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...
TechRadar - All the latest technology news
Android Q release date, features and rumors
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:45:06 +0000
Google's Android Q release date and features are what we're focusing on in 2019, even though the last update, Android 9 Pie, is still slowly rolling out to smartphones after its launch last August.
The new version of the mobile operating system will also likely be known as Android 10, as that's the next major numerical milestone for Google to jump to.
When does Android Q come out? Which features will be added? What phones can download Android? Will Android Q also be known as Android 10?
Right now, we're mostly answering these questions through historical data and leaks, and we'll know more concrete facts as Google IO 2019 approaches.
Cut to the chase What is Android Q? It's the as-yet-unconfirmed next version of AndroidWhen can get you Android Q? UncertainHow much will Android Q cost? It will (assumedly) be a free update Android Q release dateGoogle hasn't announced when Android Q will come out. Heck, it hasn't even acknowledged that the next OS version will even be called Android Q – but given each version's progression to the next letter in the alphabet, Android Q is a pretty safe bet.
If Android 9 Pie's announcement window is anything to go by, we could see Google officially announce Android Q in early March – and perhaps, like last year's release, see an alpha build released to developers on the same day. The full Android Q name may happen in early August.
As to when you can get Android Q on your smartphone, well...that requires even more divination.
Google will likely launch Android 10 in mid-August 2019, but going by historical OS update timings, it'll probably only be available on Google Pixel phones.
The roll out to other Android phones will happen throughout 2019 and even into 2020 as various manufacturers add their own features and interfaces to the operating system. There's a chance you'll have to wait months after the initial Android Q release before you see the OS update on your device.
Android Q featuresGoogle IO 2019 will likely play host to a deep dive into Android Q features. However, we may have a heads-up on which features to expect from Google's mobile operating update thanks to leaks.
System-wide dark mode
The first big leak, and our first real look at Android Q, is by the site XDA Developers. They allegedly got a hold of a January 2019 build of the new OS and showed off what might be coming.
Chief among them is an all-system dark mode. Toggle it on in Display Settings, and the main interface, Settings and Files will turn a dark gray. Other parts like the Volume panel, Quick Settings and Notifications turn black to show up against the darker background.
Developers will also get an option that seems to force apps without dark modes to switch to the nighttime-friendly color scheme.
More permissionsXDA's leak also revealed a revamp of permissions, from the general to specific.
Users can look at a broad overview of which apps they've given permission for certain things – like, say, location or microphone access. There's a search function that lets you filter by permission item, allowing you to quickly see which apps you've given access to your camera, contacts, location and so on.
You can also look at permissions each app has been granted and toggle them individually to set whether access is off, on, or only on while the app is open.
Developer tools
There are plenty of new developer tools described by the XDA leak, but it's not clear how all of them will function.
Freeform windows return, which lets you enable them after pressing and holding an app icon in the recent apps overview. On the other hand, XDA also found a feature called "Game Updates Package Preference" whose purpose is a bit of a mystery. Another, titled "force desktop mode," seems like it would push Android to an external display, Samsung DeX-style.
Not all of the UI is finished, either, making some features – like screen recording – not totally comprehensible.
Anything else?There were a couple other additional Android 10 odds and ends from that XDA leak, including a pair of new accessibility settings.
Both apply to how long notification messages stay up, and seemingly apply to different kinds of notifications. The first are for "messages that ask you to take action," while the other apparently refers to notifications that pop up with simple reminders. You can toggle these to stay up between 30 seconds and 2 minutes.
We haven't seen much else, but given Google's precedent of announcing the next version of Android in early in 2019, we may see more leaks in the coming weeks.
What's next for iPhone? Here's what we expect to see from iOS 13
Sony Xperia XZ4 could have a triple-lens 52MP camera
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:41:09 +0000
Until now we didn’t know much about the Sony Xperia XZ4’s camera, other than rumors that it might have three rear lenses, but now we have an idea about the specs of those lenses, one of which could be 52MP.
That theory comes from an image posted on Reddit and spotted by Sumahoinfo, which shows a triple-lens camera setup supposedly on the back of the Xperia XZ4, and lists the middle lens as being 52MP with an f/1.6 aperture.
This is said to be the main lens, and that aperture should mean it can take in a lot of light, likely making it good in low light situations.
There’s also a 16MP f/2.6 telephoto lens listed, along with a 0.3MP ToF (Time of Flight) lens. That ToF lens would likely be used for depth sensing, which should be handy for bokeh effects (the out of focus backgrounds some cameras allow for to emphasize the foreground) as well as augmented reality.
This could be the XZ4's camera arrangement. Credit: Sumahoinfo / Reddit
It's very possibleWe’d take this image with the required pinch of salt, especially as so little else is known about the Sony Xperia XZ4’s camera so far, but it’s not an unbelievable setup.
Many brands are now offering triple-lens cameras and some phones are moving to higher megapixel counts, with the Honor View 20 for example having a 48MP camera.
We may not have long to wait to learn the truth about the XZ4’s cameras, along with everything else about it, as Sony is holding a press conference on February 25 at MWC 2019 and we wouldn’t be surprised if the Xperia XZ4 is featured.
Take a look at a possible photo of the Sony Xperia XZ4Via PhoneArena and MySmartPrice
Best microSD cards of 2019: Flash memory for cameras, drones and more
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:40:55 +0000
Welcome to our list of the best SD and microSD memory cards for your camera or smartphone in 2019. In this guide, we've collected the best memory cards that can boost the storage space of your device.
Not only do the best SD and microSD cards in this list expand the storage space of your hardware, but they also provide excellent data transfer speeds, which means you'll be able to move large files to these memory cards in a flash (excuse the pun).
The best memory cards will have fast data transfer rates which are essential for recording in ultra high definition (4K) resolutions as well, as your camera will be writing a lot of data to the memory card.
In 2019, there is a huge range of devices that require memory cards, from phones and cameras, to laptops, security cameras, drones and much more - so our list of the best SD cards money can buy can help ensure you get the most out of your device.
In our list of the best SD and microSD memory cards, we look at value for money, speed and capacity, and our price checking software will make sure you get the very price.
The best microSD cards of 2019
The best SD card you can buy is technically a microSD card, albeit one that can be used full-size when married to the proper hardware. Despite not being the most resilient SD card on the market, the Samsung Evo Plus’ 100 megabyte per second (MB/s) read and 90MB/s write speeds are impressive nonetheless. Not only that, but there is a wide variety of sizes to choose from too, so whether you need 32GB of storage or 128GB, rest assured you’re in good hands.
If you do a lot of filming, especially in 4K, then you're going to want a reliable microSD card that can write large amounts of data fast, which is exactly what the Samsung Pro+ can do. It features a U3 rating and read/write speeds of 95MB/sec and 90MB/sec. The kind of speeds the Samsung Pro+ microSD card can handle will be largely wasted for day-to-day tasks, such as being installed in a smartphone, but for 4K video, this is a fantastic buy.
SanDisk claims this microSD card can read up to 95MB/s and write 90MB/s, and in tests it came pretty close to those speeds. This makes it a very fast card, and with smaller files it's even faster, which means this is a great card for action cams, drones or burst photography. Again, it's a bit on the pricey side, but if you don't mind spending a bit above the odds, you'll get a great microSD card for your needs.
The Lexar 1000x isn't the fastest microSD card here, but it has a lot going for it. For example, its read speeds are still some of the fastest around, and it's priced cheaper than many of its competitors. While it falls short with its write speeds, the difference won't be too noticeable for many people. It also comes with a microSD to USB 3.0 adapter, which makes it easy to transfer your files to a PC.
As you can probably tell from the number of entrants it has in our best microSD list, Samsung is excellent at producing fast, efficient and dependable microSD cards. The Samsung Evo Select is another great all-rounder that can happily sit in a digital camera, drone, phone or Nintendo Switch games console. While it doesn't necessarily excel in any one task, it is a strong performer that does the job well. Currently Samsung Evo Select microSD cards are only available from Amazon. While that makes hunting for a bargain a bit more tricky, it at least means you can buy with confidence from a reputable seller.
The SanDisk Ultra microSD is a brilliant microSD card for people who are looking for large capacities, with the latest version offering up to 400GB of storage space. That should give you plenty of room for storing high resolution images and video files. Write speeds are good, but they are not the fastest we've seen. If you shoot in 4K, that might be an issue, but for many people the slightly slower speeds are worth it for the amount of storage space you get.
If you're looking for a microSD card to put inside an action camera, like the Go Pro, then you want something that can record data quickly, while also being able to withstand drops, shocks and splashes. This is where the Kingston microSD Action Camera comes in - it's designed especially for action cameras. This means it has an incredibly robust design, as well as good read and write speeds. It's a bit overkill if you're just going to use it in a smartphone, so one of the other microSD cards in this list could be better suited to your needs.
Many microSD cards are low capacity, which is fine if you just need an extra bit of space in your smartphone or tablet, but if you're taking lots of high resolution images, or you want to take advantage of modern smartphone's support for microSD cards up to 2TB in size, then the Integral 512GB microSDXC Class 10 Memory Card is definitely worth considering, offering a huge 512GB of storage space. Of course, you can also get versions with less space if you don't need as much, but for those of you who need to store large files, this is the microSD card for you.
How to choose your microSD memory card It's not worth looking for memory cards with capacities smaller than 4GB simply because the price premium you pay for twice or four times the storage is tiny.Make sure you include the delivery price when doing the numbers as quite often you end up paying more for the postage than the drive itself, particularly for low-cost models.If you plan to opt for large capacity cards (32GB or more), make sure that your device is SDXC compatible.If you plan to move files to and from portable devices (tablets or smartphones), consider a microUSB card reader such as the Leef Access.Avoid buying your memory cards from vendors with few feedbacks on auction websites as these drives might turn out to be fake. All the vendors listed below are tried and trusted ones.For 128GB and above, SD cards are generally cheaper as users usually settle for 64GB as this matches the maximum supported capacity of most portable devices. In general, microSD cards with an adaptor cost less than the equivalent SD card.Note that all the capacities are likely to be much less than stated when they are formatted.SD cards are usually divided into classes which gives a rough idea of the minimum performance to be expected. A Class 4 card is guaranteed to deliver at least 4MBps while a Class 10 should surpass 10MBps.Similarly, many vendors report their speeds in terms of "x" rating which is a multiple of 150KBps (the read speed of a standard CDROM drive). A 100x card can be expected to deliver more than 14MBps.If you plan to buy microSD cards simply to store data, don't. Memory sticks, being cheaper and more robust, are a better choice. Storage wars: do we really need microSD cards in our phones?
Best portable SSD of 2019: top external solid state drives
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:29:08 +0000
Welcome to our pick of the best portable SSDs of 2019. In this guide we look at the most dependable portable SSDs that combine speed, storage space and portability to ensure that you can safely keep all of your important files with you on your travels.
The best portable SSD for your needs will come with bags of capacity, so you won't run out when storing your important files, such as photographs, while also making use of the inherent speed benefits of using solid state disks.
So, when looking to buy the best portable SSD, you'll want to consider how much storage space it has. Around 500GB should be enough for many people, but if you want to store lots of large files, such as uncompressed videos, photos or music, then you should consider 1TB or higher of storage space.
You'll also want to consider what type of connection the portable SSD has. Older connections, such as USB 2.0, will cause a bottleneck, as the connection cannot transfer files as fast as the SSD can read and write.
The best portable SSDs, then, will come with a more modern connection for faster SSDs. At least USB 3.1, or the newer USB Type-C connection. Of course, you'll need to make sure that your laptop or computer also supports these connections.
So, read on to find out what our picks are of the best portable SSDs money can buy in 2019.
Samsung is a company that has made some brilliant portable SSDs, and you'll see a number of its devices on this list, however the Samsung Portable SSD T5 is our pick of the best portable SSD of 2018. It builds on the brilliant design and performance of its predecessor, the Samsung T3 SSD (also on this best portable SSD list), but brings it up to date with an incredibly fast USB Type-C connection that ekes out every last drop of performance from the solid state drive inside. Of course, it's also backwards compatible with USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 if your PC doesn't have USB Type-C. It's expensive, but it's well worth the cash.
Read the full review: Samsung Portable SSD T5
Seagate is a well-known brand when it comes to storage, and it's brought its impressive experience to the portable SSD market with the brilliant Seagate Fast SSD. This is an impressively slim external SSD, at only 9mm thick with a footprint of 94 x 79mm. Best of all, it's affordable – with prices likely to drop – and it’s an excellent performer, relatively small, plus it has a nice design and a three-year warranty. Well worth considering if you're looking for a the best portable SSD for a low price.
Read the full review: Seagate Fast SSD 500GB
If you want speed above all else, and money is (almost) no object, than the Samsung X5 Portable SSD is the best portable SSD for you. It comes with a Thunderbolt 3 connection that takes full advantage of the super-fast speeds of the brilliant Samsung 970 Evo NVMe SSD that comes inside. However, that pure dedication to speed comes at some expense. First, there's the financial expense, as this is a pricey external SSD. It's also larger and bulkier than the Samsung T3 or Samsung T5, which are also on this list. The device is fairly heavy at 150g, triple the weight of the Samsung T5, and at 116 x 60 x 18mm, it can best be described as portable rather than miniature. However, when it comes to performance, the Samsung X5 Portable SSD is definitely the portable SSD to go for.
Read the full review: Samsung X5 Portable SSD
Storage giant Western Digital is no stranger when it comes to storage gear aimed specifically at pro photographers, and with the WD My Passport Wireless SSD it has created another brilliant device that photographers (or even regular users) will love. It joins WD's growing stable of wireless hard drives, which allow you to view and move files via a Wi-Fi connection, rather than with a cable, which is handy. However, over Wi-Fi, you're not utilising the full speed of the SSD. It also connects via USB 3.0, which offers very good speeds, but not quite as fast as USB Type-C or Thunderbolt. But the flexibility and durability of the WD My Passport Wireless SSD is certainly tempting, plus it comes with a built-in SD card reader, making it one of the best portable SSDs for photographers.
Read the full review: WD My Passport Wireless SSD
The Samsung T3 SSD is one the best portable SSDs for your PC, no matter if it is a Windows or a Mac device. It offers brilliant performance thanks to high read speeds of up to 450Mbps thanks to Samsung's own 3D V-NAND technology, plus it also comes with a three-year warranty. Sure, it's not the cheapest portable SSD on the market, but for pure speed, this is a brilliant choice, and not many portable SSDs beat it - except for its successor, the Samsung T5 SSD, which offers more storage and faster speeds thanks to a USB Type-C connection, something the T3 lacks.
The Adata SD700 will suit those looking for a rugged storage device that can provide ample capacity without costing too much. It offers good speeds, and it's IP68 rated, which means you can carry it around with you without worrying about it getting damaged. It comes in capacities up to 1TB, so you don't have to worry about missing out on storage space just because it uses an SSD. However, it doesn't come with the new USB Type-C connection, which means speeds aren't quite as fast as they could be.
Want an internal SSD? Check out our collection of the best SSDs of 2018
Forget the Final Fantasy 7 remake – this mod uses AI to update the 1997 original
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:16:10 +0000
It's heralded as one of the greatest, if not THE greatest JRPG of all time, making the forthcoming Final Fantasy 7 remake one of the most hotly-anticipated games on the horizon.
But the proposed jump to an all-3D, episodic re-imagining of the 1997 PlayStation original for the upcoming current-gen revival has rubbed some hardcore fans up the wrong way. Where are the turn-based battles? The beautiful hand-drawn backgrounds? There's a fear that some of the original's charm will be lost in the conversion.
So, if you're looking for something a little more faithful, and own the PC version of the game, a brand new, AI-powered mod may be what you're looking for. Feast your eyes on the Remako HD mod:
AI makeover"Using state of the art AI neural networks, this upscaling tries to emulate the detail the original renders would have had," writes the mod's author.
"This helps the new visuals to come as close to a higher resolution re-rendering of the original as possible with current technology."
Essentially, it's a smart upscaling technique – the image is re-rendered at a far greater resolution than the original. Some detail is lost, but the original feel of the game is very much preserved.
It's something that Nintendo has also been experimenting with, alongside Nvidia. In China, Nintendo's games are available on the Nvidia Shield, with the chip maker using its neural processing techniques to give the likes of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess a bit of spit and polish.
Seemingly still no closer to release, this is a great way for Final Fantasy fans to revisit the seventh entry in the series in style. Check out the beta for the mod here.
Final Fantasy 7 remake: trailers, release date, news and features
Jaguar XF Sportbrake (2019): towed on skis, driven on snow, tested beyond limits
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:13:24 +0000
In 2017, the new Jaguar XF Sportbrake was launched with a stunt that involved skier Graham Bell being towed along behind the car to set a Guinness World Record speed of 117mph. Now it was our turn.
We were invited to experience the test behind the updated 2019 Sportbrake XF before taking the car out on the icy roads of the French mountains. Our fingers survived enough to type this, but did the legs fair so well? And how did the car hold up driving on snow so deep usually only skidoos dare brave it?
While there were a few variants on the car, the models we spent time with all had all wheel drive as well as a 2.0 litre diesel or petrol engine. That meant up to 300PS of pure power intelligently pushed through the four wheels to make sure the car clung to the snow and ice.
The R-Sport trim meant bigger wheels and a body kit on top of the standard offerings, which is why it looks so good in the photos. There were also spiked tyres for the snow and ice road tyres for the rest of the time. So how did the car handle the snow?
You can ski uphillSo, it turns out, you can ski uphill. After setting up a towing system that didn't look a like different to that found on a wakeboarding boat, the car was rolled out onto the La Plagne ski slopes early in the morning before the lifts opened for the day. Yup, that meant it was cold; -17C cold. Also, we haven't skied in years and were about to be pulled along at around 50mph on icy, hard snow.
While we were nervous, the car was seemingly unperturbed by the situation. Despite pointing uphill, despite towing and despite being driven fast, the Sportbrake pulled away as if on the road.
After taking up the slack of the line we were holding on and sitting in, the towing began. The car was throwing up lots of snow so we had to move to the side to see ahead. We held on until the marker flags before letting go only to see the driver carry on halfway up the mountain for a photoshoot. The car was at such an angle it almost looked impossible that it wasn't sliding down.
We were already impressed and we hadn't even been behind the wheel yet. But it's one thing to handle snow with spiked tyres and quite another on the icy roads with less capable rubber holding on.
Handling and performing as a Jaguar shouldThe roads we took the Jaguar XF Sportbrake on were challenging to say the least. The mountain climbs were long, winding and steep with sheer drops and lots of the u-turn shaped corners. So the car was under a lot of pressure with harsh braking, floored acceleration and sharp turning.
Being a Jaguar, it took all that in its stride while inspiring a certain level of confidence that leaves you feeling like you can push it just a little bit further on each turn. You almost feel emasculated as if the car is saying, "Hey, it's not be slowing down, I can handle it, you're the one wimping out".
While that might say more about this driver's psyche than the car itself, it does reveal that Jaguar hasn't held back when cramming in the performance abilities that the brand is known for. We pushed it until we could smell the transmission burning and it kept begging for more.
Features like all wheel drive, Dynamic Stability Control, electric power-assisted steering, rear self-leveling air suspension and torque vectoring all made for a performance that not only felt expansive but also slightly safe.
On one particular corner, for example, the ego won out and the car was pushed beyond what was safe. Thankfully it corrected the power distribution to stay on the road. A small skid and heart beat skip later and we were pressing onward and upward, with slightly less need to test the car's limits or our own.
Can you be too comfy inside a car?Heated seats, heated steering wheel, acoustic layer windows, heat insulation glass, ambient interior lighting and two-zone climate control all make for a very luxurious experience, even when it's -17C and snowing outside. The problem is you then don't want to get out into the cold at your destination. But that's not always such an issue since you're well catered for in the car too.
There's the Touch Pro infotainment system with 10-inch touchscreen to keep you entertained. That means InControl Apps so you can listen to Spotify if the DAB radio, USB or Bluetooth connected devices get old. And it was all pumping out of a 125W sound system making for an immersive drive – not that you could hear the ice tyres as much as expected inside that cabin.
All that said, the navigation still kind of fails. While we got where we needed to go there were a few glitches that are typical of in-car sat navs. Now that we have phones to compare them too they just seem to be lacking still.
Smart driving systems work on ice tooThankfully the XF Sportbrake is crammed with smart driving systems so that when you get off a winding road where you've been tiring yourself and the car, you can relax along the motorways while the car does the majority of the work for you. Features like Lane Departure Warning and Emergency Autonomous Braking help to set you at ease as you waft along.
The cruise control with a speed limiter combined with the traffic speed recognition cameras mean you don't really need to worry about speed limits anywhere – making this great for exploring new areas and even new countries. The car won't steer itself but there are other useful autonomous features. The self parking smarts helps here as this is a long car and when paralleling parking in a city, the help is most welcome.
Jaguar XF Sportbrake (2019) verdictThis car is built for those who want all the space and functionality of an estate car but without sacrificing the fun of driving it. The smaller engine options are available for those that want pure efficiency and the larger engines cater for those that don't want to be short on power when a clear road offers fun to be had. There are plenty of options in between the two. Luxury comfort inside comes as standard but for that extra sporty look on the outside and leather seats inside the R-Sport trim is a decent option.
