Samsung Galaxy Sport smartwatch close to launch as it's certified... again

Samsung is heavily rumored to be introducing a new smartwatch alongside the Galaxy S10, and now we've seen even more evidence that this will be the case as a device codenamed Pulse has been spotted going through the certification process in Taiwan.

Following on from US and South Korean certification we've previously seen, the latest evidence for an impending launch comes from a Taiwanese NCC listing that includes the device.

We've seen the codename Pulse a lot in Samsung documentation, where it refers to a wearable device from the company, and this device is currently rumored to be launching as the Samsung Galaxy Sport or possibly the Galaxy Watch Active.

Another Galaxy

There's no clear sign of what specs and features the watch will include from the listing, but we've previously heard that it's set to sport all of the same tech as the Samsung Galaxy Watch, such as GPS, NFC and other connectivity options, as well as Tizen software.

It will likely come in four colors - those are black, silver, green and gold - as well as including 4GB of storage for apps and music. There's also rumored to be more advanced Bixby support than what we saw on last year's Samsung Galaxy Watch.

Alongside this, we're also expecting to hear about two new Samsung Galaxy Fit fitness trackers soon and perhaps even four versions of the new Samsung Galaxy S10 line of phones.

Samsung is hosting an event on February 20 in San Francisco so we may hear about the Samsung Galaxy Sport there, or we may have to wait a few more days for MWC 2019 at the end of February.

• Samsung Galaxy Sport - what we know so far

Via DroidShout

http://bit.ly/2TtrL4N

Returns misery? How IT can underpin a seamless January returns process

Recent research has revealed that one in four Christmas gifts will be returned early this year, worth around £4.8 billion of the estimated £19 billion in online sales over the festive period, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.  

Barclaycard research suggests a quarter of retailers (26 per cent) have seen a rise in returns in-store and online since 2016, with the number of returned items up by 22 per cent on average.  

Returns put a significant amount of pressure on retailers, resulting in reduced revenue alongside the challenge of stock management. Siloed IT systems between applications, branches and warehouses can result in a disjointed approach to inventory reporting, negatively impacting the customer experience and potentially harming sales and customer loyalty.   

2018 was a challenging year for retailers, with sales at brick-and-mortar retail stores falling 1.9 per cent in December on a like-for-like basis – the worst year-on-year monthly sales fall in over a decade.  

With economic growth flat-lining - alongside Brexit on the horizon - markets are as uncertain as they’ve ever been. Consumers are being cautious with their spending, seeking the best deals where they can find them, driving up competition.   

With that in mind, the customer experience is as critical as a retailer’s pricing strategy. Connected data, up-to date stocklists and a quick and seamless purchasing process must all be staples in any retailer’s diet.  

The returns challenge

There is no shortage of tech applications and systems in the market today to support retailers. Any store - digital or physical - could be managing a multitude of IT systems from physical in-store point-of-sale (POS) systems, e-commerce platforms and warehousing applications to billing, customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource management (ERP) solutions. Yet for a business to fully harness the potential of these systems and applications - and deliver a first-class customer experience - they must be able to talk to each other, share data and help the business glean better intelligence into its customer-base.  

Cloud-based integration platforms provide a simple, user-friendly way to integrate applications and data without the cost and complexity of clunky solutions that require custom coding. Retailers will benefit from a platform that can connect any combination of best-of-breed cloud applications with legacy on-premise systems (and with each other) - transforming themselves into more transparent, experience-driven organisations focused on delivering a superior customer journey.

Online growing pains

The growth in online shopping - alongside this deluge of on and offline returns - has put extra strain on retailers, with limited time in order to process orders, track refunds and update stocklists to ensure accurate and up-to-date listings. January always sees a peak in shoppers, whether they’re buying or returning gifts - and retailers must ensure their online sites are ready for this surge in visitors, with their teams and IT systems also able to scale quickly to support changes in demand. 

We’ve already seen examples of online retailers being struck down during crucial times for their customers. Recently, during its famed Amazon Prime Day, Amazon was hit by stark technical glitches that could have cost the company around $90m. Argos also saw its website go down shortly before the launch of its Black Friday sale in 2016, with the UK retailer citing “high demand” as a factor contributing to the outage.

Delivering in an omni-channel era 

Such outages and IT failures can have a clear impact on customer loyalty, as well as the immediate loss in sales, with a whole host of rivals ready to step in at any given moment. Whether it’s the website going down, unavailable stock or a poor user experience, all of these aspects can affect customer allegiance. After all, why would you go back to a store when you’ve received a below par service?  

With online and mobile shopping expected to rise again this year, ensuring a seamless customer experience that’s channel-agnostic is even more key for retailers seeking to transform a good experience into a great one.  

Linking multi-channel orders and customer records together - to bring a single view to marketing and support services - enables retailers to deliver more personalised experiences for their customers. They can also deliver accurate, real-time inventory data across ecommerce and physical stores to influence online purchasing and help ‘save sales’. With automated updates, shoppers aren’t left disappointed by incorrect stock displays causing delays, late deliveries or even missing out on products they want.  

In fact, the provision of live visibility into inventories enables retailers to significantly enhance demand planning and streamline stock replenishment processes – keeping more accurate tabs on what’s selling and what needs a promotional boost.

While a large amount of festive gifts will be returned this year, ensuring people, processes and data are integrated is key for retailers seeking to deliver a seamless, connected customer experience. Those most connected of retailers will be best placed to ride out the storm.

Derek Thompson, VP of EMEA, Dell Boomi

• We've also highlighted the best e-commerce platforms

http://bit.ly/2BbeBSS

Returns misery? How IT can underpin a seamless January returns process

Recent research has revealed that one in four Christmas gifts will be returned early this year, worth around £4.8 billion of the estimated £19 billion in online sales over the festive period, according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research.  

Barclaycard research suggests a quarter of retailers (26 per cent) have seen a rise in returns in-store and online since 2016, with the number of returned items up by 22 per cent on average.  

Returns put a significant amount of pressure on retailers, resulting in reduced revenue alongside the challenge of stock management. Siloed IT systems between applications, branches and warehouses can result in a disjointed approach to inventory reporting, negatively impacting the customer experience and potentially harming sales and customer loyalty.   

2018 was a challenging year for retailers, with sales at brick-and-mortar retail stores falling 1.9 per cent in December on a like-for-like basis – the worst year-on-year monthly sales fall in over a decade.  

With economic growth flat-lining - alongside Brexit on the horizon - markets are as uncertain as they’ve ever been. Consumers are being cautious with their spending, seeking the best deals where they can find them, driving up competition.   

With that in mind, the customer experience is as critical as a retailer’s pricing strategy. Connected data, up-to date stocklists and a quick and seamless purchasing process must all be staples in any retailer’s diet.  

The returns challenge

There is no shortage of tech applications and systems in the market today to support retailers. Any store - digital or physical - could be managing a multitude of IT systems from physical in-store point-of-sale (POS) systems, e-commerce platforms and warehousing applications to billing, customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource management (ERP) solutions. Yet for a business to fully harness the potential of these systems and applications - and deliver a first-class customer experience - they must be able to talk to each other, share data and help the business glean better intelligence into its customer-base.  

Cloud-based integration platforms provide a simple, user-friendly way to integrate applications and data without the cost and complexity of clunky solutions that require custom coding. Retailers will benefit from a platform that can connect any combination of best-of-breed cloud applications with legacy on-premise systems (and with each other) - transforming themselves into more transparent, experience-driven organisations focused on delivering a superior customer journey.

