Australia's best cheap headphones, discounts and deals in July 2019

With headphones of all types, colours and styles flooding the market, it’s hard knowing which ones to pick – do you go for the premium model you’ve always wanted, or are you better off just grabbing a cheap set from the discount bin?

Well, it’s worth remembering that cheap headphones are cheap for a reason, so even if saving money is priority we can’t recommend those $2 discount-bin variety that you find all over the world. And, as you’ll find out below, you don’t always have spend a lot of dosh to snag a great set of headphones either.

To save you the time and effort, we’ve put together this dedicated guide to the best bargains on great-sounding headphone. We constantly monitor major Aussie retailers and go a-huntin’ to bring you the most worthwhile deals on a variety of sets – from in-ear buds to noise-cancelling cans to Sony headphones – so check out our continually updated list below to discover the best current headphones deals in Australia.

Best cheap over-ear headphones this week

Best cheap in-ear headphones this week

The best deals on our favourite headphones

To help you decide which headphones work best for you, we've decided to put together a little buying guide with a list of our favourite recommendations. 

The headphones you'll find here have tons of features to help you to get the most out of your music, or any other form of audio-visual entertainment you prefer, however you like to listen to it.

For the most part, when shopping for noise cancellation headphones we've gotten used to making a compromise between shutting the world out and wanting great sound performance. But no longer. Sony's WH-1000XM2 cans are a great redesign of the already-excellent MDR-1000X and offer not just perfect noise cancellation but also score top marks in sound quality. These headphones easily outclass Bose's flagship QC35 II in terms of both soundscape and feature set.

Read more: Sony WH-1000XM2 review

The very popular and excellent Bose QC35s underwent an upgrade and now come with Google Assistant at your beck and call. For a premium price, not only do you get Bose's world class noise cancellation and good sound quality, you also get a personal butler and an incredibly comfortable set of cans. And with up to 40 hours of battery life, you'll get through any long-haul flight.

Read more: Bose QuietComfort 35 II review

For a little over $100, it's hard to recommend a better sounding pair of 'buds than the 1More Triple Driver in-ears. It's hard to fault the headphones, if you can put up with the rubber cable and the plastic remote. Even that is just us nitpicking. For the price, it's our top recommendation of in-ear headphones if your phone still has a headphone jack or you don't mind using an adaptor.

Read more: 1More Triple Driver in-ear headphones review

If you're a frequent flyer, or commute long distances daily, you'll understand the need for a great pair of noise cancelling headphones. Unfortunately, most of them cost a pretty penny. But not the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2. These headphones offer not just good sound and shut the world out, but do it at pretty much half the cost of the usual suspects of Sony, Bose and Beats. They also have a useful feature that turns the headphones off when you're not wearing them, saving battery. And did we mention you can pair two devices at once as well? If that isn't great value, then we don't know what else is.

Read more: Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 review

With headphone jacks fast disappearing from flagship handsets, wireless headphones is the way to go. But not everyone likes the feel of a set of cans on their head and cables, no matter how small, can get annoying. If that's describing you, then true wireless 'buds are the answer to your prayers. While most of them compromise on sound quality, the Jabra Elite 65t not only sound good but offer ambient noise isolation as well. They're an excellent substitute if you aren't too keen on the other-worldly look of Apple's AirPods.

Read more: Jabra Elite 65t review

It's hard to find the Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 wireless 'buds, but if you're after a set of no-frills headphones that don't compromise on sound quality, you'll want to look for these. They do an excellent job of isolating sound when in a noisy environment and boast up to 10 hours of battery. And with a 15-minute quick charge, you'll get an additional two hours of playback out of them.

Read more: Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 review

If you're after more information on headphones in different form factors, take a look at some of our other dedicated audio articles:

• The best headphones of 2018: Our pick of the best of the best
• The best earbuds available today
• The best on-ear headphones
• The best wireless headphones of 2018
• The best noise-cancelling headphones

https://ift.tt/2wRSInH

iOS 13: beta, release date and feature list

Australia's best cheap headphones, discounts and deals in July 2019

With headphones of all types, colours and styles flooding the market, it’s hard knowing which ones to pick – do you go for the premium model you’ve always wanted, or are you better off just grabbing a cheap set from the discount bin?

Well, it’s worth remembering that cheap headphones are cheap for a reason, so even if saving money is priority we can’t recommend those $2 discount-bin variety that you find all over the world. And, as you’ll find out below, you don’t always have spend a lot of dosh to snag a great set of headphones either.

To save you the time and effort, we’ve put together this dedicated guide to the best bargains on great-sounding headphone. We constantly monitor major Aussie retailers and go a-huntin’ to bring you the most worthwhile deals on a variety of sets – from in-ear buds to noise-cancelling cans to Sony headphones – so check out our continually updated list below to discover the best current headphones deals in Australia.

Best cheap over-ear headphones this week

Best cheap in-ear headphones this week

The best deals on our favourite headphones

To help you decide which headphones work best for you, we've decided to put together a little buying guide with a list of our favourite recommendations. 

The headphones you'll find here have tons of features to help you to get the most out of your music, or any other form of audio-visual entertainment you prefer, however you like to listen to it.

For the most part, when shopping for noise cancellation headphones we've gotten used to making a compromise between shutting the world out and wanting great sound performance. But no longer. Sony's WH-1000XM2 cans are a great redesign of the already-excellent MDR-1000X and offer not just perfect noise cancellation but also score top marks in sound quality. These headphones easily outclass Bose's flagship QC35 II in terms of both soundscape and feature set.

Read more: Sony WH-1000XM2 review

The very popular and excellent Bose QC35s underwent an upgrade and now come with Google Assistant at your beck and call. For a premium price, not only do you get Bose's world class noise cancellation and good sound quality, you also get a personal butler and an incredibly comfortable set of cans. And with up to 40 hours of battery life, you'll get through any long-haul flight.

Read more: Bose QuietComfort 35 II review

For a little over $100, it's hard to recommend a better sounding pair of 'buds than the 1More Triple Driver in-ears. It's hard to fault the headphones, if you can put up with the rubber cable and the plastic remote. Even that is just us nitpicking. For the price, it's our top recommendation of in-ear headphones if your phone still has a headphone jack or you don't mind using an adaptor.

Read more: 1More Triple Driver in-ear headphones review

If you're a frequent flyer, or commute long distances daily, you'll understand the need for a great pair of noise cancelling headphones. Unfortunately, most of them cost a pretty penny. But not the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2. These headphones offer not just good sound and shut the world out, but do it at pretty much half the cost of the usual suspects of Sony, Bose and Beats. They also have a useful feature that turns the headphones off when you're not wearing them, saving battery. And did we mention you can pair two devices at once as well? If that isn't great value, then we don't know what else is.

Read more: Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 review

With headphone jacks fast disappearing from flagship handsets, wireless headphones is the way to go. But not everyone likes the feel of a set of cans on their head and cables, no matter how small, can get annoying. If that's describing you, then true wireless 'buds are the answer to your prayers. While most of them compromise on sound quality, the Jabra Elite 65t not only sound good but offer ambient noise isolation as well. They're an excellent substitute if you aren't too keen on the other-worldly look of Apple's AirPods.

Read more: Jabra Elite 65t review

It's hard to find the Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 wireless 'buds, but if you're after a set of no-frills headphones that don't compromise on sound quality, you'll want to look for these. They do an excellent job of isolating sound when in a noisy environment and boast up to 10 hours of battery. And with a 15-minute quick charge, you'll get an additional two hours of playback out of them.