The Jaguar XF Sportbrake (2019) R-Sport starts at around £40,495 (about $53,000, AU$74,000) on the road.
Jaguar I-Pace: the future, now
Cheap Google Home deals take advantage of the Amazon Echo Dot shortage
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:10:45 +0000
This late into January we usually see prices creep back up on most of our favourite gadgets, but the range of Google Home speakers are still duking it out with the Amazon Echo line. And it looks like Google is going to win this particular battle in the smart speaker war.
Not only has Amazon been sold out of the popular Amazon Echo Dot for a while now, and will not be getting fresh US/UK stock until March, but we're seeing some stores slash the price of its arch rival - the Google Home Mini - down from $49/£49 to just $29/£29 to match some of the best deals we saw in the run-up to Christmas.
If you're firmly on team Amazon Alexa, this is still a decent time to order an Echo Dot though as the price has been knocked down to compete with Google's speaker. So if you don't mind waiting until March you can place an order at Amazon for $29.99 in the US or £29.99 in the UK.
The Echo Dot is on its third generation now and packs slightly more audio punch than the Google Home Mini, but as far as smarts go, the Google speaker beats Alexa hands down thanks to the enormously powerful backing of the Google search engine and Google Assistant.
Act fast today and you can get the Google Home Mini for just $29/£29. This offer was available at multiple retailers until recently, so the promotion may be coming to an end soon - so we wouldn't consider this one for too long.
Walmart has a couple of exclusive bundles in the US that you might prefer instead. Such as a Home Mini and smart bulb for $35 (save $20), or you can get a pair of Mini speakers for just $50 (save $28).
The larger version of the Mini, simply called the Google Home, has also been given a massive discount. As with the Mini though, not many stores have cheap stock remaining, but these are the best prices we've seen this year and they're probably the best we'll see until closer to Christmas unless a newer version is released. If you're mainly after one of Google's speakers for the voice-assistant features then a Mini is fine. This version has a bigger speaker and is the better option if you're going to use it to listen to a lot of music. Although, to be fair, the Home Mini is surprisingly loud for the money.
USA: Google Home $129 $89 at WalmartUK: Google Home £129 £79 at BTIf you'd like to check out the full range of deals from the Google Home and Amazon Echo product lines, we've got a couple of handy guides for you below:
Amazon Echo deals and pricesGoogle Home prices and deals
Best small business servers of 2019
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:05:13 +0000
If you’re running a small or medium-sized business, you will need to ensure that you have only the best server for your small business. The best small business servers are absolutely essential for any modern company, and while cloud-based servers are gaining popularity, on-site servers that you operate yourself can still be the best way to go.
These small business servers will also be easier and more affordable to expand as your business grows.
So, we went ahead and curated a list of the 10 best SMB servers, ranging from those aimed at small businesses to the sort that bigger corporations need to survive. Without further ado, let’s dive into the best servers for small businesses.
There are so many different servers out there, and that means that you’ll sometimes have to sort through entire price lists in order to find the best small server for you. Just look at the Dell PowerEdge T30 – you can buy it either as a barebones or as a fully configured server. Aimed at the entry-level/SoHo market, the T30 manages to fit in a ton of expansion potential into a tiny, mini-tower-like chassis, and it even comes with a wealth of server features by default, which makes it a perfect alternative to an office workstation.
Servers do not have to be massive or expensive. Take the PowerEdge T20 for example; it has benefited from a wealth of knowledge derived from the 20 years of experience Dell has building servers. While the barebones version doesn't have a hard drive, it's certainly cheap – in the recent past, it has been priced at less than £100 (with cashback offers, that is – it’s always well worth keeping an eye out for these).
It has a Haswell-based Pentium processor that can clock up to 3GHz and supports up to 32GB DDR3 ECC RAM (note that this model comes with 4GB). Expansion capabilities include four SATA ports (32TB if you use 8TB hard drives), four I/O slots and 10 USB ports. Astoundingly for a PC of this price, you also get two DisplayPort connectors, a VGA one, two PS2 and one serial port. Other than a Gigabit Ethernet port, the other points of interest are a 290W PSU and an Intel-based RAID controller.
Read the full review: Dell PowerEdge T20 [barebones]
Lenovo took over IBM's x86 server range back in 2014 and has built on the best of the ThinkServer tradition. The TS150 is now the most affordable of the range and is a 4U enterprise-class server that competes with the Dell T20. It comes with support for RAID 0,1,10 and 5 (via an on-board controller). Like the competition, this one can accommodate up to four 3.5-inch HDDs in total, which means that it can go up to 40TB of storage when loaded with the relevant hard drives. The relatively-recent Intel Xeon E3-1200 v6 processor should be powerful enough for small and medium enterprises.
Lenovo also claims that the acoustics of the TS150 are even quieter than a typical library at 26 decibels. As is the case for the competition, you also get an impressive array of ports and connectors: eight USB ports, four PCI/PCI-e slots, three video connectors (including a pair of DisplayPorts), Serial, Gigabit Ethernet and three audio connectors.
There is sometimes a very fine line between workstations and servers and there is probably no better example than the 5039A-IL from Supermicro. It is part of its SuperWorkstation range but works just as well as a server with acres of upgrade space. Given that it is a barebones solution, the 5039A-IL is especially suitable for small businesses with niche needs like creative houses that might want a server that's a bit more than just a print or file server.
This single socket, mid-tower behemoth (it weighs in at 18.1kg without any parts) offers some impressive tech on board: You can specify Skylake processors (Xeon or Core i3/5/7), up to 64GB of DDR4 ECC memory, plus there's USB 3.1, HDMI, and twin Gigabit ports on the connectivity front, and 7.1 audio to boot. Its expansion capabilities are also breath-taking: DVI/DisplayPort/VGA, serial, eight SATA ports, six PCI/PCI-e slots and support for up to eight (yes, eight) hard disk drives, all powered by a 500W PSU. Supermicro, while not a household name, is one of the biggest server and workstation manufacturers out there with decades of experience.
When you think about servers, Fujitsu is probably not the first vendor which springs to mind. And yet, the Japanese manufacturer is one of the very few (if not the only one) that can claim to be involved in anything from SMB servers to, well, supercomputers. The TX1310 is its entry-level, SMB-focused server and comes with some pretty solid credentials plus an unmatched, industry-leading reliability guarantee. If your server breaks down within the first year of purchase, not only will Fujitsu fix or replace it, the company will also refund you the amount you paid for the server.
Like pretty much everyone at this end of the market, it is designed to run silently 24/7 and offers RAID 0/1/10 but not 5. This model incudes an Intel Xeon E3-1226 v3, two 1TB hard drives and 16GB of RAM. We like the fact that it comes with an optical drive and has two Gigabit Ethernet ports for redundancy. With four DIMM slots and four storage bays, this server supports up to 32TB of storage and 32GB of memory.
One of the fastest growing segments of the server market is dominated by a single company. HP Enterprise's Proliant Microserver Gen8 has successfully managed to fend off competition – thanks to an attractive feature mix and plenty of discounts – and ultimately own this market. These tiny servers have found a market well outside their niche with prosumers buying them en masse and touting their obvious advantages over NAS (network attached storage).
Despite being very small (less than 13l in volume) and light (less than 7kg), this machine packs some impressive capabilities. We're talking support for Intel's Xeon E3 family, up to 16GB of RAM, on system management processor, two Gigabit Ethernet ports, one PCIe slot, support for RAID 0/1/10, a DVD writer, up to four hard disk drives, an internal microSD card slot, an integrated Matrox G200 graphics chip and seven USB ports. It only has a VGA port, though, and has just two memory modules.
Read the full review: HP Proliant Microserver Gen8
If you want something a bit beefier than the aforementioned servers, then consider the TS460. It is far more expensive but then again you get a server that's in another league. For a start, it is far bigger than the previously mentioned servers with a 50 litre volume and a 25kg weight. This 5U server runs on Intel's Xeon E3 models with Turbo Boost technology plus it offers a three-year onsite warranty.
It supports up to 64GB of RAM and its integrated RAID controller offers the four main RAID types. You get a DVD writer, four fans, a 300W PSU and two Gigabit Ethernet ports. Up to eight hard disk drives can be installed and there are a whopping eight USB ports as well. There's a lockable door, support for ECC memory, plus a serial and a VGA connector.
Pitching in the same category as the TS440 is the ML350. This is an expensive piece of kit but just look at the feature list and it actually seems like a very decent deal. Other than the fact that it has a dedicated, integrated graphics card (Matrox G200), it offers a three-year onsite next business day warranty, four Gigabit Ethernet ports and support for 12Gbps SAS (note that it takes only 2.5-inch drives).
But there's more – this server runs an Intel Xeon E5-2603 v3 processor (not the usual E3 CPU) and supports two CPUs. The E5 has six cores which makes it particularly well-suited for more taxing tasks. We're also impressed by the amount of memory slots (24) that it has, allowing it to hit 3TB of memory once 128GB LRDIMM roll out. Oh and other than a lockable front door and a storage controller, this server earns brownie points for having dual redundant, hot-swappable 500W PSUs.
A powerful server doesn't have to be expensive – that's essentially what Scan wants to convey to prospective customers. Specifically designed for the SMB market, this 3XS offering is engineered to be compact and as quiet as possible. The UK-based vendor provides real-time tracking at every stage of the server build process (the servers are built to order, and production includes a 24 hour burn test and 88 point QC check ). Each comes with a three-year onsite warranty; what's more, you get a free recovery USB stick with diagnostic utilities.
If that wasn't enough, the components used in the system are amongst the best in our round-up. Two Broadwell-based Intel Xeon E5-2603 v4 processors provide a total of 12 cores and 30MB of cache. Then there's 64GB of DDR4 ECC RAM from Samsung, a 1TB WD Enterprise-class hard disk drive, two Intel Gigabit Ethernet ports, a 1000W Gold PSU and support for eight hard disk drives. Built by Corsair, the case has a door and all the panels are lined with noise damping material.
Like Supermicro, Asus is not well known for its servers. Instead, the Taiwanese company, one of the biggest component vendors in the world, is popular for a wide range of consumer products including its motherboards. Its TS500-E8-PS4 is a mainstream pedestal 5U tower server perfectly built for both workstation and server dual use.
It features the latest Intel Xeon processor E5-2600 v3 product families, eight DDR4 DIMMs (supporting half a terabyte of RAM), six expansion slots, three 5.25-inch media bays and a single 500W 80 Plus Bronze power supply. There are four 3.5-inch hot-swap SATA/SAS HDD bays which is also upgradable to eight HDD bays for flexible storage requirements.
In addition, with Intel's Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) 2.0-compliant ASMB8-iKVM module in the TS500 you'll be able to monitor, control and manage the server remotely. Other key specs include 10 SATA ports, a DVD writer, eight USB ports, a PS2 port, a VGA one and three Gigabit Ethernet ports. Note that this is a barebones server, but obviously that gives you plenty of flexibility - something this machine offers in spades.
Best free iPad apps 2019: the top titles we've tried
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:04:22 +0000
Free apps sometimes have a bad reputation, but many are gems that are so good you won’t believe they’re free. We’ve scoured the App Store to find the very best, and sorted them into handy categories, which you can find on the following pages.
On this page you'll find the app of the week - our top new selection to try out, and check back every seven days where you'll find a new option to test. After that, it's the best entertainment apps (surely the best reason to own an iPad...) and a variety of categories on the following pages to tickle your fancy.
Free app of the week: Wonderbly Story Time Books
Wonderbly Story Time Books is an iPad take on personalized illustrated story books for children. The premise is the protagonist has forgotten their name, and must go on an adventure to collect it, one letter at a time.
The story is nicely presented, and the app deftly deals with multiple instances of the same letter by providing variations for each one. (In fact, this works to an entertaining degree – we tried using the name ‘Aaaaa’ and were presented with five non-repeating vignettes!)
Part of the point of the app is you’ll get to the end, and then buy a real copy of the actual book. But even if you resist those papery, spendy charms, the app’s a blast – and it even lets you store previous adventures, so none are ever lost.
The best free entertainment apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for having fun with your iPad, whether shopping, coloring, reading, watching TV or using Twitter.
Feedly bills itself as a smart news reader. However, rather than attempting to second-guess what you’d like to read, based on you having tapped a few vague category buttons, Feedly takes a more old-fashioned approach: subscriptions.
In short, using the magic of RSS, you (for free) subscribe to the newsfeeds of your favorite websites – anything from news corporations down to the most niche of blogs. New articles are then sent to Feedly, and can be read in-app.
If you fancy discovering content beyond what you usually read, there’s an Explore tab; but Feedly’s best when you’re curating what you end up checking out, through focusing primarily on sources you trust.
As an added bonus, if you like the idea but not the interface, a Feedly account can be used to power other RSS readers such as TechRadar favorite Reeder.
Pocket is a read-later app. What this means is that rather than ending the day staring at dozens of unread browser tabs, you fling items of interest in Pocket’s direction. It then converts them into a streamlined personalized magazine you can peruse at your leisure.
The default iPad interface is an appealing grid, and individual articles are stripped back to words and images. This can be a major improvement over the original websites, letting you delve into content without distractions.
A night mode flips colors late in the day, to ensure you don’t get eye strain, but Pocket also allows you to ‘read with your ears’. This turns your reading list into an on-the-fly podcast. It’s an odd experience, but it can be nice to work through your reading list while cooking, walking or driving.
Infuse 5 is a video player that lets you get at video from pretty much anywhere. This means if you have a massive video collection, you needn’t load it all on to your iPad. Instead, you can quickly copy across items as and when you want to play them – or just stream from local network storage.
This app isn’t unique in the field, but it’s friendly and sleek. Set-up is a breeze, and even when streaming from your local network, metadata (cover art; item information) is automatically downloaded. It’s also possible to download subtitles on the fly.
The free version has restrictions that require an annual subscription to unlock: some video/audio formats; AirPlay and Google Cast support; background playback; library sync. But as a freebie for anyone who wants to stream videos to their iPad, Infuse 5 really can’t be beaten.
Fiery Feeds is a full-featured RSS reader. If you’re unfamiliar with RSS, it enables you to subscribe to almost any website’s content. You’ll then in Fiery Feeds get a list of headlines whenever you open the app, ensuring you don’t miss articles from sources you trust.
Most free RSS readers are clunky, but Fiery Feeds bucks the trend with a sleek two-pane interface, and a slew of customization options. It feels modern, but gives you very direct control over what you read, unlike the likes of News or Flipboard.
There’s a paid tier, too – US$9.99/£9.99/AU$14.99 per year – which unlocks additional features, including a ‘must read’ folder, a text view mode (which loads full articles for sites that otherwise only send you synopses), and custom actions. Whichever flavor you plump for, Fiery Feeds is well worth installing on your iPad.
VLC for Mobile is an iPad take on the popular open source media player.
On iPad, it has two main uses. The first is offline playback. You can load up VLC with videos, and – broadly speaking – be secure in the knowledge it’s actually going to be capable of playing them. During said playback, you can fiddle with the picture and audio, and use gestures to skip through boring sections – or backwards if you missed a bit.
VLC is also good for streaming. You can stream movies from a PC or Mac right to your iPad, rather than having to sit in front of a computer like it’s 2005. The interface throughout is sleek and minimal (irritating zooming to the options sidebar aside), and impressive for a video streaming app that’s entirely free.
JustWatch solves one of the biggest problems with the way we consume television and movies. With streaming services and on-demand increasingly rendering traditional schedules redundant, the key is usually finding out where and how to watch something, not when.
JustWatch asks you to confirm your location and the services that interest you. If you’re still into the big screen, there’s a tab for currently showing movies, which makes it a cinch to access local showtimes.
But this app’s mostly about TV, providing filterable feeds that list popular shows and bargains – and where to find them. Select a show, tap on an icon, and you’re whisked away to the relevant app. Whatever you want to see, JustWatch makes reaching it a whole lot easier.
Letterboxd is an iPad take on a social network for film lovers. Sign up, and you can do all the usual following friends and bellyaching, only here you’re complaining about whether Blade Runner 2049 is 2049 times worse than the original, and who’s the best James Bond. If that sounds awful but you’re a film lover, Letterboxd has another use: the ability to log everything you’ve ever watched.
You can quickly assign ratings and ‘likes’ to your personal favorites, which are subsequently displayed as a grid of artwork that can be sorted and filtered. Beyond that, you can add tags, a review, and the date when you last watched the film. On the iPad’s large display, the entire app looks great – not least when you start checking out trailers of those films you’re keen to see.
If you’ve any interest in wildlife films, Attenborough Story of Life is a must-have. It features over a thousand clips picked from Attenborough’s decades-long journey through what he refers to as the “greatest story of all…how animals and plants came to fill our Earth”.
The app is split into three sections. You’re initially urged to delve into some featured collections, but can also explore by habitat or species, unearthing everything from big-toothed sharks to tiny penguins skittering about. Clips can be saved as favorites, or grouped into custom collections to later peruse or share with friends.
Some of the footage is noticeably low-res on an iPad – there’s nothing here to concern your Blu-Rays, and that’s a pity. Still, for instant access to such a wealth of amazing programming, this one’s not to be missed.
The majority of comic-book readers on the App Store are tied to online stores, and any emphasis on quality in the actual apps isn't always placed on the reading part.
But with many more publishers embracing DRM-free downloads, having a really great reading app is essential if you're into digital comics. Chunky Comic Reader is the best available on iOS.
The interface is smart, simple and boasts plenty of settings, including the means to eradicate animation entirely when flipping pages.
Rendering is top-notch, even for relatively low-res fare. And you get the option of one- or two-up page views. For free, you can access web storage to upload comics. A single $3.99/£3.99/AU$5.99 pro upgrade adds support for shared Mac/PC/NAS drives.
eBay provides access to a colossal online marketplace. Anyone can sell, and so you’ll find huge brands mingling with individuals attempting to offload the entire contents of their basements and attics.
Something of a design playground, the iPad app is regularly reworked; but whatever eBay’s designers come up with, a large touchscreen device proves to be the best way to search. You can quickly drill down into categories, and explore individual listings, swiping between photos.
If you need to keep track of things, the app offers automated notifications, and can flag searches, making it easy to see whenever new matching listings appear. And if you want to sell yourself, you can do that in-app, with eBay providing shortcuts to get your listing started (through barcode scanning or matching your item to publicly available information about it).
Part meditative relaxation tool, part sleep aid, Melodist is all about creating melodies from imagery. All you have to do is load something from your Camera Roll, and the app does the rest.
On analyzing your photo or screen grab for changes in hues, saturation and brightness, a music loop is generated. You can adjust the playback speed, instrument and visual effect (which starts off as a lazily scrolling piano roll), along with setting a timer.
Although occasionally discordant, the app mostly creates very pleasing sounds. And while it’s perhaps missing a trick in not displaying your photo as-is underneath the notes being played (your image is instead heavily blurred as a background), you can export each tune as audio or a video that shows the picture alongside the animation.
These free exports are a pretty generous gesture by the developer; if you want to return the favor, there’s affordable IAP for extra sounds, animation and MIDI export.
After years of eyesight deterioration, John Hull became blind in 1983. Notes on Blindness VR has six chapters taken from his journal of the time. Each is set in a specific location, marrying John’s narrative, binaural audio, and real-time 3D animation, to create an immersive experience of a ‘world beyond sight’.
Although designed as a VR experience, this app remains effective when holding an iPad in front of your face, moving the screen about to scan your surroundings. The mood shifts throughout – there’s wonder in a blind John’s discovery of the beauty of rain, disconnection when he finds things ‘disappear’ from the world when sound stops, and a harrowing section on panic.
Towards the end, John mulls he’s “starting to understand what it’s like to be blind,” and you may get a sense of what it’s like, too, from the app, which ably showcases how to craft an engaging screen-based experience beyond the confines of television.
Adult colouring books are all the rage, proponents claiming bringing colour to intricate abstract shapes helps reduce stress - at least until you realise you've got pen on your shirt and ground oil pastels into the sofa.
You'd think the process of colouring would be ideal for iPad, but most relevant apps are awful, some even forcing tap-to-fill. That is to colouring what using a motorbike is to running a marathon - a big cheat. Pigment is an exception, marrying a love for colouring with serious digital smarts.
On selecting an illustration, there's a range of palettes and tools to explore. You can use pencils and markers, adjusting opacity and brush sizes, and work with subtle gradients. Colouring can be 'freestyle', or you can tap to select an area and ensure you don't go over the lines while furiously scribbling. With a finger, Pigment works well, but it's better with a stylus; with an iPad Pro and a Pencil, you'll lob your real books in the bin.
The one niggle: printing and accessing the larger library requires a subscription in-app purchase. It's a pity there's no one-off payment for individual books, but you do get plenty of free illustrations, and so it's hard to grumble.
With a noodly soundtrack playing in the background, WWF Together invites you to spin a papercraft world and tap points of interest to learn more about endangered species. 16 creatures get fuller treatment - a navigable presentation of sorts that hangs on a key characteristic, such as a panda's charisma, or an elephant's intelligence.