Online growing pains

The growth in online shopping - alongside this deluge of on and offline returns - has put extra strain on retailers, with limited time in order to process orders, track refunds and update stocklists to ensure accurate and up-to-date listings. January always sees a peak in shoppers, whether they’re buying or returning gifts - and retailers must ensure their online sites are ready for this surge in visitors, with their teams and IT systems also able to scale quickly to support changes in demand. 

We’ve already seen examples of online retailers being struck down during crucial times for their customers. Recently, during its famed Amazon Prime Day, Amazon was hit by stark technical glitches that could have cost the company around $90m. Argos also saw its website go down shortly before the launch of its Black Friday sale in 2016, with the UK retailer citing “high demand” as a factor contributing to the outage.

Delivering in an omni-channel era 

Such outages and IT failures can have a clear impact on customer loyalty, as well as the immediate loss in sales, with a whole host of rivals ready to step in at any given moment. Whether it’s the website going down, unavailable stock or a poor user experience, all of these aspects can affect customer allegiance. After all, why would you go back to a store when you’ve received a below par service?  

With online and mobile shopping expected to rise again this year, ensuring a seamless customer experience that’s channel-agnostic is even more key for retailers seeking to transform a good experience into a great one.  

Linking multi-channel orders and customer records together - to bring a single view to marketing and support services - enables retailers to deliver more personalised experiences for their customers. They can also deliver accurate, real-time inventory data across ecommerce and physical stores to influence online purchasing and help ‘save sales’. With automated updates, shoppers aren’t left disappointed by incorrect stock displays causing delays, late deliveries or even missing out on products they want.  

In fact, the provision of live visibility into inventories enables retailers to significantly enhance demand planning and streamline stock replenishment processes – keeping more accurate tabs on what’s selling and what needs a promotional boost.

While a large amount of festive gifts will be returned this year, ensuring people, processes and data are integrated is key for retailers seeking to deliver a seamless, connected customer experience. Those most connected of retailers will be best placed to ride out the storm.

Derek Thompson, VP of EMEA, Dell Boomi

• We've also highlighted the best e-commerce platforms

http://bit.ly/2BbeBSS

Moto G7 Plus live images spill out 27W fast charge support and OIS

Motorola's upcoming G7 series has been subjected to numerous leaks and rumours from the past couple of months. Earlier last week, nearly all the specifications of the G7 smartphones were leaked on the Internet and now the high-end variant Moto G7 Plus has been spotted in the wild. 

Live images of the Moto G7 Plus surfaced on a closed Facebook group for Brazilian Motorola fans, which reveal some interesting features of the smartphone. Courtesy of the upper-plastic layer of the phone's display, it can be confirmed that the Moto G7 Plus will have Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) for its 16MP primary camera. The G7 Plus is rumoured to have twin cameras on the back, the second one being the 5MP depth sensor.

TurboPower fast charge to get a boost

Another interesting tidbit that we can gather from the leak is that the G7 Plus supports 27W TurboPower fast charging. Usually, OEMs provide a 15W fast-charging adapter with the phones in-the-box but it seems that is getting bumped up to the 27W adapter.

Other specifications of the phone such as the 6.2-inch Full HD+ (2270 x 1080 pixels) display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor were also confirmed with the latest leak. The octa-core CPU is clocked at 1.8GHz and come with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM backed by 64GB internal storage.

For selfies, the Moto G7 Plus is expected to have a 12MP camera on the front.

The Moto G7 with G7 Plus, G7 Play and G7 Power will be released in the coming weeks as we head into the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019. 

• Moto G7 Plus release date, price, news and leaks

http://bit.ly/2sXBEf9

Want to test the next big Windows 10 (19H2) update? You can sign up now

Microsoft has opened the doors for those Insiders who want to ‘skip ahead’ and go straight to early testing of the next big update of Windows 10 which is due to land in late 2019 (19H2).

This isn’t surprising, considering earlier this week, we heard that Microsoft is preparing to roll out 19H2 builds of Windows 10 to testers in just a few weeks (and indeed an internal build – version 18823 – was spotted recently, too).

Current testing is on 19H1, the update due to arrive in the first half of this year – probably April – and those skipping ahead to test the next major Windows 10 upgrade can expect to encounter lots of bugs early on, as ever.

If you wish to skip ahead to 19H2, you better get on board now, as places are limited and they tend to disappear quickly. You can opt-in following the instructions as tweeted by Microsoft below.

The enrolment process actually went live late yesterday, which again underlines the urgency with which you’ll need to move if you want to get in.

Bug ahead

That said, apparently when the gates were officially opened, a bug was present that meant plenty of folks couldn’t see the option to sign up for ‘skip ahead’. At the time, Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Program Manager on the Windows Insider team, acknowledged there was a problem and said Microsoft was looking into it.

Shortly after, however, he said the issue was resolved, so all should hopefully be fine by now. If you’re still not getting the option to join ‘skip ahead’, you could always try rebooting (that age-old solution to everything).

Mind you, the bug just might have worked in some people’s favor, in terms of slowing down the number of testers who have managed to subscribe in the last 12 hours, and maybe giving you a better chance of getting in today.

• Some of the best laptops of 2019 run Windows 10

Via Windows Central

http://bit.ly/2MH9oXo

Samsung Galaxy Sport smartwatch close to launch as it's certified... again

Samsung is heavily rumored to be introducing a new smartwatch alongside the Galaxy S10, and now we've seen even more evidence that this will be the case as a device codenamed Pulse has been spotted going through the certification process in Taiwan.

Following on from US and South Korean certification we've previously seen, the latest evidence for an impending launch comes from a Taiwanese NCC listing that includes the device.

We've seen the codename Pulse a lot in Samsung documentation, where it refers to a wearable device from the company, and this device is currently rumored to be launching as the Samsung Galaxy Sport or possibly the Galaxy Watch Active.

Another Galaxy

There's no clear sign of what specs and features the watch will include from the listing, but we've previously heard that it's set to sport all of the same tech as the Samsung Galaxy Watch, such as GPS, NFC and other connectivity options, as well as Tizen software.

It will likely come in four colors - those are black, silver, green and gold - as well as including 4GB of storage for apps and music. There's also rumored to be more advanced Bixby support than what we saw on last year's Samsung Galaxy Watch.

Alongside this, we're also expecting to hear about two new Samsung Galaxy Fit fitness trackers soon and perhaps even four versions of the new Samsung Galaxy S10 line of phones.

Samsung is hosting an event on February 20 in San Francisco so we may hear about the Samsung Galaxy Sport there, or we may have to wait a few more days for MWC 2019 at the end of February.

• Samsung Galaxy Sport - what we know so far

Via DroidShout

http://bit.ly/2TtrL4N

Moto G7 Plus spy shots out 27W fast charging and OIS support

Last week nearly all the specifications for four new Moto G7 phones were leaked, and now the high-end variant - the Moto G7 Plus - has been spotted in the wild. 

Images of the Moto G7 Plus surfaced on a closed Facebook group for Brazilian Motorola fans, and revealed some interesting features for the smartphone. 

Courtesy of the upper-plastic layer of the phone's display, it can be confirmed that the Moto G7 Plus will have Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS) for its 16MP primary camera. The G7 Plus is rumoured to have twin cameras on the back, the second one being the 5MP depth sensor.

TurboPower fast charge to get a boost

Another interesting tidbit that we can gather from the leak is that the G7 Plus supports 27W TurboPower fast charging. Usually, OEMs provide a 15W fast-charging adapter with the phones in-the-box but it seems that is getting bumped up to the 27W adapter.