Read more: Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 review

If you're after more information on headphones in different form factors, take a look at some of our other dedicated audio articles:

• The best headphones of 2018: Our pick of the best of the best
• The best earbuds available today
• The best on-ear headphones
• The best wireless headphones of 2018
• The best noise-cancelling headphones

https://ift.tt/2wRSInH

iOS 13: beta, release date and feature list

Australia's best cheap headphones, discounts and deals in July 2019

With headphones of all types, colours and styles flooding the market, it’s hard knowing which ones to pick – do you go for the premium model you’ve always wanted, or are you better off just grabbing a cheap set from the discount bin?

Well, it’s worth remembering that cheap headphones are cheap for a reason, so even if saving money is priority we can’t recommend those $2 discount-bin variety that you find all over the world. And, as you’ll find out below, you don’t always have spend a lot of dosh to snag a great set of headphones either.

To save you the time and effort, we’ve put together this dedicated guide to the best bargains on great-sounding headphone. We constantly monitor major Aussie retailers and go a-huntin’ to bring you the most worthwhile deals on a variety of sets – from in-ear buds to noise-cancelling cans to Sony headphones – so check out our continually updated list below to discover the best current headphones deals in Australia.

Best cheap over-ear headphones this week

Best cheap in-ear headphones this week

The best deals on our favourite headphones

To help you decide which headphones work best for you, we've decided to put together a little buying guide with a list of our favourite recommendations. 

The headphones you'll find here have tons of features to help you to get the most out of your music, or any other form of audio-visual entertainment you prefer, however you like to listen to it.

For the most part, when shopping for noise cancellation headphones we've gotten used to making a compromise between shutting the world out and wanting great sound performance. But no longer. Sony's WH-1000XM2 cans are a great redesign of the already-excellent MDR-1000X and offer not just perfect noise cancellation but also score top marks in sound quality. These headphones easily outclass Bose's flagship QC35 II in terms of both soundscape and feature set.

Read more: Sony WH-1000XM2 review

The very popular and excellent Bose QC35s underwent an upgrade and now come with Google Assistant at your beck and call. For a premium price, not only do you get Bose's world class noise cancellation and good sound quality, you also get a personal butler and an incredibly comfortable set of cans. And with up to 40 hours of battery life, you'll get through any long-haul flight.

Read more: Bose QuietComfort 35 II review

For a little over $100, it's hard to recommend a better sounding pair of 'buds than the 1More Triple Driver in-ears. It's hard to fault the headphones, if you can put up with the rubber cable and the plastic remote. Even that is just us nitpicking. For the price, it's our top recommendation of in-ear headphones if your phone still has a headphone jack or you don't mind using an adaptor.

Read more: 1More Triple Driver in-ear headphones review

If you're a frequent flyer, or commute long distances daily, you'll understand the need for a great pair of noise cancelling headphones. Unfortunately, most of them cost a pretty penny. But not the Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2. These headphones offer not just good sound and shut the world out, but do it at pretty much half the cost of the usual suspects of Sony, Bose and Beats. They also have a useful feature that turns the headphones off when you're not wearing them, saving battery. And did we mention you can pair two devices at once as well? If that isn't great value, then we don't know what else is.

Read more: Plantronics BackBeat Pro 2 review

With headphone jacks fast disappearing from flagship handsets, wireless headphones is the way to go. But not everyone likes the feel of a set of cans on their head and cables, no matter how small, can get annoying. If that's describing you, then true wireless 'buds are the answer to your prayers. While most of them compromise on sound quality, the Jabra Elite 65t not only sound good but offer ambient noise isolation as well. They're an excellent substitute if you aren't too keen on the other-worldly look of Apple's AirPods.

Read more: Jabra Elite 65t review

It's hard to find the Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 wireless 'buds, but if you're after a set of no-frills headphones that don't compromise on sound quality, you'll want to look for these. They do an excellent job of isolating sound when in a noisy environment and boast up to 10 hours of battery. And with a 15-minute quick charge, you'll get an additional two hours of playback out of them.

Read more: Optoma NuForce BE Sport4 review

If you're after more information on headphones in different form factors, take a look at some of our other dedicated audio articles:

• The best headphones of 2018: Our pick of the best of the best
• The best earbuds available today
• The best on-ear headphones
• The best wireless headphones of 2018
• The best noise-cancelling headphones

https://ift.tt/2wRSInH

Facebook civil rights audit says white supremacy policy is ‘too narrow’

Facebook’s second progress report pertaining to the civil rights audit conducted by former ACLU Washington Director Laura Murphy is here. Over the last six months, Facebook has made changes around enforcing against hate, fighting discrimination in ads and protecting against misinformation and suppression in the upcoming U.S. presidential election and 2020 Census, according to the progress report.

While Facebook has made changes in some of these areas — Facebook banned white supremacy in March — auditors say Facebook’s policy is still “too narrow.” That’s because it solely prohibits explicit praise, support or representation of the terms “white nationalism” or “white separatism,” but does not technically prohibit references to those terms and ideologies.

“The narrow scope of the policy leaves up content that expressly espouses white nationalist ideology without using the term ‘white nationalist,'” the report states. “As a result, content that would cause the same harm is permitted to remain on the platform.”

Therefore, the audit team recommends Facebook expand its policy to prohibit content that “expressly praises, supports, or represents white nationalist ideology” even if the content does not explicitly use the terms “white nationalism” or “white separatism.”

In Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s note today, she acknowledges the recommendation.

“We’re addressing this by identifying hate slogans and symbols connected to white nationalism and white separatism to better enforce our policy,” she wrote.

Sandberg also noted how Facebook recently updated its policies to ensure people don’t use Facebook to organize events intended to intimidate or harass people.

“Getting our policies right is just one part of the solution,” Sandberg said. “We also need to get better at enforcement — both in taking down and leaving up the right content.”

Sandberg is referring to the fact that Facebook has sometimes wrongfully taken down content meant to draw attention to racism and discrimination.

Facebook temporarily banned a social justice activist for commenting on racism

As Murphy noted in her report, “the definition and policing of hate speech and harassment on the platform has long been an area of concern. The civil rights community also claims that a lack of civil rights expertise informing content decisions leads to vastly different outcomes for users from marginalized communities.”

Facebook now says it’s taking steps to address this. One step, Sandberg says, is to have some content reviewers focus just on hate speech.

“We believe allowing reviewers to specialize only in hate speech could help them further build the expertise that may lead to increased accuracy over time,” Sandberg wrote.

Additionally, Sandberg has formalized a civil rights task force at Facebook. This task force will live on beyond the audit in order to continue building more awareness around civil rights issues on Facebook.

And ahead of the upcoming presidential election, Facebook says it is working on new protections against voter interference and is adding a policy that prohibits “don’t vote” ads. That policy is expected to go into effect before the 2019 gubernatorial election. On the census side, Facebook is working on an interference policy that it expects to launch this fall.

In March of this year, Facebook settled with the ACLU and others pertaining to discriminatory job ads. Just days later,  the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said Facebook was in violation of the Fair Housing Act through its ad-targeting tools. This case is still pending.

In the meantime, Facebook has since begun working on a new system so that advertisers running US housing, employment and credit ads will no longer be able to target by age, gender, race, religion or zip code.

When this system launches, there will be a limited number of options by which to target. Additionally, Facebook won’t make any new terms available without first running it by the ACLU and the other plaintiffs from the March 2019 settlement.

In order to implement this new system, Facebook will ask advertisers to explicitly note if the ad involves housing, employment or credit opportunities. If it does, advertisers will be directed to the new system. Facebook is also putting tools in place to identify ads that advertisers failed to flag.

Additionally, Facebook is working on a tool that will let users search active housing ads by the advertiser and by location, whether or not they are in the target audience. This is expected to be available by the end of this year. Down the road, Facebook plans to make similar tools available for employment and credit opportunities.

