Author: Danielle

The Apple WWDC 2019 keynote date is tomorrow, Monday, June 3. This close to the big event, we’re predicting what will likely come from Apple CEO Tim Cook.

In short? A lot of software updates – and maybe the Mac Pro (we’re betting on it). WWDC 2019 stands for Worldwide Developer’s Conference 2019, so it traditionally appeals to app developers by giving early access to upcoming tools immediately. And for everyone else, especially iPhone and iPad owners, the show grants a first look at the company’s digital offerings slated to come later in the year, and that’s exciting, too.

The mid-year Apple hype machine will almost certainly start with the iOS 13 beta, which thus far has only been rumored through a series of leaks. We’ll almost certainly see macOS 10.15, watchOS 6, and tvOS 13 updates for the first time at the McEnery Convention Center venue.

Update: Apple has released a blog post in anticipation of WWDC telling stories about passionate members of the Apple community: a young app developer fresh out of college and an older CEO of AssistiveWare, which has had a long relationship with the company improving accessibility. This is very typical of Apple: few hints for the big show, but the inspirational stories will tide us over.

Apple confirmed the WWDC 2019 time and date back in March, and also gave us a preview of its expanding subscription strategy on March 25 when it announced Apple Arcade and Apple TV Plus. We may finally see the Apple Arcade price and release date information that was missing two months ago.

Will new hardware grace the WWDC 2019 keynote stage? The Apple event series has been hit or miss for introducing new products. Two years ago, we saw the HomePod and iMac Pro for the first time, as well as new iPads and MacBook Pros. But last year was all silent on the hardware front: Apple opted to save the new iPad Pro 11 and iPad Pro 12.9 for October.

Ready for our Apple WWDC 2019 what to expect guide? Let’s start out by explaining the date and time so you don’t miss it: the keynote starts at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST on June 3, and the lasts through June 5, but the latter days are mostly filled with developer sessions.

1. iOS 13 at Apple WWDC 2019

The iOS 13 beta is poised to be the chief news story out Apple’s WWDC 2019 keynote simply because it affects every iPhone and iPad user in the world.

We fully expect Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi to talk up the fact that iOS 13 is going to be faster than last year’s update. To make the speed increase percentage even more Apple-dramatic, we may see Federighi cite the overall speed increase since iOS 11 (as iOS 12 offered a speed increase, too).

iOS 13 is going to launch the long-rumored Dark Mode, according to the latest leaks. It’ll turn your white-and-light-gray UI backgrounds into black-and-dark-gray colors that are infinitely easier on the eyes at night.

Reminders, Health, iMessage, Screen Time Books, and Find My (a combination of Find My iPhone and Find My Friends) will be tweaked in iOS 13, says Bloomberg.

Important for iPad users, we’re allegedly going to see a native functionality using the iPad as a secondary display (akin to Duet and Luna Display), a revamped home screen design, stackable app windows for easier multi-tasking and maybe even mouse support. Apple is trying to make the iPad running iOS 13 more like a computer.

We have a full list of changes, a rumored device compatibility list, the expected beta release date schedule in our iOS 13 explainer page.

2. macOS 10.15

We loved macOS 10.14 (aka Mojave) for finally introducing system-wide Dark Mode and additional creative tools, but we haven’t heard much at all about macOS 10.15 – which doesn’t even have a cool nature-themed codename yet (in keeping with recent releases, it will likely reference a California biome).

We don’t know much about what’s officially coming, but macOS 10.15 could include iOS features like Siri Shortcuts (and potentially the Shortcuts app), Screen Time, improved Apple ID management and special iMessage effects. We’ve also seen rumors that iTunes will be split into four different apps: Music, Books, TV, and Podcasts. 

There’s also the possibility that macOS 10.15 enables Mac users to link up their iPads as secondary displays.

On the other hand, it’s also possible that we’ll only see incremental improvements, as happened with the move from 10.13 Sierra to 10.14 High Sierra. If that’s the case, perhaps we’ll see that minimal upgrade in the name – Dry Mojave, maybe?

Apple ruffled feathers when it raised minimum system requirements for macOS Mojave and locked out older machines, so we don’t expect those thresholds to change this time around. To be specific: we expect anything newer than a 2015 MacBook, mid-2012 MacBook Pro, any late 2012 MacBook Air/Mac mini/iMac, late 2013 Mac Pro or 2017 iMac Pro to be able to run the next macOS.