Other specifications of the phone such as the 6.2-inch Full HD+ (2270 x 1080 pixels) display and Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor were also confirmed with the latest leak. The octa-core CPU is clocked at 1.8GHz and come with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM backed by 64GB internal storage.

For selfies, the Moto G7 Plus is expected to have a 12MP camera on the front.

The Moto G7 with G7 Plus, G7 Play and G7 Power will be released in the coming weeks as we head into the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2019. 

• Moto G7 Plus release date, price, news and leaks

http://bit.ly/2sXBEf9

Want to test the next big Windows 10 (19H2) update? You can sign up now

Microsoft has opened the doors for those Insiders who want to ‘skip ahead’ and go straight to early testing of the next big update of Windows 10 which is due to land in late 2019 (19H2).

This isn’t surprising, considering earlier this week, we heard that Microsoft is preparing to roll out 19H2 builds of Windows 10 to testers in just a few weeks (and indeed an internal build – version 18823 – was spotted recently, too).

Current testing is on 19H1, the update due to arrive in the first half of this year – probably April – and those skipping ahead to test the next major Windows 10 upgrade can expect to encounter lots of bugs early on, as ever.

If you wish to skip ahead to 19H2, you better get on board now, as places are limited and they tend to disappear quickly. You can opt-in following the instructions as tweeted by Microsoft below.

The enrolment process actually went live late yesterday, which again underlines the urgency with which you’ll need to move if you want to get in.

Bug ahead

That said, apparently when the gates were officially opened, a bug was present that meant plenty of folks couldn’t see the option to sign up for ‘skip ahead’. At the time, Brandon LeBlanc, Senior Program Manager on the Windows Insider team, acknowledged there was a problem and said Microsoft was looking into it.

Shortly after, however, he said the issue was resolved, so all should hopefully be fine by now. If you’re still not getting the option to join ‘skip ahead’, you could always try rebooting (that age-old solution to everything).

Mind you, the bug just might have worked in some people’s favor, in terms of slowing down the number of testers who have managed to subscribe in the last 12 hours, and maybe giving you a better chance of getting in today.

• Some of the best laptops of 2019 run Windows 10

Via Windows Central

http://bit.ly/2MH9oXo

Samsung Galaxy Sport smartwatch close to launch as it's certified... again

Samsung is heavily rumored to be introducing a new smartwatch alongside the Galaxy S10, and now we've seen even more evidence that this will be the case as a device codenamed Pulse has been spotted going through the certification process in Taiwan.

Following on from US and South Korean certification we've previously seen, the latest evidence for an impending launch comes from a Taiwanese NCC listing that includes the device.

We've seen the codename Pulse a lot in Samsung documentation, where it refers to a wearable device from the company, and this device is currently rumored to be launching as the Samsung Galaxy Sport or possibly the Galaxy Watch Active.

Another Galaxy

There's no clear sign of what specs and features the watch will include from the listing, but we've previously heard that it's set to sport all of the same tech as the Samsung Galaxy Watch, such as GPS, NFC and other connectivity options, as well as Tizen software.

It will likely come in four colors - those are black, silver, green and gold - as well as including 4GB of storage for apps and music. There's also rumored to be more advanced Bixby support than what we saw on last year's Samsung Galaxy Watch.

Alongside this, we're also expecting to hear about two new Samsung Galaxy Fit fitness trackers soon and perhaps even four versions of the new Samsung Galaxy S10 line of phones.

Samsung is hosting an event on February 20 in San Francisco so we may hear about the Samsung Galaxy Sport there, or we may have to wait a few more days for MWC 2019 at the end of February.

• Samsung Galaxy Sport - what we know so far

Via DroidShout

http://bit.ly/2TtrL4N

LG hints strongly at 5G foldable phones for 2019

In its recent financials, LG dropped in a tantalising morsel for the future of its smartphones in 2019: phones that come with 5G and could very well be foldable.

We've heard rumor of a flexible smartphone from the South Korean brand for a while now, with the first thoughts being that it would arrive at CES this year, but it seems that it's tipped for later in 2019.

In the latest financial results, LG believes it will have a strong year for its mobile division thanks to pushing ' 5G products and smartphones featuring different form factors'. That's likely to be on top of the more 'normal' LG G8 we expect to see at MWC 2019 in a few weeks' time.

• Here's what we know about the Galaxy S10 so far
• Will a new flexible phone help LG return to our best smartphone list?
• Here are all the 5G phones we're expecting this year

While it could be argued that 'different form factors' could be a mere flip phone or smaller 'standard' smartphone, flexible handsets are set to be the headline devices of this year, offering new form factors that bring real differentiation to the market.

If LG were to just be reinventing the normal black rectangle, it's hardly likely to believe that this would help propel it back towards growth.

With Samsung's Galaxy X / F handset rolling towards production, it's seems almost certain that LG will unleash something to compete, especially since it's been so vocal in proclaiming its own flexible displays in the past (and was one of the winners of CES this year with a rollable TV).

Still work to do

LG still has something of an issue in that, despite posting a group profit, the mobile division reported higher losses year on year as the brand continues to struggle in a competitive smartphone landscape.

The full-year operating loss for the mobile arm grew to $700m, where the overall business posted an operating profit of nearly $2.4bn.

It remains to be seen whether these losses can continue to be carried within the business, but having a mobile division and demonstrating innovation in this category is still an attractive move for an electronics firm, offering a demonstration platform for its other technologies in things like audio and the connected home.

That said, LG will really need to step up and offer some true differentiation in the smartphone market in 2019, as while it's got strong heritage in screen technology and audio quality, for instance, the likes of Samsung and Apple still maintain a healthy lead in the overall market.

Newer Chinese brands like OnePlus, Xiaomi and Honor are offering cheaper phones with high spec, while Huawei has rapidly moved up the smartphone charts by fusing strong performance in its flagship smartphones with hefty marketing campaigns.

With that in mind, LG really needs both a truly innovative handset and one that's marketed appropriately to start to head back towards growth for its mobile division, so it will be interesting to see if it throws both 5G and flexible technology into something new this year.

http://bit.ly/2DKHUNs

Asus announces ZenBook 13, ZenBook 14 and ZenBook 15 notebooks in India

Asus has introduced three new additions to its ZenBook series in India, the ZenBook 13, ZenBook 14 and ZenBook 15. The three laptops are fairly lightweight and are targeted at users looking to upgrade to a very portable notebook which doesn't lack in performance. While it took Asus a couple of months to bring the new ZenBooks to India, now that they are, let's take a look at the specifications and prices.

Asus ZenBook 13: specifications, price

Claiming to be the world's smallest 13-inch laptop, the Asus ZenBook 13 is 16.9 mm thin and features a 13.3-inch Full HD display with NanoEdge design that makes way for a 95% screen to body ratio due to fairly thin side and bottom bezels (2.8mm - 3.3mm). The display is optimized for wide-viewing up to 178-degrees and has a 100% sRGB color gamut. 

The ZenBook 13 is available in two variants- with Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor clocked at 1.8GHz and with 8th gen Intel Core i5-8265U processor. Backing up the graphics is the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and discreet 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 to boot. Users can choose between 8GB or 16GB RAM and SSD storage options that include 256GB, 512GB and tops out at 1TB. The notebook is said to last 14 hours on a single charge.

Asus ZenBook 13 also features a digital NumberPad on the glass-covered touchpad. The base model of the ZenBook 13 starts at Rs 71,990 in Royal Blue, Icicle Silver color options.