“Given how critical access to housing, employment and credit opportunities are, this could have a significant impact on people’s lives,” Murphy wrote in her progress report.

This audit began in May 2018 following one scandal after the other pertaining to misinformation, and Facebook’s policies and people of color on its platform. The first six months entailed Murphy conducting interviews with civil rights organizations to determine their concerns. This last six months largely focused on content moderation and enforcement. The civil rights audit is far from over, and Facebook says we can expect to see the next update early next year.

https://ift.tt/2KOhdMy

Aussies can get Audible and Kindle Unlimited free for three months

Amazon Prime Day isn’t too far away and, in the lead up to the big sale, the e-commerce giant is offering Australian Prime members a chance to experience some of its other services for free.

If you are an existing Prime member but have never tried Audible or Kindle Unlimited before, you can sign up for either one or both services between July 1 and July 31 and you can enjoy a three-month long free trial period for each service.

Now, presumably this means that those who haven't trialled Amazon Prime before can sign up for a free 30-day trial (making use of it during Amazon Prime Day while you're at it), and then sign up for both the Audible and Kindle Unlimited offers as well.

So many stories…

Audible and Kindle Unlimited are for booklovers. If you love to read, then Kindle Unlimited will give you access to over a million ebooks. If any of those ebooks have an audio version available on Audible, you’ll even be able to listen to the narration if you don’t have the time to read. To use Kindle Unlimited, you will need the Kindle app on your handheld device or get yourself an Amazon Kindle e-reader.

For booklovers who are constantly on the move, Audible is a great option. It’s the largest library of audiobooks and members can choose one audiobook each month regardless of price. Purchasing additional audiobooks won’t cost more than $14.95 each, and you can swap them out any time.

If you aren’t a Prime member already, now is the perfect time for you to sign up and take advantage of not just the three-month free trial of Audible and Kindle Unlimited, but also save a packet on a variety of goods during this year’s Prime Day.

To sign up for any of the services, just click on the green button.

• Amazon Prime Day date confirmed for Australia – it's set to be a 65-hour epic sale!

https://ift.tt/2KQN2oe

Android's new Fast Share is Google's answer to Apple AirDrop

Aussies can get Audible and Kindle Unlimited free for three months

Amazon Prime Day isn’t too far away and, in the lead up to the big sale, the e-commerce giant is offering Australian Prime members a chance to experience some of its other services for free.

If you are an existing Prime member but have never tried Audible or Kindle Unlimited before, you can sign up for either one or both services between July 1 and July 31 and you can enjoy a three-month long free trial period for each service.

Now, presumably this means that those who haven't trialled Amazon Prime before can sign up for a free 30-day trial (making use of it during Amazon Prime Day while you're at it), and then sign up for both the Audible and Kindle Unlimited offers as well.

So many stories…

Audible and Kindle Unlimited are for booklovers. If you love to read, then Kindle Unlimited will give you access to over a million ebooks. If any of those ebooks have an audio version available on Audible, you’ll even be able to listen to the narration if you don’t have the time to read. To use Kindle Unlimited, you will need the Kindle app on your handheld device or get yourself an Amazon Kindle e-reader.

For booklovers who are constantly on the move, Audible is a great option. It’s the largest library of audiobooks and members can choose one audiobook each month regardless of price. Purchasing additional audiobooks won’t cost more than $14.95 each, and you can swap them out any time.

If you aren’t a Prime member already, now is the perfect time for you to sign up and take advantage of not just the three-month free trial of Audible and Kindle Unlimited, but also save a packet on a variety of goods during this year’s Prime Day.

To sign up for any of the services, just click on the green button.

• Amazon Prime Day date confirmed for Australia – it's set to be a 65-hour epic sale!

https://ift.tt/2KQN2oe

Android's new Fast Share is Google's answer to Apple AirDrop

Aussies can get Audible and Kindle Unlimited free for three months

Amazon Prime Day isn’t too far away and, in the lead up to the big sale, the e-commerce giant is offering Australian Prime members a chance to experience some of its other services for free.

If you are an existing Prime member but have never tried Audible or Kindle Unlimited before, you can sign up for either one or both services between July 1 and July 31 and you can enjoy a three-month long free trial period for each service.

Now, presumably this means that those who haven't trialled Amazon Prime before can sign up for a free 30-day trial (making use of it during Amazon Prime Day while you're at it), and then sign up for both the Audible and Kindle Unlimited offers as well.

So many stories…

Audible and Kindle Unlimited are for booklovers. If you love to read, then Kindle Unlimited will give you access to over a million ebooks. If any of those ebooks have an audio version available on Audible, you’ll even be able to listen to the narration if you don’t have the time to read. To use Kindle Unlimited, you will need the Kindle app on your handheld device or get yourself an Amazon Kindle e-reader.

For booklovers who are constantly on the move, Audible is a great option. It’s the largest library of audiobooks and members can choose one audiobook each month regardless of price. Purchasing additional audiobooks won’t cost more than $14.95 each, and you can swap them out any time.

If you aren’t a Prime member already, now is the perfect time for you to sign up and take advantage of not just the three-month free trial of Audible and Kindle Unlimited, but also save a packet on a variety of goods during this year’s Prime Day.

To sign up for any of the services, just click on the green button.

• Amazon Prime Day date confirmed for Australia – it's set to be a 65-hour epic sale!

https://ift.tt/2KQN2oe

Android's new Fast Share is Google's answer to Apple AirDrop

Aussies can get Audible and Kindle Unlimited free for three months

Amazon Prime Day isn’t too far away and, in the lead up to the big sale, the e-commerce giant is offering Australian Prime members a chance to experience some of its other services for free.

If you are an existing Prime member but have never tried Audible or Kindle Unlimited before, you can sign up for either one or both services between July 1 and July 31 and you can enjoy a three-month long free trial period for each service.

Now, presumably this means that those who haven't trialled Amazon Prime before can sign up for a free 30-day trial (making use of it during Amazon Prime Day while you're at it), and then sign up for both the Audible and Kindle Unlimited offers as well.

So many stories…

Audible and Kindle Unlimited are for booklovers. If you love to read, then Kindle Unlimited will give you access to over a million ebooks. If any of those ebooks have an audio version available on Audible, you’ll even be able to listen to the narration if you don’t have the time to read. To use Kindle Unlimited, you will need the Kindle app on your handheld device or get yourself an Amazon Kindle e-reader.

For booklovers who are constantly on the move, Audible is a great option. It’s the largest library of audiobooks and members can choose one audiobook each month regardless of price. Purchasing additional audiobooks won’t cost more than $14.95 each, and you can swap them out any time.

If you aren’t a Prime member already, now is the perfect time for you to sign up and take advantage of not just the three-month free trial of Audible and Kindle Unlimited, but also save a packet on a variety of goods during this year’s Prime Day.

To sign up for any of the services, just click on the green button.

• Amazon Prime Day date confirmed for Australia – it's set to be a 65-hour epic sale!

https://ift.tt/2KQN2oe

Android's new Fast Share is Google's answer to Apple AirDrop

Amazon Prime Day in Australia: What to expect during Prime Day 2019

TechLife's August 2019 issue is out now!

Amazon Prime Day in Australia: What to expect during Prime Day 2019

TechLife's August 2019 issue is out now!

Amazon Prime Day in Australia: What to expect during Prime Day 2019

Amazon Prime Day in Australia: What to expect during Prime Day 2019

TechLife's August 2019 issue is out now!

TechLife's August 2019 issue is out now!

Public testing is underway for Halo: Reach but it's very exclusive

343 Industries has confirmed that the first public beta test for Halo: Reach, part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, is underway but it’s currently only accessible to fewer than 1000 Halo Insiders.