Assuming Apple runs its usual schedule, it will introduce macOS 10.15 and release it in late September.

3. watchOS 6

We haven’t heard anything about watchOS 6, but we’re assuming that update will be announced at WWDC 2019 for owners of the newer Apple Watches. Perhaps it will be the long-awaited sleep tracker feature (Apple did buy sleep tracking company Beddit two years ago), though that’s rumored to be coming to Apple’s wearables in 2020.

But sources told Bloomberg that Apple plans to sever its wearable’s close dependency on iPhone by adding an App Store directly to Watch (and ergo, watchOS). This opens the door to third-party developers (finally!) but Apple reportedly also plans to toss in some basic apps that have been on iOS for years, liek Calculator, Voice Memos, and the ability to send Animoji and Memoji stickers. There will also be two new health apps: one called ‘Dose’ to monitor pill reminders and the other ‘Cycles’ to track menstrual cycles.

watchOS 6 will almost certainly be compatible with the latest Apple Watch 4 and previous Apple Watch 3, while support for Apple Watch 2 is likely. We don’t have high hopes for the original Apple Watch, however, as it stopped getting updates with watchOS 4.

We expect Apple to follow precedent and launch a watchOS 6 beta shortly after WWDC 2019, then release a final public version in September.

4. tvOS 13

If you thought we hadn’t heard much about Apple’s other probable software updates, we know even less about tvOS 13, which we expect to be announced at WWDC 2019. 

But Apple TV devices will certainly support the company’s new streaming services. Apple TV Plus will have exclusive shows from big names like Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston and M. Night Shyamalan, and is expected to launch in later 2019. That’s around when Apple Arcade is set to launch, which will have a host of games you can play across iOS, macOS and tvOS devices.

At last year’s WWDC, Apple mentioned very little about the then-upcoming tvOS 12, which brought Dolby Atmos overhead surround sound, Dolby Vision HDR standard and zero sign-on that auto-filled passwords from your home Wi-Fi network (for US users, at least).

We don’t know about any features coming with the supposed tvOS 13, but if it follows precedent, it will arrive in mid-September.

5. Mac Pro…and more

Apple is reportedly considering introducing a new version of the Mac Pro, according to Bloomberg. While we didn’t get any details of how the desktop machine might be revamped, but there’s plenty to update, given the second and last generation Mac Pro came out in 2013.

This fits last year’s news that Apple was aiming for a 2019 release of a wholly revisioned Mac Pro, per a lengthy TechCrunch report. Gone is the ‘trash can’ design, as the company is allegedly considering a ground-up revision.

Apple is also preparing its own brand of external monitor (going by the codename J290) that will pack HDR support, per Bloomberg. Other rumors suggest a 31.6-inch 6K screen with mini-LED backlighting, according to Pocket Lint.

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While Windows may be the world’s most popular Operating System (OS) for desktop PCs, the world’s most popular OS for the internet’s web servers is Linux.

Usually bundled along with Apache, MySQL, and PHP – and frequently referred to as a LAMP configuration – a wide variety of different Linux distros are used. 

Sometimes it’s down to personal preference, sometimes market forces, and sometimes due to small advantages a particularly distro will have in regards to the core applications to be used, security concerns, or stability issues.

Ultimately, most web users will never notice any difference because the OS works very much in the background, and it will only be the system administrators and IT managers who take notice of which distro of Linux is used.

But which Linux should be used? In most situations the choice won’t be critical and mostly be an issue of personal choice. However, we’ll list some of our favorite ones below.

• Want your company or services to be added to this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line.

(Image: © Debian)

Debian is over 20-years-old and in part owes that longevity to the emphasis placed on producing a stable operating system. This is crucial if you want to set up a server as updates can sometimes clash badly with existing software.

There are three branches of Debian, named ‘Unstable’, ‘Testing’ and ‘Stable’. To become part of the Stable current release, packages must have been reviewed for several months as part of the Testing release. This results in a much more reliable system – but don’t expect Debian to incorporate much ‘bleeding edge’ software as a result. 

