Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking to make the movement of data between its servers and SaaS applications more straightforward with the launch of an extensive new integration service.
Amazon AppFlow aims to make it easier for developers to move data between web servers and SaaS applications such as Google Analytics, Salesforce, Slack and Zendesk.
Transferring data from an application to a web server and back after performing analytics is often a tedious task for developers, who would rather prefer if they could manage this movement via flows – although AWS has taken care not to position it as a means to automate workflows.
The platform looks to compete with the likes of Microsoft Azure’s Power Automate, which also allows developers to manage data by triggering flows around events or at predefined times or specifically upon receiving requests.
Unlike Automate, Amazon AppFlow focuses on moving data from applications to other AWS services for building in analytics.
AppFlow launch
AWS says developers often spend long hours writing custom integrators to pass data between SaaS applications and AWS services so that it can be analyzed. This can be expensive and take months to complete and in case data requirements change, then costly and complicated modifications are required.
“Companies that don’t have the luxury of engineering resources might find themselves manually importing and exporting data from applications, which is time-consuming, risks data leakage, and has the potential to introduce human error,” AWS principle advocate Martin Beeby told TechCrunch.
Every flow which is categorized by a call to the source application to transfer data to a destination would cost $0.001 per run with an associated data processing cost that starts off at $0.02 per GB.
At the moment, there are only 14 possible sources and four destinations that include Amazon Redshift and S3 in addition to Salesforce and Snowflake. It is fair to expect that over time these integrations would go up and so would the list of supported services.
“Our customers tell us that they love having the ability to store, process, and analyze their data in AWS. They also use a variety of third party SaaS applications, and they tell us that it can be difficult to manage the flow of data between AWS and these applications,” added Kurt Kufeld, Vice President, AWS.
“Amazon AppFlow provides an intuitive and easy way for customers to combine data from AWS and SaaS applications without moving it across the public Internet. With Amazon AppFlow, our customers bring together and manage petabytes, even exabytes, of data spread across all of their applications – all without having to develop custom connectors or manage underlying API and network connectivity.”
The latest PS Plus sales can save you up to 39% on your PlayStation Plus membership this week, thanks to some fantastic deals at CDKeys. These low prices are offering three month subscriptions for just $16.49, previously $25.39, and 12-month memberships for $36.79 down from $59.99. These are some superb discounts on this truly excellent online service that features a ton of free games.
PS Plus is the PS4’s online play platform, and though it’s usually one of the more expensive options out there, you can pick up a subscription for a fantastic price this week. You’ll receive free games every month with your subscription, with this month’s offerings bringing Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Dirt Rally 2.0 to your console.
These games remain playable for as long as your subscription is active. So, if you’re looking to extend your membership long enough to cover this period of madness, or you’re looking to get involved for the first time on a new PS4, the latest PS Plus deals can certainly offer a helping hand.
Not in the US? These subscriptions won’t work in other countries, but we’re rounding up the latest PS Plus sales in your location further down the page.
Today’s best PS Plus sales
All the latest PS Plus deals
Below, you’ll find the latest PS Plus deals wherever you are, however if shopping through CDKeys, remember to check the region of the code you are purchasing. As CDKeys lists its products in all prices regardless of region, technical gremlins can sometimes sneak their way into our price checking tools.
PS4 game deals
You can find plenty more PS Plus deals over on our dedicated page, but if you’re looking for something you can hold why not check out the latest PS4 controller deals from around the web. We’re also sorting through the best cheap PS4 games to bring you excellent prices on top releases.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is looking to make the movement of data between its servers and SaaS applications more straightforward with the launch of an extensive new integration service.
Amazon AppFlow aims to make it easier for developers to move data between web servers and SaaS applications such as Google Analytics, Salesforce, Slack and Zendesk.
Transferring data from an application to a web server and back after performing analytics is often a tedious task for developers, who would rather prefer if they could manage this movement via flows – although AWS has taken care not to position it as a means to automate workflows.
The platform looks to compete with the likes of Microsoft Azure’s Power Automate, which also allows developers to manage data by triggering flows around events or at predefined times or specifically upon receiving requests.
Unlike Automate, Amazon AppFlow focuses on moving data from applications to other AWS services for building in analytics.
AppFlow launch
AWS says developers often spend long hours writing custom integrators to pass data between SaaS applications and AWS services so that it can be analyzed. This can be expensive and take months to complete and in case data requirements change, then costly and complicated modifications are required.