343 Industries has taken to the Halo Insider forums to announce that this first test is “just the beginning” and that it’s being kept “very small”, so if you did sign up for the Halo: Reach flighting tests and didn’t get an invite, you’re not the only one. 

“We’ve had a massive amount of opt-ins to the Insider program which is awesome,” 343 explains, “but it’s way more people than we can comfortably accommodate in our first flight out the door.”

Taking flight

The first flight is running from June 28 until July 1 and includes the Halo: Reach campaign mission Tip of the Spear, which is an updated build of the demo shown at E3 this year.

Given it’s still a work-in-progress, the build is apparently missing a few features and has several known issues. The main aim for 343 Industries for this first flight is to test the best way to launch more builds on Steam at a larger scale and get some player feedback on the mouse and keyboard controls.

Despite the invite-only status of the build, it has been reported that pirated versions of the build are being leaked online. 343 Industries and Microsoft have stated that they are aware of the issue and are cracking down on anyone that distributes or plays any illegal copies. 

In a tweet, Community Support and Engagement Coordinator at 343 Industries, Tyler Davis, said that those who do play the illegal beta will have all of their associated accounts banned and will be removed from any “all current or future 343 programs”. 

Given the beta only includes one mission and isn’t at optimal playing condition, playing a pirated version hardly seems like a worthwhile risk to take for fans of the franchise. 

It’s been promised that over time, there will be more test flights on both PC and Xbox with a larger number of people and a wider range of content from not just Reach, but more games that will be in the Master Chief Collection. 

In the meantime, 343 Industries has released 15 minutes of 4K gameplay footage for fans to pore over, no piracy needed. You can watch that for yourself below.

• More interested in Halo 6? Here's everything we know so far

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OnePlus 7 Pro vs Huawei P30: the ultimate camera test

Any smartphone can take a picture, but only the best handsets can take a great picture, and the OnePlus 7 Pro and Huawei P30 are two of the most high-end devices for photography.

Each has three rear snappers – one standard, one ultra-wide, and one for long distance pictures – and they also come with an AI scene optimization tool to take the very best pictures possible.

But which is the absolute best? It's a hard question to answer, so instead of picking a phone, we took them both out on a few adventures, so we can compare pictures taken with each of the devices.

These are the results of the test. The images you see below are of the OnePlus 7 Pro – click on the arrow on each image to see the Huawei P30 equivalent.

A word on the cameras

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 48MP main camera, joined by a 16MP ultra-wide snapper and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens that supports up to 3x optical zoom.

The Huawei P30 only has a 40MP main sensor, and like the OnePlus phone it has a 16MP ultra-wide lens and 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.

The main difference between the two cameras is this first sensor, as the OnePlus 7 Pro has a slightly better megapixel count, but you won't necessarily notice that in many pictures taken – and it's really the scene optimization software that does a lot of the work too. 

'Normal' photos

There wasn't a huge amount of difference between 'normal' pictures taken – by that we mean, at 1x zoom with no effects or filters.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo was a tiny bit darker, but in general the pictures were very similar, both in terms of color range and quality, and the actual field of view and depth.

Zoomed photos

When we took pictures at 3x zoom, which is the optical zoom limit for both phones, the Huawei P30's had more vibrant colors and a bigger contrast between the dark subject and light background – but that's perhaps not the greatest thing, as details and complexity was lost.

Of course if you want insane levels of zoom the P30 is the best answer though, as its 30x zoom will get you as much pixellated glory as you want.

Ultra-wide photos

The Huawei P30's ultra-wide photo is shocking – look at all that blue sky! Not only is it unprecedented for London, it's quiet a change from the limited blue-ness of the zoomed pictures.

The OnePlus 7 Pro's photo is a little paler, both in terms of the sky and the bridge, but that means, like the zoomed picture, you get a lot more detail.

Both handsets have roughly the same field of view in these shots though, so are neck-and-neck in that regard.

Macro photos

These pictures are fairly similar looking, if we're being honest. The background is blurred appropriately for how far away it is, the textures are captured well, and color tones are easy to differentiate between.

The main difference is in how we actually took the pictures – the Huawei P30 felt a tiny bit slower in focusing on the rock than the OnePlus 7 Pro, so it was quicker to take the picture on the latter phone.

Night sight

The Huawei P30 has a RYYB sensor, as opposed to the RGB in the OnePlus 7 Pro and most other smartphones. This means it picks up on red-yellow-yellow-blue, instead of red-green-blue, and for the purposes of this camera test, that means it 'sees' light a lot better.

You can tell in the night-sight test, as the Huawei P30's picture has a noticeable amount more detail, and it's brighter all around. 

The OnePlus 7 Pro's contrast between light and dark is certainly artistic, but you can't see half of it.

Color perception

For a phone that's meant to have amazing color perception, the Huawei P30 let us down – that's because the scene optimization tool wanted to capture the panoramic shot of the umbrellas as much as it did the fruit, and it couldn't tell what the focus of the picture was. 

Because of that the fruit is darker, compared to the OnePlus 7 Pro's pictures, with a lighter and brighter dish. The Pro also knew to apply appropriate background blur, to emphasize this shot.

Capturing greenery

What do you want in a picture – natural and realistic looks, or something a little – ahem – spruced up? (Yes, we know this isn't a spruce.)

The Huawei P30's image has a distinct yellow tone, thanks to the RYYB sensor, which make the whole picture look exciting and vibrant. However that's not how the bush actually looked in real life.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo is a little dull and lifeless, which is exactly how the bush looked in real life, and while it won't win any 'Bush Photograph of the Year' awards, it's an accurate depiction of the boring bush.

Verdict

The camera test was a mixed bag, and after spending time with the two devices, we really don't have a distinct winner – even over the course of writing up this comparison, and analyzing the picture, our preference kept shifting.

The OnePlus 7 Pro took detailed pictures, that were sometimes a little simplistic, but they benefited from that. They were often a little pale though, compared to the competitor.

The Huawei P30's photos like to toy with color and brightness quite a bit – sometimes that works, and makes vibrant pictures, and other times it robs detail from its subjects.

So there's no 'better' camera phone, and for once we wouldn't actually say 'pick a phone that has features that suit you better'. Instead, it's better to choose a handset whose disadvantages are you can overlook more easily.

• These are the best camera phones you can buy

https://ift.tt/2FHCljA

Diablo 4: everything there is to know so far

Diablo 4: everything there is to know so far

Public testing is underway for Halo: Reach but it's very exclusive

343 Industries has confirmed that the first public beta test for Halo: Reach, part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, is underway but it’s currently only accessible to fewer than 1000 Halo Insiders.

343 Industries has taken to the Halo Insider forums to announce that this first test is “just the beginning” and that it’s being kept “very small”, so if you did sign up for the Halo: Reach flighting tests and didn’t get an invite, you’re not the only one. 

“We’ve had a massive amount of opt-ins to the Insider program which is awesome,” 343 explains, “but it’s way more people than we can comfortably accommodate in our first flight out the door.”

Taking flight

The first flight is running from June 28 until July 1 and includes the Halo: Reach campaign mission Tip of the Spear, which is an updated build of the demo shown at E3 this year.

Given it’s still a work-in-progress, the build is apparently missing a few features and has several known issues. The main aim for 343 Industries for this first flight is to test the best way to launch more builds on Steam at a larger scale and get some player feedback on the mouse and keyboard controls.

Despite the invite-only status of the build, it has been reported that pirated versions of the build are being leaked online. 343 Industries and Microsoft have stated that they are aware of the issue and are cracking down on anyone that distributes or plays any illegal copies. 