 Asus ZenBook 14: specifications, price 

The Asus ZenBook 14 is 0.63-inches thin and weighs around 1.09kg. It features a 14-inch Full HD display with 92% screen to body ratio courtesy of 2.9mm and 3.3mm thin side and bottom bezels. The ZenBook 14 comes with Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor and Intel Core i5-8265U (8th gen) processor and based upon the variant you choose, the price starts at Rs 72,990.

Like the ZenBook 13, the 14-inch version also has the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 graphics card. Asus claims that the ZenBook 14 is able to last for up to 13 hours on a single charge.

  Asus ZenBook 15: specifications, price  

The top-end variant in the ZenBook series, the ZenBook 15 has a big 15.6-inch Full HD display with upto 92% screen to body ratio. Asus is offering the ZenBook 15 with  Intel Core i7-8565U (8th gen) processor and Intel Core i5-8265U (8th gen) processor. This is backed by the integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 and 2GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discreet graphics card. There's an option to configure the RAM and storage options between 8GB/16GB and 256GB/512GB/1TB SSD storage.

The price of Asus ZenBook 15 starts at Rs 1,39,990 and it comes in Royal Blue, Icicle Silver color options.

• Also Read: POCO F1 secures a "respectable" DxOMark score of 91 points

http://bit.ly/2HIvKcd

Optus announces plans for 5G home broadband with NBN speeds

With the NBN rollout expected to reach completion some time in 2020, Optus has announced it’s already planning an alternative high-speed internet option that uses its soon-to-be-available 5G technology.

The Australian telco has revealed it will be launching 5G Home Broadband in certain suburbs in Australia and has set a way for users to register their interest.

Although customers can already sign up for more info, the bulk of the 5G devices aren't scheduled for delivery until mid-2019, however Optus also states that “a limited number of customers may get a device sooner”.

• Best NBN & broadband plans in Australia compared

Plan details

So far, there is only one plan on offer, which will cost $70 per month on a 24-month contract and provide unlimited data at a minimum guaranteed speed of 50Mbps. If customers aren’t able to achieve this minimum speed, they can cancel the contract without any extra fees.

This minimum speed guarantee is likely in response to the penalties that the ACCC dished out in regards to Retail Service Providers (RSPs) falsely advertising their NBN speeds.

Optus has also announced some month-to-month plan options, but no further pricing details are available at this point. Considering Optus’ other plans of this nature, they will likely incur an upfront cost that includes the purchase of the 5G device.

As far as pricing is concerned, this $70 plan costs the same as the 50Mbps NBN plan also offered by Optus, however the NBN plan doesn’t have anything in the way of speed guarantees and only offers typical busy period speeds of 40Mbps.

• Australian NBN users could be entitled to a refund – here’s how to check

Limited launch

At present, only customers living in certain suburbs are able to apply, with residents outside these areas being told to check back with Optus regularly to see if it’s become available in their region.

NSW

• Bidwill
• Blackett
• Bonnyrigg
• Daleys Point
• Dharruk
• Emerton
• Glendenning
• Koolewong
• Lethbridge Park
• Minchinbury
• Niagara Park
• Phegans Bay
• Richmond Lowlands
• Shalvey
• Springfield
• St Huberts Island
• St Johns Park
• Tascott
• Tregear
• Warriewood
• Warwick Farm
• Woy Woy Bay
• Yattalunga

QLD

• Auchenflower
• Bellbird Park
• Brookwater
• Burpengary
• Camira
• Clayfield
• Gailes
• Goodna
• Kallangur
• Kenmore
• Kenmore Hills
• Macgregor
• Newmarket

ACT

• Barton
• Campbell
• Dickson
• Franklin
• Harrison
• Mitchell
• Russell
• Wanniassa
• Weetangera

SA

• Old Reynella
• Reynella East
• Trott Park

WA

• Bellevue
• City Beach
• Eden Hill
• Henderson
• Hilton
• Kiara
• Lockridge
• Midland
• Mosman Park
• Orange Grove
• South Guildford
• Wattleup
• White Gum Valley

These select suburbs are only in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the ACT at the moment, with other states and territories being told that “5G is not currently being rolled out” in their respective area and to "check back" later.

• The fastest NBN plans in Australia

http://bit.ly/2GcoEtT

Apple takes action against Facebook following latest privacy scandal

Despite the odd hiccup, over the last couple of years Apple has become a strong proponent of safeguarding user privacy. Facebook, it seems, didn’t get the memo.

Immediately following the news that the social media giant paid users to install a “research” app that tracks and records phone and web activity, Apple revoked Facebook’s enterprise developer certificate. This countermand means Facebook’s internal iOS apps, including those used by employees for food and transportation, have been blocked.

The Verge reports that beta versions of Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp have stopped working, and that “Facebook is treating this as a critical problem”.

More than a slap on the wrist

This isn’t the first time Facebook has done something underhanded. Hot on the heels of the Cambridge Analytica scandal came the news that Facebook’s Onavo Protect VPN app was collecting user data, something that has been against Apple’s guidelines since last year. Apple banned the app in June 2018 and, by August, it was removed from the App Store. 

Despite being warned, Facebook decided to circumvent the App Store to distribute the “Project Atlas” research app (as first reported by TechCrunch) by taking advantage of Apple’s Developer Enterprise Program which allows business partners to test and distribute apps to their own employees without any review from Apple.

In a statement, the Cupertino firm said that the Program was designed “solely for the internal distribution of apps within an organization”. 

“Any developer using their enterprise certificates to distribute apps to consumers will have their certificates revoked, which is what we did in this case to protect our users and their data,” the tech giant added.

Crippling effect

The internal versions of Facebook apps used by employees carry bits of code for updates or new features that aren’t available to the public. By revoking Facebook’s enterprise developer certificate, Apple has stopped these apps from even launching on employee handsets, thereby severely limiting Facebook’s ability to create new apps or update existing ones for iOS.

Facebook is currently trying to negotiate with Apple to get the apps working on employee devices, but there seems to be some chatter about Apple completely removing Facebook-owned apps from the App Store.

However, Facebook isn’t the only company guilty of violating Apple’s Developer Enterprise Program. TechCrunch found that Google’s ScreenWise Meter app is also guilty of doing the same. Google, however, has told TechCrunch that it will remove the app from the Program and disable it on iOS devices.

• How to delete Facebook

http://bit.ly/2RqaTtO

Mysterious bug bricked Xbox One consoles for a few hours on Wednesday

Some astronomical anomalies happen so fast that, by the time you look out your window, they’re already over. Such was the case on Wednesday when a mysterious error stopped Xbox One consoles from booting up properly, instead displaying a permanent black screen, or failing to log into Xbox Live for folks who managed to get past the startup screen.

Reports started coming in Wednesday morning EST that gamers couldn’t get their Xbox One to properly boot up despite restarting the console multiple times and were reaching out to Xbox Support for solutions to the problem. 

Xbox Support acknowledged the issue around 1pm EST in a tweet and pointed concerned parties to the Xbox Live Status Page that allows you to see which services are operational in real time.

Unfortunately, and somewhat comically, the status services page was down, too. 

By around 3:30pm EST Xbox Support had confirmed on Twitter that the issue had been resolved and gamers could get back online – though Xbox Support didn’t elaborate on what, exactly, caused the errors in the first place. (Major Nelson tweeted that it was a service update that needed to be rolled back.)

A bad day for an outage

While outages occur fairly regularly on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network, this error was particularly bad as it completely prevented people from playing their games – both online and offline.

The outage occurred just as America was going through a severe cold spell and gamers weren't all that happy that the error prevented them from partaking in some snow day gaming.

In the end, despite the amazing memes and a few threats to join PlayStation Nation, all things were resolved and all battle stations are operational.

