With so many shows and movies to choose from on Australia's major streaming services, it can often be difficult to find the best new stuff to entertain yourself with each end of week.
In an effort to make things easier, we've hand-picked the best new shows and movies to watch on Aussie streaming platforms this weekend, covering the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Binge, Foxtel Now, Stan, Apple TV Plus and Amazon Prime Video.
Below, you'll find a list of new highlights, with binge-worthy TV shows sitting alongside some great big-budget movie arrivals – and a couple of oddball left-of-field entries, just for some variety.
The weekend brings some hitters to Australia's streaming scene, including the premiere of Moon Knight on Disney Plus, more Halo on Paramount Plus, the Judd Apatow comedy The Bubble on Netflix, and The Girl From Plainville on Stan. Here are our streaming picks for the weekend of April 1-3, 2022.
Disney's first live-action Marvel series featuring a new character has finally arrived with Moon Knight, the story of a man (Oscar Isaac) with a sleeping disorder who routinely blacks out, only to find himself in crazy situations. Turns out, the man has dissociative identity disorder, and one of his other personalities is the violent vigilante Moon Knight.
The long journey to a (proper) live-action Halo adaptation has finally paid off with this big-budget series from producer Steven Spielberg. In the last episode, Master Chief (Pablo Schreiber) and the girl he rescued (Yerin Ha) find themselves on the run from the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) after he refused an order to terminate her.
Writer-director Judd Apatow (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up) takes a meta-approach for his latest comedy, about a big budget film production which goes into lockdown while shooting on location. Expect moderate laughs and long running time. Stars David Duchovny, Karen Gillan, Iris Apatow, Keegan-Michael Key and Fred Armisen.
Hollywood is back with another miniseries that re-enacts a recent true crime story with The Girl From Plainville, starring Elle Fanning in a transformative role. Based on the case of Michelle Carter (Fanning), who convinced a young man to commit suicide over text. Sounds like heavy viewing.
Writer/director Adam McKay (Don't Look Up, Anchorman) returns with a fantastic new series which details how basketball became one of the most glamorous and successful sports of all time. Set in the late '70s, Winning Time follows Jerry Buss (John C. Reilly), a man who saw the potential of basketball as not just a sport, but as entertainment. His first call of business: putting every dollar he has into buying the Los Angeles Lakers. His second? Drafting a star like Earvin 'Magic' Johnson (Quincy Isaiah) to make the NBA explode in popularity. Episode 4 sees the team struggle under tough (but unproven) new coach Jack McKinney (Tracy Letts).
Apple's latest series boasts an incredible cast in Gary Oldman, Olivia Cooke, Jonathan Pryce and Kristin Scott Thomas, making it an immediate must-see show before we've even explained the premise. Thankfully, the plot, which follows a team of MI5 screw-ups who attempt to redeem themselves by stopping the execution of a journalist, sounds pretty great, too.
Google has announced that its Privacy Sandbox proposal is one step closer to becoming reality as the company is preparing its next stage of trials which will focus on ads relevance and measurement.
For those unfamiliar, the search giant first unveiled its Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) plan to replace third-party browser cookies before announcing Google Topics as part of its Privacy Sandbox initiative as a replacement following backlash on the move.
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As the name suggests, Google Topics splits the web into different topics and divides users into groupings depending on their interests. Meanwhile, FLEDGE is dedicated to facilitating remarketing or showing ads on websites based on a user’s previous browsing history.
Now though, Google is moving ahead with testing its Privacy Sandbox and developers will be able to begin testing the Topics, FLEDGE and Attribution Reporting APIs in Chrome Canary.
Privacy Sandbox testing
Google plans to begin testing Topics and Fledge with a limited number of Chrome Beta users before making API testing available in the stable version of Chrome once things are working smoothly in Beta according to a new blog post.
The company also plans to begin testing its updated Privacy Sandbox settings and controls that will allow users to see and manage the interests associated with them or turn off the trials altogether.
Product director for Privacy Sandbox, Vinay Goel also provided some sample images of the settings the search giant plans to test in his blog post. In the Privacy Sandbox Beta menu, users will be able to toggle the trials on or off as well as customize their choices for Browser-based ad personalization, Ad measurement and Spam & fraud reduction. Here they’ll be able to remove interests from Topics and edit the list of sites that Privacy Sandbox users to infer their interests.
While Chrome users in the US will be opted in to the latest Privacy Sandbox trials, those in the EU will have to opt in by changing the position of the toggle in settings. This is due to GDPR and other data protection laws that apply to Europeans.
We’ll likely hear more from Google once its initial trials are complete and the company expands them to the stable version of Chrome.
The latest update to the Twitter app has killed off support for iOS 12, with the latest version of the app now requiring iOS 14 or later in order to function – and that means users of the iPhone 6, which can’t be updated beyond iOS 12, can no longer access all of Twitter’s features.
While we can’t get hold of an iPhone 6 to see for ourselves, users across Twitter have been complaining about losing access to many features on their phones, following the update.
Without the option to upgrade beyond iOS 12, it’s plain to see why iPhone 6 users, along with owners of the iPad Air and 6th-generation iPod Touch, are a bit miffed about the Twitter app's latest requirement.
Users stuck on iOS 12 report that while they can still see tweets on their timeline, the rest of the app no longer functions correctly.
Thankfully for users who are still clinging to their iPhone 6, it is not a completely lost cause, as it is still possible to use Twitter on the device, as the web client still functions without issue, but it’s hardly a perfect solution/it’s no substitute for the full app experience.
Analysis: a shocking twist that was a long time coming
Although the loss of full app functionality has come as a shock to many iPhone 6 users, the demise of Twitter on iOS 12 has been a long time coming, as the social media giant officially dropped support for the nearly four-year-old operating system in early 2021.
Even after official support for the app stopped on iOS 12, iPhone 6 users were still able to enjoy the core functionality of the app, albeit without the new features of the latest versions.
Looking at the numbers though, it’s no surprise that Twitter will have wanted to scuttle the older version of the app. According to Apple, only 2% of iPhone users are still using a version of iOS that’s older than iOS 14, which makes maintaining an aging version of the Twitter app a largely worthless but nonetheless costly endeavor.
