Music tapes will bring back warm, fuzzy memories to those born in the early 1980s, but magnetic ribbons have long been replaced by shiny coasters, silicon chips and cloud storage for anyone wanting to store data.
But thetechnology is not dead yet – you can buy cheap LTO-7 tapes and get 9TB of native storage (22.5TB compressed) once they are reformatted to M8, such as the Quantum LTO-7 tape for as little as $57.77.
With an uncompressed capacity of 9TB, this translates into a per TB cost of $6.42, about 12x less than the cheapest SSD on the market and 1/4 the price of the 12TB Seagate Exos X14, currently the most affordable hard disk drive on the market on a per TB basis.
Capacity
In other words, if you want a LOT of capacity, nothing beats the good old magnetic tape – although you will need to factor in the cost of the drive.
There’s something else that tape provides that no other storage medium currently offers by default; on-the-fly, transparent compression which can go up to 2.5:1; although this works best on text files rather than on multimedia ones, as they are already heavily compressed.
As for transfer speeds, they can reach 300MBps (that’s a staggering 1.08TB per hour) which is plenty fast, slower than the PNY Pro Elite which tops 375MBps.
Even though tape has a retro feeling to it, it is still the preferred, most widely used archiving medium thanks partly to a 30-year archival life and lifetime warranty on almost all tapes on sale.
Just bear in mind that the price above doesn’t take into consideration the price of an LTO drive, which can cost around $2,600 (e.g. this Quantum LTO-7 drive) for a bare internal drive so that it only makes sense to get this if you plan any capacity above 100TB.
India have been in excellent form across all formats of cricket this year, but the West Indies pushed them all the way during the T20 matches of their tour earlier this month. Can the visitors pull off a shock win? You can see all the action, no matter where you are in the world, by following our India vs West Indies live stream guide.
The attention now turns to a three match ODI series between the two teams, with the slightly longer version of the game likely to suit hosts who are ranked second in ODI rankings behind world champions England, with the Windies pinned back in 7th in the charts.
India vs West Indies ODI cricket – where and when
The dates, times and venues for the three ODI series matches are as follows:
1st ODI MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai – December 15
2nd ODI Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam – December 18
3rd ODI Barabati Stadium, Cuttack – December 22
Each match starts at 2pm IST local time. So that’s an 8.30am GMT morning start for folk tuning in from the UK.
It’s a mere three months since the last showdown in the ODI format between the two sides – a three match series which saw Virat Kohli and co thrash the Windies in their own home by claiming a 2-0 win after the first match had been washed out.
The Windies will nevertheless draw encouragement from their assured 3-0 triumph in the 50-over format over Afghanistan last month. While skipper Kieron Pollard looks set to lead an unchanged side from the T20 series into the opening match, India have drafted in Mayank Agarwal who replaces Shikhar Dhawan after the southpaw batsman failed to recover from a knee injury.
You can watch all the action from the ODI series by following the instructions below on how to grab an India vs West Indies live stream from pretty much anywhere on Earth.
Live stream India vs West Indies from outside your country
In India, the UK, Australia or New Zealand and looking to find out how to watch the ODI matches between India vs West Indies? We’ve got all the details about the broadcaster with the rights to show the series in your region below.
But if you’re away from home country – maybe abroad on business or on holiday – but still want to tune in to your domestic coverage of the match then you’ll run in to issues. Because of broadcaster geo-blocking, you won’t be able to watch online from overseas. By using a VPN however, you’ll be able to watch the game without having to resort to watching a potentially illegal feed from a dodgy Reddit link.
We’ve tested all the major VPNs and we rate ExpressVPN as our pick of the bunch, thanks to its ease of use and strong security features. It’s also compatible with just about any streaming device out there, including Amazon Fire TV Stick, Apple TV, Xbox and PlayStation, as well as Android and Apple mobiles. So to get that home broadcast and stay safer online, ExpressVPN is our recommended option in our best VPN services list.