• These are the best Xbox One games

http://bit.ly/2Sfh6gn

Chromebooks are Windows’ greatest enemy, Microsoft earnings reveal

Microsoft just posted its second quarter 2019 financial results and almost everything across the board looks positive.

The company reported revenue of $32.5 billion and net income of $8.4 billion, which are both sharp increases over the company’s $28.9 billion in revenue and $7.5 billion net income from last year. 

Since last year, Microsoft reports that its Surface revenue has grown by 39% and gaming by 8% with a total 64 million active Xbox Live users during the holidays. On top of that, Intelligent Cloud revenue went up by 20%.

The only red spot on Microsoft’s earnings reports was a slip in revenue from Windows licenses. OEM Pro revenue went down by 5% this quarter and consumer licenses brought in 11% less revenue as well. 

Who's stealing Microsoft's business? The Chrome Caper

The software maker laid blame on continued pressure from the entry-level category, which we assume would be Chromebooks.

Considering Microsoft just released the Surface Pro 6, Surface Laptop 2, Surface Studio 2 and Surface Headphones just last quarter, we imagine and hope Microsoft will introduce another affordable product like the Surface Go. 

There’s a definite hole in the company’s product family for a truly affordable laptop and it could be what it just needs to fix the biggest weakness of its latest financial report. 

• Could Window Lite be Microsoft answer for Chrome OS

http://bit.ly/2UymMzT

iPhone 11 may get a triple-lens camera, but not iPhone 12's laser 3D snappers

Apple's iPhone 11 will have a triple-lens rear camera, but it's the iPhone 12 that will include space-sensing laser-powered 3D snappers, according to a new report today.

Everything about the 2019 iPhones, what we're calling the iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Max today, focuses on the rear cameras, as detailed in a scoop by Bloomberg.

The triple-lens camera is said to add the ability to take wide-angle photos and videos, something that the Huawei Mate 20 Pro and LG V40 can do, but not an iPhone.

The iPhone 11 Max seems destined to get the triple-lens rear camera first, while the standard iPhone and iPhone XR may get the three-camera hardware "eventually."

More camera tricks await, apparently. An increased pixel count may lead to software that can repair a video or photo if the intended subject gets cut out of the frame.

Other iPhone 11 upgrades planned

Live Photos, first introduced with the iPhone 6S in 2015, could get its first upgrade in four years. Instead of capturing motion three seconds before and after a photo is taken, Apple's plans are said to be double this, bumping it up to six seconds.

Today's report weighs in on the on-again, off-again rumor that the iPhone 11 will include USB-C instead of the traditional Lightning connector. Apparently, Apple is testing some versions of this year's iPhone with a USB-C port.

We've seen alleged iPhone 11 prototypes claiming that Lightning is staying put and others indicating that USB-C will be the new charging method. It sounds like Apple isn't even sure yet.

No-brainer upgrades are said to be coming to Apple's processor, likely the A13 chip, and Face ID sensor. iPad Pro 2018, you may recall, got an upgraded Face ID camera.

iPhone 12 with laser-powered 3D camera?

It's never too early to begin talking about the 2020 iPhone, or what we're calling the iPhone 12 for now. It's destined to include some nifty new technology, too.

Apple is said to be bringing its 3D camera technology to the rear-facing camera, but unlike the TrueDepth camera's dotmatrix projection technology, it'll use a laser scanner.

The iPhone 12's laser-powered 3D snapper would be able to work up to 15 feet away, whereas a dotmatrix projection works at distances of 25 to 50cm, suitable for Face ID.

Apple may have more ambitious augmented reality (AR) plans in 2020, with talk of more accurate depth perception and placement of virtual objects in today's report.

Where will Apple's 3D laser camera land first?

Apple's laser-powered 3D camera was destined for the iPhone 11, say Bloomberg's sources, but the tech was delayed. Expect a triple-lens camera this year sans lasers.

However, we could see the idea in an iPad Pro a bit earlier than the iPhone 12. The report suggests that the next iPad Pro could debut in the early part of 2020.

Apple tends to wait a little longer than a year to refresh its iPad Pro line. The iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 launched last November, so the timing on this rumor makes sense, and it means you shouldn't expect a new iPad Pro in 2019.

• Best iPad 2019

http://bit.ly/2B9Yk0s

5G Samsung Galaxy S10 won't be ready at launch, source claims

Samsung’s next flagship phone, the Galaxy S10, has entered production, a source told The Investor. But reportedly, the first wave of these phones won’t include 5G-capable devices. 

The source claimed that Samsung started mass production of Galaxy S10 phones at its manufacturing lines in Korea on January 25 – but these are models running on 4G. That flips the previously-understood arrangement wherein those factories would produce the 5G variants, while facilities outside Korea would handle the 4G editions. 

“The 5G Galaxy S10 is still in the pipeline and will start being produced later during the first half,” the source told The Investor (presumably, the first half of 2019). 

A previous rumors alleged, Samsung’s 5G S10 would be released on March 29, but without any more concrete info on launch dates, it’s impossible to tell whether this represents a slipped delivery date or if it was the plan all along to roll the 5G model out later in the year. 

Anything else?

The source affirmed a few other details we’ve heard so far, like in-screen fingerprint sensors across all three Galaxy S10 models, a triple-lens camera and a pre-installed screen protector. 

“All three S10 smartphones will house a fingerprint sensor beneath the screen allowing users to identify themselves in a more convenient manner than before,” the source told The Investor, countering a rumor we heard before that the cheapest model will have a side-mounted sensor.

We’d heard rumors that two higher-end models, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10 Plus, are expected to have an ultrasonic fingerprint sensor to map prints in three dimensions, while the less-expensive third version will have an optical sensor to create 2D print images. 

We’ll have to wait for further Samsung S10 leaks to get a clearer picture of what’s coming in the new S10 phones – but we’ll see who was ultimately right when Samsung officially unveils the devices at its Unpacked launch event on February 20.

• Want to know everything we do about the Galaxy S10? Visit our hub for leaks and rumors

http://bit.ly/2sXfl9y

Does anyone actually want to buy an 8K TV?

Once upon a time, 4K TVs were just a pipe dream. Pie in the sky. A beautiful, but unrealistic dream for consumers, and a nightmare for content providers.

However, for a small portion of us - those who binge on Netflix and Amazon Prime like it's our day job - it's a dream that's slowly becoming reality. Sure, we might not see massive adoption numbers (even newly formed 8K Association says global adoption of 4K is only sitting at 15%) but it's happening. 

Why then, if we've just barely adopted 4K, are TV manufacturers pushing for 8K? Does anyone actually want them? We spoke to industry analysts to find out. 

The case against 8K TVs 

No one out there is doubting TV manufacturers' ability to produce 8K screens.  

Samsung and Sharp may have been the first major brands to launch 8K TVs last summer, but CES 2019 saw LG, Sony and Panasonic follow suit with screens of their own, and Chinese brands such as ChangHong, Skyworth and TCL hot on their tails.

The impetus for TV manufacturers to create bigger and better screens is clear: higher-powered screens cost more money to make and fetch a higher price. But is 8K any more than merely the latest attempt to persuade us all to buy a new TV we don't need? 

"8K to my mind will make less of an impact than the migration from 1080p to 4K made," says Werner Goertz, research director at analyst firm Gartner. "Samsung and LG has shown prototypes of 8K displays for a few years, and though they always have truly brilliant pictures when it comes to still images, it's lacking content, as was the case with 4K when it was originally launched."  

Without content – of which there is virtually no sign aside from an 8K satellite TV service called 8K A-PAB in Japan – are we really expected to buy an 8K screen? 