Regardless of the fact that this decision only affects 2% of Apple’s users who have stuck with their seven-year-old devices, it’s nevertheless a reminder that planned obsolescence is very much an issue that will come for all our devices eventually.
Google's ChromeOS for Chromebooks was also updated to version 100, alongside its web browser, showcasing a new app launcher and other features.
In a blogpost, the company spoke of the app launcher being the headline feature here, with it moving from the center to the left of the screen, similar to Windows 11's start menu.
Searching for a term also looks cleaner here, with results being shown in a list, with the choice to look at images or news on the query. But there's also other features, such as being able to edit words with your voice and using the webcam to create gifs of yourself.
These are promising features as we approach Google IO in May, and make us wonder if we'll see some surprises at the event for Chrome OS.
Analysis: Strength to strength for Chrome OS
(Image credit: Google)
Around 2010, 'netbook' was a term that was associated with smaller-sized laptops that had a terrible battery life and slow speeds, with their only advantage being that they were available for a low price.
Tablets like the iPad would push these out of the way, but Google saw another route in this area with its Chromebooks, which only run on ChromeOS and offered a majority of Android apps.
These Chromebooks have only gotten better in recent years, especially for those who only do work on Google's apps. In certain places of work, employees are given Chromebooks as their sole machine, mainly due to their solid battery life and being able to easily access their work email, spreadsheets and documents through G Suite.
With Chrome OS reaching version 100 and Android 13 fast approaching, we can't help but wonder if there's going to be some announcements made at Google IO in May. Whether that's in gaming or a dedicated Pixel tablet that runs on Chrome OS instead of Android, it looks to be an encouraging time if you're all in on the Google ecosystem.
There’s no simpler way to put this: Morbius has been annihilated by critics.
After the phenomenal success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, it was hoped that Sony’s next Marvel movie might inherit at least some of the webslinger’s magic – but, instead, reviews suggest Morbius could be among the very worst films of the year.
Before diving into those reactions, though, a brief synopsis: Morbius stars Jared Leto as a scientist-turned-vampiric anti-hero who must come to terms with his newfound lust for blood. The movie takes place in the same universe as Tom Hardy's Venom, and hits theaters worldwide on April 1 (UK audiences can catch it a day earlier on March 31).
Let’s kick off with the Rotten Tomatoes overview. According to the review aggregator site, Morbius currently wears a heavy 19% critics rating – based on the reactions of 63 accredited journalists – around its neck. For context, that number puts the movie in a worse position than 2019's X-Men flick Dark Phoenix and even 1995’s Judge Dredd on the site’s ranking of the worst-reviewed superhero movies ever. Ouch.
Digging into the reviews themselves, the language used is even more damning – but let’s start with the nice ones (relatively speaking…).
The AV Club’s Todd Gilchrist labelled Morbius “a bland, competent, and safe superhero adventure that seems destined to be forgotten before its end credits finish rolling.” Similarly, Variety’s Owen Gleiberman said it’s “close to being a generic Marvel movie” but is ultimately little more than a chance for “Leto to punch the clock and get on the comic-book train.”
Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson praised the movie’s “seriousness of intent” when it comes to its lack of cringey humor, while IGN’s Matt Donato said “audiences are fed exactly what they’re most likely expecting from this bargain-bat origin.”
That, though, is about all the semi-positive reception we could find. Other critics, like Playlist’s Jason Bailey, didn’t hold back: “Morbius is bad, yes, but it's not even fun-bad, like the Venom movies; it's just kind of depressing.”
#Morbius is the worst Marvel superhero movie in a long, long time. Mostly inert, sometimes laughable. And the scene where someone tries to summon a cat by shaking their litter box, only to assume the cat is gone when that doesn't work, is the weirdest thing I've seen in years. pic.twitter.com/tNHmN63Ug3March 31, 2022
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The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey was equally scathing, calling the Spider-Man spin-off “too flavourless to even be the wild, untethered disaster some were secretly hoping for,” while The Times' Kevin Maher decried Morbius as “an appalling superhero snooze-fest [...] without dramatic jeopardy, originality, narrative coherence, compelling characters or a single even vaguely human performance.”
Can it get worse than that? It sure can. Film Stories’ Tom Beasley said “the gonzo chaos of Venom gave life to a franchise but [Morbius] has, appropriately enough, sucked it all out.” IndieWire’s Kate Erbland wrote that “even the most basic elements of the film are incomprehensible.”
But it’s Rolling Stone’s David Fear who delivered perhaps the strongest criticism of them all, describing Morbius as “the single most anemic Marvel movie ever made.”
Analysis: a bad start to a (hopefully) good year for Marvel
By the sounds of it, then, Morbius hasn't come anywhere close to replicating the heroic delights of December's Spider-Man: No Way Home – a fact likely to affect Morbius' box office performance.
Marvel fans should, however, take comfort in the knowledge that Morbius exists outside of Marvel’s Phase 4 universe. On that front, the superhero studio has three bonafide entries arriving throughout the year that are sure to fare better (with both critics and audiences) than Jared Leto’s titular vampire.
Doctor Strange 2 exclusively hits theaters on May 6, 2022.(Image credit: Marvel Studios)
But that's not all that Marvel has in store for its fervent fanbase. There are three MCU Disney Plus shows on the way in 2022, too – Moon Knight being the first of those, with the Oscar Isaac-starring TV series making its streaming debut on March 30. You can check out our spoiler-free review of the show, if you haven't already.
Ms Marvel will follow Moon Knight on June 8, while She-Hulk will make her live-action debut sometime in late 2022. Secret Invasion, which sees Samuel L Jackson reprise his role as Nick Fury, is rumored to be coming this year, too, but its launch is still up in the air. There may even be a second season of Marvel's animated What If...? anthology series this year, but that remains to be seen at present.
Marvel fans, then, will be dining on new MCU productions for some time yet. Critics, though, appear to have had their fill of Morbius. With the movie out now in theaters, general film fans can see for themselves whether those reviews are over-the-top or spot on.
Microsoft is slowly making progress fixing Blue Screen of Death (BSoD) errors, with another one that could have caused gamers to suffer having been cured in Windows 11.