These sections are arranged as a three-by-three grid, each screen of which gives you something different, be it statistics, gorgeous photography, or a 'facetime' movie that gives you a chance to get up close and personal.
Apps that mix charity and education can often come across as dry and worthy, but WWF Together is neither. It's informative but charming, and emotive but fun.
Rather neatly, stories can be shared by email, and this screen further rewards you with origami instructions to make your own paper animal; once constructed, it can sit on the desk next to all your technology, reminding you of the more fragile things that exist in our world.
YouTube is the best way to watch YouTube videos on your iPad. On the dynamic Home tab, you can quickly get at interesting stuff. It includes channels you subscribe to, and videos you didn’t yet finish watching; but also, it makes recommendations based on your viewing habits. The more you watch, the better they get.
On selecting something to watch, the video itself sits at the top-left of the screen, allowing you to scroll through comments other viewers have left, and peruse an up-next feed. There’s also a full-screen view for a more immersive experience.
Fittingly, for a service seemingly attempting to usurp traditional television, the YouTube app also provides access to content you’ve bought on Google Play. And with AirPlay and Chromecast support, getting what you’re watching to an actual telly is a cinch, too.
Can't figure out which iPad to buy? Watch our guide video below!
For a mix of free and paid apps, check out our amazing Best iPad apps chart. If you're more into a smaller form-factor or have your eye on the iPhone X check out our list of the best free iPhone apps.Haven't bought an iPad yet and not sure which is best? We've got them listed on our best iPad ranking - or you can check out the best tablets list to see the full range available now.Are you a professional? Then our pick of the 10 best business apps should have something for you. The best free art and design apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for painting, sketching, drawing, graphic design and animation.
Adobe Spark Post finds Photoshop creator Adobe asking how quickly it’d be possible for someone to fashion gorgeous layouts on an iPad. The answer, as it turns out, is: very.
Adobe describes its app as ‘frictionless graphic design,’ and it’s easy to see why. You can start with a selection of your own images that are then arranged into a grid, or work from a predefined template. At any point, a few taps can drastically update what’s in front of you, with new (and tasteful) arrangements and typography.
It’s quite a lot of fun to keep tapping away, to see what Spark Post will come up with, but at some point you’ll want to actually use what you make. Even then, this app’s really smart, automatically shuffling components around to optimize your layout for social network profile shots or embedded imagery.
Unsplash is an app that gives you fast access to many thousands of images generously gifted to the Unsplash website by the photographic community. These photographs can be used entirely for free, for any purposes you wish, and can be modified as you see fit.
The app and available photographs are both rather good. You can search for something specific, browse new photos, or explore by themes. The large iPad display is the perfect lean-back way to look through dozens of images, flicking between them in full-screen mode.
It’s a pity there’s no download option, nor a means to follow specific photographers. But then this one’s all about effortlessness and immediacy, and knowing that whenever you do find something that inspires you, it can be downloaded to your iPad’s Photos app with a single tap.
Artomaton - The Motion Painter is a little like Prisma, in that it uses AI to transform photos into something that looks like it was painted or sketched. However, this isn’t a single-tap filter app; Artomaton wants to afford you at least some control over your creations.
To start with, you paint in the natural media effects to the degree you’re happy with. Do so lightly and you get the subtlest of sketches; cover every inch of the canvas and you end up with a more complete piece of art. Beyond that, there are plenty of settings to fiddle with.
The resulting images aren’t always entirely convincing in terms of realism, but they always look good. And although many materials are locked behind IAP, you get plenty for free.
On the desktop, Adobe Illustrator is more about enabling creative types to work up pin-sharp illustrative fare than freehand drawing. But on iPad, Adobe Illustrator Draw concentrates on doodling. You can experiment with five highly configurable brush tips, which feel great whether drawing with a stylus or a finger.
But dig deeper into the options and the professional sheen of this app becomes apparent. There are perspective grids, a layers system for mixing and matching artwork and imagery for tracing over, and stencils you temporarily overlay when extra precision is needed.
Completed images can be exported to Camera Roll or the clipboard, and Adobe Creative Cloud users can also send art to Photoshop or Illustrator with layers preserved.
A straightforward vector export option would be nice, although that’s perhaps too big an ask for a free app designed to suck you into a larger ecosystem.
We tend to quickly shift children from finger-painting to using much finer tools, but the iPad shows there's plenty of power in your digits — if you're using the right app.
Autodesk SketchBook provides all the tools you need for digital sketching, from basic doodles through to intricate and painterly masterpieces; and if you're wanting to share your technique, you can even time-lapse record to save drawing sessions to your camera roll.
The core app is free, but it will cost you $4.99/£4.99/AU$7.99 to unlock the pro features.
The original Brushes app was one of the most important in the iPhone's early days. With Jorge Colombo using it to paint a New Yorker cover, it showcased the potential of the technology, and that an iPhone could be used for production, rather than merely consumption.
Brushes eventually stopped being updated, but fortunately went open source beforehand. Brushes Redux is the result.
On the iPad, you can take advantage of the much larger screen. But the main benefit of the app is its approachable nature. It's extremely easy to use, but also has plenty of power for those who need it, not least in the layering system and the superb brush designer.
The idea behind Canva is to do most of the heavy lifting when it comes to creating great-looking layouts based on your photos. Select a layout type (presentation, blog graphic, invitation, and so on) and the app serves up templates to work with.
These are mostly very smart indeed, but the smartest thing about Canva is that these starting points can all be edited: swap out images for your own photos, adjust text boxes, and add new elements or even entire pages.
Because of its scope, Canva isn't as immediate as one-click automated apps in this space, but the interface is intuitive enough to quickly grasp. Our only niggle is the lack of multi-item selection, but with Canva being an online service, you can always fine-tune your iPad creations in a browser on the desktop.
Despite being lumbered with an awkward name, Pixel art editor - Dottable is a usable and nicely-conceived app. Choose a canvas size and then the interface is split between your drawing area, layers, and tools.
The basics are all there for creating old-school pixel art, but beyond brushes and fills, Dottable adds some fairly sophisticated shapes and transform tools.
If you want to trace an image, it can be imported, and optionally converted to pixel art form. Exports are also dealt with nicely, either exporting your image as a PNG, or converting each layer into a single frame of an animated GIF.
None of this is enough to trouble the pro-oriented Pixaki, but as a freebie for pixel artists, Dottable is mightily impressive.
One of the great things about the app revolution is how these bits of software can help you experience creative fare that would have previously been inaccessible, unless you were armed with tons of cash and loads of time. Folioscope is a case in point, providing the basics for crafting your own animations.
We should note you’re not going to be the next Disney with Folioscope – the tools are fairly basic, and the output veers towards ‘wobbling stickmen’.
But you do get a range of brushes (of differing size and texture), several drawing tools (pen, eraser, flood fill, and marquee), and onion-skinning, which enables you to see faint impressions of adjacent frames, in order to line everything up.
The friendly nature of the app makes it accessible to anyone, and there’s no limit on export – projects can be shared as GIFs or movies, or uploaded to the Folioscope community, should you create an account.
MediBang Paint feels like one of those apps where you’re always waiting for the catch to arrive. Create a new canvas and you end up staring at what can only be described as a simplified Photoshop on your iPad. There are loads of drawing tools, a layers system (including photo import), and configurable brushes.
Opening up menus reveals yet more features – rotation; shapes; grids – but palettes can also be hidden, so you can get on with just drawing. Judging by the in-app gallery of uploaded art, MediBang is popular with manga artists, but its tools are capable enough to support a much wider range of digital painting and drawing styles – all without costing you a penny.
You won’t trouble Hollywood with PicsArt (or PicsArt Animated Gif & Video Animator to use its unwieldy full name). However, it is a great introduction to animation and also a handy sketchpad for those already immersed in the field.
A beginner can start with a blank slate, paper texture, or photo background, on to which an animation frame is drawn. Add further frames and previous ones faintly show through, to aid you in making smooth transitions.
Delve further into the app to discover more advanced fare, including brush options and a hugely useful layers system. When done, export to GIF or video – or save projects to refine later. That this all comes for free (and free from ads) is astonishing.
Quark DesignPad scratches an itch if you need to get started on some layouts while on the go with your iPad – or just fancy doing the same away from the glowing screen of your Mac or PC.
This isn’t a full-fledged desktop publishing app, note. Instead, it’s about creating frameworks for page designs – wireframes that show the placement of headings, images, columns, and boxes. You can work pages up from scratch, or use one of the pre-defined layouts. With its grids, pop-up menus, and a little nudge ‘joystick’, the interface proves to be flexible and efficient.
Output options, however, are initially limited. You can save flat images to Photos, but if you want PDFs or to print via AirPrint, you’ll need to go pro ($9.99/£9.99/AU$14.99).
Although it's apparently designed for kids aged 9-11, Seedling Comic Studio comes across a lot like a free (if somewhat stripped back) take on iPad classic Comic Life. You load images from your Camera Roll (or take new ones with the camera), arrange them into comic-book frames, and can then add all manner of speech balloons, filters and stickers.
Decided that your heroic Miniature Schnauzer should have to save the world from a giant comic-book sandwich? This is your app! Naturally, there are limitations lurking. The filter system is a bit rubbish, requiring you to cycle through the dozen or so on offer, rather than pick favourites more directly, and a few of the sticker packs require IAP.
But for no outlay at all, there's plenty of scope here for comic-book creation, from multi-page documents you can output to PDF, to amusing poster-like pages you can share on social networks. And that's true whether you're 9 or 49.
Tayasui Sketches is a drawing tool, designed to be realistic, versatile, and usable. And although various IAPs lurk for the full toolset (which includes a ruler, extra layers, and pressure sensitivity), you get an awful lot for free.
You start by selecting a paper type, or use an imported photo as the basis for your masterpiece. Then it’s time to get cracking with the pens and brushes. Although it’s perhaps a stretch to call them totally realistic, they all offer pleasing results. The watercolor brush in particular is lovely, bleeding into the paper and leaving splats on the canvas when you tap the screen.
In fact, the app as a whole is very pleasant to use, offering the right balance between trying to help and getting out of your way when you’re busy painting. And as a final neat touch, if you’re stuck for inspiration there are some coloring book pages thrown in for free.
The best free education apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for learning new things – from coding to astronomy.
Night Sky puts the planets and stars inside your iPad. More importantly, it goes above and beyond in the ways you can explore them.
Like many other astronomy apps, you can drag to adjust the view or explore the heavens by holding your iPad in front of your face and physically moving around. Chill-out music burbles away in the background, and there’s visual bling in the form of illustrated constellation overlays.
But here, constellations and celestial bodies can be pulled from the main view. They can then be moved with a finger or walked around in AR. With constellations in particular, this provides a great understanding of depths and distances.
Beyond that, you get Siri support, a moon map, advice on local planetariums, and many more features – and that’s before there’s even a hint of monthly IAP to access the Grand Orrery and live sky tours.
Civilisations AR is an augmented reality app that puts over 30 historical artifacts in front of your face, ranging from an ancient Egyptian mummy to iconic modern art. It feels like a thoroughly modern way of exploring the past, enabling you to check out every nook and cranny of these famous objects.
Spin a globe to see where the items are from, then tap to select one and it will appear before you, ready to be resized and spun around. Discoverable hot-spots offer up more information by way of voiceovers.
Surprisingly, even paintings work really nicely in this app, enabling you to put your nose right up to the virtual canvas and inspect individual paint marks. An iPad display is big enough for you to truly appreciate these works of wonder.
JigSpace uses augmented reality (AR) to educate, by way of 3D models you can fiddle about with before your very eyes. Although the range isn’t exactly in Wikipedia territory, you get quite the variety of ‘jigs’ for free. There’s the anatomy of a trebuchet, a floating eye to fiddle around with, a manual car’s transmission, and many more.
JigSpace rapidly finds a flat surface onto which your object is projected. You can then pinch to resize it, or spin it with a swipe. Objects aren’t static either – many animate, and are gradually disassembled across a series of slides. For example, an alarm clock opens to show its gears and mechanisms – and because this is AR, you can check everything out from any angle.
Maybe it's just our tech-addled brains, but often we find it a lot easier to focus on an app than a book, which can make learning things the old fashioned way tricky. That's where Khan Academy comes in. This free app contains lessons and guidance on dozens of subjects, from algebra, to cosmology, to computer science and beyond.
As it's an app rather than a book it benefits from videos and even a few interactive elements, alongside words and pictures and it contains over 10,000 videos and explanations in all.
Everything is broken in to bite-sized chunks, so whether you've got a few minutes to spare or a whole afternoon there's always time to learn something new and if you make an account it will keep track of your progress and award achievements.
Py wants to teach you to communicate with computers. You provide some information about the kind of coding you fancy doing, and it recommends a course – anything from basic HTML through to delving into Python.
Lessons are very reminiscent of those in language-learning freebie Duolingo. A colorful, cartoonish interface provides questions, and you type out your answer or select from multiple choice options.
Py could be more helpful when you get something wrong, but its breezy, pacy nature gives it a real energy and game-like feel that boosts focus and longevity.
Unlike Duolingo, Py doesn’t have any interest in being free forever. A premium tier locks a chunk of content behind a monthly fee (along with access to mentors, who can help you through tough spots via an integrated chat). But for no outlay, there’s still plenty here for budding website - and app - creators to get stuck into.
SkyView Free is a stargazing app that very much wants you to get off your behind and outside, or at least hold your iPad aloft to explore the heavens.
Unlike TechRadar favourite Sky Guide, there's no means to drag a finger to manually move the sky around - you must always point your iPad's display where you want to look - but there's no price-tag either. And for free, this app does the business.
There are minimal ads, a noodly atmospheric soundtrack, an optional augmented reality view (to overlay app graphics on to the actual sky), and a handy search that'll point you in the direction of Mars, Ursa Major, or the International Space Station.
Swift Playgrounds is an app about coding, although you’d initially be forgiven for thinking it a weird game. Early lessons involve guiding oddball cartoon cyclops Byte about an isometric landscape by way of typed commands, having him trigger switches and grab gems along the way.
This is, of course, sneakily teaching you the fundamentals of logic and programming, and the lessons do then gradually become more involved. However, at no point does Swift Playgrounds become overwhelming. And the split-screen set-up – instructions and code on the left; interactive world based on your work on the right – feels friendly and intuitive.
It’s not Xcode for iPad, then, but perhaps a first step in that direction. More importantly, Swift Playgrounds can act as a first step for people who want to start coding their own apps, but for whom the very idea has, to date, simply been too daunting.
Often, third-party apps improve on bare-bones equivalents provided as the ‘official’ take on a product, but Wikipedia is an exception. This freebie app for browsing the online encyclopedia is excellent on iPad – and probably the best option on the platform.
The Explore page lists a bunch of nearby and topical articles; after a few uses, it’ll also recommend things it reckons you’d like to read. Tap an article and the screen splits in two – (collapsible) table of contents to the left and your chosen article to the right. Articles can be searched and saved, the latter option storing them for offline perusal.
It’s a pity Wikipedia doesn’t rework the Peek/Pop previews from the iPhone version (by way of a long-tap), but otherwise this is an excellent, usable encyclopedia for the modern age.
Learning a musical instrument isn't easy, which is probably why a bunch of people don't bother, instead pretending to be rock stars by way of tiny plastic instruments and their parent videogames.
Yousician bridges the divide, flipping a kind of Guitar Hero interface 90 degrees and using its visual and timing devices to get you playing chords and notes.
This proves remarkably effective, and your iPad merrily keeps track of your skills (or lack thereof) through its internal mic. The difficulty curve is slight, but the app enables you to skip ahead if you're bored, through periodic 'test' rounds. Most surprisingly, for free you get access to everything, only your daily lesson time is limited.
TED is a video app designed to feed your curiosity, by watching smart people talk about all kinds of subjects.
Although the organization’s name stands for ‘Technology, Entertainment, Design’, it’s fundamentally interested in ideas. Example talks we watched during testing included a piece about screen time for kids (and why related fears are not true), not suffering in silence from depression, and mind-blowing magnified portraits of insects. What we’re saying is: this app has range.
It also has smarts. Along with a standard search, you can have the app ‘surprise you’ with something courageous, beautiful, or fascinating, and revisit favorites by delving into your watch history and liked talks, which sync across devices.
TED’s perhaps not an app you’ll open daily, but it’s a breath of fresh air when you desire brain food rather than typical telly.
The best free health, food and exercise apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for cooking, relaxing and keeping fit.
Oak - Meditation & Breathing is an app that wants you to relax. It’s split into sections for meditation, breathing, and sleeping. A stats area provides the means to track progress, with you gaining streaks and winning badges through regular use.
Meditations can be guided or unguided, catering for all skill levels, and although you don’t get the wealth of options available in some apps, you can adjust instructor gender, session duration, and background noise. The three breathing exercises cover relaxation, focus, and invigoration. And the Sleep section offers guided breath exercises designed to help you unwind.
On iPad, the interface betrays the app’s iPhone origins and could do with optimization for the larger display. Other than that, Oak’s pleasing and effective – and won’t surprise you a few weeks in with a stressful demand for IAP.
Tasty is a cookery app that wisely reasons modern-day cookbooks need to move beyond being digital equivalents of paper-based tomes. It achieves this by way of fast, filterable searches, and judicious use of video.
Rather than opening with a photo, your selected recipe instead initially shows the dish being made by way of a tightly edited video. Below that, you get an ingredients list (which can be exported), tips and step-by-step instructions.
Tap a button below the last of those and each step’s text and video loop is isolated – a great way, when cooking, to sanity-check you’re doing the right thing, and aren’t on the road to a culinary disaster.
Many of us are caught in high-stress environments for much of our lives, and electronic gadgets often do little to help. Apple has recognized this on Apple Watch, which offers a breathing visualization tool. But Breathe+ brings similar functionality to your iPad.
You define how long breaths in and out should take, and whether you want to hold your breath at any point during the cycle. You then let Breathe+ guide your breathing for a user-defined session length.
The visualization is reminiscent of a minimalist illustrator's take on a wave rising and falling on the screen, but you can also close your eyes and have the iPad vibrate for cues. For free, there are some ads, which aren't pretty, but don't distract too much. For $1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99, you can be rid of them, along with adding themes and usage history stats.
As you launch Kitchen Stories, you catch a glimpse of the app's mantra: "Anyone can cook". The problem is, most cooking apps (and indeed, traditional cookery books) make assumptions regarding people's abilities.
Faced with a list of steps on a stark white page, it's easy to get halfway through a recipe, look at the stodge in front of you, reason something must have gone terribly wrong, and order a takeaway.
Kitchen Stories offers firmer footing. You're first met with a wall of gorgeous photography. More importantly, the photographs don't stop.
Every step in a recipe is accompanied by a picture that shows how things should be at that point. Additionally, some recipes provide tutorial videos for potentially tricky skills and techniques. Fancy some Vietnamese pho, but not sure how to peel ginger, prepare a chilli or thinly slice meat? Kitchen Stories has you covered.
Beyond this, there's a shopping list, handy essentials guide, and some magazine-style articles to peruse. And while you don't get the sheer range of recipes found in some rival apps, the presentation more than makes up for that — especially on the iPad, which will likely find a new home in your own kitchen soon after Kitchen Stories is installed.
There's a tendency for relaxation aids to be noodly and dull, but TaoMix 2 bucks the trend. You get the usual sounds to aid relaxation (wind, rain, birds, water), but also an interface that nudges the app towards being a tool for creating a kind of ambient personal soundtrack.
The basics are dead simple: tap the + button, select a sound pack, and drag a sound to the canvas. You then manually position the circular cursor within the soundscape, or slowly flick so it lazily bounces around the screen, your various sounds then ebbing and flowing into the mix.
This makes TaoMix 2 more fun to play with than its many rivals. Of course, if you just want to shut the world out, that option exists too: load a soundscape you've previously created, set a timer, and use TaoMix 2 to help you nod off.
Should you want something other than what's found within the generous selection of built-in noises, packs are available for purchase (including whale sounds, 'Japanese garden' and orchestral strings); and if you fancy something entirely more custom, you can even import sounds of your own.
There are quite a few apps for creating ambient background noise, helping you to focus, relax, and even sleep. White Noise+ is perhaps the best we’ve seen – a really smartly designed mix of sound and interface design that is extremely intuitive yet thoroughly modern.
It works through you adding sounds to an on-screen grid. Those placed towards the right become more complex, and those towards the top are louder. Personalized mixes can be saved, or you can play several that are pre-loaded.
For free, you do get an ad across the bottom of the screen, only five sounds, and no access to timers and alarms. But even with such restrictions, White Noise+ is pretty great. Throw $2.99/£2.99/AU$4.49 at it for the extra features and noises, and it borders on exceptional.
7 Minute Workout is designed to give you a complete fitness workout in just seven minutes. It’s far from alone on the App Store, but we like this take because it’s straightforward – and also properly free (rather than being riddled with IAP).
The exercise screens are basic, but bold. It’s always obvious where you are in a routine, and if you’re unsure about the next step, you can tap a video playback button to view a demonstration.