"The step from 4K to 8K in terms of content is an even bigger one than from 1080p to 4K," says Goertz. "In the absence of truly compelling content and use-cases for 8K, I think adoption will take longer ... Let's see if we can saturate 4K TVs first, then we'll talk."  

It would seem, according to some analysts, that 8K is a solution looking for a problem.

AI upscaling and trickle-down tech 

TV manufacturers and industry groups like the 8K Association are well aware of the lack of content. They're certainly not blind to the problem at hand.

That's why almost every brand showing an 8K TV is talking about upscaling technology, which is being promoted as a way to resolve the lack of 8K content - and, also, a great way of pushing the flagship picture processing tech, too. 

For an example of an 8K TV with all the latest conveniences look no further than the Samsung Q900 8K TV with Bixby AI, a combination of picture processing and Samsung’s own home-baked (and usually overlooked) voice control. 

Adding AI upscaling was a wise move - most of us watch a lot of content in less-than-HD quality on 4K TVs, so any premium 8K TV that upscales with ease will have a head-start on a rival 4K TV without the same tech onboard. 

Of course, consumers are only one small section of the TV consumption pie. Sharp’s 70-inch 8M-B70AU, unveiled at CES 2019, was talked-up for use in broadcast, sporting venues, surveillance, video post-production, medical training, museums, galleries and for graphic arts. 

That last point may be surprising, but 8K as a technology is not for TVs as we know them. 8K is about two things; virtual reality headsets and video walls. When VR headsets get 8K chipsets, they will at last offer the kind of immersive experience required to make them worthy of their name. 

So what about video walls? It's now possible to make display panels – even flexible and bendable displays – just a few millimetres thick, and the advent of 8K panel fabrication in factories means that even most 4K TVs are cut from 8K panels. We're all already multitaskers when it comes to content, and if economies of scale can be met, an 8K video wall in a living room could find a use as a place to watch up to four streams of 4K – perhaps live TV, gaming, and a smart home hub screen or two.  

The case for 8K TVs

Video walls might sound like the world of science fiction but, according to analysts, that's probably where TVs are heading.

IHS Markit reported recently that global shipments of 60-inch+ TVs increased more than 40 percent in the third quarter of 2018. Analysts predict that trend to continue in the next few years and according to IHS data presented at the 8K Association's inaugural press conference at CES, 60-inch+ TVs could make up around 20% of the total TV sales by 2025 - a fair number of which will be 8K. 

As a result of this demand for bigger TVs, IHS Markit predicts that 430,000 8K TVs will be sold in 2019 and 3.6 million in 2020. That's a far cry from the number of 4K TVs that are expected to be sold in the next two years - but 3.6 million screens is nothing to sneeze at. 

So, does anyone want an 8K TV? Apparently yeah, we do.

• Looking for something a bit more... practical? These are the best TVs in 2019

http://bit.ly/2G2aRHc

Super Bowl 2019 TV deals: The best deals this week from Sony, LG, Samsung and more

Super Bowl 2019 is now less than one week away, but that doesn't mean you don't have time to take advantage of all the fantastic TV sales that are going on right now. You can find Black Friday like prices on a variety of best-selling TVs from brands such as Sony, LG, Samsung and more.

Our top Super Bowl TV deals include everything from a mid-size 49-inch TV to a massive 75-inch TV, with features and prices to fit any and all football viewing needs.

A standout deal from Walmart is the Sceptre 55-inch 4K TV that's on sale for only $259.99. An excellent price for a 55-inch 4K UHD TV,  the Sceptre U550CV-U features four HDMI ports which allow you to connect up to four devices so you can stream your favorite multimedia.

Shop more of our Super Bowl 2019 TV deals below and make sure to check back as we will be updating and adding more deals as we get closer to the big game.

Super Bowl TV deals:

• How to watch Super Bowl 2019 live stream

If you've missed your chance to check out the Super Bowl TV sales and prices have gone back up, there's no need to worry, we cover the latest cheap TV deals throughout the year. You can find more offers with these direct to retailer links below if you want to browse their full range.

• Walmart
• Amazon
• Best Buy
• Newegg
• B&H Photo
• Sam's Club

http://bit.ly/2G1a74Y

Internet Explorer 10 set for termination in January 2020

Microsoft has warned users that in addition to ending support for Windows 7 in 2020, Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) will be phased out as well.

IE10 was released back in 2012 and in 2016 the tech giant shifted its focus to supporting IE11 and Microsoft Edge letting users know that the previous version of its browser would no longer be supported.

However, not every operating system was capable of running IE11 and its Edge browser only worked on Windows 10 as it was one of the key selling points of its new OS.

Windows Server 2012 and Windows 8 Embedded continued to run IE10 but that is set to change when Microsoft makes IE11 available for both operating systems later this year.

End of support

Windows Embedded 8 Standard and Windows Server 2012 will remain supported until 2023 and enterprises will have to update their version of Internet Explorer before the company ends support for IE10 in 2020.

In a post on its IT Pro blog, Microsoft explained its timeline for ending IE10 support to businesses, saying:

“You will have until January 2020 to complete the transition from Internet Explorer 10 (IE10) to IE11. After this, we will not release any security or non-security updates, free or paid assisted support options, or online technical content changes for IE10.”

Enterprise users will be able to download IE11 through the Microsoft Update Catalog and the company highlighted the fact that upgrading to the latest version of Internet Explorer will make it easier to migrate to Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 or 2019 or Windows 10 IoT.

Via The Register

• We've also highlighted the best web browsers

http://bit.ly/2GcNCcA

AMD's latest earnings should have Intel and Nvidia shaking

AMD is one of the few tech companies surging on Wall Street this past week, besting the likes of Intel and Apple with favorable earnings.

The chipmaker's revenue of $1.42 billion (about £1.09bn, AU$1.97bn) for its fourth quarter means that it was up 6% year-over-year.  Yes, it narrowly missed Wall Streets’ $1.44 billion (about £1.10bn, AU$2bn) estimates, its stock price is currently up more than $15 at the time of writing.

It's more than just the latest quarter that's gone well for AMD. As for its annual 2018 financial results, it reported $6.48 billion (about £4.96bn, AU$9.01bn) in revenue and a net income of $337 million (about £258m, AU$468m).

That's dramatically better than the total $5.3 billion (about £4.05bn, AU$7.37bn) in revenue and $33 million (about £25m, AU$46m) net income the company made last year.

What's behind AMD's growth?

AMD attributes its growth to a 50% increase in Ryzen desktop processor shipments and doubling enterprise-grade Epyc CPU shipments since the previous quarter.

Looking toward 2019, AMD CEO Lisa Su shared her hopes to see a 30% increase in Ryzen desktop processor sales and a 50% increase in notebook processor sales – the latter of which seems to be a major focus with the introduction of 2nd Gen Ryzen Mobile processors.

The golden child

Annual financial results time hasn’t been particularly kind to tech companies in 2018. Apple announced it was seeing a continuing slump with iPhone sales, with revenue for the smartphone falling 15%.

Before Nvidia even announces its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2018 financial results on February 14, it lowered its fourth-quarter predictions by $500 million (about £382m, AU$695m). Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang cautioned “Q4 was an extraordinary, unusually turbulent and disappointing quarter.”

So far, AMD seems like the only company not to cry wolf about “deteriorating macroeconomic conditions” and the slowing economy in China impacting its business.

• We're hoping the Radeon VII will kick off a new line of AMD graphics cards too

http://bit.ly/2UuBojG

Best ergonomic office chairs 2019: top seats for comfort when working

The best portable laptop battery chargers and power banks in 2019

If you’re looking for an easy, portable way to charge your laptop, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve sorted through dozens of chargers and gathered up the best portable laptop battery chargers on the market.