This fix arrives with the latest preview update for March (KB5011563), meaning it’s still in testing, but the changes will come through in April’s release version of the patch (assuming all goes well with that testing, of course).
As spotted by Hot Hardware, the patch notes state that KB5011563 “addresses a stop error (0xD1, DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL) in the DirectX kernel component.”
A stop error is a BSoD, meaning it completely halts the PC in its tracks, and is a crash that requires a reboot to recover. As the message states, the problem pertains to DirectX – and some kind of driver issue, although it’s expectedly vague as to what might have actually gone wrong – and hence this could be an error that crops up when you’re playing games in Windows 11 (or trying to).
Patch KB5011563 fixes a bunch of other bugs, as well as adding something into the mix for Windows 11, namely the ability to display multiple high-priority toast notifications simultaneously – up to three of them, in fact.
Analysis: Windows bugs can still trigger the blues
Thankfully in modern times, Windows sees a lot fewer BSoD errors, but there are clearly some still floating around – we witnessed a BSoD bring one of our PCs to a crashing halt as recently as last month (albeit that was Windows 10).
Another BSoD being squashed is obviously good news, though as noted, Windows 11 users won’t actually get this fix until next month, as part of the monthly cumulative update for April. That said, KB5011563 is available to grab right now as an optional update if you search for it manually (in Windows Update), but as with anything that’s in testing, installing it could have unwanted side-effects.
You may recall that Microsoft was going to change the color of these crash screens from blue to black last year, but decided against that move later in 2021, so BSoDs will remain blue going forward. But with any luck, they’ll fade more and more into the background as Microsoft fixes errors like this one.
Army of the Dead star Ella Purnell has reportedly joined the cast of Prime Video's upcoming Fallout TV show.
Per Deadline, Purnell – who also stars in Netflix's Arcane animated series and Showtime's Yellowjackets – has landed one of the lead roles in the Fallout TV series. Unsurprisingly, there are few confirmed details about who Purnell will play. However, Deadline suggests the Army of the Dead actor will portray someone called Jean, a "young woman with a can-do attitude" who'll be hiding a dark secret when the series begins.
Purnell will line up alongside Walton Goggins (Justified, Invincible), who signed onto the Prime Video show project in February 2022 (per The Hollywood Reporter). Goggins is expected to play another of the series' main characters, but there's no word on who he'll play yet.
Prime Video's live-action adaptation of Bethesda's beloved post-apocalyptic RPG series has been in development since 2020, but is slated to enter full production sometime in 2022. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy, the brainchilds behind fan favorite sci-fi series Westworld and the Hugh Jackman-starring movie Reminiscence, will reportedly pen the scripts and take on executive producing roles.
The duo will be joined by Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner, who will serve as showrunners. Meanwhile, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard is also on board as an executive producer alongside James Altman, Bethesda Softworks' director of publishing.
Fallout has been a wildly popular series among gamers since the first title launched in October 1997. The critically-acclaimed franchise puts players in the shoes of a post-nuclear war survivor – known as a Vault inhabitant – who must venture out of their shelter, head into the wastelands to complete various tasks, explore the post-apocalyptic world, and more.
Bethesda's game series currently comprises nine titles, with action-RPG MMO Fallout 76 the latest to be released. Fallout 76 is set to receive its next major update sometime in late 2022.
Analysis: can Fallout make the daunting leap from beloved game series to popular TV show?
Fallout is one of many video games set for a TV or movie adaptation in the next few years.(Image credit: Bethesda)
It's a possibility. The Fallout game series is rich in lore, interesting characters, real-world settings, and – though it's been done countless times before – sits squarely in the popular post-apocalyptic genre. Add in two well-known actors in Goggins and Purnell, and Prime Video's Fallout adaptation has the ingredients to be a good TV series.
Of course, it'll take the show's proverbial chefs to cook up a good meal – i.e. a well-received TV adaptation – using those raw materials.
Many have tried (and failed) to create a worthy movie or TV adaptation of a beloved video game series. There have been some successes recently – Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog, Mortal Kombat, Arcane, and The Witcher to name five – but, largely, video games don't translate well to the big or small screens. Just look at The Rock's Doom film, Michael Fassbender's Assassin's Creed movie, or one of Sonic's many animated TV shows.
Still, Amazon Studios will need Prime Video's Fallout adaptation to do well. Amazon is also reportedly developing a God of War TV show, based on Sony Santa Monica's iconic game series, so its Fallout live-action show will need to show whether there's an audience for this kind of content. If not, Prime Video can always fall back on its fantasy shows, such as The Wheel of Time and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, or fan favorite R-rated superhero programs like The Boys.
Meanwhile, there are plenty of other video game franchises that are being turned, or have been turned, into TV shows that gamers and general audiences to potentially enjoy. HBO is developing a Last of Us show based on Naughty Dog's acclaimed gaming series, while Netflix has a Resident Evil TV show on the way. Finally, the long-gestating Halo show just started streaming on Paramount Plus, but we think it has an identity problem.
We’re well into 2022, and a brand new line-up of Samsung TVs is upon us. The South Korean brand has introduced new 4K and 8K QLEDs and its first OLED TV in close to a decade that uses Samsung Display's QLED-OLED tech.
According to new information, these TVs should be available starting at the end of March and early April, with a global rollout following shortly. New this year are updated versions of the award-winning Samsung QN900A and Samsung QN90A QLED TVs and a few roll-over models from last year like The Premiere projector, The Terrace outdoor TV and The Serif.
We’re hopeful about Samsung’s TV output for 2022, then, given that 2021 was a pretty stellar year for the brand. 2021 saw the launch of the stunningly impressive (albeit very expensive) Samsung Neo QN800 8K QLED TV, alongside new 4K beauties like the mini-LED-infused QN95A Neo QLED 4K TV.
Read on to find out more about Samsung’s 2022 line-up of TVs and the new tech that’ll hopefully set the brand apart from the competition - and, if you’re in the market for a new panel and don’t want to wait, we’ll cover the best Samsung TVs you can buy today.
Samsung TV 2022: New MicroLED TV
(Image credit: Samsung)
Samsung’s new MicroLED TV is set to be its flagship panel for 2022, and how could it not be? Announced at CES 2022, the brand’s line-up of MicroLED TVs come in three sizes: 89-inch, 101-inch and an enormous 110-inch. Samsung has been understandably boisterous about its new tech, too, calling MicroLED “the pinnacle of display technology”.