Beyond the exercises, the app enables you to track your weight and set the gap between exercises, which are regularly switched during the routine. The only downside is not being able to block specific exercises if, for example, you don’t have access to a chair, or cannot perform them due to accessibility reasons.
Epicurious is a massive recipe book for iPad. It provides access to over 35,000 recipes, and offers a magazine-like presentation. The entry screen is awash with new recipes with vibrant photography; you can quickly flick between that and dedicated pages for themed recipes and new videos.
The app’s search is excellent. You can select by meal type, and filter available recipes by selecting specific ingredients, cuisine types, and dietary issues (such as low-fat and wheat-free). Flicking back and forth between filters and results can irk, but the app at least does so quickly and efficiently.
The actual recipe pages are a touch basic – there’s no hand-holding like the step-by-step photos you get in Kitchen Stories. Still, if confident in your abilities, it’s a great app to broaden your culinary horizons.
The best free kids apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps, learning tools, and games for toddlers and children.
Lego Creator Islands is for fans of the popular construction toy when there are no plastic bricks close at hand. It starts you off with a little island, on which you build a house. Construction is simple: tap piles of bricks and they magically combine into pieces of a finished Lego set, which you drag into place.
Rinse and repeat a few times and your kid will beam as they watch their island increasingly come alive, populated with Lego minifigs and bounding Lego animals, and dotted with buildings, trees and vehicles.
The experience is, admittedly, not that deep, and you can see most of what it has to offer in an hour or so. But it’s always fun to return to, and certainly beats treading on a Lego brick while barefoot.
Sago Mini Friends is a sweet-natured collection of adorable mini-games, ideal for young children. After selecting a character to play, you visit a neighborhood of colorful houses. Knock on a door and you’ll be invited inside for a playdate.
The activities are varied and smartly designed. There’s a birthday party, where gifts are gleefully unwrapped, and a birdhouse to fix by hammering in nails. Our favorite, though, is a cleverly conceived snack time that finds two friends sitting side-by-side. Feed one and the other looks a bit glum, which encourages the young player to learn to share.
Entirely lacking IAP and advertising, Sago Mini Friends is a no-brainer for any parent who wants a safe, free, fun, educational app for their youngster to spend a bit of quality time with.
LEGO AR-Studio is the app we first thought of when Apple started banging on about augmented reality. After all, who wouldn’t want a bunch of virtual Lego bricks to play with, which could magically integrate with the real world?
Well, it turns out Lego wouldn’t, because that’s not what this app offers. Instead, you get a small selection of AR Lego kits, which you can mess about with, take videos of, and thereby try to trick your friends into wondering why their own Lego doesn’t zoom about the place on remote control.
It’s admittedly a bit shallow, and feels a touch proof-of-concept. But here’s hoping this is just the app equivalent of a Lego baseplate on which to build, rather than a completed set.
According to the developer's blurb, Zen Studio is all about helping children to relax and focus, by providing a kind of finger-painting that can only exist in the digital realm. Frankly, we take issue with the 'children' bit, because Zen Studio has a welcoming and pleasing nature that should ensure it's a hit with every iPad user.
You start off with a grid of triangles and a column of colored paints. Tap a paint to choose your color and then tap individual triangles or drag across the grid to start drawing. Every gesture you make is accompanied by musical notes that play over an ambient background soundtrack.
Bar the atmosphere being knocked a touch by a loud squelch noise whenever a new paint tube is selected, the mix of drawing tool and musical instrument is intoxicating. When you're done, your picture can be squirted to the Photos app, ready for sharing with the world.
This is, however, a limited freebie in some ways. You get eight canvases, which can be blank or based on templates. If you want more, you can buy an IAP to unlock the premium version of the app. Still, for no outlay at all, you get a good few hours of chill-out noodly fun — more, if you're happy drawing over the same canvases again and again.
Doctor Who: Comic Creator does what you’d expect from its name. When you’re between seasons of the hit sci-fi show, you can satisfy yourself by fashioning custom adventures about everyone’s favorite regenerating time traveler, who goes everywhere and everywhen in a beaten-up old time machine.
Creating comics is akin to slapping down stickers – only you can move things around later. And you get a pleasingly diverse range of page layouts, along with a monster maker, so you can combine parts of the Doctor’s enemies into something suitably horrific.
The main downside is most foes lurk behind various IAPs – would it have killed the BBC to throw in a Cyberman for free? Sadly, there’s no way to use the app to get all timey-wimey and change people’s minds when the app was being made.
Lego Life is a social network for kids whose lives revolve around plastic bricks. Once you’re signed up, you explore feeds and follow themes, to become a better builder, or just see what’s current in the world of Lego.
Unsurprisingly, there’s a nod towards advertising of a kind, in new product videos being liberally sprinkled about. But mostly, this is an app about inspiration. You’re regularly offered building challenges and knowledge tests; during lazy days, you can slap stickers all over a virtual Lego kit, or build a mini-figure for your profile.
Given that it’ll mostly be kids using the app, it’s worth noting usernames are anonymized. You can’t type your own, and instead select from semi-random word lists. EmpressSensibleMotorbike, meet ElderSupersonicJelly!
Laugh & Learn Shapes & Colors Music Show for Baby is a two-part game designed for children as young as six months old.
In Level 1, your youngling – now armed with a worryingly expensive piece of technology – can tilt and tap the screen to make shapes appear and bounce around. But Level 2 ramps things up considerably.
“Let’s put on a show,” chirps the app as the five shapes wiggle and jig about on the screen, lurking above a colorful keyboard. And you know what’s next: maddeningly jaunty earworms, augmented by a deliriously happy baby smacking the huge piano keys.
Your slow descent into madness will be worth it for the smile on their little face.
Toca Tailor Fairy Tales is a dressing up app. You choose from a male or female customer, and then set about giving them a new and exciting outfit.
As with other Toca Boca fare, this is a tactile, immediate app. Tap a garment to adjust its type; drag and you’ll change its length. Accessories can be added from an expanding box, if you decide your appreciative on-screen ‘manakin’ needs a trendy hat.
The best bit, though, is the materials section. For each part of the garment, you can drag and drop materials onto it. This isn’t a question of merely recoloring either – you can pinch/rotate to make all kinds of crazy patterns, and even import photos or snap a texture using the iPad’s camera. Great stuff for tiny wannabe fashion designers.
The best free music and audio apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for listening to podcasts, making music or being a virtual DJ.
djay once existed in various forms on iOS, but is now a free, universal app that invites budding DJs to pay for the level of features that they want.
If you’re not willing to splash out, there’s still plenty to enjoy. You get the full two-deck classic mode, featuring a pair of virtual record decks to spin, a crossfade mixer, scrolling audio waveforms, and a bunch of effects. The interface is intuitive and tactile, although you can delve into AI-driven auto-mixing when manual control seems like too much effort.
Paying subscription IAP unlocks a slew of extra features, including a four-deck pro view, video, MIDI, and high-end mixing. For jobbing DJs, that’s perhaps the only option; for bedroom deck-spinners, the free app’s more than enough – and rather generous, given its high quality.
Beatwave makes it easy to create music. You select a voice and tap out notes on a grid. The grid can be set to various scales, ensuring the notes you use always sound good. Go deeper into the app and you can layer/arrange multiple loops, each of which can have a unique sound assigned.
The app looks great, with an explosion of color bursting from each note as the playhead hits it. This is a welcome hangover from the app’s previous incarnation as a simplified digital take on the Yamaha Tenori-on.
The more conventional redesign elsewhere robs Beatwave of some immediacy and playfulness regarding the play surface, although accessing all of its features is now a lot more coherent. Overall, it’s a good bet for beginners but also musicians looking for a fun sketchpad.
AudioKit Synth One Synthesizer is an iPad synth bursting at the seams with dials to twiddle, buttons to push, and all kinds of exciting noises that blast forth from your speakers.
Even if you’re not overly musically inclined, there’s fun to be had here by selecting presets - many of which use a built-in user-friendly sequencer, so you can fire off a melody by holding down a single key. There’s loads for musicians to delve into, including Audiobus and IAA support, customizable filters, and touchpad play surfaces.
It’s hugely impressive and the sort of thing you’d usually expect to set you back north of 30 bucks, so it’s all the more surprising that Synth One is entirely free from ads and IAP - and that will always be the case, given that it’s also an open-source project.
Novation Launchpad is about remixing electronic music using a grid of loops. For the beginner, it’s a friendly, intuitive introduction to music-making. You load a genre and just tap away, safe in the knowledge everything will always sound great. You can even record live mixes and share them with friends.
There’s depth to Novation Launchpad as well – effects to apply, filters to experiment with, and the option to mix and match pad sounds. If you’re prepared to dip into your wallet, you can take things much further, importing your own audio files and working with a larger range of effects.
On iPad, you can buy all of these things – and a MIDI sync feature – for a one-off $14.99/£14.99/$AU22.99 IAP. But even if you stick to the free version, Novation Launchpad proves to be suitably noisy fun.
The thinking behind Auxy Music Studio is that music-making - both in the real world and software - has become too complicated. This app therefore strives to combine the immediacy of something like Novation Launchpad's loop triggers with a basic piano roll editor.
For each instrument, you choose between drums and decidedly electronic synths. You then compose loops of between one and four bars, tapping out notes on the piano roll's grid. Subsequent playback occurs on the overview screen by tapping loops to cue them up.
For those who want to go a bit further, the app includes arrangement functionality (for composing entire songs), along with Ableton Link and MIDI export support. Auxy's therefore worth a look for relative newcomers to making music and also pros after a no-nonsense scratchpad.
The iPad is the perfect mobile device for composing music, with its fairly large display and powerful innards. This has resulted in a range of involved and impressive music-creation tools, such as Korg Gadget. Sometimes, though, you yearn for something simpler for making some noise.
This is where Figure comes in. Within seconds, you can craft thumping dance loops, comprising drum, bass and lead parts. The sounds are great, being based on developer Propellerhead Software's much-loved Reason. They can be manipulated, too, so your exported loops sound truly unique.
On an iPhone, music-making app GarageBand is mightily impressive, but on iPad, the extra space proves transformative. In being able to see more at any given time, your experience is more efficient and enjoyable, whether you’re a beginner tapping the grid view to trigger loops, a live musician tweaking a synth on stage, or a recording artist delving into audio waveforms and MIDI data.
Apple’s app also cleverly appeals to all. Newcomers can work with loops, automated drummers, and piano strips for always staying in key. Pros get seriously impressive track controls with configurable effects, multi-take recording, and Audio Unit support for bringing favorite synths directly into GarageBand.
If you don’t feel terribly creative sitting in front of a PC, GarageBand’s the perfect way to unleash your Grammy-winning songwriter in waiting.
Groovebox is a really clever app for anyone interested in making electronic music. The smartest bit is in the app being approachable for newcomers, yet offering power and features for seasoned noise makers.
The basics involve selecting a track type (drums, bass, or synth), and then a sound, whereupon Groovebox starts playing a loop. If you’re not happy with what you hear, tap the dice and Groovebox will spit out a different pattern.
Most apps of this ilk are samples-based, and so grind to a juddering halt at this point. But Groovebox goes further, offering a keyboard for live play, and a piano roll grid for tweaking a loop’s notes – or removing them all to add your own. You can also build up entire tracks using a ‘song sections’ feature.
The only major limitation of the free version is many advanced instrument controls sit behind IAP. Still, for no outlay, Groovebox offers plenty of head-nodding entertainment.
It’s fair to say that Music Memos is primarily designed for the iPhone, enabling musicians to quickly capture a song idea, which can later be expanded on. But if you’re in a studio – home or otherwise – strumming away on a guitar, and with an iPad nearby, the app can help you compose your next chart-troubler on a much more user-friendly screen size.
You kick things off by tapping a circle in the middle of the screen, whereupon Music Memos starts recording. Tap again to stop. The app then attempts – with some degree of success – to transcribe the chords played, and enables you to overlay automated bass and drums.
It’s when tapping the audio waveform in the recordings list that the iPad’s value becomes clear – you get the whole screen to see your in-progress song, which is great for playing along with or when considering further tweaks. And with iCloud sync, you can always record on iPhone and peruse later on iPad.
Podcasts are mostly associated with small portable devices - after all, the very name is a mash-up of 'iPod' and 'broadcast'. But that doesn't mean you should ignore your favourite shows when armed with an iPad rather than an iPhone.
We're big fans of Overcast on Apple's smaller devices, but the app makes good use of the iPad's extra screen space, with a smart two-column display. On the left, episodes are listed, and the current podcast loads into the larger space on the right.
The big plusses with Overcast, though, remain playback and podcast management. It's the one podcast app we've used that retains plenty of clarity when playback is sped up; and there are clever effects for removing dead air and boosting vocals in podcasts with lower production values.
Playlists can be straightforward in nature, or quite intricate, automatically boosting favourites to the top of the list, and excluding specific episodes. And if you do mostly use an iPhone for listening, Overcast automatically syncs your podcasts and progress, so you can always pick up where you left off.
There are quite a few DJ apps for iPad, but they mostly tend to make the assumption you’re a master of the decks already. With its bright colors, straightforward nature, and lack of a price tag, Pacemaker feels rather more approachable to the typical wannabe deck spinner.
You can mess about with demo tracks or load tunes from your iPhone and Spotify. Then it’s a case of messing around with virtual decks, sliders and buttons to crossfade, beat-match, and add effects. If you hit on something especially great, record your live performance and share it with your friends.
It’s worth noting the app does have IAP lurking, but that’s really only for people properly bitten by the bug. Splash out and you can grab new effects or a premium subscription for precision mixing. For free, though, there’s plenty to enjoy.
There are two ways to approach Seaquence, where the first is as a really bizarre interactive album. Select a track and a bunch of little creatures swim about on the screen, which results in spatialized sound mixes. (Stick some headphones on to hear how their movements affect the placement of sounds being played.) You can manually fling the creatures about, or tap-hold to remove them.
But Seaquence also enables you to edit. Add a new creature and it’ll instantly change the track. Tap a creature and you can delve into a scale editor, sound designer, and a sequencer for adjusting the notes of the current loop.
A $6.99/£6.99/AU$10.99 IAP opens up a bunch of pro features; but for free, Seaquence is entertaining whether you’re just listening and occasionally bothering the digital sea life, or figuring out how to construct your own tunes.
Beatwave is a grid synthesizer/sound toy, loosely based on Yamaha’s Tenori-on. This means you tap notes by turning on the grid’s lights. When the endlessly looping playhead collides with one, you get an explosion of color, and a sound plays.
Notes towards the top of the grid are higher, and those at the bottom are lower. Some instruments use the bottom two rows for drum sounds. Most importantly, though, Beatwave is designed to always make output listenable.
It’s actually quite difficult to create anything horribly discordant, short of filling every square on the grid.
For those who fancy more depth, the app offers plenty of alternate sounds, automated morphing, and the ability to save patterns to the sidebar, which you switch between with a tap. So it’s fun whether writing songs or just playing with sound and color.
The best free office and writing apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for writing, email, spreadsheets, presentations and calculations.
Archives largely deals with one of the major blind spots in iOS – an inability to ably deal with archives. Apple’s Files app can let you peek inside of ZIPs, but the process isn’t optimal; Archives is a lot better.
The app supports a wide range of formats, from the likes of ZIP and RAR through to esoteric examples like DiskDoubler and BIN. Open an archive and you can view what’s inside of it without extracting anything. With text files, audio, images, office documents and the like, previews are available in-app, along with the means to peruse advanced file info.
Individual items can be emailed, saved, or opened in another app. There’s sadly no means to view galleries of thumbnails, or to send a folder of items onward at once; nonetheless, this is a very useful freebie.
LastPass in some ways echoes iCloud Keychain, in giving you a central repository for storing passwords and payment details. You might therefore wonder what the point is in using such a system.
First and foremost, LastPass is fully cross-platform, so if you also work with Windows and Android, it means you can take your passwords with you everywhere, securely. But there are other advantages, such as secure notes and form fill options, all of which seamlessly integrate with devices running iOS 12 or later.
There is a premium tier; US$24/£23/AU$38 per year adds sharing options, 1GB of encrypted file storage, and premium multi-factor authentication. For most users, though, the extremely generous free version should be enough.
Drafts 5 describes itself as the place where text starts. That might be a lofty claim on the iPad, given that Apple’s tablet has plenty of top-notch text editors, but Drafts has some pretty amazing tools to help you capture ideas faster and work on lengthy texts.
The main writing view gives you a live word count, and a custom keyboard row for quickly getting at useful formatting options and actions. Texts can be tagged for grouping and retrieval purposes, and the app includes a large range of actions for processing and exporting missives.
If you want to make your own custom actions you’re into subscription IAP territory, which also gives you custom workspaces, superior share extension options, URL automation, and themes. But even in its free incarnation, Drafts is extremely generous and a first-rate install.
Scanbot is a scanner with a sense of humor. No, you read that right – it starts off urging you to try a tutorial ‘challenge mode’. In AR, you chase documents around the floor, trying to scan them as quickly as possible.
All this has a point: teaching you how to best to position your iPad when scanning, and to showcase how streamlined Scanbot makes the process. Once the scan’s been done, you can adjust crop and contrast levels, append more pages, and upload the end result to a cloud service of your choice.
The app includes page size settings and integrates with iOS’s Shortcuts app. And if you upgrade to the pro version, you gain OCR text recognition, one-tap actions extraction for things like triggering phone calls, and robust document editing. But even if you stick with the free version, Scanbot’s an excellent choice.
Paper by FiftyThree originally invited you to sketch in virtual journals, but then dispensed with sketchbooks for a board of cards you could rearrange. This latest take tries to merge the two approaches.
The best bit of Paper – the actual sketching tools – remains intact. You scribble with pens, splash watercolors on the canvas, and draw geometric shapes that neatly retain the character of your stroke.
Beyond that, the app stumbles. Text appears as notes stuck over your work when browsing – an ugly effect – and only one image can be imported to each sketch, which you can either trace over or use as a background.
Still, despite its flaws, this is still an app worth installing, simply because it feels really great to use.
Adobe Acrobat Reader is a popular app on the desktop for viewing, annotating and signing PDFs. On iPad… well, it’s much the same, albeit with a reliance on cloud storage, and a nicely-designed touchscreen interface.
On importing a PDF from another app, Dropbox, or iCloud Drive, you can rearrange its pages, add a signature, slather the thing in comments, and highlight bits of text. If your document arrived from Adobe Scan, you can search the text, and select/copy some to paste elsewhere. Annoyingly, copying must be done manually – there’s no ‘grab all text’ option.
In the main, though, this is a friendly, usable app, and you get the bulk of its functionality for free, including the means to share edited PDFs with other apps. (IAP is mostly for converting PDFs to other formats for editing in the likes of Microsoft Word.)
A halfway house between full-fledged writing tool and capable note-taker, Bear provides a beautiful environment for tapping out words on an iPad.
The sidebar links to notes you’ve grouped by hashtag. Next to that, a notes list enables you to scroll through (or search) everything you’ve written, or notes matching a specific tag. The main workspace – which can be made full-screen – marries sleek minimalism with additional smarts: subtle Markdown syntax next to headings; automated to-do checkboxes when using certain characters; image integration.
There’s not enough here for pro writers – they’d need on-screen word counts, customizable note column ordering, and flexibility regarding notes nesting. Also, for iCloud sync, you must buy a $1.49/£1.49/AU$1.99 monthly subscription. But as a free, minimal note-taker for a single device, Bear more than fits the bill.
Dropbox is perhaps the most famous of cloud storage providers. For free, you get 2GB of space for your documents and photos – and more if you pay to upgrade.
In the early days of iPad, Apple wanted to hide the file system away, and Dropbox – which was quickly supported by a great many apps – became a kind of surrogate. And even in these days of iCloud Drive, it’s very much worth installing.
The main Dropbox app is smart and straightforward, with speedy previews, the means to save content offline, passcode lock functionality, and optional automated backup of your iPad photos.
As of iOS 11, Dropbox can integrate directly into the Files app, too. Given Dropbox’s cross-device and cross-platform nature, this makes it worth grabbing even if you only use it rarely. Chances are, though, you’ll use it a whole lot more often.
There are other decent cloud storage apps too, such as Google Drive, but even if you already have that it’s worth grabbing Dropbox for a little extra space.
Gmail brings Google’s email service to your iPad. Of course, Apple’s own Mail app does this to some extent – and supports sending and receiving from Gmail addresses. But the Gmail app provides a fuller experience.
One of the most vital is the ability to undo a send. You have to be quick, but it’s hugely useful to stop something being sent if you realize you’ve made an error, or forgotten to add an attachment.
Elsewhere, the app’s also in tune with Google’s way of doing things, and so you get profile pictures of people you’re conversing with, integration with Google Calendar, and excellent search capabilities.
Another possible reason to install: as a means to keep business and leisure fully separate, if you use Apple’s Mail for work, and Gmail for everything else.
There are loads of iPad apps for reading and annotating PDFs, but LiquidText is different. Rather than purely aping paper, the developers have thought about the advantages of working with virtual documents.
So while you still get a typical page view, you can pinch to collapse passages you're not interested in and also compare those that aren't adjacent.
