The shroud of darkness that’s blanketing our smart devices continues as Twitter announces a new ‘lights out’ update to the app’s existing dark mode, bringing a truly black background to your feed instead of a dark blue one – perfect for OLED displays.
The official Twitter account has also changed its profile photo, header photo, and bio to reflect its new all-black option.
The update is rolling out now for iOS devices, though non-iPhone/iPad users will have to wait a little longer – a Twitter rep has told Engadget that the new lights out mode will roll out on Android and the web “soon”.
It was dark. You asked for darker! Swipe right to check out our new dark mode. Rolling out today. pic.twitter.com/6MEACKRK9KMarch 28, 2019
To apply lights out mode to your iOS Twitter app, simply open the ‘settings and privacy menu’, tap on ‘display and sound’, flip the ‘dark mode’ toggle to ‘on’ (if it isn’t already) and you should see a new ‘lights out’ option appear in the dark mode’s sub menu. The old dark mode is still available, though it’s now labeled as ‘dim’.
Given OLED’s unique ability to only light up the pixels that are visible, the new lights out mode should result in additional battery life for iPhone X and iPhone XS devices. It’s also expected to reduce eye strain.
If you’re looking for the best Skype alternatives, then you’ve come to the right place. For many years, Skype has been one of the most popular VoIP (Voice over IP) services, with home and business users alike using it to video and voice call friends and family over the world.
However, in 2011 Microsoft acquired Skype, and since then it has been tweaking the interface and adding (and removing features) which has not been too popular.
So, if you’re looking to move from Skype to another VoIP service, then this guide to the best Skype alternatives will help you make the leap. We look at both free alternatives to Skype, as well as packages you need to pay for, which is good for large companies with employees around the world.
Operating system: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Windows Phone | Features: Video calling, group chat, web and desktop clients, end-to-end encryption, voice calls
Owned by Facebook
WhatsApp is our pick for the best Skype alternative of 2019. This messaging service has taken the world by storm, so there’s a good chance that you already have it installed on your smartphone or PC. It offers plenty of features to rival Skype, including text messaging, voice and video calls, and it also offers end-to-end encryption, which gives you added privacy. For business users, you can easily share documents and there’s a WhatsApp business API as well.
Operating system: Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Chrome OS | Features: Video calling, group chat, web and desktop clients, voice calls
HD video calls
Limited number of participants
Google Hangouts is another popular alternative to Skype that offers a lot of the same features, including high definition video calling, group chats and instant messaging. If you use Gmail, or your company uses G Suite, then you’ll find Google Hangouts an excellent choice for VoIP thanks to its integration. It’s easy to use, and there’s a free version, and call quality is usually pretty good. You can also easily share your screen, which makes it useful for collaboration and showing presentations. It does have a limit on the number of people who can join a video call at once, which can be annoying if you have a large company.
Operating system: Windows, Android, iOS, Windows 10 Mobile, BlackBerry 10 | Features: Video calling, instant messaging, group calling, audio calling, delete seen messages
End-to-end encryption
Limited features
Viber offers text, voice and video calls free of charge, and if you are willing to pay, you can use Viber Out to make calls to any phone number in the world – and this can even be used from the desktop. Group calling is a great feature for groups of friends, and there is the usual selection of stickers to choose from. There are no ads in Viber, and it also offers end-to-end encryption.
Operating system: Windows, macOS, iOS | Features: Video conferencing, team collaboration, cloud calling
Business-specific features
Integration with various platforms such as Microsoft Teams
Not suitable for home users
If you’re looking for the best Skype alternative for business use, then WebEx is the service to go for. It offers a large amount of features for video conferencing, allowing employees from all over the world to work together and collaborate on projects. It can be used for training, supporting customers and much more, and for an additional fee, you can also include international voice calls. It also integrates with your business calendar, as well as platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Slack and Facebook Live.
Operating system: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Linux, FreeBSD | Features: HD video calling, instant messaging, voice messaging, file sharing
Open source
Direct calls between users
Not as fully-featured as some Skype alternatives
If you’re looking for an open source Skype alternative that prioritises the privacy of its users, the Jami – which used to be known as Ring – is the one to go for. It has a professional-looking design and is available for a wide range of platforms. Unlike other Skype alternatives, calls using Jami are direct between users, so it doesn’t use servers to handle calls. This gives you even greater privacy, as the decentralised nature of Jami means your calls are only between you and the person you’re calling – no one else can see (or hear). It’s got a good selection of features, and it’s also totally free to use.