You can get started with Debian using a minimal Network Boot image which is less than 30MB in size. For a faster setup, download the larger network installer which at just under 300MB contains more packages.

(Image: © Ubuntu )

While Ubuntu is best known for bringing desktop Linux to the masses, its Server variant is also extremely competitive. Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has developed LTS (Long Term Support) versions of Ubuntu Server, which like the desktop flavour can be updated up to five years after the date of release, saving you the trouble of upgrading your server repeatedly. Canonical also periodically releases versions of Ubuntu Server at the same time as the latest desktop distro (i.e. 18.04.1).

If you’re intent on building your own cloud platform, you can also download Ubuntu Cloud Server. Canonical claims that over 55% of OpenStack clouds already run on Ubuntu. For a fee, Canonical will even set up a managed cloud for you using BootStack.

(Image: © OpenSUSE)

OpenSUSE (formerly SUSE Linux) is a Linux distro specifically designed for developers and system admins wishing to run their own server. The easy-to-use installer can be configured to use ‘Text Mode’ rather than install a desktop environment to get your server up and running.

OpenSUSE will automatically download the minimum required packages for you, meaning only essential software is installed. The YaST Control Center allows you to configure network settings, such as setting up a static IP for your server. You can also use the built in Zypper package manager to download and install essential server software such as postfix.

(Image: © Fedora)

Fedora is a community developed operating system based on the commercial Linux distro Red Hat. Fedora Server is a special implementation of the OS, allowing you to deploy and manage your server using the Rolekit tool. The operating system also includes a powerful PostgreSQL Database Server. 

Fedora Server also includes FreeIPA, enabling you to manage authentication credentials, access control information and perform auditing from one central location. 

You can download the full 2.7GB ISO image of Fedora Server using the link below. The same page contains a link to a minimal 583MB NetInstall Image from Fedora’s Other Downloads section for a faster barebones setup.

(Image: © CentOS)

Like Fedora, CentOS is a community developed distribution of Linux, originally based on the commercial OS Red Hat Enterprise Linux. In light of this, the developers behind CentOS 7 have promised to provide full updates for the OS until the end of 2020, with maintenance updates until the end of June 2024 – which should save the trouble of performing a full upgrade on your server in the near future.

You can avoid unnecessary packages by installing the ‘minimal’ ISO from the CentOS website, which at 906MB can fit onto a 90 minute CD-R. If you’re eager to get started, the site also offers preconfigured AWS instances and Docker images.

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So you’re here for the best and cheapest Oculus Rift prices, but did you know there’s a new Oculus in town in the form of the more affordable Oculus Go? On this page you’ll find the latest Oculus Go prices along with the original and more powerful headset’s cheapest offers.

The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset is one of the best VR devices on the market. It’s backed by world-class technology, has a growing library of games and apps, and now you can get it at its cheapest price ever. That’s because the Oculus Rift price was permanently reduced a while back making it much more affordable. The headset also is now bundled with the Oculus Touch controllers in the UK and US. You’re saving a few hundred notes now, which we always love.

In the box, you’ll find the Oculus Rift headset, two Touch controllers, two Oculus room sensors, all the cables you need to connect it, and seven free VR apps and games, including popular title Lucky’s Tale, Quill and Robo Recall.

Oculus Rift prices

When searching for an Oculus Rift sale price, you should always make sure that you’re looking at one of the newer bundles with the Touch controllers. Otherwise, you could end up paying $399 in the US and £399 in the UK for just the headset, or you could pay more than you should for the starter kit.

Every deal listed on this page is for the current retail version of the Oculus Rift. We’ve vetted these deals so you won’t end up with a dev kit version (Dk1 or Dk2) early build. You can find a few of these early models around the net, especially on eBay, but be warned, many of these are the earliest versions of the headset, made available to early adopters or developers. We’d stay away from them as they’re not the refined finished product available at your favorite retailers and they probably don’t come with controllers either.

Looking to upgrade your PC gaming setup further? Check out our best monitor deals.

We’re eagerly awaiting the official arrival of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, expected to arrive in August, but until that happens we’ve got plenty of leaks and rumors to go on – including talk of 45W fast charging.

We’ve previously heard that the Note 10 is going to bring some rapid charging to the table, but up until now we haven’t been sure just how rapid it would be.