There's a 'focus' view that shows only annotated sections, and you can even select chunks of text and drag them to the sidebar. Tap one of those cut-outs at a later point and its location will instantly be displayed in the main text. Smartly, you can save any document in the app's native format, export it as a PDF with comments, or share just the notes as an RTF.
With Numbers, Apple managed to do something with spreadsheets that had eluded Microsoft in decades of Excel development: they became pleasant (even fun) to work with.
Instead of forcing workmanlike grids of data on you, Numbers has you think in a more presentation-oriented fashion. Although you can still create tables for totting up figures, you’re also encouraged to be creative and reader-friendly regarding layout, incorporating graphs, imagery, and text. On iPad, it’s all tap - and finger - friendly, too.
With broad feature-parity with the Mac version, iCloud sync, and export to Excel format, Numbers should also fit neatly into most people’s workflow.
And although updates robbed the app of some friendliness (whoever removed the date picker needs a stern talking to), it still excels in that department, from nicely designed templates through to the handy action menu, ensuring common tasks are only ever a tap away.
PCalc Lite's existence means the lack of a built-in iPad calculator doesn't bother us. For anyone who wants a traditional calculator, it's pretty much ideal. The big buttons beg to be tapped, and the interface can be tweaked to your liking, by way of bolder and larger key text, alternate display digits, and stilling animation.
Beyond basic sums, PCalc Lite adds some conversions, which are categorised but also searchable. If you're hankering for more, IAP lets you bolt on a number of extras from the paid version of PCalc, such as additional themes, dozens more conversions, alternate calculator layouts, a virtual paper tape, and options for programmers and power users.
The best free photo and video editing apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for editing photos, working with filters, adding text to photos and editing video.
sok-edit is a collage app with a decidedly old-school and scrappy outlook. Whereas the likes of (the admittedly excellent) Pic Collage are all about clean lines and grids, sok-edit invites you to roughly cut out bits of photos and stick them to other photos.
It’s a fun app, with a gleefully tactile interface packed full of chunky buttons. Items can quickly be cut, flipped, and cloned, sound effects playing as you do so. Individual elements can be further reworked, rotated, and resized, and you can then slap text all over everything.
The free version limits you to three images/text layers, although you can view an ad for more. Alternatively, the pro IAP is a mere $0.99/99p/AU$1.49 – ideal if you go a bit collage crazy.
Visionist echoes Prisma in having you load a photo that’s then transformed into something resembling a painting. However, you get more control in this app.
There are 10 free styles to choose from (a one-off $1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 IAP unlocks 60 more), but Visionist doesn’t stop the second you select one. Along with adjusting the effect’s strength, you can define how abstract it is, adjust the manner in which it interacts with the original image, and mix styles together.
Some labels on the styles would be useful, not least those based on real-world artists; also, the end results do look rather digital in nature, rather than like they’ve appeared from the hands of an actual painter. But the important thing is they’re arresting, adding interest to even the most mundane of snaps.
Infltr stands for ‘infinite filters’. The app isn’t quite packed with endless options (there are ‘only’ around seven million), but feels limitless as you drag a finger across a photo and watch it change.
But this is only one tool packed into a versatile, usable editor. You can crop, make adjustments to temperature and hue, fix perspective, mess around with blurs, and more.
Edits are non-destructive, so you can always update or remove a setting. You can save up to three favorites for one-tap application as well.
That limitation goes away if you pay for the subscription IAP - which also gives you HD export and additional tools, including color shift and selective HSL - but as a freebie, Infltr ably does the business. A no-brainer download for iPad users keen on fixing their snaps.
Enlight Pixaloop wants photographs to get animated – in a literal sense. Load one up and you can draw paths to denote the direction of your flowing, looping animation, and use anchors and masks to make everything else stay put. The effect is like a cinemagraph, but you only need a single still, rather than a sequence of shots or a video.
On iPad, Pixaloop benefits from the larger screen, and the accuracy an Apple Pencil affords. You can create some seriously intricate and eye-dazzling effects, even from fairly mundane source material.
If you’re short on snaps, the app enables you to grab something from Pixabay. And when you’re done, you can export your work to video (although, alas, not animated GIF). It’s smart, sleek, and even though optional IAPs lurk, offers plenty of functionality for zero outlay.
Pic Collage is a powerful app for creating photo collages. You can start with a freeform canvas or a card template, but the pre-defined grids are better. Select some photos and a grid, and the app will automatically arrange everything.
Many apps stop there, but Pic Collage goes much further. You can tweak the frames, and perform adjustments on individual images. Movement can be added through importing up to three videos and later exporting your creation as a GIF. And if you’re feeling arty, you can scribble all over your grid-based masterpiece.
Pic Collage hits that sweet spot of unlocking creativity in an immediate, usable manner. You get results fast. The only real negative is exports have a watermark, but if that bugs you, they can be gone forever with a one-off US$1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 IAP.
Plotaverse is an image editor and social network very much of the opinion that photographs are a bit rubbish unless they move.
The meat of the app is Plotagraph+, which provides tools for animating your pics. The process is simple: mask parts you want to remain static, and then drag arrows to denote movement. Plotagraph+ then does its thing, resulting in an endlessly looping animation.
Naturally, there are limitations. The system tends to work well with flowing subjects (such as water or clouds) and geometric patterns. Still, you can create amazing videos with a minimum of effort.
The social networking bit is less impressive, as are cheesy effects overlays (free and paid) that are available for download. But in bringing a touch of Harry Potter to even the most mundane of snaps, Plotaverse feels like a little piece of magic on your iPad.
Prisma invites you to be an artist – albeit an incredibly lazy artist who’s not against a touch of stylistic plagiarism. There’s no actual drawing or painting here – you instead load a photo (or take one using the app) and tap an effect to apply it. This effect can be strengthened or weakened by swiping across the canvas.
Rather than aping cameras and film types, Prisma is interested in traditional art – everything from classical to manga is fair game. You’ll need an internet connection to download and apply effects, but it doesn’t take long and you can remove any duds if your library starts to become cluttered.
You’re not going to turn that shot of your lunch into a forgotten Kandinsky with Prisma, but the app is capable of gorgeous painterly results. High-res output is locked behind an $1.99/£1.79/AU$2.99 monthly subscription, but SD output is fine for posting online.
Clips is a video editor designed for people who don’t want to spend a great deal of time editing – or even shooting. Unlike Apple’s iMovie, Clips is intended for impulsive shoots, and super-fast clip arrangement – a video editor for the social media generation.
On iPad, you might question its relevance. After all, you’re not going to whip out an iPad Pro to quickly shoot someone larking about on a skateboard. But the iPad’s larger screen is superb for editing, making it easy to rearrange clips on the timeline and get a proper eye for the many included filters.
There’s more lurking here too, including automatic animated subtitles, posters with customizable text and iCloud sync. Clips won’t make you a Hollywood legend, but it might just propel you towards Instagram stardom.
It's become apparent that Adobe - creators of photography and graphic design powerhouses Photoshop and Illustrator - don't see mobile devices as suitable for full projects. However, the company's been hard at work on a range of satellite apps, of which Photoshop Fix is perhaps the most impressive.
Built on Photoshop technology, this retouching tool boasts a number of high-end features for making considered edits to photographs. The Liquify tool in particular is terrific, enabling you to mangle images like clay, or more subtly adjust facial features using bespoke tools for manipulating mouths and eyes.
Elsewhere, you can smooth, heal, color and defocus a photo to your heart's content, before sending it to Photoshop on the desktop for further work, or flattening it for export to your Camera Roll. It's particularly good when used with the Apple Pencil (still a funny name) and the iPad Pro, such is the power and speed of that device and input method.
Making apps approachable is a good thing on mobile, but sometimes photo editors go a bit far, flinging all kinds of detritus into the mix (stickers; gaudy frames; a million indistinguishable filters).
With Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, you instead get a more sedate and distinctly professional offering – although one that nonetheless retains plenty of immediacy.
The basic toolset includes cropping, rotation, a bunch of measured and genuinely useful presets, and an editor for adjusting tones, vignettes, colors and lens issues. Edits aren’t burned in and so you can experiment and revert as you wish. When you’re done, you can send the result to your Camera Roll.
If you’re an Adobe Creative Cloud subscriber, you also get DNG support, and selective adjustments. But even as a pure freebie, Lightroom’s a must-have for any iPad owner interested in improving their photographs.
There are loads of apps for making basic edits to photos and slapping on some words, but Little Moments stands out primarily through being rather jolly (if a little twee at times) and being extremely easy to use.
Load in a pic (or use the camera to shoot a new one), and you can quickly add a filter, adjust things like saturation and contrast, overlay some text boxes, and get creative with quotes and stickers.
Weirdly, the last two of those things are pixelated when browsing through the app, but look just fine when added (and sadly many of the categories also sit behind in-app purchases).
But everything else about Little Moments is a joy, from the non-destructive adjustments (unless you select a new filter, whereupon everything resets) to the friendly, intuitive interface.
The App Store's awash with alternate cameras with editing smarts, but MuseCam warrants a place on your iPad's home screen nonetheless. As a camera, it's fine, with an on-screen grid and plenty of manual settings. But on Apple's tablet, it's in editing that MuseCam excels.
Load a photo and you can apply a film-inspired filter preset (based on insight from pro photographers), or fiddle around with tone curves, color tools, and other adjustment settings.
The interface is bold, efficient, and usable, making it accessible to relative newcomers; but there's also enough depth here to please those wanting a bit more control, including the option to save tweaks as custom presets.
IAP comes in the form of additional filters, but what you get for free is generous and of a very high quality, making MuseCam a no-brainer download.
Although Photofy includes a decent range of tools for performing typical edits on photos - including adjustments, cropping, saturation, and the like - this app is more interested in helping you get properly creative.
Within the photo editing tools are options for adding in-vogue blurs and producing collages; and in 'Text & Overlays', you'll find a wealth of options for slapping all kinds of artwork and text on top of your photographic masterpieces.
The interface works well through bold, tappable buttons and chunky sliders (although it takes a while to realise the pane containing the latter can be scrolled). And although some filters and stickers require IAP to unlock, there's loads available here entirely for free. (Also, Photofy rather pleasingly gives you alternatives for its watermark, if you don't want to pay to remove it, but aren't too keen on the default. Nice.)
Formerly known as Replay, Quik is a video editor primarily designed for people who can't be bothered doing the editing bit. You select photos and videos, pick a theme, and sit back as Quik pieces together a masterpiece that can subsequently be saved and shared.
For tinkerers, there are styles and settings to tweak. Post-Replay, the app offers its 28 varied styles for free, and you can delve into the edit itself, trimming clips, reordering media, adjusting focal points, and adding titles.
Alternatively, the really lazy can do nothing at all and still get results - every week, Quik will serve up highlights videos, enabling you to relive favorite moments. These videos are quite random in nature, but are nonetheless often a nice surprise. Still, anyone willing to put in the slightest additional effort will find Quik rewards any minutes invested many times over.
Apple's Photos app has editing capabilities, but they're not terribly exciting — especially when compared to Snapseed. Here, you select from a number of from a number of tools and filters, and proceed to pinch and swipe your way to a transformed image. You get all the basics — cropping, rotation, healing brushes, and the like — but the filters are where you can get really creative.
There are blurs, photographic effects, and more extreme options like 'grunge' and 'grainy film', which can add plenty of atmosphere to your photographs. The vast majority of effects are tweakable, mostly by dragging up and down on the canvas to select a parameter and then horizontally to adjust its strength.
Brilliantly, the app also records applied effects as separate layers, each of which remains fully editable until you decide to save your image and work on something else.
The best free productivity apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for being more productive with cloud storage, timers, iPad keyboards, automation and more.
Speed Test SpeedSmart Internet might have a name that appears to have sprung forth from an annual meeting of search-engine optimization experts, but the utility itself proves a useful install on your iPad. Prod a button and it checks your internet speed, providing readings on latency (response time), download speed, and upload speed.
These tests don’t necessarily show the full speed your router is getting, but if you’re having connectivity issues over a period of time, SpeedSmart can be a useful way of logging results.
Not only do you get a full history, but also a handy details pane that shows your location, offers extended information about each test, and lets you add notes. All good stuff to send your internet service provider’s way.
Shortcuts is Apple’s revamp of automation utility Workflow. Its main goal is to save you time by performing complex tasks with simple interactions (such as a button tap), rather than going through a list of steps manually in multiple apps and websites.
There are two ways to approach Shortcuts. The first is to delve into the gallery’s dozens of premade actions. These include everything from calculating tips to saving documents as PDFs. Everything you download can be experimented with, or you can start from scratch and construct your own workflows in the user-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
This proves particularly effective on the iPad’s larger display, which gives you plenty of room to work. And this latest revamp makes workflows even easier to access, because you can trigger them using Siri voice commands.
Cheatsheet Widget is a notes app for all those little things that you need to remember – but never do. Its items are designed to be quick, glanceable fare (like phone numbers, codes and combinations and a few words) and are made easier to spot by twinning them with icons.
Your list is created in the Cheatsheet Widget app, but the list can also be displayed as a Today view widget. Items within the widget can be deleted, or their content copied to the clipboard – ideal for things like open network passwords.
For free, the widget will display four items from your list, and you can opt to always place new ones at the top. As of iOS 12, there’s a dark mode; and if you splash out on the one-off IAP, you also get iCloud cross-device sync, a Cheatsheet Widget keyboard, and no ads.
Bundler is a boon to anyone who regularly finds themselves having to collect a selection of files that then need to be sent elsewhere – a common task in many kinds of workplace.
Documents are added to ‘bundles’ using the Share sheet. In any compatible app, you share selected documents (or the current one) to Bundler and choose which bundle to place them in (or make a new one). On returning to Bundler, these documents can then be previewed and renamed. (In the latter case, ensuring your files have suffixes – JPG, TXT, and so on – is a good bet, or they aren’t always included on export.)
Sharing a bundle sends it to a location or app of your choosing as a ZIP archive. The process is sleek and simple, and the dual-pane view on iPad makes things even easier when you’re juggling a large number of files and bundles.
DuckDuckGo Privacy Browser is a browser designed to make the internet less creepy, preventing websites following you around the web. It blocks every hidden tracker it can find, uses the privacy-oriented DuckDuckGo for search, and rates websites you visit in terms of how much they care about your privacy.
It’s a combination of educational aid and web browser, and the latter bit isn’t half bad. It’’s a bit stripped-back compared to Safari, but you can still bookmark sites, open pages in tabs, and share content with other people. When you’re done, you can nuke your session’s search history with two taps.
Even if it doesn’t become your primary browser, DuckDuckGo is worth installing. It’s ideal for browsing sensitive data such as financial and medical records, safe in the knowledge you’re not being tracked by nefarious scripts.
In a sense Evernote is an online back-up for fleeting thoughts and ideas. You use it to save whatever comes to mind — text documents and snippets, notes, images, web clips, and even audio. These can then be accessed from a huge number of devices. (We suspect any day now, Evernote will unveil its ZX Spectrum app.)
The app itself could be friendlier, and there's a tendency towards clutter. But navigation of your stored bits and pieces is simple enough, and the sheer ubiquity and reliability of Evernote makes it worthy of investigation and a place on your Home screen.
The web’s pretty great, apart from the bits that aren’t. And those bits are the manner in which your journey online is monitored by countless trackers. They look into what you’re viewing and where you’re going, aiming to serve up targeted ads. Beyond privacy issues, these trackers can slow down web pages and even crash browsers.
Enter: Firefox Focus. The app itself is a brutally stripped-back, privacy-oriented browser. You go online, tracker-free, do whatever you want, and then stab Erase to delete your session. Which probably sounds ideal for nefarious purposes, but this is mostly great for basic efficiency, and also handy if someone wants to quickly get online using your iPad but not leave their accounts live when handing your device back.
Beyond this, Firefox Focus can also integrate with Safari, blocking trackers and web fonts from that browser and, potentially, increasing its performance.
Given the acres of space you get on an iPad display, it’s a bit odd that Apple’s own clock only provides a single timer. Fortunately, MultiTimer – as its name suggests – goes somewhat further by offering multiple options.
In fact, depending on the layout you choose, you can have twelve timers all ticking away at once. Each one of them can have its own icon, color and default time assigned, for those people who need to simultaneously exercise, boil eggs, and cook a turkey.
Smartly, the app works in portrait or landscape, and if you want a timer you can see clearly across the room, a single button press zooms it to fill almost the entire screen.
Should you want a bit more flexibility by way of multiple or custom workspaces, there’s a single IAP to unlock those features.
We're not sure whether Slack is an amazing aid to productivity or some kind of time vampire. Probably a bit of both. What we do know is that the real-time messaging system is excellent in a work environment for chatting with colleagues (publicly and privately), sharing and previewing files, and organising discussions by topic.
There's smart integration with online services, and support for both the iPad Pro and the iPad's Split View function.
Note that although Slack is clearly designed with businesses in mind, it also works perfectly well as a means of communicating with friends if you don't fancy lobbing all your worldly wisdom into Facebook's maw.
There are plenty of apps for doodling on your iPad, but Thoughts differentiates itself by going for a kind of razor-sharp minimalism that’s vanishingly rare these days.
On creating a new document, you can draw with a finger, and resize the canvas with a pinch. There’s also an eraser, a small palette to change colors, an interesting night mode (which flips black to white) and that’s pretty much it.
It sounds reductive, but in reality frees you up. You’re not thinking about line thicknesses and the like – you’re just drawing. Export is a little disappointing – it would be good if you could have a vector format rather than a fairly low-res bitmap – but otherwise Thoughts is a nicely simple sketching tool for iPad.
VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) are becoming very popular, due to issues people increasingly face when browsing the web. A VPN can be used to circumvent region-blocking/censorship and security issues on public Wi-Fi. Such services can baffle people who aren't technically adept, but TunnelBear is all about the friendlier side of VPNs. With bears.
After installing the app and profile, you'll have 500 MB of data per month to play with. That said, TunnelBear’s exclusive TechRadar plan offers a far more generous 5GB, 10 times the amount you get if you sign elsewhere.
Tunnelling to a specific location is simply a case of tapping it on the map and waiting a few seconds for the bear to pop out of the ground.
Tweet about the product and you'll get an extra free GB. Alternatively, monthly and annual paid plans exist for heavier data users.
The best free travel and weather apps for iPadOur favorite free iPad apps for planning a holiday, currency conversion, weather forecasts and mapping.
Today Weather is weather forecasting aimed at iPad owners with an eye for style. Launch the app and it displays a photo to represent the current weather in your location. Below that, you’ll see a brief overview of current conditions. Scroll and you get an extended forecast and further details (including rainfall, air quality and wind speed), all rendered in almost painfully cool neon tones atop a dark background.
If the photo’s a bit much, you can get rid of it. Either way, this is a great weather app for a docked iPad, and even the sole ad can easily enough be scrolled off-screen. Neatly, there’s also something for when forecasts don’t quite gel with your own observations: if you don’t get on with Today Weather’s data source, you can switch it for Dark Sky, Accuweather.com, or YR.no.
Google Earth is about exploring our planet. Search for somewhere specific and the app swoops and dives to its target. Important landmarks are rendered in 3D that’s surprisingly effective – if you don’t zoom in too far.
This is an entertaining, tactile app that encourages investigation. You can drag and spin the screen, and flick through cards that point towards local landmarks. Fancy looking at something new? Hit the random button, or tap on the Voyager icon for stories based around anything from UNESCO World Heritage Sights to trekking about Kennedy Space Center.
The app is effortless to use, and the iPad’s large screen enables you to more fully breathe in the sights; the result is armchair tourism that’s far more effective than what you’d get even on the largest of iPhones.
Google Maps is an app that might seem an odd fit for an iPad, but we’d argue it’s an essential install. First and foremost, it’s much better than Apple’s Maps for figuring out journeys: Google Maps can more easily find points of interest, and ably deals with public transport information.
Local areas can be explored in terms of amenities (food, drink, and sometimes entertainment), and in a more direct sense, with the road-level Street View. The latter is a great way to familiarize yourself with a place before you visit.
If you always have your iPad on you, Google Maps can save maps for offline use as well, so you don’t even need an internet connection to use it. Alternatively, sign up for a Google account, and the searches you make will be synced with the app on your iPhone.
There are two things a good flight comparison apps needs to be: easy to use, and useful results. Broadly speaking, Momondo ably does the job in both cases.
Looking for flights is simple; the app allows a pleasing amount of vagueness regarding locations (including regions with multiple airports, such as ‘London’, or even entire countries, such as ‘New Zealand’), and it’ll happily enable you to search for singles, returns, or multi-city jaunts.
As search results gradually load in, the app points you to the cheapest and quickest options, along with what it considers ‘best’ when taking into account price, time and convenience. For some routes, a calendar graph lets you check nearby dates to see if you can snag a bargain.
Additional filters are available to further refine your results, and you can create an account to save favorites and receive fare alerts - plus hotel listing can be added in too, should you want a more comprehensive.
Townske seems to bill itself as an app akin to Foursquare – a place to find the best local cafes, restaurants, and sights in major cities. But really it’s more of a place where photo-bloggers can publish their unique take on amazing locations, thereby providing you with gorgeous photos and succinct chunks of writing to devour.