In a tweet, Community Support and Engagement Coordinator at 343 Industries, Tyler Davis, said that those who do play the illegal beta will have all of their associated accounts banned and will be removed from any “all current or future 343 programs”. 

Given the beta only includes one mission and isn’t at optimal playing condition, playing a pirated version hardly seems like a worthwhile risk to take for fans of the franchise. 

It’s been promised that over time, there will be more test flights on both PC and Xbox with a larger number of people and a wider range of content from not just Reach, but more games that will be in the Master Chief Collection. 

In the meantime, 343 Industries has released 15 minutes of 4K gameplay footage for fans to pore over, no piracy needed. You can watch that for yourself below.

• More interested in Halo 6? Here's everything we know so far

https://ift.tt/2xmGy7E

OnePlus 7 Pro vs Huawei P30: the ultimate camera test

Any smartphone can take a picture, but only the best handsets can take a great picture, and the OnePlus 7 Pro and Huawei P30 are two of the most high-end devices for photography.

Each has three rear snappers – one standard, one ultra-wide, and one for long distance pictures – and they also come with an AI scene optimization tool to take the very best pictures possible.

But which is the absolute best? It's a hard question to answer, so instead of picking a phone, we took them both out on a few adventures, so we can compare pictures taken with each of the devices.

These are the results of the test. The images you see below are of the OnePlus 7 Pro – click on the arrow on each image to see the Huawei P30 equivalent.

A word on the cameras

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 48MP main camera, joined by a 16MP ultra-wide snapper and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens that supports up to 3x optical zoom.

The Huawei P30 only has a 40MP main sensor, and like the OnePlus phone it has a 16MP ultra-wide lens and 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.

The main difference between the two cameras is this first sensor, as the OnePlus 7 Pro has a slightly better megapixel count, but you won't necessarily notice that in many pictures taken – and it's really the scene optimization software that does a lot of the work too. 

'Normal' photos

There wasn't a huge amount of difference between 'normal' pictures taken – by that we mean, at 1x zoom with no effects or filters.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo was a tiny bit darker, but in general the pictures were very similar, both in terms of color range and quality, and the actual field of view and depth.

Zoomed photos

When we took pictures at 3x zoom, which is the optical zoom limit for both phones, the Huawei P30's had more vibrant colors and a bigger contrast between the dark subject and light background – but that's perhaps not the greatest thing, as details and complexity was lost.

Of course if you want insane levels of zoom the P30 is the best answer though, as its 30x zoom will get you as much pixellated glory as you want.

Ultra-wide photos

The Huawei P30's ultra-wide photo is shocking – look at all that blue sky! Not only is it unprecedented for London, it's quiet a change from the limited blue-ness of the zoomed pictures.

The OnePlus 7 Pro's photo is a little paler, both in terms of the sky and the bridge, but that means, like the zoomed picture, you get a lot more detail.

Both handsets have roughly the same field of view in these shots though, so are neck-and-neck in that regard.

Macro photos

These pictures are fairly similar looking, if we're being honest. The background is blurred appropriately for how far away it is, the textures are captured well, and color tones are easy to differentiate between.

The main difference is in how we actually took the pictures – the Huawei P30 felt a tiny bit slower in focusing on the rock than the OnePlus 7 Pro, so it was quicker to take the picture on the latter phone.

Night sight

The Huawei P30 has a RYYB sensor, as opposed to the RGB in the OnePlus 7 Pro and most other smartphones. This means it picks up on red-yellow-yellow-blue, instead of red-green-blue, and for the purposes of this camera test, that means it 'sees' light a lot better.

You can tell in the night-sight test, as the Huawei P30's picture has a noticeable amount more detail, and it's brighter all around. 

The OnePlus 7 Pro's contrast between light and dark is certainly artistic, but you can't see half of it.

Color perception

For a phone that's meant to have amazing color perception, the Huawei P30 let us down – that's because the scene optimization tool wanted to capture the panoramic shot of the umbrellas as much as it did the fruit, and it couldn't tell what the focus of the picture was. 

Because of that the fruit is darker, compared to the OnePlus 7 Pro's pictures, with a lighter and brighter dish. The Pro also knew to apply appropriate background blur, to emphasize this shot.

Capturing greenery

What do you want in a picture – natural and realistic looks, or something a little – ahem – spruced up? (Yes, we know this isn't a spruce.)

The Huawei P30's image has a distinct yellow tone, thanks to the RYYB sensor, which make the whole picture look exciting and vibrant. However that's not how the bush actually looked in real life.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo is a little dull and lifeless, which is exactly how the bush looked in real life, and while it won't win any 'Bush Photograph of the Year' awards, it's an accurate depiction of the boring bush.

Verdict

The camera test was a mixed bag, and after spending time with the two devices, we really don't have a distinct winner – even over the course of writing up this comparison, and analyzing the picture, our preference kept shifting.

The OnePlus 7 Pro took detailed pictures, that were sometimes a little simplistic, but they benefited from that. They were often a little pale though, compared to the competitor.

The Huawei P30's photos like to toy with color and brightness quite a bit – sometimes that works, and makes vibrant pictures, and other times it robs detail from its subjects.

So there's no 'better' camera phone, and for once we wouldn't actually say 'pick a phone that has features that suit you better'. Instead, it's better to choose a handset whose disadvantages are you can overlook more easily.

• These are the best camera phones you can buy

https://ift.tt/2FHCljA

Diablo 4: everything there is to know so far

Public testing is underway for Halo: Reach but it's very exclusive

343 Industries has confirmed that the first public beta test for Halo: Reach, part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, is underway but it’s currently only accessible to fewer than 1000 Halo Insiders.

343 Industries has taken to the Halo Insider forums to announce that this first test is “just the beginning” and that it’s being kept “very small”, so if you did sign up for the Halo: Reach flighting tests and didn’t get an invite, you’re not the only one. 

“We’ve had a massive amount of opt-ins to the Insider program which is awesome,” 343 explains, “but it’s way more people than we can comfortably accommodate in our first flight out the door.”

Taking flight

The first flight is running from June 28 until July 1 and includes the Halo: Reach campaign mission Tip of the Spear, which is an updated build of the demo shown at E3 this year.

Given it’s still a work-in-progress, the build is apparently missing a few features and has several known issues. The main aim for 343 Industries for this first flight is to test the best way to launch more builds on Steam at a larger scale and get some player feedback on the mouse and keyboard controls.

Despite the invite-only status of the build, it has been reported that pirated versions of the build are being leaked online. 343 Industries and Microsoft have stated that they are aware of the issue and are cracking down on anyone that distributes or plays any illegal copies. 

In a tweet, Community Support and Engagement Coordinator at 343 Industries, Tyler Davis, said that those who do play the illegal beta will have all of their associated accounts banned and will be removed from any “all current or future 343 programs”. 

Given the beta only includes one mission and isn’t at optimal playing condition, playing a pirated version hardly seems like a worthwhile risk to take for fans of the franchise. 

It’s been promised that over time, there will be more test flights on both PC and Xbox with a larger number of people and a wider range of content from not just Reach, but more games that will be in the Master Chief Collection. 

In the meantime, 343 Industries has released 15 minutes of 4K gameplay footage for fans to pore over, no piracy needed. You can watch that for yourself below.

• More interested in Halo 6? Here's everything we know so far

https://ift.tt/2xmGy7E

OnePlus 7 Pro vs Huawei P30: the ultimate camera test

Any smartphone can take a picture, but only the best handsets can take a great picture, and the OnePlus 7 Pro and Huawei P30 are two of the most high-end devices for photography.