ExpressVPN (which comes with a 30 day money back guarantee)is the #1 rated best VPN in the world right now, with those previously mentioned levels of security, speed and compatibility putting it to the top of the list. You can try it out for a month for free or sign up for an annual plan and get 3 months absolutely FREE. Check out Express VPN
Once you’ve installed your VPN of choice, simply open the service’s corresponding app, hit ‘choose location’, select the appropriate country and you’ll be able to watch the broadcast as if you were back at home. It’s really easy to do. An if you do have any issues, ExpressVPN’s awesome 24/7 customer service should get you sorted.
How to watch the ODI series in India
Star India and, in particular, Star Sports 1 is the official broadcaster of the ODI series on TV.
Not got access to Star? No worries – you can sign up for its over-the-top Hotstar streaming service instead. This will cost you either ₹299 (around $3) for a month or ₹999 ($14) for an entire year.
Play is set to start each day at 2pm IST local time.
How stream India vs West Indies live in the UK
You need to have Sky TV in order to watch the games in the UK, but they’re not on the traditional Sky Sports channels. Instead, Indian broadcaster Star has the rights with coverage starting at 7.50am GMT each day on the Star Gold channel, which is available on any standard plan.
if you’re not in the UK but want to catch up with any of the Sky coverage, then you’ll need a VPN to relocate your IP to the UK and get around the region restrictions. Just follow those instructions above.
Live stream India vs West Indies ODI series in Australia
For cricket fans in Australia looking to watch the action from the sub-continent, Fox Sports and the Kayo Sports streaming service will be on hand with live coverage of India vs West Indies, with the coverage starting at 7.20pm AEDT each day.
The streaming service features no lock-in contracts and also includes access to over 50 sports, both live and on demand.
Kayo Sports Basic Package costs $25 per month and allows users to stream across two devices simultaneously. Alternatively, the service also offers a Kayo Sports Premium Package, which provides three concurrent streams for $35 per month.
For those wanting to watch the Fox or Kayo Sports subscription coverage overseas, you’ll need to go down the VPN route as above.
How to get an India vs West Indies live stream in New Zealand
Sky has snapped up exclusive rights to show India’s matches against West Indies in NZ.
If you’re away from your TV, then you can download and watch on the Sky Go app. And if you’re overseas then the VPN method as mentioned above is the best way to go.
Coverage of the series is due to start each day at 9.20pm NZST.
Cards don’t come much better than today’s UFC 245 line-up. As a pre-holidays treat, Dana is gifting you to three title fights in one jam-packed night – UFC 245 is basically unmissable if you’re a MMA fan! Of course there’s the much-anticipated Kamaru Usman vs Colby Covington bout as the headline fight, but with Max Holloway and Amanda Nunes both in action, too, you won’t want to miss a minute. We’re here to help you discover the best ways to get a UFC 245 live stream – no matter where you are in the world.
With regards to Usman vs Covington we get to see the fight that was supposed to happen at UFC 244, before negotiations between the two broke down.
UFC 245 – when and where?
UFC 245 is taking place right now at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The action on the main card kicks off at 7pm local time (PT), so that’s 10pm ET. For UK and Australia fans, that’s Sunday, December 15 at 3am GMT or 2pm AEDT.
The welterweight fight could see the 170lb former interim title holder Colby Covington take the belt from champion Kamaru Usman. Usman enters tonight’s fight with a 10-0 record and 14 consecutive victories overall. Covington has seven consecutive wins with names like Rafael Dos Anjos and Robbie Lawler bested.
The last time three title fights happened on one card was back in 2017 when all three belts were exchanged during the night’s fights. So there’s huge potential for sweeping changes tonight, too.
Also defending his title on the card, after a five year run of success, is featherweight Max Holloway who is set for a challenge from in-form Alexander Volkanovski. If former rugby player Volkanovski wins – having already won 17 fights in a row – it will make him the second Australian to win a UFC world title.
Women’s brilliant bantamweight and featherweight champ Amanda Nunes will defend her title against the former 145lb champion Germaine de Randamie. Another former champion, this time a featherweight, is Jose Aldo who is taking on fellow Brazilian Marlon Moraes in his 135lb debut.
Whoever you want to win during today’s MMA action, we’ll show you how to live stream UFC 245’s card from anywhere in the world – for US viewers, you should just head straight to ESPN+.