Because, if you’re trying to get some work done on one of the best laptops while traveling, then one of the top portable laptop battery chargers is extremely important – and finding the right one for your own specific needs is even more important.

You won’t have to worry about getting stranded in the middle of nowhere when you buy one of the best portable laptop chargers. With these convenient devices, you can make sure you can always get your work done – no matter where you are. 

• You might also want to peruse our list of best business laptops

With the Mophie Powerstation AC, high power output is the name of the game. This portable laptop battery charger is able to power a 15-inch MacBook Pro. Meanwhile, the USB-C port is rated at 30W with a USB-PD label, meaning its one of the few batteries capable of fast charging an iPhone X or iPhone 8. 

If you have a newer laptop, and find yourself running out of juice throughout the day, the Omni 20 USB-C might be for you. Not only does it have an insanely high capacity, but it also allows charging of multiple USB-C devices simultaneously. So, if you’re working and you need to charge your Nintendo Switch and a mobile device, you go for it. Plus, the Omni 20 also serves as a USB hub, clearing out some extra storage space in your bag.

• 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 Mophie Powerstation AC 

The PowerAdd Pilot Pro2 doesn’t just come with 10 connectors that cover most of the laptops on the market today, but it’s backed by a two-year warranty. That means you can use the 23MAh/85Wh capacity without worry. The Pilot Pro2 is also light enough to carry around wherever you go, coming in under 560g. The only thing that holds it back is that it doesn’t have any USB-C connectors, so if you have a modern Ultrabook or MacBook, you may want to go elsewhere, otherwise you’ll have to carry a separate power supply to keep the battery charger backed up.

As technology marches forward, new laptops need less power to function. This is especially ture for high-end laptops like the MacBook Pro, HP Elite x2, Huawei Matebook Pro X or the Dell XPS 13. For all of these devices, and more, USB-C is king – the RAVPower uses this revolutionary connector to deliver up to 30W of power, which should be plenty for the best Ultrabooks. You can recharge it using a 30W wall charger that can also be used to power compatible laptops – very handy, indeed. 

The MaxOak MacBook Charger is a perfect example of a laptop battery charger that goes the extra mile to make sure that it matches the expectations of its audience. This portable laptop charger has all the hallmarks of an Apple device, without the logo – but that’s what those Apple stickers are for – with a matching brushed aluminum finish.

It’s the second most capacious portable laptop battery charger on this list, but its huge amount of juice comes with a catch – it carries so much power that at least one airline has outright banned it, so bear that in mind if you plan to use this charger while traveling. It’s also pretty heavy at almost 1kg and will cater to most MacBooks, but nothing else.

This is the only charger in this list that targets Microsoft’s popular Surface range by offering the appropriate DC output voltage (12V and 15V). It comes with a generous five ports, four of which allow you to charge other 5V devices (that includes anything from other power banks to tablets and smartphones).

What’s especially interesting about the Qi-infinity Upgraded Powerbank is the addition of fast-charging through Qualcomm’s Qi tech. You’ll be able to charge the new MacBook as well, but no traditional laptops that rely on a 19V DC output. Just keep in mind that its capacity of 35Ah may not be allowed on some airlines, similar to the MaxOak devices above and below.

• This product is only available in the US at the time of this writing. UK and australian readers, check out a fine alternative in the RAVPower RP-PB058 

The K2 is the world’s second highest mountain and it is fitting – to some extent – that MaxOak named this battery after that lofty peak. After all, at 50Ah, this is the biggest battery on our list and one that is also the heaviest of the lot. It supports laptops up to 60W (3A, 20V) as well as fast-charging.

Note that it takes up to eight hours to charge the battery and that can only be achieved via a proprietary charger. Sadly, it doesn’t carry a USB Type-C connector – which makes it useless for newer laptops – and you won’t be able to lug it around on the plane (as with the previous two peripherals, the massive capacity here may mean it’s banned on some flights).

Sandberg's Powerbank is neither the cheapest nor the most powerful around. However, it does come with a couple of features that make it a rather enticing option. It outputs to a number of voltages (12V, 16V, 19V and 20V), automatically choosing the right one depending on the device which is connected.

There are also two USB ports, and they’re hardwired to output 5V. You’ll also get 12 different charge tips, but if you have one of the best Ultrabooks that need a USB Type-C port for charging, you’ll be out of luck. It also features a premium brushed aluminum finish, with bright blue LED status lights that clearly indicate the amount of juice left, or how close the battery is to being charged. 

• This product is only available in the UK and Australia at the time of this writing. US readers, check out a fine alternative in the MaxOak K2. 

If you are looking for a versatile laptop charger, then do consider this RavPower offering. It is by far the most expensive model on our list, but this Reddot award winner carries a feature that no one has replicated till now. It has an AC output that can deliver up to 100W of power – yes, this could even power a TV if needed.

Note that you will probably need an adaptor (there’s one bundled) because the power bank can only accommodate two-prong plugs. You will be able to take it on a commercial flight, but you will not be able to recharge it via USB.

Dell sells the Power Companion with various battery capacities. It is more compact than the RAVPower models, and the unit looks like a Dell power brick that charges your laptop. When you're at your desk, you can daisy-chain to recharge the Power Companion and your Dell laptop by connecting your Dell charging brick to the Power Companion, and then connecting it to your notebook.

Dell's Power Companion is a far sleeker battery pack if your office relies on Dell Inspiron, Latitude, XPS or Venue laptops and tablets, with the added benefit that it has extra USB ports should you need them.

http://bit.ly/2Ro7ziM

Galaxy S10 Plus-bound? Samsung officially reveals 1TB storage chip for smartphones

Samsung has officially introduced a 1TB embedded Universal Flash Storage (eUFS) – in other words, the first terabyte-sized native storage solution that’ll likely make its way to mainstream phones. Presumably, this will include the company’s upcoming Galaxy S10 flagship device, which will be unveiled in less than a month.

More storage is obviously a good thing in consumer devices, and they’re often march-of-progress upgrades that top device makers tout when comparing new products to those from competitors. In phones, native storage is one of these spec flashpoints alongside processor speed and RAM. 

This new 1TB eUFS is the same package size (11.5mm x 13.0mm) as the previous 512GB version produced by Samsung, per a press release. It’s made of 16 stacked layers of Samsung’s 512-gigabit V-NAND flash memory and a new proprietary controller.

“The 1TB eUFS is expected to play a critical role in bringing a more notebook-like user experience to the next generation of mobile devices,” said Cheol Choi, executive vice president of Memory Sales & Marketing at Samsung Electronics in the release.

In other words, expect this to come to more than just Galaxy phones.

More space is always better

Obviously, more local storage is better for consumers. And Samsung’s new 1TB eUFS boasts 38% faster random read speed over its 512GB predecessor, while large files (like, say, a 5GB HD video) can be offloaded to an SSD 10 times faster than a microSD card. Faster speeds are better for transferring data and taking/storing new data, like from still photos or videos.

With that kind of space, you could store 260 10-minute videos in 4K UHD – a lot more than the 13 4K UHD videos you could store on a phone packing a more basic 64GB of space, Samsung claimed in its press release.

Lower-end phones routinely cut costs by minimizing storage space (64GB is the typical bottom, but the cheapest can go as low as 32GB). They typically offer the option to expand via microSD slot.

Even the mighty iPhone XS starts at 64GB, yet it doesn’t have expandable storage. Instead, Apple offers its cloud service with a comically-small 5GB free tier and more storage for monthly subscriptions. 