“Companies that don’t have the luxury of engineering resources might find themselves manually importing and exporting data from applications, which is time-consuming, risks data leakage, and has the potential to introduce human error,” AWS principle advocate Martin Beeby told TechCrunch.
Every flow which is categorized by a call to the source application to transfer data to a destination would cost $0.001 per run with an associated data processing cost that starts off at $0.02 per GB.
At the moment, there are only 14 possible sources and four destinations that include Amazon Redshift and S3 in addition to Salesforce and Snowflake. It is fair to expect that over time these integrations would go up and so would the list of supported services.
“Our customers tell us that they love having the ability to store, process, and analyze their data in AWS. They also use a variety of third party SaaS applications, and they tell us that it can be difficult to manage the flow of data between AWS and these applications,” added Kurt Kufeld, Vice President, AWS.
“Amazon AppFlow provides an intuitive and easy way for customers to combine data from AWS and SaaS applications without moving it across the public Internet. With Amazon AppFlow, our customers bring together and manage petabytes, even exabytes, of data spread across all of their applications – all without having to develop custom connectors or manage underlying API and network connectivity.”
Everyone kind of knew that it was coming. But nobody seems to have been prepared for the pace and severity with which it is striking. The Covid-19 led lockdown is now starting to take a toll of technology startups in India with large scale job losses being reported each day.
“This is disastrous in every way you look at it. Even companies that looked capable of weathering the storm are falling by the wayside,” says Varun Prasad, a Chennai-based tech startup founder.
According to a recruitment portal, more than 600 businesses have cut staff in the past one month, while a further 660 have cut salaries.
Says another startup director, “I am afraid what we are seeing is only the tip of the iceberg. More news about job losses, pay cuts will emerge in the next 3 months.”
Tough 12 months ahead
The general consensus in the technology startup ecosystem is that in the next 7 to 8 months thousands of jobs will vanish. “It is impossible to put a figure now as the situation is fluid,” Varun says and adds that funding would dry up and there is little hope for buoyancy in demand. Many companies may be forced to close down. “The next 12 months are going to be long and difficult.”
Many internet-based tech companies like Swiggy, Oyo, Treebo, Fab Hotels, Meesho, Fareportal, Capillary, Shuttl, BlackBuck, Acko, have announced job cuts in their respective companies. On an average, 30% of the staff have been pruned in all these companies.
In other companies, pay cuts have been the norm. Salaries have been reduced by as high as 50%. Employees of companies Zoomcar, Livspace, Chaipoint, Ola, Zomato and Cashify would also be taking home lesser salary from next month.
Even biggies not spared
The job cuts are particularly heavy in hospitality, travel, mobility and retail companies. The mayhem seems across the board.
What is worse is that almost all the startups have put a freeze on fresh hiring, and many of them have been forced to go back on the offers they have already made.
Varun says that from what he could gather, all start-ups, irrespective of their size, have been majorly impacted. Early and growth-stage startups of course are bearing the brunt of the collapse.
“The road ahead is long and arduous. It will take at least 18 months for things to get back to even keel,” says Varun.
Away from tech startups, the SME sector is also in huge distress. A published media report suggests that over 100 million people have fallen into unemployment.
And the country has not even come out of the lockdown mode yet. So, things could just be getting worse over the next few months.
Earth Day sales are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the global day of environmental consciousness this week, and that means you can save on a massive range of sustainably produced luxury goods right now. You’ll find plenty of mattress deals offering incredible comfort with the added benefit of renewably sourced production, as well as discounts on products that contribute to global conservation efforts as well. So, if you’ve been searching for some new bedroom or bathroom luxuries, or you’re simply curious to find out what the wonderful world of sustainable production has to offer, check out the latest Earth Day sales below.
Earth Day began back in 1970, with the motivation to educate and mobilize the population around its own impact on the world around us, and the result of that mistreatment on our own human health. 2020 marks the 50th year of Earth Day, and the movement continues to inspire a more environmentally friendly lifestyle in millions, at a time when it’s never been needed more.
Retailers listed below are celebrating those achievements and working to build on that inspiration by offering Earth Day sales on plenty of their products, so why not dive in and check out what’s on offer.
The right smart scale is a handy tool for any bathroom. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, build muscle or just maintain your current body composition, a smart scale will make it easy to track any changes over time and tweak your diet and exercise if necessary.