So, what is MicroLED? The name can be taken quite literally, as Samsung’s MicroLED TVs will be packed with 25 million micrometer-sized LEDs, all of which individually produce color and light. Paired with support for 20-bit greyscale depth, and this is a TV that has potential to go above and beyond the HDR standards of today.
As for features, we know that Samsung’s Micro-LED TV sports a 4K picture and 120Hz refresh rate, is equipped with four HDMI ports and supports Dolby Atmos immersive sound. A pretty standard feature set for a high-end 4K TV, then - and yes, you can expect Samsung’s Micro-LED TV to launch with a steep price tag. For those of you on a stricter budget, Samsung will also have much more affordable TVs in its 2022 repertoire.
Samsung TV 2022: Neo QLED TVs
(Image credit: Samsung)
Samsung is carrying on its Neo QLED efforts in 2022. Understandable, considering the brand’s 2021 line-up of Neo QLED TVs were some of the best released that year, including the aforementioned Samsung QN95A Neo QLED 4K TV.
What's more is we now know Samsung's Neo QLED models for 2022, and we'll have choices between three 8K and three 4K TVs. The new range consists of the QN95B, QN90B and QN85B. The QN95B and QN85B Neo QLED TVs will be available in 55, 65, 75 and 85-inch sizes. That goes for the QN90B, too, but that model will also feature smaller 43 and 50-inch sizes, too.
We still don't have prices, unfortunately, but we do know that all six Neo QLED models will launch on April 8 in Europe. No US release dates have been confirmed as of yet, but it's likely we'll know more on that front as we approach the pre-order live date on March 16.
In terms of specs, Samsung is making improvements to its bespoke Neo Quantum Processor, with advanced contrast mapping via the BLU (back-light unit). This essentially means that you’ll have greater control over the TV’s brightness levels, allowing you to fine tune your TV’s brightness and get your picture looking just right.
Samsung isn’t stopping there with its 2022 Neo QLEDs, however. New Shape Adaptive Light technology controls the “shape” of the light coming from individual Quantum Mini LEDs, essentially enhancing the accuracy of objects on the screen, allowing for a more realistic picture than ever before.
Another interesting advancement is Samsung’s Real Depth Enhancer, a technology that attempts to analyze the distance between objects on screen and create a sense of depth for a realistic picture. Throw in an EyeComfort mode - which automatically adjusts screen brightness in a similar way to blue light filters found on monitors and phones - and Samsung’s 2022 Neo QLEDs seem to be packed to the gills with new features.
It’s not just visuals that are seeing an upgrade with the new QLEDs, though, as sound is potentially getting a major buff, too. Samsung’s Object Tracking Sound is being improved with OTS Pro, which should produce a powerful surround sound when paired with the TVs’ up-firing speakers.
Samsung Neo QLED 8K TVs
(Image credit: Samsung)
Samsung QN900B 8K Neo QLED TV (65, 75, 85 inch): The flagship 8K QLED from Samsung is also its priciest, but you're getting a massive 75- or 85-inch screen with 8K resolution in return.
US Price: $4,999 (65"), $6,499 (75"), $8,499 (85")
EU Price: €5700 (65"), €7700 (75"), €11000 (85")
Samsung QN800B 8K Neo QLED TV (65, 75, 85 inch): Dropping down one step from the most premium 8K QLED is the penultimate QN800B. It still has most of the features as the QN900B, but there's a small drop in performance.
US Price: $3500 (65"), $4700 (75"), $6500 (85")
EU Price: €4200 (65"), €5700 (75"), €8000 (85")
Samsung QN700B 8K Neo QLED TV (55, 65, 75 inch): The smallest available 8K QLED TV from Samsung comes in the form of the 55-inch QN700B. It's going to be the most affordable way to get an 8K TV from Samsung - but some would argue that the benefits of 8K at that size might not be enough to justify the price differential.
US Price: TBD
EU Price: €2800 (55"), €3700 (65"), €4800 (75")
Samsung Neo QLED 4K TVs
Samsung QN95B 4K Neo QLED TV (55, 65, 75, 85 inch): The flagship 4K Neo QLED TV is the new QN95B, a follow-up to last year's excellent Samsung QN95A QLED. It's going to be available in four sizes and uses the Shape-Adaptive Lighting feature mentioned above.
US Price: TBD
EU Price: €2600 (55"), €3500 (65"), €4700 (75"), €6400 (85")
Samsung QN90B 4K Neo QLED TV (43, 50, 55, 65, 75, 85 inch): The largest range of QLED models belongs to the QN90B that includes six models starting at 43 inches and leaping up to a whopping 85 inches.
Samsung QN85B 4K Neo QLED TV (55, 65, 75, 85 inch): The last model currently in the 4K Neo QLED collection is the Samsung QN85B. It's available in four sizes and will be priced affordably compared to the more expensive models.
US Price: $1500 (55"), $2000 (65"), $2800 (75"), $4000 (85")
EU Price: €1900 (55"), €2500 (65"), €3400 (75"), €5000 (85")
Samsung TV 2022: New Lifestyle TVs
(Image credit: Samsung)
Samsung has confirmed three new Lifestyle TVs coming in 2022. These more bespoke displays certainly aren’t for everyone, but if you like the idea of your TV being displayed like a picture in a gallery, they might be well worth looking into. If you can stomach the likely high price tags, that is.
The Frame: 2022’s The Frame is aimed at customers who want their TV to double up as a focal point in their home. This new version features an anti-glare, matte display panel that emulates viewing a picture in a gallery environment when you’re not watching TV.The Frame also comes in a wide range of sizes, from 32 inches to 85 inches.
The Serif: This 2022 Samsung Lifestyle TV features a matte frame to accompany its matte display - the same that’s featured on The Frame. Details are slim for The Serif right now, but we do know that Samsung is adding a new 65-inch variant to its line-up.
The Sero: While we weren’t impressed with the original The Sero Lifestyle TV and felt it was a tad gimmicky, 2022’s new Multi View mode could finally help this vertical-capable TV stand out from its counterparts. This mode will allow users to engage in multiple tasks at once, such as watching the next big Netflix show while looking up news online.