Canon introduced its Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus (AF) technology back in 2013 with the launch of the EOS 70D. It performs phase-detect autofocus from the main imaging sensor by splitting each pixel into two light-sensitive photodiodes, with each half picking up light independently through separate microlenses.
Since then, this system has provided fast and accurate autofocus in Canon’s cameras and is, after all these years, still considered to be one of the most reliable AF technologies for both stills and video.
So imagine the possibilities if those pixels could be divided into four photodiodes. Hopefully we won’t have to wonder for too long, as a patent application, first discovered by Canon News, suggests the camera manufacturer could be working on a Quad Pixel AF system.
Image: Canon (via Canon News)
Halved, then quartered
The patent, filed in Japan, describes a 20.7MP sensor that contains a staggering 83 million focus detention points. Each pixel seems to be 4 micrometers, making the sensor approximately 22mm wide (the size of an APS-C sensor). According to Canon News, the decreased pixel density is what would make Quad Pixel AF possible, requiring Canon to drop from a 24MP Dual Pixel CMOS sensor to a 20MP Quad Pixel option.
Splitting each pixel into four pieces would solve an issue most Canon cameras have when focusing. “If you ever tried to use an EOS R or an EOS M in landscape orientation to focus on a horizontal line, you’ll quickly realize that the phase detect sensors just go in one direction, and have little sensitivity in the other 90 degrees offset direction,” Canon News explains.
Quad Pixel AF would solve this problem, but the size of the sensor suggests Canon will be restricted to using the new AF system in APS-C cameras. Whether it can be developed for high resolution full-frame systems remains to be seen.
Well this is a pleasant surprise! From absolutely nowhere, Samsung has dropped a flash sale to knock $300 off the price of a shiny new Samsung Galaxy Note 9 – one of the world’s very best smartphones.
One of the few things that may have previously put you off from buying the magnificent 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen, meaty 8GB RAM, epic battery life and included S Pen is the rather jaw-dropping price – unlocked Samsung Note 9 prices started at $999 on launch last year.
So imagine the spring in our step when we heard about this flash sale. A massive $300 to save on either of the 128GB or 512GB storage models, bringing them down a much more attractive $699 and $949 respectively. And your choice of the Midnight Black, Ocean Blue, Cloud Silver and Lavender Purple colour designs.
All you have to do to get the discount is enter the special promo code 300SAMSUNG when you get through to the checkout. And then you can watch with satisfaction as the $300 magically disappears from the price.
But beware…Samsung isn’t kidding around when it calls this a ‘flash sale’. It’s only available for six small hours, kicking off at 6pm EDT today and finishing at midnight East Coast time. So we don’t recommend beating around the bush on this one. That said, we would recommend that you take at least a quick look at our guide to the best unlocked phones and prices first, if only to see what a great bargain this Note 9 deal is!
AMD’s future Navi GPUs, the successor to Vega II, may have the power that enthusiasts are looking for. Rumor has it that the new Navi GPUs may launch later this year, with a follow up Navi 20 GPU launching next year, according to YouTube channel RedGamingTech.
More importantly, the GPU is expected to offer improved performance and even ray tracing on par with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080Ti, Wccftech suggests.
Earlier this year, AMD launched the Radeon VII graphics card, without confirming whether the new GPU built on 7-nanometer architecture was actually Vega II or still considered part of the original Vega family. In any case, the Radeon VII may just be a stopgap, as it doesn’t perform competitively with Nvidia’s best graphics card, the RTX 2080 Ti.
Never too late for Navi
The new Vega architecture should help push AMD’s performance ahead of where it currently stands, and this isn’t the first time we’ve heard a rumor that Navi could arrive late this year. Given how competitive the Radeon VII is with the RTX 2080, Navi could be big.
The first iteration of the new GPU architecture, Navi 10, is expected to be a mid-tier offering, and a version of the Navi 10 could be used in future consoles. Though the new Navi GPUs are believed to have an improved GCN architecture, it may still leave Nvidia’s expensive RTX 2080 Ti at the top of the pack.
But, the Navi 20 version that’s rumored to come a year later could shake things up by bringing even more power and AMD’s own recipe for ray tracing. Then, we’d just have to wait and see whether Nvidia has a response in the form of new RTX GPUs.
IT networks are now at the heart of any given business. Information Technology applies to every department, every section, every employee, yet the larger the business, the more difficult it can be to monitor and maintain that infrastructure and those networks.