Live stream UFC 245 from outside your country
Worry not if you’re a huge UFC fan but aren’t in the US to watch that ESPN+ coverage this weekend. If you find the coverage is geo-blocked, you can try using a VPN to change your IP address to a US server and watch this week’s main card just as if you were back at home – the same goes wherever you’re from and wanting to still see your domestic coverage from abroad.
Virtual Private Networks are also handy if you’re concerned about streaming safely on the web, thanks to the encryption they use to hide your details. And the best won’t log your personal information, either. We’ve tested hundreds of VPNs and can recommend Express VPN (it even comes with a 30 day money back guarantee).
Simply put, this is our pick as the #1 VPN in the world right now. You can watch on many devices at once including Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets etc. Check out Express VPN and get 3 months FREE on an annual plan.
How to watch UFC online in the US exclusively on ESPN+
ESPN+ has the live broadcast rights to show UFC 245 as well as all upcoming UFC Fight Nights. ESPN+ has already made a name for itself by hosting big-ticket tennis, soccer and boxing events.
If you don’t already have a subscription, then the way to go seems to be a UFC Bundle, costing you $79.98. That won’t just buy you the UFC 245 PPV, but you’ll also get a year-long subscription to ESPN+ (that would normally cost $50 alone).
It’s also worth noting that to watch UFC 245 in its entirety, you’ll need an ESPN+ subscription as well as access to ESPN 2. The early preliminary card will be available on both ESPN+ and ESPN 2 while the preliminary card will be available to watch exclusively on ESPN 2. You’ll have to switch back to ESPN+ to watch the main card as the PPV will only be available on the network’s streaming service.
BT Sport has the exclusive broadcast rights to UFC in the UK and Ireland. However, the good news for subscribers is that unlike past UFC events, the card won’t be PPV, with all the action being shown at no extra cost on BT Sport 1.
As usual, the main card will start quite late in the UK at 3am so make sure you prepare accordingly. If that is a bit too late for you, don’t worry as BT Sport also offers a spoiler-free replay page which will allow you to watch the full UFC 245 card at your convenience. Want to watch all the MMA action again? Well you can as the network will replay the full event on BT Sport 2 HD beginning at 9pm.
For those who don’t mind losing sleep to catch all the action at UFC 245, BT Sport will also show a live stream of the other fights on its BT Sport app and on its website.
If you’re a BT Sport subscriber but find yourself outside the UK and want to tune in, it’s easy to do with a handy tool – simply grab a VPN and follow the instructions above to live stream the action.
(Image credit: Future)
Live stream UFC 245 on PPV in Australia
As with most big ticket fighting events (think boxing and WWE, too) UFC 245 is being streamed exclusively in Australia by Main Event. It will be broadcast live over the course of Sunday afternoon, with coverage kicking off at 2pm the next day AEDT.
It’ll cost you $54.95 to buy the fight, which you can access either via Foxtel or Opus.
The UFC 245 card in full
Main Card
Kamaru Usman (c) vs Colby Covington – Welterweight title fight
Max Holloway (c) vs Alex Volkanovski – Featherweight title fight
Amanda Nunes (c) vs Germaine de Randamie – Women’s bantamweight title fight
Marlon Moraes vs Jose Aldo – Bantamweight
Petr Yan vs Urijah Faber – Bantamweight
Prelims
Geoff Neal vs Mike Perry – Welterweight
Ketlen Vieira vs Irene Aldana – Women’s bantamweight
Terence Crawford will be looking to defend his WBO welterweight for the third time on Saturday night in New York and maintain one of the best current records in boxing. Can he maintain that run? You watch all the action as it happens by reading our Terence Crawford vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas live stream guide below.
Having seen off Jose Benavidez Jr last year and then Britain’s Amir Khan in a dominant display back in April, the American now boasts an unblemished 35-0-0, having finished nine out of his last ten opponents by knockout.
Terence Crawford vs Egidijus Kavaliauskas – when and where
What date is it? It’s fight night! Crawford vs Kavaliauskas is happening today – Saturday, December 14.
What time is it? The fight is expected to start no earlier than 9pm ET, 6pm PT. So that’s an early morning/late night 2am GMT in the UK.