Samsung TV 2022: the all-new Smart Hub
(Image credit: Samsung)
Samsung’s 2022 smart TV user interface is seeing a major overhaul, with brand new features and updates coming to Smart Hub, aimed at giving users far greater control over their viewing preferences and experience.
The new Smart Hub sidebar allows for quick and easy transitioning between different viewing modes for media, gaming and ambient entertainment. A new Watch Together app will also let friends and family video chat and watch content from the source TV, no matter where they are.
Plus, an enhanced Smart Calibration feature offers two modes of picture optimization. The Basic mode readies your TV for general viewing in roughly 30 seconds. However, the more interesting Professional mode fully optimizes the screen, and should ensure you’re viewing or gaming with the best picture quality possible. The process does take around 10 minutes, however, so here’s hoping the extended wait is worth the results.
Rounding out the currently announced Smart Hub additions is a new NFT Platform allowing for the discovery, purchase and selling of digital goods. It remains to be seen how well this feature will be received - or even how committed Samsung will be to it - considering the extremely divisive nature of NFTs in general.
Samsung TV 2022: Gaming Hub
Perhaps one of the more interesting features coming to Samsung TVs in 2022 is the new Gaming Hub, which could see them compete with some of the very best TVs for gaming on the market right now, including the LG C1.
Gaming Hub combines a number of game streaming services into one platform, including Nvidia GeForce Now, Utomik, Google Stadia and hopefully Amazon Luna in the future. Think of this as like a streaming stick but for game streaming apps instead of media.
What’s the best Samsung TV you can buy today?
(Image credit: Samsung)
We don’t know when the first of Samsung’s 2022 TVs will be released, but we can expect to see various deals and discounts for many TVs in its 2021 line-up as we lurch further into the year.
There are many 2021 Samsung TVs that are still worth buying, many of which are featured in our best 4K TV and best 8K TV buying guides. However, if you’re in the market for one of the best Samsung TVs right now, none shine brighter than the Samsung QN95A Neo QLED 4K TV.
This stunning television is arguably the culmination of everything the Korean brand has achieved over the years with its displays, featuring mini-LED technology for a stunningly colorful and accurate picture quality. Its success is the likely reason Samsung is forging ahead with mini-LED tech, given the improvements coming that we’ve highlighted above.
WhatsApp’s voice messaging feature will soon get some nifty updates to help compose, send, and listen to those convenient audio messages.
The Meta-owned app is the main mode of communication for over two billion people every month. It’s free, highly accessible, and end-to-end encrypted, making it an important app for users around the globe to connect with family and friends. These updates could enhance the already pretty good voice messaging feature of the app by helping avoid miscommunications in audio messages and helping listeners speed through long-winded conversations.
Included features are:
Out-of-chat playback will let you continue listening to a message after leaving the chat in which you received it.
Play and pause buttons will allow you to pause your recording and resume where you left off.
Waveform visualization will show you how loud a message is, in case you need to prepare by adjusting your volume.
Draft previews will let you listen to a message before sending it.
Remember playback will pick up where you left off if you leave a chat before listening to a message all the way through.
Fast playback will let you speed up any message in case you’re in a time crunch or listening to a long-winded message.
WhatsApp didn’t provide a release date in the announcement or information about which platforms it will arrive on and in what order, but you can expect the features to roll out over the next few weeks.
(Image credit: WhatsApp)
Analysis: WhatsApp stays on top for a reason
The updates that Meta steadily brings to WhatsApp aren’t anything groundbreaking, and that’s by design. There’s a reason that the app continues to be the most popular global messaging app out there.
Small features brought about in incremental updates maintain the app’s ease of use by not getting in the way of how the app’s two billion monthly active users already interact with it.
With these updates, it looks like the majority of the interface remains the same, and the new draft previews will help users avoid sending messages that weren’t ready yet. It’s the little things that count the most.
HBO Max is developing a new prequel to Stephen King's iconic horror, It.
According to Deadline, the show, which is titled Welcome To Derry, is in the early stages, with a writers' room just opened.
It is one of Stephen King's most epic works and is set in the fictional town of Derry in Maine, as are a number of King's other novels. The novel follows seven children who find themselves terrorized by an evil entity that exploits the fears of its victims to disguise itself while hunting its prey.
Known only as "It", the entity primarily appears in the form of the terrifying Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its preferred prey of young children.
The novel, which is a whopping 1,138 pages, has been adapted twice. First by ABC in 1990 for a two-part TV mini-series, where Tim Curry gives a memorable performance as Pennywise, and second by Warner Brothers, who made two films from the novel in 2017 and 2019.
The HBO Max series looks set to lead up to the events of the first novel and will no doubt shed some light on the origins of Pennywise.
Andy Muschietti, director of both Warner Brothers' recent movies, It: Part One and It: Part Two, is to be an executive producer on the project, while Jason Fuchs, whose credits include Wonder Woman and Apple TV+'s new blockbuster Argylle, is to write the series.
Is It ripe for a prequel?
Looking at the numbers, absolutely. Warner Brothers made over a billion dollars from the 2017 and 2019 movies, and, with so much of King's novel to pick through for details, you can see why it's an easy choice for HBO Max to take to series.
Anything Stephen King is a home run, isn't it?
Not necessarily. The highs are very high, The Shining, Carrie, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, the list goes on and on, but King's work have had some ups and downs recently.
Doctor Sleep, the long-awaited sequel to The Shining, failed to catch fire at the box office, while the lavish take on The Dark Tower got an absolute mauling. His recent HBO adaptation, The Survivor, was cancelled after one season too.
It, however, was such a success and has such a strong brand, it seems unlikely that Welcome To Derry would struggle to find an audience...
Windows 11 looks like it could offer some smart new tricks with copying and pasting in the future, including intelligently determining what you’re cutting or copying, then offering to open a relevant app to paste into.
Windows Latest uncovered clues pertaining to a Smart Clipboard and Smart Actions after digging around in the latest preview builds of Windows 11 and finding a number of experimental flags for these features.