Each has three rear snappers – one standard, one ultra-wide, and one for long distance pictures – and they also come with an AI scene optimization tool to take the very best pictures possible.

But which is the absolute best? It's a hard question to answer, so instead of picking a phone, we took them both out on a few adventures, so we can compare pictures taken with each of the devices.

These are the results of the test. The images you see below are of the OnePlus 7 Pro – click on the arrow on each image to see the Huawei P30 equivalent.

A word on the cameras

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 48MP main camera, joined by a 16MP ultra-wide snapper and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens that supports up to 3x optical zoom.

The Huawei P30 only has a 40MP main sensor, and like the OnePlus phone it has a 16MP ultra-wide lens and 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.

The main difference between the two cameras is this first sensor, as the OnePlus 7 Pro has a slightly better megapixel count, but you won't necessarily notice that in many pictures taken – and it's really the scene optimization software that does a lot of the work too. 

'Normal' photos

There wasn't a huge amount of difference between 'normal' pictures taken – by that we mean, at 1x zoom with no effects or filters.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo was a tiny bit darker, but in general the pictures were very similar, both in terms of color range and quality, and the actual field of view and depth.

Zoomed photos

When we took pictures at 3x zoom, which is the optical zoom limit for both phones, the Huawei P30's had more vibrant colors and a bigger contrast between the dark subject and light background – but that's perhaps not the greatest thing, as details and complexity was lost.

Of course if you want insane levels of zoom the P30 is the best answer though, as its 30x zoom will get you as much pixellated glory as you want.

Ultra-wide photos

The Huawei P30's ultra-wide photo is shocking – look at all that blue sky! Not only is it unprecedented for London, it's quiet a change from the limited blue-ness of the zoomed pictures.

The OnePlus 7 Pro's photo is a little paler, both in terms of the sky and the bridge, but that means, like the zoomed picture, you get a lot more detail.

Both handsets have roughly the same field of view in these shots though, so are neck-and-neck in that regard.

Macro photos

These pictures are fairly similar looking, if we're being honest. The background is blurred appropriately for how far away it is, the textures are captured well, and color tones are easy to differentiate between.

The main difference is in how we actually took the pictures – the Huawei P30 felt a tiny bit slower in focusing on the rock than the OnePlus 7 Pro, so it was quicker to take the picture on the latter phone.

Night sight

The Huawei P30 has a RYYB sensor, as opposed to the RGB in the OnePlus 7 Pro and most other smartphones. This means it picks up on red-yellow-yellow-blue, instead of red-green-blue, and for the purposes of this camera test, that means it 'sees' light a lot better.

You can tell in the night-sight test, as the Huawei P30's picture has a noticeable amount more detail, and it's brighter all around. 

The OnePlus 7 Pro's contrast between light and dark is certainly artistic, but you can't see half of it.

Color perception

For a phone that's meant to have amazing color perception, the Huawei P30 let us down – that's because the scene optimization tool wanted to capture the panoramic shot of the umbrellas as much as it did the fruit, and it couldn't tell what the focus of the picture was. 

Because of that the fruit is darker, compared to the OnePlus 7 Pro's pictures, with a lighter and brighter dish. The Pro also knew to apply appropriate background blur, to emphasize this shot.

Capturing greenery

What do you want in a picture – natural and realistic looks, or something a little – ahem – spruced up? (Yes, we know this isn't a spruce.)

The Huawei P30's image has a distinct yellow tone, thanks to the RYYB sensor, which make the whole picture look exciting and vibrant. However that's not how the bush actually looked in real life.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo is a little dull and lifeless, which is exactly how the bush looked in real life, and while it won't win any 'Bush Photograph of the Year' awards, it's an accurate depiction of the boring bush.

Verdict

The camera test was a mixed bag, and after spending time with the two devices, we really don't have a distinct winner – even over the course of writing up this comparison, and analyzing the picture, our preference kept shifting.

The OnePlus 7 Pro took detailed pictures, that were sometimes a little simplistic, but they benefited from that. They were often a little pale though, compared to the competitor.

The Huawei P30's photos like to toy with color and brightness quite a bit – sometimes that works, and makes vibrant pictures, and other times it robs detail from its subjects.

So there's no 'better' camera phone, and for once we wouldn't actually say 'pick a phone that has features that suit you better'. Instead, it's better to choose a handset whose disadvantages are you can overlook more easily.

• These are the best camera phones you can buy

https://ift.tt/2FHCljA

Public testing is underway for Halo: Reach but it's very exclusive

343 Industries has confirmed that the first public beta test for Halo: Reach, part of Halo: The Master Chief Collection, is underway but it’s currently only accessible to fewer than 1000 Halo Insiders.

343 Industries has taken to the Halo Insider forums to announce that this first test is “just the beginning” and that it’s being kept “very small”, so if you did sign up for the Halo: Reach flighting tests and didn’t get an invite, you’re not the only one. 

“We’ve had a massive amount of opt-ins to the Insider program which is awesome,” 343 explains, “but it’s way more people than we can comfortably accommodate in our first flight out the door.”

Taking flight

The first flight is running from June 28 until July 1 and includes the Halo: Reach campaign mission Tip of the Spear, which is an updated build of the demo shown at E3 this year.

Given it’s still a work-in-progress, the build is apparently missing a few features and has several known issues. The main aim for 343 Industries for this first flight is to test the best way to launch more builds on Steam at a larger scale and get some player feedback on the mouse and keyboard controls.

Despite the invite-only status of the build, it has been reported that pirated versions of the build are being leaked online. 343 Industries and Microsoft have stated that they are aware of the issue and are cracking down on anyone that distributes or plays any illegal copies. 

In a tweet, Community Support and Engagement Coordinator at 343 Industries, Tyler Davis, said that those who do play the illegal beta will have all of their associated accounts banned and will be removed from any “all current or future 343 programs”. 

Given the beta only includes one mission and isn’t at optimal playing condition, playing a pirated version hardly seems like a worthwhile risk to take for fans of the franchise. 

It’s been promised that over time, there will be more test flights on both PC and Xbox with a larger number of people and a wider range of content from not just Reach, but more games that will be in the Master Chief Collection. 

In the meantime, 343 Industries has released 15 minutes of 4K gameplay footage for fans to pore over, no piracy needed. You can watch that for yourself below.

• More interested in Halo 6? Here's everything we know so far

https://ift.tt/2xmGy7E

OnePlus 7 Pro vs Huawei P30: the ultimate camera test

Any smartphone can take a picture, but only the best handsets can take a great picture, and the OnePlus 7 Pro and Huawei P30 are two of the most high-end devices for photography.

Each has three rear snappers – one standard, one ultra-wide, and one for long distance pictures – and they also come with an AI scene optimization tool to take the very best pictures possible.

But which is the absolute best? It's a hard question to answer, so instead of picking a phone, we took them both out on a few adventures, so we can compare pictures taken with each of the devices.

These are the results of the test. The images you see below are of the OnePlus 7 Pro – click on the arrow on each image to see the Huawei P30 equivalent.

A word on the cameras

The OnePlus 7 Pro has a 48MP main camera, joined by a 16MP ultra-wide snapper and an 8MP sensor with telephoto lens that supports up to 3x optical zoom.

The Huawei P30 only has a 40MP main sensor, and like the OnePlus phone it has a 16MP ultra-wide lens and 8MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom.

The main difference between the two cameras is this first sensor, as the OnePlus 7 Pro has a slightly better megapixel count, but you won't necessarily notice that in many pictures taken – and it's really the scene optimization software that does a lot of the work too. 

'Normal' photos

There wasn't a huge amount of difference between 'normal' pictures taken – by that we mean, at 1x zoom with no effects or filters.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo was a tiny bit darker, but in general the pictures were very similar, both in terms of color range and quality, and the actual field of view and depth.