It’s not just external threats that need to be guarded against, but more mundane issues such as maintaining security protocols and ensuring network connectivity in the face of patches and upgrades. The more machines worked with, the more of a challenge this can become. Both software and hardware can easily become out of date, leaving the entire IT network vulnerable to failures which can undermine productivity and efficiency.
However, there are business solutions out there aimed not just at managing those networks, but making the whole process easier. The challenge is to find the network monitoring tools that work for you and your business. Here we look at some of the market leaders when it comes to network monitoring tools.
Who said network security software couldn’t get a little spicy? The first platform on our red-hot run-down is Spiceworks, which promises to keep you fully up to date on “the network happenings you care about most.”
Among Spiceworks’ features are an IP lookup tool to trace and identify unknown IP addresses in the network, a subnet calculator for creating new subnets and converting CIDR (classless inter-domain routing) notation to an IP range, a traceroute tool for troubleshooting connection issues, and an interactive outage heatmap.
Looking at potential drawbacks, it’s been commented that older plugins may no longer work with newer versions of the software, while the handy connectivity dashboard feature is not currently available for new Spiceworks users at the time of writing.
However, for an easy-to-use, completely free application that makes money through ads rather than your organization’s subscription, it’s hard to get too hung up the negative aspects here.
WebTitan supplies businesses of all sizes with a suite of security and monitoring platforms that give a wide range of powers to IT administrators.
Doing the job of ‘Big Brother’ is WebTitan Cloud, a filtering solution for organizations to monitor, control and protect their online users from web content. The platform’s policy engine enables admins to block access to certain web pages among certain users, while adjusting the policy for other departments in the organization.
It also includes a reporting section which covers behavior-based analysis, trend reports, security reports, and more. These reports can even be scheduled, sending the insights directly to the team members who need them.
Away from the cloud-based platform, WebTitan packages also offer DNS-based web filters that block malware, phishing attempts and ransomware. The software’s creators, TitanHQ, claims its filters identify 60,000 malware variants every day and says the platform is well suited to educational institutions and wifi providers, as well as businesses.
To get a quote for a WebTitan package for your organization, follow the link below.
Features galore to keep your fingers on the network pulse
Lots of third party integrations
Flexible packages
Disaster recovery capabilities
Pulseway helps system administrators and IT departments stay right across their organization’s network by offering a real-time overview of all the machines under operation. It works for Windows, Linux and Mac devices and can be used on mobile devices for full administrative control form the palm of your hand.
On top of its main dashboard for remote desktop control, patch management, white labelling and advanced automation, Pulseway offers: a business management integration that includes functions for ticketing, project management, accounting, CRM, time-tracking, invoicing, billing and help desk support; an antivirus integration powered by Webroot and Kaspersky for end-to-end protection; and a storage integration for business continuity and disaster recovery in the event of lost data and outages. Other third-party tie-ins include Slack, Pagerduty, Zendesk and IT Glue.
Personal use of Pulseway (across two devices) is free, while subscriptions for larger teams vary depending on the number of machines and whether the platform is used as on premise or as an SaaS (software as a service). Full pricing details can be found via the link below.
Atera combines remote monitoring and management (RMM) with professional services automation (PSA) in a business management platform that’s made and operated in the cloud. The creators claim its cloud DNA and scalable SaaS packages make it extra fast for onboarding and rolling out in new organizations.
The Atera platform offers IT administrators a range of features to stay on top of their network. These include remote access of computers, desktops, servers, apps and files, real time alerts on events like user log-ins, software updates, VMware and IP monitoring, IT automation and patch management, and analytics tools to dig into data and records. For those looking to expand the remit of the platform, integrations include CRM and service desk tools.
Simplicity and ease-of use is the name of the game here, but for those well acquainted with platforms of this nature who really want to push their monitoring software to its limit, the range of features with Atera may feel somewhat limited. But with flexible pricing options available, IT administrators may be able to find the package that suits the needs of their organization.
Netwrix Auditor is all about giving maximum visibility of IT infrastructure changes, data access and system configurations to the IT administrators of your organization. Another key component is Netwrix’s security analytics technology, which monitors your IT environment and enables you to detect threats or anomalous user behaviour.
Among the platform’s features is the option to automate auditing and reporting tasks to save time manually poring over logs of data, plus the ability to maintain a complete audit trail that can be archived for more than ten years. By maintaining such evidence, Netwrix Auditor enables users to prove their business adheres to and is compliant with PCI DSS, HIPAA, SOX, and FERPA standards, among others.