It’s even better when paired with a fitness tracker. In fact, many of the companies that make fitness trackers and other wellness wearables also make smart scales to give you even more information about your body.
Smart scales don’t just provide more metrics about your body, but connect to the internet too. This means you can keep an eye on your weight or body fat percentage from your phone. With many apps allowing you to set goals, chart your progress over time and share your stats with other apps and services.
But it’s not just the fact they can pair up with an app that makes smart scales worth your time and money. Many aren’t just focused on weight, but tell you all kinds of things, such as your body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, BMI and much, much more. This is a much better way of seeing the big picture of your health – your weight can only tell you so much.
We’ve been working hard to find the best smart scales for you. Throughout the list of products below, we’ve taken into consideration the features on offer, the design and the price of each product. That means below you should find the best option for your next scale.
Withings offers three different scales – you’ll learn more about the other two below – and this is the mid-range option in terms of feature set and price. We like the extra features you get here over the cheapest model, and it boasts a more premium design.
It’s light enough that you can easily move it around your bathroom, it will sync all of your data directly to an app called Health Mate that’s available on iOS and Android, and it will track some interesting stats too. For example, it will be able to monitor your weight, but your BMI and body composition as well.
That means it’s able to give you an idea of the amount of water, bone and muscle in your body. That’s something you won’t get with every pair of smart scales, and if you’re looking to build up some muscle rather than just lose weight you’ll find this a must-have metric.
Our second favorite smart scale also comes from Withings, and while the feature set isn’t as extensive as the choice above it does have a much more attractive price that many will be happier with when buying bathroom scales.
This is the scale you’ll want to buy if you just want an easy way to track your weight within an app with relatively little hassle. It will connect to the Health Mate app, so whatever scores you’re getting will be recorded there and it will give you extra insight over time as you weigh yourself.
That’s the app you’ll use if you have a Withings fitness tracker too, so you can have all of your details in the same space. If you have a Withings wearable you can even have yesterday’s step count appear at your feet as some motivation on a morning too.
This smart scale isn’t capable of the extra body composition features we’ve seen on other products like the ones coming up below, but it’s that bit more affordable, making it an appealing budget option.
Generally considered one of the best smart scales on the market, Eufy has proved yet again you don’t need to pay over the odds for good tech (the brand also has an affordable and awesome range of robot vacuums).
For under £30 / $30, this smart scale allows you to keep tabs on all kinds of metrics, including weight, BMI, BMR, muscle mass, bone mass and more. All of the data is stored in the Eufy app, which is easy-to-use and allows you to benchmark your stats with other users.
Up to 16 people can use the Eufy smart scales, which is likely more than you’d ever need. But it’s great there’s no tiny limit like there are with other products.
Already own a Fitbit fitness tracker or smartwatch? This smart scale is probably the best way to track your health in full, as the Fitbit Aria 2 connects directly into the official app to give you a full insight into your fitness.
Most of the features from the Body+ are available here, so you’ll be able to keep an eye on your body fat percentage and lean mass here as well. All of this data will then be plugged into the Fitbit app, and it will give you insight into your health over time.
The price is where the Withings scales win out here, but you may be able to find a suitable deal on the Aria 2 and if you already own a Fitbit product it’s a great choice as the two will work seamlessly together.
Much like the Body+ scale, the highlight here is that the Garmin Index Scale is capable of measuring your body fat and water percentage as well as your muscle mass and bone mass.
The Garmin Index Scale works well, but the price is higher than the Body+ so we’ve put it lower down this list. If you’re looking for some top-end features and you like the design of these scales, these are a perfectly suitable option for you.
We particularly recommend this scale if you already have a Garmin fitness tracker or running watch, as the integration with the app works remarkably well and allows you to have all of your health stats in one place.
If you’re an amateur athlete who wants insight into their body beyond what a fitness tracker strapped around your wrist can offer, be sure to consider this smart scale.
If you’re a Fitbit user who doesn’t want to splash out on the Aria 2, or just doesn’t need all its features, there’s an alternative in the Aria Air, which is more of a budget version of the Aria 2.
The Aria Air might not have some of the features of the Aria 2, like body composition monitoring and the ability to change users and view different stats on the scale (instead you can only see weight), but most people might not care about these features, making the Air the preferable choice.
Add to that the fact the scale automatically syncs to your Fitbit app, it’s a great companion to people who already use Fitbit fitness trackers or wearables, as it lets you track your weight as well as your exercise.