You can jump right into the main feed, or focus on a specific city. You then tap on a photo to open an individual story. Every one we tried was rich in superb imagery, with just enough text to add meaningful context without interrupting the flow of the visuals.
Neatly, you can tap a map icon to see where the various photos were all taken; and if you sign up for an account, favorite stories or individual images can be bookmarked for later. But even if you simply treat Townske as a regularly-updated lean-back digital take on a newspaper travel supplement, you can’t really go wrong.
With a native weather app bafflingly absent from iPad, you need to venture to the App Store to get anything beyond the basic daily overview Notification Center provides. Weather Underground is the best freebie on the platform, offering a customizable view to satisfy even the most ardent weather geeks.
Current conditions are shown at the top, outlining the temperature, precipitation likelihood, and a local map. But scroll and you can delve into detailed forecasts, dew point readings, sunrise and sunset times, videos, webcams, health data and web links. The bulk of the tiles can be disabled if there are some you don't use, and most can be reordered to suit.
Although not making the best use of iPad in landscape, the extra screen space afforded by Apple's tablet makes the Weather Underground experience a little more usable than on iPhone, enabling faster access to tiles. And for free, it's a top-notch app, although you can also fling $1.99/£1.99/AU$2.99 at it annually if you want rid of the unobtrusive ads.
XE Currency is a currency converter that’s far from the prettiest of its kind – but it is useful and has all the right features.
Initially, it lists a few currencies, with the base one at the top. Tap an item in the list to select it as the new base currency; you can also adjust the base figure – tap on the number, and then enter something new in the calculator. The list of currencies can be changed at any point, and an item’s position adjusted by tap-holding and dragging it.
Beyond that, you can analyze rates, by punching in an alternate exchange rate, view graphs that outline rates for a pair of currencies over the past decade, and sign up to free rate alerts, which notify you when specific points are hit.
Now check out the best paid iPad apps
Best mirrorless camera 2019: 10 top models to suit every budget
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 11:03:11 +0000
If you want to find out what's the best mirrorless camera you can buy in 2019, you've come to the right place.
Since Panasonic launched the first mirrorless camera in 2008, the genre has grown massively, with models to suit every budget and ability.
Mirrorless cameras allow you to swap and change lenses like a DSLR, but because the mirror inside the camera has been removed (hence the name, with mirrors used to bounce light from the path of the lens up into the optical viewfinder of a DSLR), it has allowed designers to make mirrorless cameras much more compact than DSLRs.
No mirror means that instead of optical viewfinders to frame your subject, mirrorless cameras rely on electronic viewfinders instead. Be aware, too, that most cheaper mirrorless cameras don't come with viewfinders at all – instead, you compose the photo on the rear screen, just as you do with most compact cameras or smartphones.
You'll find that mirrorless cameras are also known as compact system cameras (or CSCs for short), with models ranging from the simple to use beginner models to sophisticated full-frame monsters that rival the very best DSLRs out there. Is a mirrorless camera better than a DSLR then? There are still quite a few pros and cons to both designs, so if you want to find out more, read this: Mirrorless vs DSLR cameras: 10 key differences
Why choose a mirrorless camera over a DSLR?The DSLR market is huge, but there's only really two main players in the shape of Canon and Nikon. If you opt for a mirrorless camera, the choice is much broader, with the likes of Canon, Panasonic, Fujifilm, Sony, Olympus and Leica all offering a wide range of cameras to suit most budgets.
Things got really interesting in the last half of 2018, with big announcements from Canon and Nikon in the shape of the EOS R, Z6 and Z7. In fact (spoiler alert), the Z6 is so good that we reckon it's the best mirrorless camera you can buy right now.
2019 has already seen both Sony and Olympus announce new mirrorless cameras in the shape of the Alpha A6400 and OM-D E-M1X, while we can expect some more camera news very soon from both Panasonic and Canon.
While it would be very easy to pick 10 high-end models to make up our best mirrorless camera buying guide, we've tried to pick out some more affordable options as well. These models might not be dripping in features, but they represent great options for new users and those on a budget. That said, if you're looking specifically for a budget mirrorless camera, take a look at our best mirrorless camera for beginners buying guide.
So whether you're after a better camera than the one featured on your smartphone or are looking for an advanced, high-end model to push your creativity even further, read on to find out what are the best mirrorless cameras you can buy right now.
Before we get into our top ten of best mirrorless cameras, let's take a quick look at a camera that doesn't quite make the cut, but represents great value. Scroll down and you'll see the Alpha A7 III from Sony is one of our favorite mirrorless cameras. If your budget can't quite stretch that far, then why not take a look at the model it replaces? Still available (so is the even cheaper Alpha A7), you get an awful lot of camera for your money. This includes a great 24.2MP full-frame sensor, high-resolution electronic viewfinder and a very capable AF system. Handling isn't quite as refined though as the newer camera, but for the incredibly tempting price, this can be overlooked. You'll be hard pressed to find a better camera for your money.
Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A7 II reviewAs we've touched on, 2018 saw the mirrorless camera market really take off, with a flurry of new launches, from entry-level to professional-focused cameras. 2019 should prove just as exciting with Panasonic set to launch its two new Lumix S1R and S1 full-frame cameras, while it'll be interesting to see what Sony does to counteract the new launches from Canon and Nikon. For now though, this is our pick of the best mirrorless cameras in 2019.
Nikon's Z6 rockets straight to the top of our best mirrorless camera charts, and just edging out its closest rival, the Sony Alpha A7 III. There's not much to choose between them, but we reckon the Z6 just nudges it thanks to its brilliant blend of features and performance which makes it a brilliant choice for the enthusiast photographer or pro photographer looking for a second body. The 24.5MP full-frame sensor delivers beautiful results with great color reproduction and detail, while the 273-point AF system (while not quite as sophisticated as the 693-point AF in the A7 III) and 12fps burst shooting should mean you'll never miss another shot. Handling is polished too, while the large and bright electronic viewfinder is a joy to use.
Read our in-depth Nikon Z6 review
The Alpha A7 III may sit on the bottom rung of Sony's full-frame mirrorless camera range, but it should no longer be seen as the poor relation to its pricier siblings. This is a brilliant choice for the enthusiast photographer or pro, and when you look at the specification, it's easy to see why. Sony has taken some of the best bits from its flagship Alpha A9 and A7R III cameras, and distilled them into a single camera that offers a fantastic mix of performance and image quality. The full-frame 24.2MP sensor is excellent in a range of lighting conditions, while the advanced 693-point AF looks set to get even better with a firmware upgrade in April. This is one advanced camera that's at a great price considering the features and performance on offer.
Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A7 III review
Like the sound of the Z6, but want more megapixels? Then the 45.7MP Z7 should do the trick. Sharing an identical design to the Z6, Nikon's first full-frame mirrorless camera is a real triumph. It may be a first-generation camera, but we think Nikon's knocked it out of the park with the Z7 right from the get-go. The densely populated 45.7MP sensor is brilliant, delivering some of the best results we've seen on a mirrorless camera, while the effective in-camera image stabilization also delivers. Factor in a beautiful EVF, excellent handling, very competent AF performance and great response throughout, and it's easy to see why the Z7 is such a pleasure to use.
Read our in-depth Nikon Z7 review
Like the look of the A7 III but want even more pixels? Step forward the 42.2MP Alpha A7R III. It has to be one of the most complete and versatile cameras available today. With a brilliant full-frame 42.2MP sensor, the Alpha A7R III is supported by an advanced 399-point AF system and 10fps burst shooting, proving you no longer have to sacrifice performance for resolution or vice versa. Did we mention it shoots excellent 4K footage as well? This is a camera that would be equally at home perched on a mountain shooting brooding landscapes, in a studio capturing high-end portraits or shooting fast moving sport or wildlife.
Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A7R III review
The X-T2 was one of our favorite cameras for a long time, but the X-T3 improves on it in pretty much every single way. The new 26.1MP X-Trans sensor might not be a massive leap in resolution over the 24.3MP sensor in the X-T2, but noise control is even better. Focusing also takes a leap forward, with a staggering 2.16-million phase detect AF pixels (with a maximum of 425 selectable points) to help the X-T3 track focus smoothly. There's also now touchscreen control, 11fps burst shooting and a number of other improvements, particularly when it comes to shooting 4K video. That's not forgetting the array of body-mounted controls that's all wrapped-up in a tactile body, that all goes to make the X-T3 a brilliant camera.
Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T3 review
Aimed at enthusiast and semi-professional photographers, the Lumix G9 is certainly very competitively priced; you get a lot of camera for your money. Some might view the smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor as a bit of a compromise, but the pay-off is a compact and well-balanced system, and we were thoroughly impressed when we paired the G9 with the 200mm f/2.8 telephoto prime. Throw in 60fps shooting, polished handling and a wealth of advanced features and the Lumix G9 is a brilliant all-round mirrorless camera. Not to mention Panasonic's best mirrorless camera to date.
Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix G9 review
The OM-D E-M10 Mark III might not be a massive leap forward over the Mark II, with much of the camera's specification remaining the same. However, Olympus has refined and tweaked one of our favorite mirrorless cameras to make it an even more tempting proposition for new users and enthusiasts alike. Some will criticise the smaller Micro Four Thirds sensor format (roughly half the area of APS-C) but the effect on image quality is minor and it means that the lenses are as compact and lightweight as the camera itself. Sporting a 5-axis image stabilization system, decent electronic viewfinder, an impressive 8.6fps burst shooting speed and 4K video, it's no toy – the E-M10 Mark III is a properly powerful camera.
Read our in-depth Olympus OM-D E-M10 Mark III review
Like the look of the X-T3 further up, but don't quite want to shell out that much for it? Fujifilm has the answer in the shape of the X-T20, which stills many of the key features of the X-T2 (the camera the X-T3's since replaced) including the excellent 24.3MP sensor and advanced AF system, but into a slightly more compact and affordable camera. The X-T20 feels very similar to its bigger brother in terms of build quality, while the tactile controls and polished handling make it a very satisfying camera to shoot with. The X-T20 will certainly hit the sweet spot for many photographers. If you like the look of the X-T20, but want something a little more compact and easier to use, take a look at the X-T100.
Read our in-depth Fujifilm X-T20 review
The Lumix GH5S is the latest in the line of Panasonic's top-of-the-range GH series of mirrorless cameras, which over the years have carved out a niche for themselves among videographers thanks to their breadth of movie-making features. While it can shoot stills quite happily (although at a pretty limited 10.2MP resolution), this should be seen first and foremost as a video camera – if you want to do both you've got the Lumix GH5 to fill that brief. While the absence of built-in image stabilization might be a disappointment for some, that issue aside the breadth of video features is incredibly impressive. It's certainly the best 4K camera out there before you start considering dedicated professional video cameras.
Read our in-depth Panasonic Lumix GH5S review
You don't have to go full-frame to get the benefit of Sony's great camera technology and this APS-C format model makes a great choice for enthusiasts looking for an alternative to big, heavy DSLR. One of the challenges for CSC manufacturers has been to make their autofocus systems as good as the ones in DSLRs. The A6500's comes very close, especially in bright light; it's able to track moving subjects around the frame and as they move towards or away from the camera. There's also an excellent electronic viewfinder that makes it easy to see when the subject is sharp and correctly exposed. Image quality is very high and there's built-in Wi-Fi and NFC connectivity to allow to share images via a connected smartphone.
Read our in-depth Sony Alpha A6500 review
Best waterproof headphones 2019: the best swimming headphones to take in the pool
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:59:18 +0000
Splish, splash, are you dripping with cash? Waterproof headphones are an absolute must if you're a regular swimmer, letting you add some tunes to your exercise routines no matter how many meters you are underneath the water or waves.
While grabbing a top-notch pair of headphones for dry land is a relatively simple task (do they sound good? Are they comfortable?), swimming headphones require a little more research. You cant just use a pair of waterproof wireless Bluetooth earbuds, as, not only are many not waterproof, but Bluetooth struggles underwater to give a reliable connection.
This has lead to the rise of so-called 'SwiMP3' players, that bundle a waterproof player with a pair of waterproof headphones. You wear the whole device with you in the pool, but there are a couple of complications with this use case.
First off is that these devices need to meet the IPX8 standard, meaning they can be submerged in water that’s at least one meter deep (ideally 3m if you are swimming in deeper pools).
Another thing to bear in mind is that chemicals in the water, especially chlorine, can affect the device’s ability to charge over a period of time. Typically, the charging points can scale up like a kettle especially if you don’t clean them after each swim. This can limit the lifespan of waterproof headphones.
Instead you will need to load music (either MP3 or WMA files) onto the device’s storage via your computer. In order to keep its physical size down, the capacity of SwiMP3 players are usually reasonably small (2GB or 4GB): however, that should be enough to store hundreds of songs, more than enough for even the most dedicated swimming session.
Check out our latest waterproof headphones review: AfterShokz Xtrainerz hands on reviewMost importantly, you will also need a player that can be securely attached to your head so that the force of the water doesn’t knock it off as you are swimming. Generally, players either attach to a pair of goggles or underneath a swim cap depending on the design (the Exeze WMR is the only one for which you will need a special headstrap).
Finally, it’s worth seeing how comfortable you are using these waterproof headphones before you get into the water as they can be slightly cumbersome to set up. Bear in mind too that you may need to stop your music during your swim to talk to other swimmers or the lifeguard.
Here we look at five very different players for the swimming enthusiast looking for entertainment while they exercise.
Check out TechRadar's exhaustive guides to the best headphones to buy today including the best on-ear headphones, the best in-ear headphones and the best over-ear headphones.For some more specialist pairs, take a look at our guides to the best wireless headphones and the best noise-cancelling headphones.
Best waterproof headphones: Finis Duo
Undoubtedly the leading SwiMP3 player on the market, the Duo waterproof headphones come from a US company that’s famous for its high quality swimming accessories. Two colors are available: black/acid green (pictured) and dark grey/mint.
What’s great about the Duo is that it uses bone conduction technology to transmit sound underwater via your cheekbones. This saves you having to fiddle around putting headphones in your ears which can easily come out while you’re swimming.
Large buttons are provided on one of the ear pendants – including fast forward, rewind, shuffle and play/pause – and sound quality is remarkably clear and loud underwater (you can’t use the Duo on land).
Charging is via a magnetic, USB-based dock although you will need to clean the very small charging points on the device out regularly as they can get clogged up.
Best waterproof headphones: Exeze WMR
The second generation player from Exeze, the WMR now comes with a fully waterproof earphones socket.
Various sizes of earplugs are provided but the large white earplugs are recommended for swimming as they can be pushed in further (although we still found they came out when turning in the water and pushing off the wall). Alternatively, you can plug your own waterproof headphones into the 3.5mm audio jack.
To attach the MP3 player there are two options. For running you can use the separate armband provided, while for swimming Exeze offers a separate pair of goggles with a larger headstrap as an optional extra (surprisingly, they are reasonably good quality). Although it is possible to attach to your existing goggles, the player is quite large so it doesn’t stay in place very easily.
Battery life is poorer than with other devices but because Exeze use the audio jack for charging there isn’t the problem of the points becoming damaged as with some MP3 designs. A bank of control is provided for fast forward, rewind, volume up and down. However, as with most underwater MP3 players these are quite fiddly to use in the water.
Unlike the Exeze Rider, sound quality is good both in the water and on land although you will need to turn the volume up while you are swimming. We used the armband for running and found it worked well although we had to use separate earphones as the ones provided have a very short cable.
Best waterproof headphones: i360
The great thing about the i360 SwiMP3 player is that, much like the Exeze WMR, it can be used either on land for running or in the water for swimming – this is more than just a pair of waterproof headphones.
A number of different sized and shaped earbuds are provided (the longer ones for swimming, the shorter ones for land use) and there’s a robust Bulldog style clip for charging the device. The flexible plastic cable wraps around the back of your head with the two black control units lying over the top of each ear.
Underwater, sound quality is much better than we expected using the longer earbuds, although the i360 had to be fastened securely under a cap and goggles to ensure it stays in place. The device’s volume also has to be turned up a lot higher than on land.
One small problem is that the buttons on the top and bottom of one of the control units are very small which makes it difficult to use the fast forward, rewind and play/pause functions during swimming.
Best waterproof headphones: Exeze Rider
The key difference with the Exeze Rider is that it comes with an integrated 3.5mm audio jack so it’s possible to pair with a separate waterproof pair of headphones if you prefer.
The main unit attaches to the back or side of your goggle’s strap with a coiled lead running from the audio jack to the earphones supplied. These are designed to clip around the back of your ears and rotate into position for the optimum listening position.
However, they are quite fiddly to put on in the water which is a major inconvenience (Speedo had a similar, more expensive, product called the Aquabeat which has now been discontinued). During testing we found that the earbuds rotated out of position and that the sound was a little echoey both in the water and on land.
On a positive note there aren’t the potential problems of the charging points becoming scaled up as there are with other products, because charging is via the audio jack rather than exposed connectors.
Best waterproof headphones: Swimbuds
So what happens if you have a waterproof MP3 player that doesn't feature Bluetooth? For you folks we recommend Swimbuds. These in-ear earbuds are more or less the gold standard when it comes to wired headphones in the pool. They're not necessarily the most durable waterproof headphones on the market, but they're relatively inexpensive and are super simple to setup and use.
Best disk cloning software of 2019: Protect yourself from data loss
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:53:30 +0000
Disk cloning is the process of creating an exact, uncompressed replica of your system’s hard drive onto another drive. A related term that sometimes folks use interchangeably, but is not, is the process of disk imaging, which is to backup the hard drive to a compressed file. As hard drives fail more often than we want to admit, all computer users need to prepare for the worst and need disk cloning software.
As well as preparing for a catastrophic failure of a system drive, there are other uses for disk cloning software. A common one is to be able to switch out a system hard drive, such as when upgrading from a mechanical hard drive to an SSD, simply switching to a larger capacity drive, or swapping out a failing drive.
By cloning the drive, it preserves all the system’s data, and installed software, which obviates the need to individually reinstall programs, especially if the software keys are not easily available or lost. Finally, some folks like to periodically clone their hard drive, and keep it in a secure offsite location so if their main system drive bites the dust, they can get their system back to life with a minimal fuss.
Now that we know the ‘what and why’ of cloning a hard drive, we’ll next look into the ‘how,’ as there are plenty of great choices to accomplish this.
We've also highlighted the best hard drives of 2019 as well as the best cloud storage services out there.
Clonezilla
Clonezilla is a venerable freeware program, that makes those lists of the ‘Best Freeware Programs’ time and again. As it has been around for many years, providing reliable service for the lowest cost imaginable, that reputation is deserved, and TechRadar uses it for its guide on how to clone your hard drive.
Showing its Debian Linux roots, Clonezilla can be run from a Clonezilla Live CD, or thankfully from a more modern approach of a USB stick, (as optical media has been withering on the vine for years now, and fewer computers even have an optical drive these days). In addition to disc cloning, Clonezilla offers additional functionality, including disc imaging, and disc partitioning duties.
If you can get past the clunky interface that looks too close to the ‘Blue Screen of Death’ as seen in the screenshot above, there is quite a bit of functionality at no cost.
You can download Clonezilla here
Acronis Disk Director 12
Acronis Disk Director 12 is a software solution that not only offers disk cloning duties, but also a comprehensive suite of disk management software, including creating, formatting and labeling partitions, splitting, resizing and merging of volumes, and also volume recovery. Disks can also be formatted into virtually any format, including FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Exts, Ext3, Reiser3, Linux, and SWAP. It supports all versions of Windows from Windows XP up to the latest Windows 10, but there is no support for Apple or Linux OS’.
There is a demo available, but it is limited in that it only works with a disk volume size of under 100 MB’s, which is hobbled enough to prevent any serious use. The full version is available for a one time fee of $49.99 (£37) for a single PC license, or the better deal is $79.99 (£60) to cover three PC’s.
You can download Acronis Disk Director 12 here
EaseUS Todo Backup 11.0
EaseUs Todo Backup 11.0 is a disk cloning program, that offers a great array of services- even on the free tier. For disk cloning it enables a wide range of cloning activities, including system cloning, hard drive cloning, and partition cloning. It also has an array of backup modes, including full, scheduled and incremental backups.
There is also a Home tier that adds email notifications, offsite copies and file exclusion. This tier can also do Outlook backup and recovery. The Home tier is available for a single user license of $29 (£22).
For business users, there is the top option of the Workstation tier. This adds to all the previous features above, command line backup, central management via the Backup Center, and a license that covers business usage. The Business tier is $39 (£29) for a single user license.
You can download EaseUS Todo Backup 11.0 here
Macrium Reflect 7
Macrium Reflect 7 supports the essential task of direct disk cloning. The free tier features support for restoration of non-booting systems, scheduling backups with flexible templates, and creating live images of a running Windows OS. Notably, unlike most other free licenses, the Free edition is licensed for home and business use.
The Home tier adds the option to encrypt backups, create incremental backups and has ransomware protection for a cost of $69.95 (£52). There is also a Workstation tier that has the additional features of logging events in Windows, and central management using Macrium Site Manager for the price of $75 (£56) per PC, with volume discounts available.