Potentially relieving concerns about integration, Netwrix supports auditing on a wide selection of IT systems, including Active Directory, Office 365, Windows file servers, Oracle DB and VMware. Unlike some of the other services we’ve seen, Netwrix doesn’t support mobile use so it may not be the platform for you if you’re reliant on quick check-ups on the move via phone or tablet.
You can get a quote on a Netwrix subscription via the link below.
Auvik is made exclusively for managed service providers (MSP). Based in the cloud, it enables remote monitoring and management, provides insight into client networks, and automates time-consuming tasks like device configuration and backing up data.
Like any good dog, Datadog is good at retrieving things. In this case, information about your systems, clusters and infrastructure – no matter how disparate it is – and bringing it all into one site to help you analyze and secure the data of your organization.
Panopta is all about meticulous scrutiny of your network to identify outages as quick as possible. Via 24 monitoring locations across North and South America, Europa and Asia, Panopta ensures all outages are detected no matter the duration, so your team can act fast.
Working in a similar vein, Paessler monitors your IT infrastructure to identify problems “before users even notice,” it claims. A whole range of network components are covered by its monitoring systems, including LANs, WANs, servers, websites and applications.
Another strong player in this field is OpsGenie. This operations management service is based in the cloud and its alert notifications extend to mobile as well as desktop, so you can receive network updates via email, SMS and voice calls no matter where you are.
Given the number of teasers over the past few weeks, it should surprise nobody by now: Gearbox is making a new Borderlands game. Today we finally got confirmation of that fact, courtesy of a long and incredibly tedious presentation fraught with pacing and technical issues—and a Randy Pitchford magic trick. But hey, you didn’t need to sit through that because I did it for you.
Here’s the trailer, which should run at a beautiful 4K/30 frames per second here, unlike the 10-fps slideshow we got from the panel:
Okay, the big changes: Tiny Tina’s an adult now. Characters we met in Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands will make an appearance here, which is a nice surprise. And the environments look a lot more varied this time around. There’s the usual post-apocalyptic desert of Pandora, of course, but we also saw glimpses of a verdant jungle and a neon-lit city, the latter of which feels very different for a Borderlands game.
Otherwise it’s pretty much what you’d expect. Claptrap is back to annoy you. Familiar faces return, including Ellie and Brick (who now plays saxophone). And uh, for the most part none of that matters, because you’re just in the business of grinding for new guns anyway—an activity Borderlands 3 is happy to facilitate, with the tagline “Over one billion guns” showing up in this trailer. (Look for the gun with legs right after that tagline appears, near the end of the video.)
No release date yet, nor even a release window, but the description under the trailer does say “Visit Borderlands.com on April 3 for more info,” so do that, I guess. Or just wait until E3, where I’m sure this will show up at Microsoft’s press conference.
April 3 is also the date that new 4K textures will hit Borderlands: The Handsome Collection on consoles, and presumably hit the various Borderlands games on Steam as well. There’s also a remaster of the original Borderlands in the works—a first, on the console side, but probably not as big a deal for the PC. New textures might be nice, though.
Anyway, those announcements capped off a looooong panel. Gearbox stretched for time by trotting out its publishing deals, many of which we don’t care about—Bulletstorm for Switch, a We Happy Few DLC.
But Gearbox did debut a new Pathologic 2 trailer, which was incredibly cool and daring of them. I can’t imagine the overlap between Pathologic fans and Borderlands fans is very large, so giving this weird Russian RPG a main-stage presence during a Borderlands 3 reveal? Good on Gearbox. Pathologic 2 is due to release May 23.
Gearbox is also publishing the next title from Squanch Games, a.k.a. the Rick and Morty game studio. Justin Roiland certainly has an identifiable aesthetic and style of humor, and that was very much on display in the trailer for Trover Saves the Universe, which is coming to both VR and traditional flat-screen PCs on May 31.
And then Risk of Rain 2 debuted a new trailer—but that wasn’t the big news. No, the big news was that Risk of Rain 2 hit Steam Early Access today. The launch took place slightly before the panel, so some people had already spotted it and dampened the surprise. But hey, the important part is it’s there.
That about wraps it up. I’m not going to bother recounting Randy Pitchford’s magic trick because I’ve already suffered enough, but suffice it to say it didn’t (mercifully) involve a Medieval Times or a USB stick this time. Keep an eye out for more details on Borderlands 3 in the near future.
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