Zoomed photos

When we took pictures at 3x zoom, which is the optical zoom limit for both phones, the Huawei P30's had more vibrant colors and a bigger contrast between the dark subject and light background – but that's perhaps not the greatest thing, as details and complexity was lost.

Of course if you want insane levels of zoom the P30 is the best answer though, as its 30x zoom will get you as much pixellated glory as you want.

Ultra-wide photos

The Huawei P30's ultra-wide photo is shocking – look at all that blue sky! Not only is it unprecedented for London, it's quiet a change from the limited blue-ness of the zoomed pictures.

The OnePlus 7 Pro's photo is a little paler, both in terms of the sky and the bridge, but that means, like the zoomed picture, you get a lot more detail.

Both handsets have roughly the same field of view in these shots though, so are neck-and-neck in that regard.

Macro photos

These pictures are fairly similar looking, if we're being honest. The background is blurred appropriately for how far away it is, the textures are captured well, and color tones are easy to differentiate between.

The main difference is in how we actually took the pictures – the Huawei P30 felt a tiny bit slower in focusing on the rock than the OnePlus 7 Pro, so it was quicker to take the picture on the latter phone.

Night sight

The Huawei P30 has a RYYB sensor, as opposed to the RGB in the OnePlus 7 Pro and most other smartphones. This means it picks up on red-yellow-yellow-blue, instead of red-green-blue, and for the purposes of this camera test, that means it 'sees' light a lot better.

You can tell in the night-sight test, as the Huawei P30's picture has a noticeable amount more detail, and it's brighter all around. 

The OnePlus 7 Pro's contrast between light and dark is certainly artistic, but you can't see half of it.

Color perception

For a phone that's meant to have amazing color perception, the Huawei P30 let us down – that's because the scene optimization tool wanted to capture the panoramic shot of the umbrellas as much as it did the fruit, and it couldn't tell what the focus of the picture was. 

Because of that the fruit is darker, compared to the OnePlus 7 Pro's pictures, with a lighter and brighter dish. The Pro also knew to apply appropriate background blur, to emphasize this shot.

Capturing greenery

What do you want in a picture – natural and realistic looks, or something a little – ahem – spruced up? (Yes, we know this isn't a spruce.)

The Huawei P30's image has a distinct yellow tone, thanks to the RYYB sensor, which make the whole picture look exciting and vibrant. However that's not how the bush actually looked in real life.

The OnePlus 7 Pro photo is a little dull and lifeless, which is exactly how the bush looked in real life, and while it won't win any 'Bush Photograph of the Year' awards, it's an accurate depiction of the boring bush.

Verdict

The camera test was a mixed bag, and after spending time with the two devices, we really don't have a distinct winner – even over the course of writing up this comparison, and analyzing the picture, our preference kept shifting.

The OnePlus 7 Pro took detailed pictures, that were sometimes a little simplistic, but they benefited from that. They were often a little pale though, compared to the competitor.

The Huawei P30's photos like to toy with color and brightness quite a bit – sometimes that works, and makes vibrant pictures, and other times it robs detail from its subjects.

So there's no 'better' camera phone, and for once we wouldn't actually say 'pick a phone that has features that suit you better'. Instead, it's better to choose a handset whose disadvantages are you can overlook more easily.

• These are the best camera phones you can buy

https://ift.tt/2FHCljA

Huawei will soon be allowed to buy some of its tech from US suppliers again

There are signs of a thaw in the ongoing US vs Huawei saga, with President Trump announcing that Huawei will once again be able to buy technology from US suppliers – with certain limits.

"US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei," Bloomberg reports Trump as saying at a G20 news conference. "We're talking about equipment where there's no great national security problem with it."

It would appear the US and Chinese governments are prepared to press pause on the ongoing trade war happening between the countries, which should give companies on both sides of the Pacific some breathing space.

• The future could be scooter-driven
• Huawei Android updates are under threat
• Microsoft patents a folding device

As yet it's not clear exactly what the change in policy will mean: Huawei remains on the Commerce Department's Entities List, which means any deals will need approval from the US authorities. Further talks are planned this week.

Details to follow

It would appear the US is prepared to give Huawei some concessions when it comes to developing smartphone and laptop devices, while still keeping the Chinese company out of its 5G infrastructure.

Whether or not the deal means Huawei can carry on developing phones as normal, Android and all, hasn't yet been established. The fine print is still being discussed, and we should hear more this week.

Huawei has been scrambling to respond to the threat of having its US software and hardware suppliers cut off – even going as far as developing its own Android replacement in the event that it can't use Google software any more.

The full effects of the ban weren't due to come into effect until August anyway, so with President Trump's announcement at the G20 conference, it could now be business as usual for Huawei – at least for some of its products.

• Here's everything you need to know about Huawei and the US

https://ift.tt/2Ym208Q

Huawei will soon be allowed to buy some of its tech from US suppliers again

There are signs of a thaw in the ongoing US vs Huawei saga, with President Trump announcing that Huawei will once again be able to buy technology from US suppliers – with certain limits.

"US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei," Bloomberg reports Trump as saying at a G20 news conference. "We're talking about equipment where there's no great national security problem with it."

It would appear the US and Chinese governments are prepared to press pause on the ongoing trade war happening between the countries, which should give companies on both sides of the Pacific some breathing space.

• The future could be scooter-driven
• Huawei Android updates are under threat
• Microsoft patents a folding device

As yet it's not clear exactly what the change in policy will mean: Huawei remains on the Commerce Department's Entities List, which means any deals will need approval from the US authorities. Further talks are planned this week.

Details to follow

It would appear the US is prepared to give Huawei some concessions when it comes to developing smartphone and laptop devices, while still keeping the Chinese company out of its 5G infrastructure.

Whether or not the deal means Huawei can carry on developing phones as normal, Android and all, hasn't yet been established. The fine print is still being discussed, and we should hear more this week.

Huawei has been scrambling to respond to the threat of having its US software and hardware suppliers cut off – even going as far as developing its own Android replacement in the event that it can't use Google software any more.

The full effects of the ban weren't due to come into effect until August anyway, so with President Trump's announcement at the G20 conference, it could now be business as usual for Huawei – at least for some of its products.

• Here's everything you need to know about Huawei and the US

https://ift.tt/2Ym208Q

Huawei will soon be allowed to buy some of its tech from US suppliers again

There are signs of a thaw in the ongoing US vs Huawei saga, with President Trump announcing that Huawei will once again be able to buy technology from US suppliers – with certain limits.

"US companies can sell their equipment to Huawei," Bloomberg reports Trump as saying at a G20 news conference. "We're talking about equipment where there's no great national security problem with it."

It would appear the US and Chinese governments are prepared to press pause on the ongoing trade war happening between the countries, which should give companies on both sides of the Pacific some breathing space.

• The future could be scooter-driven
• Huawei Android updates are under threat
• Microsoft patents a folding device

As yet it's not clear exactly what the change in policy will mean: Huawei remains on the Commerce Department's Entities List, which means any deals will need approval from the US authorities. Further talks are planned this week.

Details to follow

It would appear the US is prepared to give Huawei some concessions when it comes to developing smartphone and laptop devices, while still keeping the Chinese company out of its 5G infrastructure.

Whether or not the deal means Huawei can carry on developing phones as normal, Android and all, hasn't yet been established. The fine print is still being discussed, and we should hear more this week.

Huawei has been scrambling to respond to the threat of having its US software and hardware suppliers cut off – even going as far as developing its own Android replacement in the event that it can't use Google software any more.