You can download Macrium Reflect 7 here
Paragon Drive Copy 15 Professional
Paragon Drive Copy 15 Professional covers the full range of disk duties, including disk cloning of the entire drive, and advanced activities such as cloning by the partition, and can even resize the partition while copying it, or copy a hard drive to another with a dissimilar sector size.
It also features some cool, additional features, such as being able to create a virtual clone of your PC to a USB drive, that can then run portably from another PC, or creating recovery media to be able to boot a non bootable PC with the included Recovery Media Builder 3.0.
The program can be downloaded for one PC at a cost of $39.95 (£26.99).
You can download Paragon Drive Copy 15 Professional here
Best on-ear headphones 2019: our pick of the best supra-aural cans
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:53:00 +0000
Best On-Ear (Supra-aural) Headphones: Welcome to TechRadar's guide to the best on-ear headphones you can buy in 2019.
Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a classic right? Our favorite part, and the one that's most applicable here, is the part about the beds being too small, too big and finally, after a lot of trial and error, the one that was just right.
In the world of headphones, on-ear headphones (also called supra-aural headphones) are the middle child between bulky over-ear headphones and diminutive in-ear earphones. For most folks, they're just right.
Their name comes from the fact that their cushions sit on, rather than over, your ears. This means they're more compact and can travel with you without taking up a ton of room in your bag. Conversely, they're bigger and more comfortable to wear for long periods than in-ear headphones.
The reason you'd pick this form factor over the other two is that you're a traveler, a commuter or a home listener who needs a bit of noise-cancellation without the bulk of over-ears. It's a winning combination, honestly, and a form factor that we've tested extensively over the years.
To that end, and to help you pick out a great pair of on-ear headphones, we've put together a list of our top-rated on-ear headphone reviews, so that you can do all your research and make a purchase in one place.
What are the best on-ear headphones?
For your money, you can't do any better than Grado's SR60e. The third-generation of the Brooklyn, NY-based company's Prestige Series is its best and most refined yet.
The SR60e in particular is a smart choice if you're looking for an entry-level set of headphones that sounds like it should cost you way more than it does.
Their open-backed ear cup design makes them a more breathable experience than what most on-ear headphones can deliver, although this does mean that they're not ideal for use in loud environments where sound can 'leak' in and disrupt your listening.
That said, in terms of pure sound quality, they're our gold-standard when it comes to on-ears.
(Our review is for the SR60i, but the newer SR60e headphones are largely similar in design and performance)
Read the full review: Grado SR60e
There is a lot to love about the Philips Fidelio NC1 headphones: Not only are they a joy to wear and offer up great sound reproduction, but they're also one of the lightest and most compact ANC headphones around. They're best suited for frequent travellers who don't want to lug massive cans around with them all of the time but also don't want to compromise on sound quality. To that end, they offer superb sound that's balanced and warm and while I would love to see a wireless range, the cable offered in the mix is dextrous enough to not worry about it.
Read the full review: Philips Fidelio NC1
In recent years AKG has dominated the budget and mid-range headphone space. While most other headphones at these price points chase after the bass-addicts, AKG has been content to stick to what it knows best; namely headphones that offer a balanced, refined sound you'd normally find in more expensive cans. With the AKG N60NC Wireless headphones the company appears to be stepping out of its comfort zone a little. The aluminium accented design is more flashy than AKG’s usual fare, and the noise-cancellation combined with wireless operation pushes the N60NCs to the upper end of the company’s normal price points.
Read the full review: AKG N60NC Wireless
The V-Moda XS are the perfect travel buddy for audiophiles. It’s balanced and detail-rich sound is a pleasure to listen to, plus, it’s built like a tank. While the bass could use a little more impact, we had little complain about the sound. However, that said, the XS has a loose fit on the head and barely blocks out any sound, which isn’t ideal for working out or for commuters. If you're a sedentary listener, however, these are great. In terms of competition, the Klipsch Reference On-Ear II are an excellent alternative that can block out more external sound. However, the trade off is the extended and exciting highs of the V-Moda XS as the Klipsch has more high frequency roll-off.
Read the full review: V-Moda XS
If you can afford the steep price, the Master & Dynamic MW50 will not disappoint. These headphones are a simply work of art and feel every bit as expensive as their price commands. They sound great with all types of music and are one of the most comfortable on-ear headphones we’ve ever tested. Those looking for value, however, will want to look elsewhere.
Read the full review: Master & Dynamic MW50
The Klipsch Reference On-Ear II is the follow up to the previous year’s excellent Reference On-Ear model, a previous resident of this list. Admittedly, this year's model doesn’t change much in terms of design or sound – but why fix something that’s not broken?
That said, Klipsch kept it simple with the Reference On-Ear II, concentrating on sound, comfort and portability that will please audiophiles. Only diehard audiophiles will even consider this wired-only headphone after looking at the price tag, but those who value sound and comfort above all else will be happy with the Klipsch Reference On Ear II.
Read the full review: Klipsch Reference On-Ear II
The Samsung Level On Pro Wireless are one of the few headphones we've tested that feel like they're meant as a package deal for another device. Yes they'll work with every Bluetooth and 3.5mm jack-equipped device on the market, but you're better off sticking to a Samsung device in order to squeeze every ounce of aural goodness from the UHQ audio codec.
But it's one of the comfiest pair of cans on the market, and one of the best noise-canceling, too. If it had a better sound quality for the vast majority of cell phone users it would be an easy recommendation but it really makes the most sense at checkout when purchased alongside Samsung's Next Big Thing.
Read the full review: Samsung Level On Pro Wireless Headphones
The Bowers and Wilkins P5 Series 2 aren't the most feature-rich option, but in terms of sheer sound and build quality, they easily raise the bar for the competition to follow.
They look fantastically stylish, and sound just as good. So long as you have the money, there's not much else in the on-ear market that can match this package.
Read the full review: Bowers and Wilkins P5 Series 2
You, like everyone else, probably wants a set of headphones that nails the tricky blend of design, useful features and incredible sound. You might think that you need to flush your savings to enjoy such a pair of cans. Protip: you don't.
The Audio-Technica ATH-S200BT are a well-built, great-sounding, long-lasting pair of headphones. Their features constantly outweigh their modest price and we can’t get enough of that 40-hour battery life. While technological advancements usually mean a premium price, that's just not the case with the Audio-Technica ATH-S200BT.
Read the full review: Audio-Technica ATH-S200BT
While the Samsung Level On Pro Wireless are best paired with a Samsung Phone, the Beats Solo 3 Wireless come into their own when paired with an iOS device thanks to its W1 chip that makes for excellent wireless connectivity.
At first glance, the Solo 3 Wireless appear almost identical to the Solo 2 headphones that proceeded them. The majority of the changes Apple made to its class-leading cans come internally, baking its mobile phone know-how into these headphones to ramp-up their wireless skills and maximise battery life.
In terms of wireless performance, these $299 (£249/AU$399.95) headphones are as reliable as any out there. However, you can get significantly better sound quality at the price. (See: entries one through nine.)
Read the full review: Beats Solo 3 Wireless
Check out TechRadar's exhaustive guides to the best headphones to buy today including the best on-ear headphones, the best in-ear headphones and the best over-ear headphones.For some more specialist pairs, take a look at our guides to the best wireless headphones and the best noise-cancelling headphones. Our guide to the best true wireless earbuds is also here to help with the brand new form-factor. Looking for some headphones you can take in the pool? Check out our guide to the best swimming headphones.
Best Linux laptops of 2019
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:50:29 +0000
Not so long ago, Linux was kind of seen as an outcast operating system, and one that was labelled as a ‘cancer’ by Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft.
Things have changed for Linux, though. Since it launched in September 1991, it’s made some serious inroads in the server market, then in the cloud – not forgetting that it underpins the most popular ecosystem out there: Android on smartphones – not to mention macOS Mojave.
Because none of the main notebook vendors – bar Dell – offer Linux as a base OS option, this leaves other smaller companies the ability to carve a niche for themselves.
We went ahead and gathered up five of the best Linux laptops you can buy today. Note that they’ve been fine-tuned to run a specific flavor of Linux (like Ubuntu, for example).
The most popular Linux gaming distrosThe most popular lightweight Linux distrosThe best Linux distrosThe best free Linux firewalls
Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition
The XPS 13 retains its crown as the undisputed champion of the Ultrabook market, and one can only admire Dell for its unwavering Linux support on a flagship machine.
The laptop is customisable so you can configure it to be suitable for everything from routine office tasks to gaming, depending on how much you’re willing to pay.
If you wish, you can plump for the most expensive XPS 13, which has a 4K (3,840 x 2,160) InfinityEdge touchscreen. The slightly more wallet-friendly configuration runs with a Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) 13.3-inch InfinityEdge non-touch display. It’s also worth bearing in mind that the higher-res screen will tax the GPU and CPU more, and may affect battery life adversely.
As this is touted as a 'Developer' edition, it's surprising there aren't more customisation options. The basic model - which costs $1049.99 at the time of writing - comes with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, and cannot be upgraded during checkout.
The more expensive version allows you to choose between the default 512GB SSD or to pay extra for a 1TB solid-state drive. All models come preinstalled with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and 8th-generation Intel CPUs.
You can buy the Dell XPS 13 here
System76 Serval WS
System76's Serval WS is the ultimate powerhouse of laptops. Available with a 15-inch or 17-inch display, it incorporates an 8th generation Intel Core i7 CPU which is usually found in desktop machines.
The Serval WS is highly customisable incorporating up to 64GB of system RAM and up to 12TB of storage. Buyers are also offered a variety of Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series GPUs, and gamers will further appreciate the choice of either a Full HD or 4K display.
It's clear that a lot of thought and care has gone into the design of the Serval WS, given that each key on the keyboard comes with its own multi-colour backlight. The laptop, like all System76 models, comes preinstalled either with the firm’s own custom POP!_OS or Ubuntu Linux.
This notebook also offers impressive connectivity chops with both USB 3.1 Type-C and Type-A ports (the exact number of ports varies by model). One thing to be aware of is that this laptop is a fairly hefty beast, with the basic 15-inch model weighing 3.4kg and the 17-inch version tipping the scales at 4.17kg.
This heftiness is matched only by the weighty price tag: the base 15-inch model is equipped with a GTX1060 and a relatively basic 8GB of RAM and a 250GB SSD for storage, but costs an eye-watering $1,989 (around £1,515, AU$2,695).
You can buy the System76 Serval WS here
Purism Librem 13
Purism embarked upon a quest to build the most secure laptop ever and (obviously) chose Linux (PureOS) to power the device – it is the only notebook vendor on the market to offer physical kill switches as standard on its laptops.
Instead of going mainstream, the company tapped into the crowdfunding community to gain more than $430,000 (around £300,000, AU$550,000) worth of funding, allowing it to adopt a stricter ethos than most firms when it comes to privacy, rights to free software and security.
The Librem 13 might look and feel like a bog-standard laptop but there's far more to it than meets the eye (for example, the company designed its own motherboards).
In addition, Purism’s commitment to Linux (and security in general) certainly goes beyond most of the vendors on this list.
You can buy the Purism Librem 13 here
System76 Oryx Pro
The Oryx Pro was built for Linux and indeed currently offers a choice of either Ubuntu 16.04 or System76’s own Ubuntu-based Pop!_OS 17.10 on purchase.
The chassis is made from lightweight aluminium with a matte black finish and you even have a choice of display size (15.6 or 17.3-inch). Graphics are provided by GeForce GTX 10 series GPUs and the Oryx packs an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor (with Turbo to 3.8GHz) into its thin frame.
The online store encourages you to customise the Oryx to suit your needs. By default you get 8GB of RAM and a 250GB SSD, but you can pay extra to upgrade to 64GB of system memory with a 2TB SSD if you wish – although the top-end configurations get very expensive here.
You can also choose between Nvidia’s GTX 1060 and GTX 1070 when it comes to the GPU, and it’s possible to add extra drives, or purchase a laptop bag designed to carry and protect your machine. The warranty of the notebook can be extended to provide coverage for three years.
You can buy the System76 Oryx Pro here
System76 Galago Pro
On paper, the Galago Pro from System76 is an absolute beast of a machine, and yet it weighs less than most laptops which also have a 13-inch screen. This is a notebook that rivals the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition, featuring an aluminium chassis, and managing to make space for up to 32GB of RAM (yes, 32GB).
The Galago Pro has two hard drive bays. The 'OS Drive' in the first bay is a 120GB SSD by default but can be specified at up to 2TB when you order. You can also choose to install a second SSD in the other bay of up to 4TB capacity.
If that wasn’t enough, it has a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 3,200 x 1,800, an Ethernet port, an SD card reader, two USB ports and a Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C/mini-DisplayPort connector. In a nutshell, you will be hard pressed to get anything in Windows-land that can deliver this sort of compute power and storage capacity.
You can buy the System76 Galago Pro here
GTX 1660 Ti models from Gigabyte and MSI spotted
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:48:42 +0000
More fuel has been added to the fire in terms of the rumors that Nvidia does indeed have a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti in the pipeline, with listings for various models of such a graphics card from Gigabyte and MSI having been spotted at the EEC website.
The EEC is the Eurasian Economic Commission – a regulatory body of the union between Russia and Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, along with Kyrgyzstan – and Videocardz pointed out the following listings for Gigabyte GPUs:
GV-N166TAORUS-6GDGV-N166TGAMING OC-6GDGV-N166TWF2OC-6GDGV-N166TOC-6GDGV-N166TIXOC-6GDGV-N166TGAMINGOC PROGV-N166TGAMINGOC WHITEGV-N166TGAMING-6GDGV-N166TWF2-6GDGV-N166TD5-6GDGV-N166TIX-6GDAs you can see, these refer to ‘Aorus’ and ‘Gaming’ models, as well as ‘OC’ (overclocked) and ‘Pro’ spins on the cards, and also WindForce (‘WF’).
They shape up pretty much as expected, and these are all along the lines of existing Gigabyte products like the GV-N2070WF3-8GC, which is the firm’s current GeForce RTX 2070 WindForce with 8GB of video RAM (so the 6 at the end of the 1660 Ti GPUs denotes 6GB of on-board memory, as rumored).
Furthermore, the following MSI models were spotted, with a more straightforward naming scheme:
MSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GAMING Z 6GMSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ARMOR 6G OCMSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti VENTUS XS 6G OCMSI GeForce GTX 1660 Ti GAMING X 6G Weight of evidenceThis is the most solid slab of evidence we’ve seen yet that a GTX 1660 Ti is indeed on the way from Nvidia, as incoming hardware products are quite often spotted in EEC listings online, and there are a broad range of authentic sounding models covered here across two GPU vendors.
Indeed, the sheer weight of all this evidence is growing now, and it seems rather more likely that the GPU is imminent, and that the name – which we were always taking with a hefty pinch of salt – might just be on the money after all.
Why the odd seeming GTX 1660 Ti moniker? Confusion abounds on that score, and the truth is no one really knows, although some chatter that we’ve seen online has suggested Nvidia might be looking to remind folks of the GeForce GTX 660 Ti. The latter was a popular card which hit the sweet spot of price, performance and power consumption when it came to GPUs back in the Kepler days. Well, it’s as good a theory as any…
At any rate, speculation points to a February 15 launch for the GTX 1660 Ti. The GPU rumor mill also insists that Nvidia will follow up this card with a vanilla GTX 1660, and a GTX 1650, all of which are intended to be cheaper options for those who don’t want to fork out a lot of cash for an RTX model.
These GTX Turing spins are supposedly based on a TU116 GPU with 1,536 CUDA cores, and won’t have the ray tracing chops seen on the RTX cards, with pricing allegedly set to be pitched at $279 (around £210, AU$390) for the GTX 1660 Ti.
The theory continues that the GTX 1660 will drop the asking price to $229 (around £175, AU$320), and the GTX 1650 will be pitched at $179 (around £135, AU$250). Although even the rumor peddlers admitted that those prices could change before launch.
Further evidence of the existence of the 1660 Ti include a leaked photo of an alleged Nvidia pre-briefing event for third-party graphics card manufacturers, and a benchmark which was spotted that shows the GPU could be around 20% faster than a GTX 1060.
Before we get too carried away, however, it’s still worth underlining that nothing is certain here, and all this remains in the domain of speculation. Still, with the purported launch only a couple of weeks away, we haven’t got long to wait to find out the truth.
These are the best graphics cards of 2019
Best over-ear headphones 2019: the best-sounding, most comfortable cans
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:48:00 +0000
Best Over-Ear Headphones Buying Guide: Welcome to TechRadar's round-up of the best Hi-Fi over-ear headphones you can buy in 2019.
There are plenty of great in-ear headphones on the market, and wireless and true wireless Bluetooth buds. But, if what you're looking for is raw sound performance, then nothing beats the immersion you'll get from a pair of good over-ear headphones.
So, if pristine audio performance matters more to you than a pair of headphones that are wireless or super compact, you can't do better than the headphones you'll find here.
Of course you have to be willing to make some trade-offs. That could mean buying a pair of wired headphones instead of wireless ones, or losing out on features like active noise cancellation so that audio can sound as neutral as possible.
Before you take the plunge it's worth considering what your priorities are. If you're looking for the best wireless headphones and best noise-cancelling headphones guides specifically, we can help you out, but don't feel bad if you're specifically looking for Hi-Fi headphones and don't mind shaving off some of the non-essential features to get it.
This guide will focus on sound quality above all else. There are a couple of wireless and noise-cancelling equipped choices in our list, but that's only because they sound great in addition to packing these great features.
Has something changed since the last time you visited this page? That's completely normal. We're always updating this guide with the best headphones - which, as you can expect, changes frequently. That said, you can expect this guide to be as up-to-date as we can get it on any given day, ensuring that you're getting out top picks all year round. Without further ado, here's our guide to getting the most for your money, whatever your budget.
What are the best over-ear headphones?
While Beyerdynamic may not be as well known as its German brother, Sennheiser, the audio company has a history of creating some of the best sounding audio gear on the market – the company’s DT770, DT880 and DT990 were renown for their excellent build and sound quality.
Above them all, however, stands the Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro, an open-back version of the Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro, a headphone which won our Editor’s Choice for its imaging, design and value for the money. Both headphones are priced the same ($599, £589, AU$1,159), so you won’t find a deal picking up one over the other. The difference here comes down to sound.
As they’re open-back, the DT 1990 Pro are meant to be used at home or in the studio for serious analytical listening. Sound is able to get in and out but the good news is that the open-back design gives you the DT 1990 Pro a great sense of space. Soundstage is quite wide, too, allowing even the most lackadaisical listener to pinpoint the exact location of where each instrument is playing.
If you've been searching for a pair of Hi-Fi headphones that are used by some of the world's leading audio engineers, these are them.
Read the full review: Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro
The Philips Fidelio X2's are a superb pair of headphones offering premium comfort and build quality with a sound that rivals even the most vaunted audiophile cans. Perhaps on sheer sound quality they're a notch off the likes of the top Oppo or Sennheiser offerings – but the fact that you'd be saving vast amounts of cash by opting for the Philips is just a no brainer.
Read the full review: Philips Fidelio X2
The Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pros are a stunning pair of headphones. Are they expensive? To some no, to most yes; but for the sheer listening experience they deliver you'd be hard pressed to take them off after putting them on, even using them with portable HRA players and mobile phones.
That said, they really do push the boundaries of what you can do with a dynamic driver. All praise to Beyerdynamic for putting together such a wonderful product.
Read the full review: Beyerdynamic DT 1770 Pro
The fourth entry on our list easily could've been the first if it didn't cost well over $1,000/£1,000. The Sennheiser HD 800 are, hands down, one of the best-sounding pairs of over-ear headphones on the planet, affectionately praised by inner circles of audiophiles the world over. When paired with the proper hardware, they sound absolutely excellent – balanced in every way.
Unfortunately, they're supremely expensive and require more audio equipment than the average consumer is ready to buy. Should you find yourself in need – or, let's be honest, in want – of amazing over-ear headphones, these are them.
Read the full review: Sennheiser HD 800
If you’re looking for a pair of audiophile headphones that won’t break the bank, the 1MORE Triple Driver over-ear is a great place to start. Its build quality and detailed sound really impress and we think bass-lovers will like the slight mid-bass emphasis and control in the lower registers while not sacrificing the mids or highs. The headphone reveals a good level of detail throughout the frequency range and never get harsh in the upper registers.
To that end, it’s hard to fault the $250 (about £190, AU$338) 1MORE Triple Driver Over-Ear, making them an easy recommendation for the price.
Read the full review: 1MORE Triple Driver Over-Ear
The B&W P9 Signatures are simply some of the best-sounding headphones we’ve ever used. They have a tight, refined sound that offers an almost unmatched level of detail.
That said, the fact remains that they’re a comparatively feature-light pair of cans. If you want to spend less then you can get a much more portable pair that’ll be better suited to the morning commute or a plane ride thanks to additional features like noise-cancellation and Bluetooth connectivity.
But, if you’re looking to invest in a seriously high-quality pair of headphones to listen to a high-quality music collection, then there are few that can match the P9s at this price point.