Where is it? The boxing is taking place at New York’s famous Madison Square Garden.
Crawford’s next challenger comes in the form of rugged Lithuanian bruiser Egidijus Kavaliauskas who is also undefeated after 22 fights, with 17 knock-outs, meaning someone’s impeccable record will have to go.
The 31-year-old challenger has also faced some demanding fights on his way to this clash, having seen off David Avanesyan, Juan Carlos Abreu, and most recently Ray Robinson back in March.
It’s all set up to be a fascinating battle and the good news is that it’s being broadcast live around the world. Read on to discover how you can watch a Crawford vs Kavaliauskas live stream.
Live stream Crawford vs Kavaliauskas from outside your country
If you’ve been looking forward to this fight and already know where to watch, your plans may be scuppered if you’re out of the country when it’s on. That’s because broadcasters geo-block their coverage if you try to watch from abroad.
But there’s a clever workaround for this, which is perfectly legal (assuming the broadcaster’s Ts&Cs allow it) and it involves using a piece of software called a VPN – better that than trying to get some dodgy stream from Reddit.
A Virtual Private Network allows you to change your IP address so you appear to be in a completely different location – in this case, back in your home country. And our best rated option ExpressVPN is ideal for this, as it’s available on a whole host of Smart TVs, Fire TV Stick, PC, Mac, iPhone, Android phone, iPads, tablets and more. It’s fast secure and easy-to-use as well – that’s why it sits at the top of our best VPN service list.
And don’t forget that a VPN isn’t just for Christmas (or boxing)…there’s loads you can do with them. From unblocking restricted sites and watching Netflix in other countries to adding an extra layer of security for online shopping and banking.
Live stream Crawford vs Kavaliauskas in the US for FREE!
The good news for US fight fans with cable is that the clash at the Garden isn’t pay-per-view and will be shown on ESPN, with the main event set to start at around 9pm ET / 6pm PT.
Cord cutter? Then cast your eyes below to see which service you can sign up to and watch anyway. Almost all of them have free trials, so theoretically you can watch this bout for free!
How watch the Crawford vs Kavaliauskas fight in the UK
We’ve looked and we’ve looked (and we’ve looked) and we can’t find any news of a broadcaster in the UK showing the action from New York in all his mean, lean glory this weekend. If that changes, we’ll be sure to let you know.
The only alternative is to use one of our best VPNs as described above, set your location to a country on this page that is broadcasting and go from there. But do bear in mind that most paid streaming services do require a credit card based in the country the service is from.
How to watch Crawford vs Kavaliauskas in Australia
As with the UK, there’s no confirmed broadcaster of the main event, nor its undercard in Australia. Should the situation change, we’ll be sure to update this page.
If you’re Down Under and still fancy watching the fight, you do still have the option of using one of our best VPNs as described above a go.
Today, JJ Abrams unveiled an all-new clip of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker inside Fortnite, with the footage debuting at Risky Reels inside the game. Luckily, you don’t need to play the game to actually see the clip. It’s been captured and uploaded online for your viewing pleasure.
Check it out below. You’ll see Rey performing a Jedi mind trick on some First Order soldiers, in the company of Poe Dameron and Finn. The clip is roughly a minute long, but it’ll help pass the time until Episode 9 releases next week:
The event was an impressive achievement by Epic and its collaborators. It actually kicked off with a Star Wars-themed set piece, as the Millennium Falcon circled Risky Reels in battle with some TIE Fighters. Geoff Keighley, who hosts and runs The Game Awards, then interviewed Abrams inside the game, before the clip was presented. Check out the video below for more on what it looked like in-game, starting at about two minutes in, for the highlights:
Fans who logged in to watch the event got an exclusive TIE Fighter-themed glider, which caused so much demand that Epic took to Twitter to address login issues, bumping the reveal by an extra ten minutes.
Wow! Unprecedented demand to get into Fortnite. We had to delay until 2:10 PM ET to let in more players. Thanks for your patience, as a thank you, everyone will get the glider!December 14, 2019
Fin, Rey and Sith Trooper uniforms are now available in Fortnite, too, which you might’ve seen a few times in the clip above. Take a look at them below:
(Image credit: Epic)
If all that has you excited about seeing the movie, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is less than a week away. It’ll be released in cinemas around the world beginning on December 19, and in the US on December 20.