The Withings Body Cardio scale is one of the best-looking that could adorn your bathroom, but a lot of what’s useful here is also in the Body+ at the top of this page.
When the Body Cardio scale launched, it had a feature called Pulse Wave Velocity that measured the stiffness of the aorta, which is something that can lead to further health issues.
In January 2018, however, the company was asked to remove the feature by the FDA in America, and that means you can no longer use this feature and there’s no clear word on whether it will return.
That means a lot of the benefits of this scale are lost, apart from that slightly more premium design and the fact these scales can also measure your heart rate. If you already own a fitness tracker or smartwatch, it’s likely you’ll have a heart rate tracker so you won’t need this feature on your smart scales.
We do like the design of the Body Cardio, but we don’t think that the look and heart rate feature is a big enough upgrade to justify the extra money you’ll be spending compared to the Withings Body+ scale. That said, if you really prefer the design and you don’t mind spending more then this is a good scale all the same.
You’re probably thinking about how your TV is basically a huge monitor, probably with better features than your actual office monitor. Well you’d be right and there’s likely nothing stopping you from using a TV as a monitor, so here’s how to do it.
In this guide we’re going to assume that you’re attempting to plug a laptop or PC into your TV. If you want to connect an Android smartphone or tablet to your TV then see how to do that here.
Most modern TVs are huge, likely 50in or bigger so there’s a lot of space for multi-tasking. However, buying a TV this big to use as a monitor probably isn’t the best idea, but you’re likely thinking about one you already have in the house.
This could be useful for a large range of things including video calls, working, gaming, watching video or many other tasks.
TVs come in a range of sizes, resolutions and technology types (and so do the specs and capabilities of the devices you can connect) so bear in mind that it’s impossible for us to write a one-size-fits-all guide. However, we’re going to tackle the main issues that everyone will face.
Connecting to your TV
First things first, you need to connect your computer to your TV in order to use it as a monitor.
For the vast majority of people, both of these devices are going to have HDMI ports. If so, grab an HDMI cable and connect the two together.
If not, you need to figure out what ports your TV and computer have in common and they might not have the same ports. Depending on the age, you might have VGA or DVI ports if it’s a little older or DisplayPort or USB-C if it’s modern.
Note that older ports such as VGA only carry video so will not take audio to your TV.
The bottom line is that you need to check the ports at both ends and get a cable that connects the two. Remember that cables can have different connectors at each end so you can get, for example, an HDMI to DisplayPort cable.
You might come across different sizes of those ports, too. So you might need a mini version of something. Not working? You might just need to try a different cable.
An adapter is another solution to potential connection problems. If, for example, your laptop only has a USB-C port then an adapter or USB-C hub might be essential to get you an HDMI port.
Adjust your display settings
If you’re lucky, then simply connecting your computer to the TV might be enough. Sometimes technology just automatically sorts everything out and you’re good to go.
If not, there are various settings you might need to adjust on your laptop or PC. You’ll need to right click on the desktop (in Windows) and select ‘Display settings’.
One you have this window open, you should see a section saying ‘Rearrange your displays’. This will apply when you connect something that already has a display like a laptop. You’ll be using both screens with the TV set to ‘2’.
In order to drag a window, perhaps your web browser, to the TV you’ll need to drag it off the laptop screen in the correct direction. In our example, it’s to the left but in the display settings you can move display 2 to a different position if you prefer.
If you just want the TV to be the only screen then scroll down in the same settings menu and under ‘Multiple displays’ select ‘Show only on 2’ in the drop down menu.
In here, you can also adjust the resolution and scale which both might need changing to make things optimal on your TV. The right combination will depend on various factors like the size and resolution of your TV. As you can see below, we’ve set the resolution to 4K and the scale to 200%.
Adjust your TV settings
A TV isn’t designed and calibrated to be used as a computer monitor so it’s possible that the image might look a bit rubbish.
Apart from the above adjustments you can make on your computer, you might also want to head into the settings menu of your TV to make things better.
Top of the list is making sure that TV doesn’t have the sharpness control turned up. If so, you’ll want to turn this right down in order to make text easier to read.
If you’re seeing the image go off the sides of the screen then your TV is probably using overscan. If so, you’ll need to find the overscan feature in the settings menu and switch it off. This should mean the image fits the TV correctly.