Read the full review: B&W P9 Signature
An improvement on Sony's existing flagship, the Sony WH-1000XM2 sound great, pack excellent noise-cancellation, and manage to do this all wirelessly.
Other headphones offer better sound quality, longer-range wireless connectivity, or better battery life, but the Sony WH-1000XM2 manage to offer the best balance of features and performance.
It's also got a couple of interesting tricks up its sleeve like a selective noise-cancellation mode that lets in certain useful sounds, and a shortcut that allows you to quickly hear what's going on around you.
Offering all of this without a serious price-premium over the competition means the Sony WH-1000XM2 are a great choice for on-the-go music listeners.
Read the full review: Sony WH-1000XM2
Audiophiles typically shun wireless headphones because of poor sound quality. However, Bluetooth audio has improved tremendously over the years. There are now plenty of wireless headphones that can please the music enthusiast, with Hi-Res Audio support being more and more prevalent.
That said, the Audio-Technica ATH-SR5BT feature some of the best wired and wireless sound quality for a headphone under $200 (£150). They play well with all music genres and offer a near-flat response curve. They're extremely comfortable for long listening sessions and are well built. Battery life is equally impressive with nearly 40 hours of playback from a charge. And while they lack some features of more expensive wireless headphones like active noise cancelling and multi-device pairing, these are tradeoffs worth making for phenomenal sound.
Read the full review: Audio-Technica ATH-SR5BT
The Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless are the best-sounding wireless headphones you can buy, period. Sound is spacious, detailed, and makes you want to rediscover your music library. Their bulky design and average noise isolation make them terrible for travel but if you’re looking for the best sound from a wireless headphone, this is it.
Read the full review: Beyerdynamic Amiron Wireless
After cutting the wires off its flagship cans with the Bose QC35 headphones, Bose's QC35 II are a slightly more minor upgrade. This time the big addition is Google Assistant, which can be summoned with the press of a button.
Otherwise these are more or less the same headphones that we enjoyed the first time around. The QC35s aren't the best sounding out there, but their noise-cancellation is class-leading and if that's your priority then they're a great choice.
Read the full review: Bose QC35 II
If Sony hadn't already blown us all away with the excellent Sony WH-1000XM2, then the Sony WH-1000XM3 would be the best noise-cancelling headphones available today, hands down.
Yes, some subtle tweaks have been made to the WH-1000XM2's design to bring you this latest version, making it lighter than ever and swapping out the microUSB port for USB Type-C.
However, these changes are subtle. So unless you've got cash to splash on the most comfortable and best-looking headphones and travel frequently, you should probably save some money by picking up the Sony WH-1000XM2 – they’re nearly as good and now even less than they were before thanks to a recent price drop.
Read the full review: Sony WH-1000XM3
Overall, Microsoft’s Surface headphones are surprisingly good, with a stunningly warm sound, and generous bass frequencies, which means your music will sound great whether you’re listening to subby hip-hop or acoustic singer-songwriters.
One criticism of this warm sound is that it can take some of the attack away from lower-mid frequencies, which some users may find a bit underwhelming. However, if sharp trebles and mids tend to give you listening fatigue, these could be the perfect headphones for you.
The calling card of these headphones is the active noise cancellation, which we felt worked really well, and we loved how easy it was to control this using the inbuilt dials on each housing.
Although we were initially unconvinced by the high price (particularly when you can buy quality cans from heritage audio brands for less), the features work so seamlessly that it feels justified.
Check out TechRadar's exhaustive guides to the best headphones to buy today including the best on-ear headphones and the best in-ear headphones.For some more specialist pairs, take a look at our guides to the best wireless headphones and the best noise-cancelling headphones.Looking for some headphones you can take in the pool? Check out our guide to the best swimming headphones.Check out our videos below for a roundup of the best headphones available.
Best Wi-Fi extenders of 2019: top devices for boosting your Wi-Fi network
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:40:26 +0000
If your Wi-Fi network isn't reaching every corner of your home or office, then our list of the best Wi-Fi extenders can help.
In this guide, we look at the top products that can boost your wireless signal throughout your home or office, and allow your devices to connect to the internet, no matter how far away they are from your router.
There's little more frustrating than having a Wi-Fi connection that slows down – or drops out altogether – and which leaves your devices without an internet connection, and the best Wi-Fi extenders can help combat this without having to spend a fortune, and without having to resort to routing network cables through your property.
Wi-Fi extenders work by placing them in areas where the Wi-Fi network starts to break down. They connect to the original network, the extend the signal so that you have more wireless coverage.
The best Wi-Fi extenders on this list are worth considering for anyone who lives or works in a large building, as you’ll find that your Wi-Fi network can get weak – or disappear entirely – in the furthest reaches of the building.
For more ways to extend your Wi-Fi network, check out our list of the best wireless mesh routers as well.So, if you want to super-charge your Wi-Fi network, read on for our list of the best Wi-Fi extenders you can buy in 2018.
Over the last few years, Netgear has basically become a household name in the networking world. And, they’ve put their extensive expertise to fantastic use with their AC1200 Wi-Fi Range Extender EX6150. This fantastic extender is a simple device that you can inconspicuously plug right into any electrical outlet, and is our current choice for the best Wifi extender in 2018.
As an added bonus, the EX6150 features quick and simple installation, free of any hassling installation software. Just follow the easy-to-read instructions, and before you can even blink, you’ll have fast and reliable Wi-Fi covering the entire home or office. It’s just that easy.
D-Link's Wi-Fi Dual Band Range Extender (DAP-1520) is tiny and inconspicuous, meaning that while it has extremely robust performance boosting your Wi-Fi network throughout your home or office – it’s virtually invisible to anyone who isn’t explicitly looking for it.
The unassuming and straightforward design does come with some inherent issues, however: it doesn’t feature an Ethernet port for extending a wired connection. Also, contrary to some of the best Wi-Fi extenders, the antennae are internal, and while that does allow it to disappear into the background, it does mean range is somewhat reduced. Despite this, it is still one of the best WiFi extenders money can buy.
Sure, TP-Link is a Chinese networking company that has been slowly been gaining recognition in the west, and with good reason. With devices like the TP-Link RE350 AC1200 Wi-Fi Range extender, it’s easy to see their worth: it does the job well, and it’s cheap. It might not be the fastest Wi-Fi extender in the world, but with the range this extender offers at the price it’s available at it’s a steal. Plus, thanks to an LED signal indicator on the front, installation is simply a breeze.
The Linksys RE6500 AC1200 is an yet another Wi-Fi extender that looks more like a router. The more sturdy design allows Linksys to include four gigabit Ethernet ports, which means that you are empowered to expand your network to internet-connected devices that need an ethernet connection.
It also has an audio output jack which allows you to connect it to speakers or an audio system, allowing you to stream digital music from your PC to your audio receiver. This is a pretty robust and flexible device, and one of the best WiFi extenders for the money.
If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to beef up your Wi-Fi network, and you’re ok with making a few concessions in performance and features, then the D-Link DAP-1320 Wireless N300 Range Extender is a great device for you. This tiny device doesn't include any Ethernet ports, and it doesn't feature dual bands or 802.11ac, presently the fastest form of Wi-Fi.
Still, it is designed well and built to last, and it's a quick, easy and cheap way of bolstering your Wi-Fi network as long as you’re not anticipating too much network traffic.
This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the TP-Link RE350
The Linksys Velop makes a sound argument for a wireless mesh network’s ease of setup. With the aim of replacing both your router and your now-antiquated range extender, the Velop arrives at a time when companies like Google and Netgear are doing the same thing. The main way Linksys hopes to differentiate its contender in the wireless mesh networking space is with a user-friendly setup that anyone with a smartphone can understand. With just a visit to the App Store or Google Play marketplace, you’ll have the Linksys Velop running in a matter of minutes. It's certainly a worthy addition to our list of the best WiFi extenders in 2018.
Read the full review: Linksys Velop
If you’re looking for a great way to upgrade your network to have great coverage no matter where you go in your house, a powerline adapter is a fantastic choice. Not only do they maintain the same functionality that the best Wi-Fi extenders can afford, but the TRENDnet Wi-Fi Everywhere Powerline might just be a dream come true. It may not be aesthetically pleasing, and the price tag may be a tad high, but this unit more than makes up for those issues with sheer performance. And, unlike other powerline adapters, the TRENDnet Wi-Fi Everywhere comes equipped with a clone button that will, well, clone the SSID and WPA key of your network so that it can double as a Wi-Fi extender. An expensive Wi-Fi extender.
Read the full review: Trendnet Wi-Fi Everywhere powerline 1200 AV2
This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Linksys Velop
Best laptops for photographers in 2019: Photo editing in Photoshop
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:36:00 +0000
Welcome to our list of the best laptops for photographers and photo editing. In this guide we look at the best laptops that can help photographers using applications such as Photoshop or GIMP! to edit photos on.
Photo editing software can be pretty intensive, especially if you're working on high resolution raw files and getting stuck in with advanced effects, so you'll want to make sure you get a laptop for photo editing that is powerful enough.
So, dedicated graphics are worth investing in for the best Photoshop laptop, as the graphics card can do a lot of the heavy lifting. You also need to consider how portable you need your laptop to be.
The best laptops for photo editing can rival traditional desktop hardware in the speed stakes, and unlike laptops of old, many boast pixel-perfect displays with stunning color, as well as wide contrast to keep highlight and shadow detail consistently visible.
To make things as easy as possible, we've rounded up the best laptops for Photoshop that take all of that into consideration, so you can find the best Photoshop laptop for your needs.
At the bottom of this guide you'll also see our list of key things photographers need to look out for when buying the best laptop for photo editing.
If you're after the latest and greatest laptop from Apple, then this year's 13-inch Macbook Pro with touchbar is a brilliant choice if you're looking for a laptop to edit photos on. It's the best laptop Apple has ever made, and builds new features into the classic design. Of course the headline feature is the touchbar - it's a thin OLED display at the top of the keyboard which can be used for any number of things, whether that be auto-suggesting words as you type or offering Touch ID so you can log in with just your fingerprint. This makes it an excellent laptop for photographers using Photoshop, as it has a number of Photoshop shortcuts, such as being able to quickly select a color or change the opacity of a layer by swiping your finger, features that all the other laptops on this list lack.
Read the full review: Apple Macbook with touchbar (13-inch 2018)
See more like this: The best Macs and Macbooks 2018
Apple's Retina display revolutionised laptop screen quality – and while the competition now sports Retina-rivalling panels, the MacBook still offers the best viewing experience. Its brightness, contrast, saturation and detail are all sublime, and Apple's factory colour calibration is the most accurate. Although its 2.7GHz processor is technically faster than the dual-core chips in the Dell and Microsoft laptops on test here, real-world performance is almost identical, and nothing very special. Our MacBook configuration lasted a mighty 12 hours 12 minutes in our video loop test, thrashing all but the Surface Book. It may be an obvious choice, but this is still a brilliant all-rounder.
Read the full review: Apple MacBook Pro 13" Retina
If you're looking for a larger and more powerful laptop for photo editing, then the Dell XPS 15 could be for you. Packing the same InfinityEdge technology as the smaller XPS 13, the screen extends right to the edge of the machine which means it's as small as it's possible to make a 15-inch laptop. It's quite pricey though, depending on which version you get. The very top end version has a 4K color-accurate display, which makes it one of the best laptops for photo editing. You'll be able to see your photos in crisp detail as you edit them, and the impressive specifications means it will keep up with edits you make to the largest photos in your collection. A new version of the Dell XPS 15 is coming out in 2018, which looks set to further improve this already excellent laptop.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 15
The Surface Book 2 is Microsoft's followup to its popular 2-in-1 device, and it remains an excellent laptop for photo editing, and with a full version of Windows 10 installed, it can run Photoshop with any issues. It comes with boosted components, and its screen remains gorgeous. Only Apple's marginally better colour calibration gives the MacBook's image quality the edge, but Microsoft fights back with a superior 3,000 x 2,000 resolution and an ideal aspect ratio for viewing APS-C and full-frame images. The screen's touch-sensitive, but its real party trick is its ability to detach from the rest of the laptop to become a tablet. It's a shame that the Surface Pen stylus doesn't come included, as we'd definitely recommend buying that to accompany this excellent photo editing laptop.
Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Book 2 (13.5-inch)
If you're looking for the very best Windows laptop for running Photoshop on, then the HP ZBook Studio G4 DreamColor is definitely worth considering, though be prepared to spend quite a bit of cash. The highest-end model features a stunning 15.6-inch 4K DreamColor screen that can be easily calibrated to ensure that colors are as accurate as possible - essential for photo editing on Photoshop. An Intel Xeon CPU, 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD and NVIDIA Quadro M1200 dedicated graphics with 4GB VRAM means this is an incredibly fast laptop as well. The keyboard isn't the best, but otherwise this is a simply brilliant machine, and easily one of the best laptops for Photoshop on the market today.
Read the full review: HP ZBook 15 G4 review
As with most of Dell's laptops you can configure the Precision 7720 to meet your needs, and we recommend that, as the base spec is a bit under-powered for Photoshop. However, by boosting the processor, screen and GPU of this laptop you'll get an excellent laptop for Photoshop. The 17-inch screen (which can be upgraded to 4K), is brilliant for photo editing, but it does mean that it's a bit larger and heavier than other machines on our best laptop for Photoshop list.
This laptop's claim to fame is being the smallest 13.3-inch laptop on the market. It's slim screen bezel helps contribute to a svelte 304mm x 200mm x 15mm form that needs to be held to be truly appreciated. The XPS 13's screen is touch-sensitive, and it boasts a similar resolution and pixel density to the MacBook and Surface Book. Image quality is more in line with the ZenBook though, falling slightly short on colour and contrast intensity compared to Apple and Microsoft's displays. A highly portable package with little compromise other than battery life.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 13
The ThinkPad T-series is a no-nonsense design with a focus on robustness over style. Even so, the T460s' 18.8mm thickness is within 1mm of the MacBook, and it's actually lighter at 1.4kg. But despite packing an identical processor to the Surface Book, the T460s' Cinebench score was 30% slower, making it the slowest on test. While the Full HD screen looks good in isolation, colour saturation and contrast are noticeably more muted than the competition, and it's less crisp. On the up side, it's got the rare addition of an anti-reflective coating. Good, but the same money can buy you a better screen and more power.
Read the full review: Lenovo ThinkPad T460s
Key things to look out forWatch the video above for the top 7 things to consider when buying a laptop.
It's easy to get bogged down in the tech and spec soup of computer terminology, but there are a couple of key areas photographers need to think about.
The first is the quality of the screen. This used to be more eye-sore than eye-candy, with appalling contrast and viewing angles, but thankfully IPS display tech fixes this and you shouldn't settle for anything less.
An SSD (solid state drive) is a must as your primary storage in any new laptop. A conventional hard disk drive will bottleneck performance like flat tires on a Ferrari, and while dedicated graphics cards are great for gaming, they're not a necessity here. Today's processors can fill in for them, and they pack enough pixel-pushing punch for photo editing.
The MacBook is favoured by many photographers, and for good reason. But don't rule out comparably priced laptop PCs, which can offer more bang per buck with better upgradability.
Want more choices? Check out our list of the best laptop 2018
Lumix S1R and S1 set to be officially launched on January 31
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:34:39 +0000
The wait is almost over – the Panasonic Lumix S1R and S1 are expected to be officially launched on January 31 according to rumors.
Panasonic announced the development of its first full-frame mirrorless cameras at Photokina in September last year, and recently gave us a sneak preview of some of the tech both cameras will use at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Now though, it looks like we're about to get the full lowdown on both cameras, including the full specification and price for the Lumix S1R and Lumix S1.
Lumix S1R can take 187MP imagesWe're also seeing more leaks coming out head of the launch, including rumors that the Lumix S1R can shoot 187MP images in a special Hi-Res mode, with the camera required to be on a tripod.
According to L-rumors.com, this is Panasonic's explanatory text for the High Res mode:
Taking advantage of the Body Image Stabilizer. (I.S.) mechanism, eight consecutive images are automatically shot while shifting the sensor. These eight images are synthesized into a single image by the new Venus Engine, which boasts high-speed signal processing. Precise details are faithfully reproduced to be saved as a beautiful, highly realistic image. This mode is ideal for shooting natural landscapes or fine art objects with delicate details.
Finally, images have leaked out that appear to show a new 70-200mm f/4 zoom lens for the Lumix S1R and S1, and not a fast f/2.8 optic as some people had predicted.
We'll be bringing you all the news on the launch of the Lumix S1R and S1, as well as the accompanying lenses, as soon as we get it.
Panasonic Lumix S1R and S1: everything we know so far
"Backing up" the world's artistic and cultural heritage
Wed, 30 Jan 2019 10:30:14 +0000
Google “Rembrandt Self-Portrait” and you will be treated to an array of images, including the famous “Self-Portrait at Age 34” from The National Gallery. Similar visual compilations follow nearly any arts search, whether for the record-setting David Hockney painting or 6th century statuary, like the “Buddhas of Bamiyan.”
Most of us hardly remember a time before the internet brought the world’s art to any connected device. Moreover, we rarely consider the technology and maintenance behind the growing online collections of artistic and cultural heritage pieces from around the globe.
The “Buddhas of Bamiyan” are a cautionary tale. The figures, carved into a cliff in Afghanistan, were dynamited by the Taliban in 2001. Overt destruction is only one of art’s major threats, which range from natural disaster to theft. Just last year, Brazil’s National Museum was destroyed by fire and some 20 million irreplaceable items of scientific, cultural, and artistic interest were lost.
Many organisations are turning to digitalisation to preserve art for the ages, at least in some form. The Tate Gallery, for instance, has made at least 65,000 works available online, the Courtauld Institute is electronically archiving its 3.3 million pieces, and the British Library digitised the 1660 Klencke Atlas, which stands over a head high, among other priceless medieval manuscripts.
Behind all of this activity stands sophisticated technology, housed in data centres that may be cloud-based, on-premises, or in collocated facilities. Data centre maintenance is, therefore, playing a critical role in the arts and humanities.
An ongoing cost considerationAlthough Big Tech with big pockets is taking on some of the burden—as with a Google collaboration with The New York Times to preserve its photographic archives—not all players in the cultural space are comfortable engaging in such partnerships, nor are such opportunities always on offer. Digitisation and archiving remain fragmented, with even luminaries like the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., pursuing their own directions.
Much attention is often given to digitisation milestones and technical advances, such as 3D digitisation solutions or the use of wearable sensors to record the details of dance in ways film cannot approach. Less often publicised are the challenges in maintaining art’s digital incarnations, a cost centre that must be budgeted year after year.
Even cold storage demands upkeep, and the accessible collections most institutions are striving to put at the world’s fingertips require much the same high-availability systems as their private sector counterparts. The barriers for non-profits and arts enterprises in general are, however, much different.
Museums, foundations, academic institutes, studios, galleries, and other arts and humanities organisations almost always money hungry. This means the digital forms of our most precious artworks and artifacts will often reside on older hardware than our spam email. Thus long-term, especially post-warranty, IT hardware maintenance will continue to be an essential contributor to the preservation, security, and accessibility of global treasures. Specific advantages include:
1. Extending Hardware Lifespan
Many art and cultural institutions lack the capital budget to update essential hardware as often as corporations do, and they will often rely on equipment the manufacturer has declared “end of support life.” Alternatively, third party maintenance arrangements then become essential in ensuring this aging storage, server, and networking hardware remains reliable. In addition, strategic upgrades can increase capacity and improve performance at a fraction of the cost of new equipment. Such services provide options for managing a limited capital budget common among government and philanthropy funded organisations.
2. Supplementing In-House Expertise
Arts institutions boast deep benches of specialist professionals, from historians to preservationists, but rarely does the staff run to experts in hardware maintenance. Tapping outsourced providers frees senior leaders from deep involvement in IT maintenance strategy and oversight, which they may be ill-suited to manage. After setting appropriate service levels, they can be hands-off about how expectations are ultimately met, leaving the details to the support provider.
3. Guaranteeing Backup and Disaster Recovery
Digitisation can only “back up” physical collections if the digital records are themselves protected from loss. While many organisations prepare disaster recovery plans, most find it difficult to sustain them as living documents, with processes and off-site data restoration subject to regular testing, assessment, and improvement. This is another area where outside resources, such as Data-Protection-as-a-Service (DPaaS) offerings, are filling in gaps in internal capabilities.
Arts and cultural institutions may soon vie for technology partnerships with the same alacrity as they do research grants. We would suggest that a new day of philanthropy may be upon us, with tech-savvy donors finding ways to endow long-term digitisation and maintenance solutions to keep our world’s treasures safe and accessible far into the future.
Paul Mercina, Head of Innovation at Park Place Technologies
We've also highlighted the best disaster recovery services
best wireless hard drives
ReplyDeleteG-Technology 12TB Raid Drive in UAE, G-RAID Removable Thunderbolt3 Raid Drive in UAE, USB3.0 Raid Drive in UAE
ReplyDeletehttps://gccgamers.com//g-technology.html
G-Technology 12TB Drive in UAE, Safe Shopping Multiple Payment Options Express Delivery GCC Gamers Moneyback Guarantee.
1634874658504-7