The full effects of the ban weren't due to come into effect until August anyway, so with President Trump's announcement at the G20 conference, it could now be business as usual for Huawei – at least for some of its products.

• Here's everything you need to know about Huawei and the US

https://ift.tt/2Ym208Q

Cricket World Cup 2019 live stream: how to watch every game online from anywhere

Between the predictable spells of rain, the 2019 Cricket World Cup has delivered all the scintillating action that we'd been waiting four years for. We've now seen enough to start getting an idea of which teams will proceed into the knockout stages and who the form players are that may emerge as the tournament MVPs. There's been big hitting, fearsome bowling and spectacular catches.

And you've come to the right place to find out how to live stream every last ball of the Cricket World Cup regardless of where you live. Although most countries have paid-for TV viewing only (including hosts England) some nations are luckier - for example, Australians can watch their boys and the latter stages on Channel 9, while Pakistan have every match free in the English language on the state-owned PTV.

10 of the world's elite cricket-playing countries are competing title of best ODI team on Earth with only one to be left standing by the end on July 14. It's the 12th incarnation of Cricket World Cup with hosts England going into it as pre-tournament favourites (according to Betfair at least). Other than a blip against Pakistan, they haven't disappointed so far, with the likes of Joe Root and Jofra Archer looking dangerous.

India have the world's two top ICC ODI ranked batsmen (Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) and the number one bowler (Jasprit Bumrah) and will naturally be a feared force. But perhaps most attention will be on reigning champions Australia, as they welcome back suspended duo Steve Smith and David Warner - both have managed to get some serious runs under their belts already. Bangladesh have impressed against the odds and and New Zealand have picked up some very strong wins indeed.

We've enjoyed it so far, but there's plenty of cricket still to come. If you want to know where you'll be able to watch every single daily match, we'll tell you exactly where you can catch them online with a Cricket World Cup live stream.

How to watch the 2019 Cricket World Cup from outside your country

You don't have to miss a single minute of Cricket World Cup - even if you're abroad and discover that your home broadcaster's online coverage is geo-blocked (we hate it when that happens).

If that happens to you and you're desperate to watch that domestic coverage, there's still a way to get it that doesn't involve putting your security at risk with some dodgy, illegal stream from Reddit. You can simply use a VPN to login back to your country that is broadcasting the actions, and it's really easy to do:

Upcoming Cricket World Cup fixtures

All times in local BST

Sunday June 30

England v India - Edgbaston, Birmingham (10.30am)

Monday July 1

Sri Lanka v West Indies - Chester-le-Street, Durham (10.30am)

Tuesday July 2

Bangladesh v India - Edgbaston, Birmingham (10.30am)

Wednesday July 3

England v New Zealand - Chester-le-Street, Durham (10.30am)

How to stream the Cricket World Cup live in the UK 

How to get a FREE Cricket World Cup live stream in Pakistan

How to live stream the Cricket World Cup final in Australia (for FREE)

How to watch the Cricket World Cup 2019: New Zealand live stream 

How to stream 2019 Cricket World Cup online in India

How to watch the Cricket World Cup: US live stream 

What is the format of the 2019 Cricket World Cup?

The Cricket World Cup is a ten-team tournament. Each country plays each other in a round-robin format, after which the top four teams qualify for the semi-finals. The two winning semi-finalists then get to face off in the final on Sunday, July 14.

How long do Cricket World Cup matches usually last?

Most 2019 Cricket World Cup matches will start at 10.30am BST and end early evening – around 6.30pm BST. A number of day/night games will start at 1.30pm BST and finish under floodlights at around 9pm BST.

Cricket World Cup matches broadly follow the rules of One Day Internationals, with each side facing 50 overs within a 210-minute time limit. Add in drinks breaks for each side and a 30 to 40 minutes innings break and matches can run up to nine hours in length. Some matches are much shorter however - England’s capitulation to New Zealand in the 2015 World Cup saw play wrapped up within four-and-a-half hours, with the Kiwis reaching their 123-run target in just 12 overs.

What teams are competing in this year's Cricket World Cup?

Afghanistan
Having made their maiden World Cup appearance in 2015, Afghanistan aren't likely to be on anybody's list of pre-match favourites.

Australia
The five-time winners suffered a blow with injury ruling out fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, but are boosted by the return of key batsman David Warner after serving a ban for ball tampering.

Bangladesh
With outside odds of 80/1 to win the trophy, Bangladesh will be hoping talismanic batsman Tamim Iqbal continues his excellent ODI record which has seen him clock up over 5,000 runs.

England
The hosts are clear favourites going in to the tournament. Captained by Eoin Morgan, since the last World Cup England have beaten every country competing in the tournament in a one-day series with the exception of Afghanistan.

India
Their recent home ODI defeat to Australia doesn’t bode well, but India will be hoping to repeat their 1983 triumph which saw them win the World Cup on English soil.

New Zealand
Having been sensational throughout the tournament, the Kiwis reached their first ever Cricket World Cup final in 2015, only to fall short at the final hurdle against Australia. A strong top order of Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Kane Williamson and Tom Latham should see them in contention again this time.

Pakistan
Having played a recent test series in England, Pakistan come into the tournament well prepared. Tipped by many to at least reach the semis, the tournament’s most unpredictable side stand a good wildcard chance of glory.

South Africa
The Proteas come into the World Cup in fine form having won nine of their last 11 ODI series, however injuries in the run up to key stars like Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi and Dale Steyn will raise concerns about their chances.

Sri Lanka
A run of just one win in the last 11 games suggest the 1996 winners will struggle in 2019. Much will depend on what form former captain and key batsman Angelo Mathews will be in if they are to get out of their current rut.

West Indies
Like Sri Lanka, the ODI form of the West Indies in recent times has fallen off a cliff. However, the emergence of Shimron Hetmyer and powerful batsman Shai Hope mean there’s some sense of optimism for a decent showing at the World Cup. 

What grounds are being used for the Cricket World Cup?

The Oval, London
Established in 1845, the home of Surrey County Cricket Club played host to the first-ever Test match on English soil between England and Australia in 1880. 

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Home of Nottinghamshire CCC, the 17,500-capacity ground will host five World Cup matches, including England vs Pakistan.

Bristol County Ground, Bristol
Built in 1889, and subsequently bought by WG Grace, the ground has been home to Gloucestershire CCC ever since.

Hampshire Bowl, Southampton
The 17,000-capacity ground will host ICC Cricket World Cup fixtures for the first time in 2019, with five matches taking place at the venue.  

The County Ground, Taunton
Three World Cup fixtures will be held at the County Ground Taunton, home of Somerset County Cricket Club.

Old Trafford, Manchester
Lancashire County Cricket Club’s ground has the honour of hosting the most 2019 Cricket World Cup matches with six games set to be played there, including one of the semi-finals.

Edgbaston, Birmingham
Warwickshire CCC’s ground was the scene of the 1999 semi-final showdown between Australia and South Africa - arguably the greatest Cricket World Cup game of all time.

Headingley, Leeds
Adjoined by Headingley Rugby Stadium, the complex is home to Leeds Rhinos rugby league and Yorkshire Carnegie rugby union clubs as well Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The cricket ground has hosted Test matches since 1899 and has a capacity of 18,350.

Lord's, London
Widely referred to as the Home of Cricket, the iconic north London ground will host the 2019 Cricket World Cup Final.

The Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street
English cricket’s most northerly ground is also one of its most picturesque. Home to Durham CCC, the stadium is overlooked by the 14th-century Lumley Castle.

Cardiff Wales Stadium
The single ground in this year’s World Cup that is based outside of England, Glamorgan County Cricket Club’s stadium will host four fixtures during the tournament.

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