Those flags refer to a ‘Smart Clipboard UX’ and ‘Smart Install App Recommendation’ among other bits of functionality, with Windows Latest theorizing that this Smart Clipboard would have a different keyboard shortcut – and be separate to the current Clipboard – and would allow users to directly transfer rich content straight into apps.
As an example, say you copied an email address. In this case, Smart Clipboard would immediately suggest to directly paste this into Outlook (opening the app, and placing the copied address in a blank message).
Depending on what you’re cutting or copying, different apps could be recommended as a destination, and the whole system would be powered by AI, meaning that Windows 11 should learn the tasks you commonly perform, and become more accurate with its suggestions as time goes on.
Analysis: Revamping even the most basic computing tasks
Cutting or copying and pasting is such a basic task, it’s something that’s doubtless pretty much hardwired into your daily computing activities – an action you perform without even thinking about it.
And while you wouldn’t imagine there’s much you can do with such a basic piece of functionality, it’s good to see that Microsoft is thinking about innovating in these kinds of spaces – the core nuts-and-bolts of the Windows 11 experience.
Machine learning-powered suggested apps for whatever you’re cutting or copying could be a neat addition to make working within Microsoft’s OS that bit more streamlined. And if you don’t want them, then you don’t have to use the new function; at least if it works the way Windows Latest is describing.
That said of course, all of this is just speculation based on some nuggets of info hidden away in Windows 11, and we don’t know if Microsoft has any firm plans to develop such a Smart Clipboard. It could remain experimental tweaking that never sees the light of day, for all we know. Or we might just see this Clipboard revamp later this year when the big 22H2 update rolls out, and if that’s the case, the feature should hit testing before too long.
Google Chrome has been updated to version 100, bringing with it bug fixes, the removal of lite mode, and most of all, a new icon.
In the 14 years since the web browser was released, Chrome has become an app that many use for anything else other than browsing the web. Partly thanks to the Chrome Web Store, you can play games, complete your school report and watch Moon Knight all without checking a web page.
Google has made a fun look back on 100 web moments since 2008's arrival of Chrome, but while this is a fun read, the more pressing matter is the new icon that version 100 brings.
It made me want to look back on another logo change from Instagram, and how its change in 2013 was so major.
An iconic icon
(Image credit: Elvin - Twitter)
Logos need to match the style of the time, and one example was when iOS 7 arrived in 2013. The design changed from skeuomorphism, which is a way of reflecting real-world objects, to a flat design that you use today on your Apple device.
This meant that the majority of apps had to change to fit this style, otherwise they would stick out sorely. The most prevalent for me was Instagram, which could have changed its logo from a camera to something that reflected part of the camera in a flat design. But instead, there was a change that set it apart from the other social platform apps at the time.
(Image credit: Instagram)
While the revamped logo reflects a camera, the colors were striking at the time, and still are today. When Instagram was celebrating its birthday in 2020, it added an easter egg to its app to bring back the classic icon.
Very smart Instagram. pic.twitter.com/6Wicd0JUWGOctober 6, 2020
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Oddly, the old icon fit in the world of iOS 14, so it was a shame to see it go in quick succession soon after.
But Google's efforts with Chrome's icon have been progressive. From something that looked like an evil Pokéball in 2008, to one that looks pseudo 3D for version 100.
But as tastes and trends change in technology, we may see a cross between skeuomorphism and flat design converge, with another major icon change by the end of this decade. And for me, I'm all for it.
Google might be working on its own Bluetooth tracker detection software for Android smartphones, according to the latest reports.
Bluetooth trackers like the Tile Mate and Apple AirTag have become increasingly popular over the last couple of years, by using Bluetooth connections, and an army of phones hooked up to the Tile or Apple’s Find My network, these tags can help users find lost objects at home and out in the wider world.
Unfortunately, plenty of bad actors use these same devices to stalk unsuspecting individuals.
Tile and Apple have introduced various safety measures to reduce the risk their devices pose, but there are still issues with the current system. The main problem is that, for Android phone users, the free Tile and Apple Tracer Detect apps don’t offer automatic detection - you have to manually initiate searches on each individual app.
Now it looks like Google is taking matters into its own hands according to a 9To5Google report. The site details lines of code it found in a Google APK that was recently uploaded to the Play Store that references tag detection for devices named Tile tag and ATag (likely referencing AirTags).
The code is still fairly bare-bones right now, but it strongly suggests that Google is working on in-built tracker detection for Android.
It’s not clear if this detection can be set to run automatically - though this should absolutely be an option - but this feature would at least give Android device users a pre-installed one-stop-shop to check if they're being stalked by unknown trackers.
We don't know when this feature will be available, but it could drop fairly soon. There’s a chance that this tracker detection will be available later this year when Android 13 launches, and it might even launch as part of the next Android 13 beta. We’ll have to wait and see what Google announces.
Even though there are early signs that the feature is being developed, there’s no guarantee that it will ever see the light of day.
The Witcher season 3 is set to enter full production imminently, if a new report and a main cast member's social media post are to be believed.
Filming on the next instalment of the hit Netflix show, whose second season only aired in December 2021, will begin any day now in Slovenia, according to The Witcher fansite Redanian Intelligence. And, given that The Witcher's lead actor – Henry Cavill – is on location in the European nation, it seems that Redanian Intelligence's report has a fair amount of credible weight behind it.
Now, though, Redanian Intelligence claims that the bulk of the TV series' cast and crew have made their way to Northern Slovenia, with Cavill (Geralt of Rivia) and co-star Freya Allen (Ciri) spotted by the local population. Cavill has since taken to Instagram to reveal he's been reunited with Hector – Geralt's new horse – and stunt performer Laszlo Juhasz. It seems, then, that filming will start very, very soon.
Redanian Intelligence's report goes on to suggest that season 3 will be shot in numerous locations, including Kranjska Gora and Postojna. Meanwhile, The Fellowship of Fans Twitter fan account states that Predjama Castle, which is situated near Postojna, will be closed on Tuesday, April 5. Could it be locked down for the day so filming on The Witcher season 3 can take place? It's possible, but unverifiable at this stage.