According to respected tipster @UniverseIce on Twitter, the phone battery could be juiced up with 45W of power. That’s some improvement over the 15W charger and charging tech that came with the Samsung Galaxy Note 9.

The tweet takes some deciphering though – it shows Leonardo da Vinci, a charging symbol, and the number 101101. It starts to make sense when you remember ‘Da Vinci’ is Samsung’s codename for the Note 10 and that 101101 is the number 45 in binary.

Charge it up

Charging speeds on a phone are a combination of how much power the charger can provide and how much power the phone can take.

An overall wattage of 45W would probably put the Note 10 at the front of the field in terms of charging speeds, though without more information it’s difficult to say exactly how quickly it would get from zero to 100%.

The Huawei P30 Pro, for example, comes with 40W fast charging and can get up to a 70% charge from nothing in just 30 minutes. Wireless charging speeds are usually significantly slower.

We’ll have to wait and see to know for sure how quickly the Note 10 will be able to get charged up, but @UniverseIce is one of the more reliable leakers out there as far as phone info goes.

Via GSMArena

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We’ve heard iTunes’ closure could be imminent, as Apple splits the platform’s content into a few different newer apps – and now we could know what iTunes’ replacement apps look like.

Exclusive screenshots shared with 9to5Mac show the interface of Apple’s new music and TV apps, just how they’d be displayed on the upcoming MacOS 10.15, giving us a glimpse into the future of Apple’s software.

Both apps share a design bone with iTunes, with a top bar that shows categories or music playback, and a primary menu down the left that shows libraries, genres, playlist and different options.

There’s a noticeable color scheme to each app, with the icons in Apple music red and purple, and in Apple TV a blue and green gradient, which gives the apps a more playful tinge than the typically monochromatic design of iTunes.

This is one of our first glimpses of MacOS 10.15 too, and we’re expecting to see a bigger crossover between MacOS and iOS in the upgraded operating system. We’ll likely hear a lot more about MacOS 10.15 at Apple’s developer conference on Monday.

Apple’s WWDC 2019 begins tomorrow, which is where we’re expecting to find out all about Apple’s newest software and hardware – this includes iOS 13, watchOS 6, the  new Mac Pro, and many more Apple Macs. TechRadar will be on the ground for the whole week-long event, so stay tuned for our coverage and analysis on Apple’s future.

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Every year Computex brings forth some truly weird and wonderful things. While there’s some great tech on the show floor that’s worth looking at, we couldn’t help but notice a slew of rather interesting PCs being showcased at various booths.

Now, some of these PC cases are created purely for enthusiasts to marvel at, but we would be kidding if we didn’t admit that some of them would look right at home here in the TechRadar offices.

So here’s our collection of the best and most unique PCs seen at Computex this year.

All images credit: TechRadar

Check out all of TechRadar’s Computex 2019 coverage. We’re live in Taipei to bring you all the breaking computing news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from fresh laptops and desktops to powerful new components and wild overclocking demonstrations.

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We’ve been expecting Apple to close iTunes for a while now, in order to divide it into different apps, and it looks like the tech company is putting the ball in motion, suggesting we’ll see the new face of Apple’s media plan at WWDC 2019. 

As noticed by Reddit user u/MalteseAppleFan,  the iTunes Instagram account has had all its content deleted – in addition the iTunes Twitter account hasn’t been updated in nearly a week as of writing, and all posts on iTunes’ Facebook page have also been removed.

We’ve heard Apple is planning to replace iTunes with Apple Music, and presumably iTunes’ other content would be moved to Apple’s other platforms, such as Apple TV Plus.

Shuttering iTunes’ social media accounts would make sure consumers only followed the accounts of iTunes’ newer apps, so Apple’s steps to do so suggest we could hear news of iTunes’ closure in the next few days. The iTunes Twitter and Instagram accounts already point towards the Apple TV accounts, so this move could already be in motion.

Apple’s week-long developer conference WWDC 2019 begins on June 3, and we’re expecting Apple to announce its new software and hardware upgrades like iOS 13 , MacOS 10.15, WatchOS 6 and more. TechRadar will be on the ground reporting for the whole week, so stay tuned to find out the future of Apple.

Via Appleinsider

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