It’s no surprise that the smartphone industry makes a lot of money – after all, many of us buy a new device roughly every two years, far more often than a new PC, TV or games console. However, the rest of our spending is a little surprising.
Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications group recently released its 2020 Predictions paper looking at the state of the tech market, and there are some pretty surprising findings and predictions contained.
Deloitte estimates that in 2020, the smartphone market will be worth $484bn, eclipsing the combined $169bn for PCs, $117bn for TVs, $25bn each for tablets and wearables, $15bn for games consoles, $9bn for smart speakers and $7bn for VR sets.
That shows almost three times as much money is spent on smartphones as its nearest competitor. Another huge surprise is games consoles, as although they only cost around the same amount as a phone yet are released far less frequently, they’re still much more of a small fry in the grand scheme of tech hardware than most people realize.
However, there’s another category that Deloitte examined, and which, coming in at $77bn, trumps all but phones, PCs and TVs. So which product area is it that’s worth more than games consoles, wearables, tablets and smart speakers combined? It’s something you might not expect: smartphone accessories.
What’s a smartphone accessory?
Headphones are a major growth area in phone accessories, with many people owning several pairs for different activities (Image credit: Future)
Simply put, smartphone accessories are things you buy to complement your handset experience. In broader terms they include wearables and smart speakers, which aren’t part of the $77bn, but also headphones, battery packs and chargers, cases and other small peripherals, all of which are included in the figure. Analysts call this the ‘smartphone multiplier’ market.
Deloitte’s projected growth for these products is based on the constant innovation in those areas, which in turn fuels demand: the trend towards wireless headphones, for example, means people are spending more on high-tech cans; and with numerous types of headphones now available, many people own multiple pairs for different activities like commuting, relaxing, and working out.
And, now that most phones (and many phone accessories) use high-speed USB-C charging, new and improved portable power packs and chargers are needed to keep devices powered up. Deloitte estimates that over half of all people in ‘developed countries’ own a portable power bank, with the market for these indispensable products alone exceeding that of the entire games console hardware industry.
And then there’s the app market…
The market for game apps is forecast to be worth $80bn in 2020 (Image credit: Future)
If you think that’s a lot of money being spent on smartphone accessories and hardware, just wait until you see the numbers for software. Deloitte predicts that in 2020 some $118bn will be spent on smartphone, smartwatch and tablet apps.
Three-quarters of these apps are being bought on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store; the rest are split between own-brand app stores from smartphone manufacturers, and a range of other stores, particularly in China, which has around 300 digital app stores.
And what apps are most people buying? Overwhelmingly, it’s games, which are expected to make a whopping $80bn in 2020, or just over three quarters of the total amount spent on apps. This figure includes both paid-for games and free games that include in-app payments – so all that cash you dropped in Candy Crush counts.
Deloitte expects this trend to grow thanks to the number of dedicated gaming phones hitting the market, despite the fact that Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass could make mobile gaming a lot more affordable.
It’s worth pointing out that subscriptions to services like Spotify and Netflix aren’t included in that $118bn figure, although Deloitte estimates music and video subscription services to be $10bn and $8bn industries respectively.
The world gets more mobile
We’re increasingly consuming entertainment and other services via apps on our phones (Image credit: Future)
The huge amount of money expected to be spent on smartphones, smartphone accessories and smartphone software shows how the world is becoming increasingly mobile, with people consuming more and more entertainment and information through their phone, rather than buying separate devices like gaming consoles, cameras, and TVs.
It’s worth pointing out that Deloitte expects there to be a slight decline in smartphone sales in coming years, as there’s only so much more innovation that can take place before the devices become as good as they can realistically get. In addition, the analysts don’t expect 5G phones to be as big a boon to the phone industry as some think they’ll be, because the benefits of the next generation of connectivity are limited.
At the moment, however, the only way seems to be up, for sales of both phones themselves, and everything else you need to make your mobile experience great.