Interestingly enough, The Witcher season 3's imminent start date comes almost a year to the day since principal photography wrapped on its second season. The TV adaptation's previous instalment finishing shooting on April 2, 2021, so it would be a fitting return date if The Witcher's third season starts filming around that date.
Analysis: Will The Witcher season 3 land on Netflix in 2022?
Will we be reunited with Geralt and Ciri in season 3 this year?(Image credit: Jay Maidment/Netflix)
It's unlikely. Filming on The Witcher seasons 1 and 2 took a long time, so we'd expect principal photography on the show's third season to be another lengthy affair.
The Witcher season 1 took seven months to shoot, with filming beginning in October 2018 and running to May 2019. Owing to the ongoing pandemic, season 2 took even longer – production starting in February 2020 and not being completed until, as we mentioned earlier, April 2021.
If The Witcher season 3 starts shooting in April 2022, all of its footage should be in the can by late 2022. Even then, though, there'll be a long post-production phase, with VFX, potential pick-ups and reshoots, episodic editing, and other work to complete before the third season is ready to go.
Our opinion? Don't expect The Witcher season 3 to debut on Netflix before early 2023 – and that's looking at things optimistically. We wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't launch until mid-2023, given the sheer amount of work required until it's ready to be released.
Still, we're prepared to wait, as long as the show's third season does justice to Andrzej Sapkowski's fantasy novel series. And, in particular, The Time of Contempt book, which season 3 will largely be based on.
We really enjoyed The Witcher season 2, but there are plenty of fans who weren't happy with the creative choices made throughout its eight-episode run. Hissrich, Cavill and company, then, have to earn that trust back with the show's next instalment.
Moon Knight has finally landed on Disney Plus – and, unsurprisingly, the show's premiere contains a reference to the Marvel hero's comic book history.
There's a lot to take in during Moon Knight's first episode (check out our spoiler-free review if you haven't yet), so there's a chance that this particular Easter egg may have passed you by. After all, we're introduced to Steven Grant, his two alter-egos in Marc Spector and Moon Knight, the scary Egyptian god known as Khonshu, the villainous Arthur Harrow, and Layla (albeit only through a phone call) during the Disney Plus show's opening salvo. Add in the spooky and horror-infused scenes, mind-bending but brief time jumps (as Steven and Marc each take control of their body), the humorous quips, and the wider mystery at large and... well, as we said, there's lots to unravel.
Still, the first entry in the latest Marvel Phase 4 project is hiding a pretty prominent Easter egg in plain sight. It's possible that Moon Knight comic fans will have spotted it a mile off but, for those of you who didn't, we've got you covered. Big spoilers follow for Moon Knight episode 1, so turn back now – bookmark this page for later, once you've seen the episode – if you haven't caught it yet.
Moon Knight episode 1 Easter egg explained: who is Duchamp, aka Frenchie?
Jean-Paul Duchamp, aka Frenchie, is an iconic Moon Knight comic book character.(Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney Plus)
The Easter egg in question can be seen just before Layla tries to call Marc Spector on the flip phone Steven Grant finds in his apartment.
Before the mobile phone rings, we see Grant scrolling through a seemingly never-ending list of missed calls from Layla. However, there's one name that obviously stands out among the numerous references to Layla on the flip phone's screen: Duchamp.
Of course, this being a Marvel production, a name like this would ordinarily pique the interest of most Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) fans. But, as we've mentioned before, there's so much going on in Moon Knight's opening episode that you may have forgotten about it by the time the credits roll.
So, who is Duchamp? Moon Knight's comic history holds the answers.
Frenchie has helped Marc Spector throughout Moon Knight's near 50-year comic history.(Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney Plus)
Jean-Paul Duchamp – otherwise known as Frenchie– is a former French army officer who befriends Marc Spector, a former soldier-turned mercenary, when the pair cross paths in North Africa. Duchamp made his comic debut in Werewolf by Night #32 in May 1975, and the duo go on to become very close friends in the comics, with Spector being the one who gives Duchamp his iconic nickname.
Unsurprisingly, the duo eventually join forces on a number of missions, excursions, and other assignments, with Frenchie becoming the full-time helicopter pilot for Spector. The pair end up working with another mercenary called Raoul Bushman (more on him in a moment) to conduct raids on historical dig sites, including one on the Tomb of Pharoah Seti II on the Egypt/Sudan border.
The heist, though, goes awry. Bushman ends up killing the archaeologist leading an expedition on Seti II's tomb – Doctor Peter Alraune – among other innocent people, which enrages Spector, who is unsurprisingly against murdering civilians. Spector turns on Bushman, but the latter ends up leaving Spector for dead in the desert after the pair's gruelling showdown sees Bushman come out on top.
Spector makes his way back to civilization, but collapses due to his injuries. It's here where a group of locals carry him to a tomb containing a shrine to Khonshu, the Egyptian god of the moon, with the deity appearing before Spector and saving his life. In return, Spector agrees to become the "Fist of Khonshu", aka the vigilante known as Moon Knight, who enacts vengeance on those who Khonshu considers to be unjust.
Meanwhile, Duchamp believes Spector died during the raid on Seti II's tomb. So he's shocked when Spector reveals that he's still alive and, after Spector explains what happened, Duchamp vows to help Spector get his revenge on Bushman and his henchmen.
Long story short, Duchamp ends up being installed as Moon Knight's permanent sidekick. He becomes Spector's trusted confidant, transporting him to various locations in his Moon Knight-designed helicopter, and assisting him on missions. After spending many years – read decades – as a Moon Knight associate, Frenchie currently works as Maître d' at the restaurant he set up.
Major spoilers for Moon Knight episodes 2, 3 and 4 follow. Don't read past the image below if you don't want further spoilers.
Could Frenchie make an appearance in Moon Knight on Disney Plus?(Image credit: Marvel Studios/Disney Plus)
Given that his name is dropped – well, shown – in Moon Knight's premiere, does that mean we'll see Duchamp make a cameo appearance in the MCU TV show?
It's certainly possible, although there's no guarantee that he will. This could just be another subtle nod – on Marvel Studios' part – to Moon Knight's comic history. We've seen the first four episodes of the Disney Plus limited series, and we can confirm that Duchamp hasn't shown up yet.
