (Apple Watch and Android Wear compatible)
With a dizzying selection of over 1000 intense workouts ranging in length from five to 15 minutes, each with step-by-step audio and video instructions, if there’s nothing in Workout Trainer to tempt you from the sofa you’re in serious trouble.
As well as the standard workouts, you can build your own custom routines and share them online, as well as trying out some of the community-created routines yourself.
A Pro subscription gives a big upgrade in features, such as advert-free HD workout videos and even more routines to torture your screaming muscles with.
8. Pilates Training from Fitivity
Free (pro version costs £3.99 ($5, around AU$7)): iOS, Android
Pilates is all about strengthening the core – specifically the back, abdomen and hips. Ask any fitness pro and no matter what level of fitness you are, they’ll harp on endlessly about the importance of this area for back strength, balance, posture, strength and flexibility.
While not offering everything you could want – few Pilates apps are perfect, we've found – Fitivity offers all the instructions you need to start training your core, with simple-to-follow routines.
Do it for the three free weeks and, if you want more, the pro version will give you unfettered access when you pay up.
9. Pact
Tried all the above but still can’t seem to find 15 minutes to work up a tiny sweat? Does money motivate you more than the idea of a healthy heart and a six-pack?
If so, you need Pact, the first app that encourages you to gamble on your ability to get fit.
Wager how many days you reckon you can work out, put some money where your mouth is and get running.
It pairs with your phone’s GPS as well as with RunKeeper, Fitbit, Jawbone Up and MapMyRun and the more you stick to your programme the more cash you can win from competing lazy members.
Free (upgraded versions £1.99 / $1.99 / AU$3.99) : iOS, Android
Runtastic sounds like it's only good for one thing, but actually it's brilliant at bodyweight strength training too.
There are loads of apps by Runtastic - confusingly, a lot of them seem to do similar things but look completely different - but we're really into Sit Ups, Squats, Press Ups and Pull Ups at the moment, as they're just so friggin' simple.
Simply start the app, it'll tell you where to hold your phone, and how many reps to do. You'll get rest targets (which the more hardcore of you can skip) and the progression every couple of days feels manageable. You can even save your workout progress to the cloud and use other devices when needed.
The free version only gets you to level one, but by the end of that you'll be fully into how much stronger you're getting and the upgrade cost to Pro is fully worth it. If you've been an Adidas MiCoach user in the past, you'll get free access to the Pro apps automatically too (thanks to Adidas buying Runtastic fairly recently).
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) has been gaining in popularity recently, and for good reason – a workout that promises big results from short workouts is going to sound pretty appealing to people who are short on time. HIIT even came to the Apple Watch in watchOS 4.
Here we will explain a little bit about what HIIT is, and a few apps that you can use to for this new workout method, which is exhausting but has the potential to super-charge your results.
There are three different energy systems used by your body during exercise, one aerobic system that uses oxygen as fuel, and two that are anaerobic, using lactic acid and phosphates as their fuel. Long-duration cardio training (running, swimming, cycling) is dependent on the first of these energy systems, as it's the only energy system that can continue to feed muscles for long periods of time.
The problem with this is that low-intensity training burns a relatively small amount of calories, so in order to achieve a caloric deficit for weight loss, a large amount of this exercise needs to be done.
High-intensity exercise, on the other hand, burns a large amount of calories, but you’re unable to sustain it for long enough that it makes a significant difference to overall fitness.
HIIT bridges the gap between the two training disciplines by interspersing short periods of high-intensity exercise with periods of low-intensity, to help you recover while still burning calories.
Does it work?One of the most popular forms of HIIT is something called Tabata training, which is eight rounds of 20 seconds maximum intensity and 10 seconds low intensity. If you’re doing the math and thinking that only works out at four minutes of exercise, you’d be right – but done right it will be one of the worst four minutes of your life.
Tabata training was developed as a method of training by Japanese scientist Dr Izumi Tabata, as a method for improving the sprint times of Olympic ice skaters.
He discovered that by doing these short bursts of maximal effort interspersed with periods of low effort, not only did the athletes get similar aerobic gains to a group doing a much longer more traditional workout, but they exhibited anaerobic gains that the control group didn’t show.
To oversimplify this, it basically means that if you work smarter, you can get the same – or even better – results as from slogging away for ages on the treadmill. Plus, as a little bonus, you get the benefits of an effect called EPOC, which stands for excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption, which basically means that as your body works to address the oxygen deficit in your system you keep burning calories long after you've finished exercising.
As this is a very intense form of exercise, it puts strain (good strain, but strain none the less) on your heart, lungs and muscles. You should consult a doctor before starting any exercise regime, especially one as intense as HIIT.
Enough science! How do I do it?You basically need three things for HIIT: an exercise of your choice, will power, and a timer.
The exercise needs to be something you can do for extended periods of time. Static bike is perfect, because it’s easy to shift quickly between low and high intensity. Running machines can work, but they need to be set up to alternate between the intensities, and, depending on your level of intensity, it can get risky having sudden changes of speed that are happening out of your control.
Rowing machines and elliptical machines both work well too. The elliptical machine is actually one of the best in terms of getting a full-body workout, but for some reason has a stigma attached to it.
A lot of people do burpees as a HIIT exercise, which seems to make sense because it’s a full-body exercise, but the fundamental problem with these is that you're likely to reach muscular fatigue, which will inhibit your ability to push yourself to your desired level of cardiovascularly.
If you don’t have access to a gym, or would just prefer to do your exercise using body weight, then skipping, star jumps, and even jogging on the spot can all be employed.
Timers. You mentioned timers…This is where the tech comes in. Obviously you could use a stopwatch to set your periods, but frankly who has time for that? Luckily there are a number of apps on the market specifically designed to help you plan and carry out your HIIT session.
There are so many to choose from that the selection process can be pretty daunting. To help you out, we've chosen our favourites…
Seconds is an app for creating your own exercise timers. It has templates for circuit training, Tabata, HIIT, and custom timers. You can adjust the length of the high- and low-intensity periods, you can adjust the number of sets you’re going to be doing, and you can name the exercises – so if you’re doing a circuit it’ll tell you you’re on the kettlebells next.
During your workout it gives clear audio signals for starting and stopping, and the screen has a massive countdown on it, so even when sweat is streaming into your eyes you should still be able to see how long you have to go before you can rest.
Seconds is free to download and use, but gives you the option to upgrade to Seconds Pro, which allows you to save timers; very useful if you're going to be doing the same workout four times a week.
Runtastic, as the name might suggest, is from a running company, but don't let that put you off. A timer is a timer, and this is a good timer, and the app is easily the most aesthetically pleasing of your options.
It's very easy to customize, and can either give you beep prompts or voice feedback.
Like Seconds, it's free to download, but if you want to unlock the full range of timers and get rid of the ads you can pay a small in-app fee.
Tabata Timer has a very simple interface, but it does everything you need of it. When you open up the app it gives you the option to change your prep time, work time, rest time, and number of cycles. Once you’ve put your desired specifications in, you just hit Start and away you go.
Tabata Timer works in the background, so if you want to move over to your music app mid-workout you’re not going to stop the timer, which is surprisingly useful. Also, Tabata Timer works with Google Fit, so if you use that app it’ll transfer over your data from your workout.
Tabata Timer is free to download, with the option to upgrade to the premium version (with a number of different affordable plans) if you want to save more than two workouts.
What about the willpower?That's up to you. Sorry.
If that all sounds a bit intense and you'd rather just start running, check out: The tech you’ll need to start running
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