So what phones will have a 1TB version?

The 1TB Samsung eUFS is great...for higher-end phones. You probably won’t see this trickle down to mid range devices for a couple years. Given how few phones had a 512GB storage option, the 1TB will be, at least for 2019, the top-end storage choice for flagships from Samsung and other Android-powered phones.

But just how many phones is up for speculation. Rumors suggest the Galaxy S10 will get a 1TB storage option, but only in the larger Galaxy S10 Plus – and only coupled with a staggering 12GB of RAM. That seems like a high-price prestige tier option, which we’ve previously seen in limited-run special editions of phones like last year’s Porsche Design Mate 20 RS (8GB RAM) and OnePlus 6T McLaren (10GB RAM). 

In other words, perhaps Samsung is working on its own elite version of its next smartphone. (Lamborghini Edition, anyone?) But we certainly haven’t heard that any other Android phones slated for this year will pack that much storage space. Yet.

• The best Samsung phone you can buy today

http://bit.ly/2TnXWlV

Best security camera system for your business in 2019

Buying the best security camera for your business is one of the most important purchases you can make. Getting the best security camera to keep an eye on your business or office gives you peace of mind, and can keep potential thieves at bay.

Plus, if the worst does happen and your business is broken into, you will have evidence that will help you claim on your insurance, and even hopefully get your stolen items back.

The best business security cameras are now extremely versatile and easy to set up. The best office security cameras for your business will include smart, connected, cameras that can simply join your Wi-Fi network in your building in order to relay footage right to your phone, no matter where you are in the world, with no need for a networked video recorder, while any motion-triggered recordings can be saved in the cloud, or locally on a microSD card.

By using a smartphone as your interface, many new features are made possible. For instance, you can draw areas of active motion sensitivity within the camera’s field of view to limit the number of alerts that arrive on your phone, and some of these cameras have object recognition and can tell the difference between a person and an animal, or a car. 

The most significant thing that these new IP cameras have in common is their accessibility. None of our top 10 selection require a professional installation and they all come with slick companion apps that make protecting your property easy and, if we’re honest, kind of fun.

• Here’s how you can turn an old laptop into a CCTV camera

Netatmo’s sophisticated outdoor camera cum security light is expensive, but it has a lot to offer. As well as carrying out 24-hour surveillance in Full HD, it also acts as a security light whenever motion is detected. What’s more, it can differentiate between the movement of a car, a person, or an animal, so that your alerts are more specific.

The distinctive design will either look stylish or incongruous depending on your property and exactly where it’s installed, but regardless of any issues with aesthetics, the Presence will certainly make itself felt, and hopefully make potential burglars think twice.

Read the full review: Netatmo Presence

Nest’s stylish camera is backed up by the slickest companion app we’ve come across, while its Nest Aware service, which stores up to 30-days of footage in the cloud, is the most reliable and accessible around. The only problem is that it’s also the most expensive and without paying for a subscription, you cannot access all of the camera’s features. 

The camera itself is very well specified, and for some folks, its integration with other Nest products, like the brand’s smart thermostat, is what will give this device an extra edge over the competition.

Read the full review: Nest Cam Outdoor

If you’re looking for a quick and easy option for surveying your office, then this all-seeing eyeball is an appealing solution. It’s not the cheapest option, especially as it works best with a paid monthly subscription, but Circle’s intuitive companion app makes it very simple to set up and stay secure. 

The compact, swivelling form factor makes sense, especially with its magnetic base and built-in battery for truly wireless installation. For larger businesses, however, we’d recommend a camera that can integrate more readily with existing systems like HomeKit, or SmartThings, or at least other Logitech cameras, as the Circle works best on its own.

Read the full review: Logi Circle

With its smart, solid and compact design, the Arlo Q has instant appeal as a discrete security camera. And it’s backed up by the user-friendly Arlo app that enables you to access key features, like the push notification settings, with a minimum of fuss. 

Our experience with getting the camera online didn’t go well and our Wi-Fi network struggled to stream its 1080p live view, but your mileage may well vary, and you might not find any such stumbling blocks. In which case, the overall usability of this product, combined with its relatively robust build quality and the generous seven-day free cloud storage plan, make this a good way to start protecting your property.

Read the full review: Netgear Arlo Q

The Ezviz Mini Plus is a discrete and diminutive IP camera that’s simple to install and easy-to-use. And while it looks like an entry-level model, it’s actually the model up from the Ezviz Mini and offers 1080p resolution, adjustable motion sensitivity and a microSD card slot. It’s really only missing motion zone adjustment and object recognition.

The picture quality has poor contrast, but high detail with reasonable night vision. However, it’s a pity there’s no internal battery and no integration with Nest, SmartThings, or HomeKit.

Read the full review: Hikvision Ezviz Mini Plus

For outdoor, around-the-clock sentry duty, a tough dome camera like this is a safe bet, especially when it’s supplied by one of the big hitters of the security industry.

You won’t find any of the fancy features you get with the new IP camera crowd – things like object recognition and motion zone detection – and the app looks downright basic compared to that of Nest or Netatmo. But this camera is built to last and it hits a remarkably competitive price point too.

Read the full review: Foscam F19853EP

• You can buy the Foscam F19853EP here

We found this logical fusion of smart light and IP camera to be an exceedingly convenient solution to a basic security problem. Simply screwing it in place of the pendant light in our reception area gave us not just a controllable energy-efficient smart light, but 24-hour surveillance with an all-around view. 

The price is realistic too, but we cannot fully recommend this version with so many obvious omissions and design flaws. The lack of an IFTTT channel is trivial, but the omission of motion activation for the LED is more serious, and will be a deal-breaker for many. We’ll be very surprised if there isn’t a revised model in the pipeline that addresses all of these issues.

Read the full review: Sengled Snap

• You can buy the Sengled Snap here

With its appealing design, microSD storage slot and the surprise bonus of an audio out jack, this little camera is a cut above the most basic IP cameras. The 1080p video quality is up to scratch too, capturing video clips that show fairly crisp images. 

While it is easy to set up, it’s not the most user-friendly design we’ve tested, but it does offer enough flexibility to suit many commercial and domestic situations. The fact that it’s backed by a major brand, and boasts good integration with products like SmartThings, Google alerts, and Picasa is also reassuring.

For a fairly modest outlay, this security camera delivers a reliable performance – provided you use the Ethernet cable, because Wi-Fi connectivity can be flaky – and a good set of features. 

Read the full review: Samsung SmartCam SNH-P6410NB

This little IP camera offers a simple and cost-effective springboard into the surveillance game, as it comes complete with local storage on a microSD card and a free app that makes it easy to monitor your property remotely. And by recording a wide 180-degree view whenever its motion sensor or mic are triggered, the DCS-2530L does its job quite well.

The plastic construction does feel a little vulnerable, however, and app support is decidedly less sophisticated than the competition, so we would advise spending just a little more if you’re serious about surveillance.

Read the full review: D-Link DCS-2530L

As a holistic smart home solution, Panasonic’s system has lots of appeal for homes and businesses. The far-reaching DECT system has advantages over less secure Wi-Fi IP cameras, and the growing family of sensors Panasonic is offering gives you some confidence about buying into its smart home dream.

However, the cameras themselves are too limited in their picture and sound quality to compare well with the current competition, while the app doesn’t offer the same slick features of the latest IP cameras from Nest, Netatmo and others towards the top of this list. We’d recommend waiting for the inevitable mark II models.

Read the full review: Panasonic KX-HN6002EW

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