There's a chance that he could turn up in one of the final two episodes, though. Back in September 2020, Marvel were reportedly seeking two new cast members (per The Direct) for Moon Knight, and one particular casting call described Duchamp down to a tee. "20-40 (years old), White male," the description reads. "A stereotypical good looking, overly enthusiastic, less intelligent than average but still lovable. Actor must be fluent in French." All signs point to someone being hired to portray a character called Frenchie then, eh?
Of course, it's been over 18 months since that casting call was sent out, and Marvel's plans for Moon Knight's supporting cast could have changed by then. In our view, though, we'd be shocked if Duchamp doesn't appear as part of the show's cast.
We already know that Marc Spector's parents will show up in the TV adaptation – presumably in episode 5 – so maybe they'll turn up alongside Duchamp. The latter is Spector's closest ally, after all. So, if something happened to him, Duchamp would surely be on the first flight – or should that be helicopter ride? – to aid his friend in any way he can. It won't be too long before we find out for sure.
Backward compatibility in games has been something I've been a proponent of since the PlayStation 2 introduced the feature in 2000. You could load up almost any PlayStation 1 game, and play it as normal.
But as times changed and technology became more refined, playing back-catalogs of titles on Sony's platforms increasingly felt more of an afterthought.
This is why the new PS Plus service fills me with hope, with just a hint of trepidation. The idea of being able to play Metal Gear Solid, Tomb Raider, Gex, and more on a PS5 has tempted me to finally consider grabbing the console.
But Sony is already making it difficult for users like me with the new tiers that it's offering, and it makes me wonder if Sony should already look to simplify the new service before its launch in June.
But Sony has always been bizarrely hesitant to offer its back catalog to new users. Back when the PlayStation 3 was released in 2007, you could pop in a PS1 or PS2 disk, and play as normal. But later models would regress this to just PS1 games, and while some other PS2 games would be available in the store, they would be very few and far between.
As it stood with PS4 and PS5, your only hope was to ask developers for remasters to arrive, as there was no chance of seeing re-releases of PS1 and PS2 games for the systems.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
Many gamers in the 90s, myself included, grew up on a PlayStation, and many in my age group have kids who they're trying to introduce to retro classics in between Fortnite matches on the Nintendo Switch.
Yet, many have been unable to share some of their favorite games from their own childhood because of Sony's approach to its PS1 and PS2-era titles. Its CEO, Jim Ryan, continually dismissed the games because they're old, an opinion that has felt like a big misstep the whole time.
I would chat to friends, both offline and on Twitter, about how we'd love to play certain games like Wipeout 2097 again on a PS5, hoping Sony might one day reconsider its stance.
But there finally looks to be a change of heart, perhaps in response to what Microsoft and Nintendo have done in this area of nostalgia.
Just one tier for retro gaming
(Image credit: TechRadar)
However, Sony is in danger of already confusing its users before the service has gone live. There's three tiers, with the highest, called PlayStation Plus Premium, priced at $17.99 / £13.49, with Australian pricing yet to be confirmed. This is the only tier that will let you play Sony's games from the PS1 and PS2 eras.
To pay a monthly price, or a higher one if you choose to pay yearly, for access to Sony's back catalog in just one tier, says to me that the company still has a way to go before it recognizes how important retro gaming is.
There's also the question of the classic games that previous PS3 owners, myself included, had bought back in the day. From Ape Escape to Ridge Racer, if they're not able to be converted into free downloadable purchases from looking at our previous purchase history, Sony could have another job on its hands to justify its actions.
Finally, there's been no list as yet as to what games will be included in this plan. Its blog post spoke of 340 additional games to this tier, but while I hope this includes rare classics like Evil Zone, Rosco McQueen, B-movie, and Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles, there's a chance it could be filled up with much more forgettable games from the past.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
So am I happy with the announcement? Almost. It's a silent acknowledgment from Sony that this should have been on its consoles as far back as the PlayStation 4. It's great that there are almost 400 classic games getting their chance in the spotlight again.
But I'm also feeling much trepidation from it.
Playing F-Zero with friends online through the Switch has me hoping that we'll get something similar for this service as well. But with only one tier that allows you to play these games, it looks greedy from Sony's point of view, and the method of playing games from past eras has changed now. We want a mix of the old games, but with today's features, much like what Xbox and Nintendo Switch offer.
Sony has a lot to prove here. It has to prove that it's committed to preserving a catalog that defined the PlayStation to start with. It has to prove that it's listening to its userbase, and it definitely has to prove that this isn't a one-time service. Once the PlayStation 6 arrives, we should see this service continue to be offered regardless, and not as an afterthought.
But right now, as it stands, I'm happy that something is being done at least, and I'm sure once the list of 400 games comes out, I'll be checking stores for available PS5 stock whenever I can.
Microsoft has announced it will launch a new version of its Office 365 productivity bundle, designed specifically for government and intelligence agencies.
The tailor-made collaboration suite, called Office 365 Government Secret, is currently pending accreditation and should be available by mid-2022.
Announcing the news in a blog post, Microsoft CVP Paul Lorimer noted that modern governments face many challenges, “including increasing employee engagement and productivity with the latest tools, securing and controlling sensitive data, and managing multiple applications, devices, and workloads".
Add in a heightened demand for security and you end up with a major market in need of “secure, productive, and efficient cloud options”.
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Office 365 Government Secret is built to support the US Federal Civilian, Department of Defense (DoD), Intelligence Community (IC), and US government partners working within the Secret enclave, Lorimer added.
“With the launch of this new environment supporting Impact Level 6 (IL6), we’re adding to the comprehensive set of Office 365 Government cloud offerings to help meet the full spectrum of government data needs.”
This new productivity suite will run the latest enterprise-grade Office 365 Government productivity, security, compliance, and collaboration applications, it was added.
This is not the first time Microsoft has built custom solutions exclusively for government agencies. In August last year, the company announced the general availability of Azure Government Secret and Top Secret clouds.
Launched with more than 60 initial services (with more in the pipeline), the product was built to “accelerate the delivery of national security workloads classified at the US Top Secret level”. Microsoft also has more than 73 services under Azure Government Secret.
Those that plan to deploy Office 365 Secret environment should engage with their onboarding teams, the company said, in order to be ready when the final authorization is given.
