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New games of 2018

Your to-play list of 2017 may be towering over your head in a Damoclesian manner every time you sit on your sofa but still you can’t help but keep an anticipatory eye on what’s coming next. We know, no judgement – we also have that problem. There’s so much good stuff available right now, but there are also a lot of great games still to come and it just won’t do to let them pass you by. To help you know which titles you should be keeping a weather eye on over the next year, we’ve put together this useful guide. Whether you're playing on PC, PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch, you'll find something in this list. Not every one of these games has a pinned down release date just yet, but they’re the titles slotted to come at some point in the next year. What can I play it on? PS4, Xbox One, PC When can I play it? March 27 2018 Far Cry 5 has caused some controversy before it’s even been released thanks to its close-to-home setting of Montana, America. When the small town of ...

Apple to fast track discount battery packs for slowed, older iPhones

Following the reveal that Apple has been slowing down older iPhones as their batteries aged , Tim Cook's company has now announced that it will be immediately offering discount replacement battery packs for those affected. Originally, Apple had believed that the discounted batteries would not be available until late January. But as the severity of the situation has risen, Apple appears to have been able to speed up the process. The batteries would normally cost $79 when not under warranty, but are to be offered for $29 instead. The company has stressed that the replacements may initially be in short supply, however. Conspiracy theorists “We expected to need more time to be ready, but we are happy to offer our customers the lower pricing right away,” said Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller. It's been a damaging week for Apple in the eyes of its customers. While its reasoning for slowing down older devices (extending their lifespan) may be sound, the delayed lack of transparenc...

You're not crazy – in some ways your old PC was faster than your new one

Your brand new laptop blitzes the one you had five years ago in almost all of the important metrics, but computer engineer Dan Luu has spent some time confirming what many of us long suspected. There is one area where newer hardware lags behind older gear: latency. That's the time it takes for a press on the keyboard to show up on the screen, and Luu found that the Apple IIe, first launched in 1983, beat out a collection of more modern computers with its latency response of 30 milliseconds . A 2014 MacBook Pro was lagging behind on 100ms, while a Windows machine running an Intel i7 processor took 200ms. To gather his stats, Luu set up a camera in slow-motion mode fixed on the keyboard and computer screen, and ran each test several times to get an accurate average. He also tested several mobile devices, with the iPad Pro coming out on top with 30ms and iOS devices largely outperforming their Android counterparts. All about the complexity So why do older computers register key ...

Apple in 2017: selling Macs and causing heart attacks with security lapse

How did things go for Apple in 2017? This is our report card for the company which will discuss the highpoints and the low ebbs which respectively buoyed and buffeted Tim Cook’s firm throughout the year. Although note that we’re just talking about the computing front here, and our report won’t go beyond the scope of Apple’s computers and notebooks, plus related software, (so there’ll be nothing on the mobile front, i.e. the iPhone and iPad). Security shambles We’ll begin our evaluation of Apple’s year in computing on the software front, considering the recent high profile security shenanigans which have clearly damaged the company’s reputation as 2017 draws to a close. Traditionally, Apple likes to be known for its ironclad security and the safe havens of its walled ecosystems. Macs have always been viewed as a far safer proposition than Windows PCs, if only because as a relatively niche OS in comparison to Microsoft’s, it’s less often targeted by malware peddlers. But the threat ...

The best Sky TV deals, packages and Sky Q offers in the January sales 2018

The best cheap TV deals in the January sales 2018: 4K TVs for any budget

There's still time to find that perfect cheap TV deal as retailers continue to provide plenty of last-minute bargains. Better yet, we've done the hard work and unleashed our bargain hunting skills just for you. So take a look at our carefully curated picks of the best prices on a range of cheap TVs from a wide collection of reliable retailers. Our extensive guide looks at a range of sizes and shows the best prices on TVs for any budget. We've discovered some stunning prices on Ultra HD 4K TV deals. Now's a great time to upgrade, especially with Netflix, Amazon, BBC and Sky all increasing their 4K content. Brilliantly, HDR 4K TVs are nowhere near as expensive as you might think and have come down in price much faster than HD sets did. It's a real buyers market at this time of year too - and our scouts have noticed that the prices are still dropping today (and we've updated the list below with the new costs). We're only talking up to £50, but that's s...

The best cheap Fitbit deals in the January sales 2018

Cheap Fitbit deals are still going strong at this time of year, meaning the world can stay healthy in a cost-effective way. The fitness tracker is sometimes hard to find on discount, we'd grab any deal you can find. Inexpensive Fitbit sales do exist, however, and we’ve had our collective noses to the ground in search of the lowest prices for Fitbit’s range of wearables. If you’re in need of a healthy change, start here to find your match. While the Fitbit Flex 2 offers a sporty look, the Fitbit Alta offers something else entirely. On the wrist, the Alta is a fetching, form-fitting fitness tracker that looks more like a bracelet. But don't let its looks fool you too much. Underneath, it packs in the same Fitbit smarts, like step, exercise and sleep tracking functionalities. To top it off, the battery life is astoundingly good. On the downside, the small display doesn't show off nearly as much info as the Fitbit Charge 2, nor is it as responsive to the touch. However, if f...