If the rumors didn’t give it away months ago, Microsoft has officially announced the All-Digital Xbox One S – a new 4K HDR streaming-capable console that doesn’t use discs or physical media of any kind.
The All-Digital Xbox One S will be available globally starting on May 7, 2019 for $249 (around £190, AU$349) and joins Microsoft’s Xbox One family of consoles, allowing it to play the same games as the slightly more expensive Xbox One S.
In fact, based on the specs shared by Microsoft, you won’t be able to tell the difference between the two when they’re side-by-side. (Specs include a 1TB HDD, 8-cores, Custom Jaguar CPU @ 1.75GHz, Custom GPU @ 914 MHz, 12 CUs, 1.4 TFLOPS, 8 GB DDR3 @ 68 GB/s, 32MB ESRAM @ 218 GB/s.)
To complement the system, Microsoft has also unveiled a new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan that combines both an Xbox Live Gold membership plus a membership to Xbox Game Pass for $14.99 per month, and will be available to all Xbox One owners. As before, you can still buy Xbox Game Pass separately for $9.99 and Xbox Live Gold for $9.99 per month, but this deal does save you 25%.
The first bundle of the console that comes out on May 7 will include three games including Minecraft, Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 3… er, rather, the digital download codes for those games as, remember, there’s no disc drive.
Summer is just around the corner, and if you’re looking to get in shape, a fitness tracker can be the perfect companion to help you. Lucky for you, Amazon has the best-selling Fitbit Alta on sale for only $84.99. That’s the best price we’ve found for the top-rated activity tracker.
The Fitbit Alta is made for everyday wear, with an ultra-slim and lightweight design. The Alta tracks activities such as steps, distance, and other exercises, and will even give you friendly reminders to stretch your legs and start moving. The water-resistant Fitbit also tracks calories burned and records your sleep to provide you with helpful insights.
Once you download the Fitbit app, you can track all of your activity on your smartphone or computer and follow progress you’ve made. You can also get personalized workout videos, and log your exercises to help you meet your fitness goals. The Alta has an impressive battery life of up to five days, and offers basic smartwatch features such as call, text and calendar notifications.
If you want a fitness tracker that also offers heart rate monitoring, you might be interested in the Fitbit Alta HR. The Alta HR has all the features of the Fitbit Alta, but continuously tracks your heart rate, and has a slightly longer battery life. The Fitbit Charge 2 is more advanced than the Alta HR and not only monitors heart rate but also includes GPS technology and features a larger display screen. Both activity trackers are on sale at Amazon.
Fitbit deals:
Fitbit Alta HR $129.95 $95.94 at Amazon Get the Fitbit Alta HR on sale at Amazon for $95.94. The ultra-slim fitness tracker continuously tracks your heart rate, activities, and calories burned, and has a battery life of up to seven days. View Deal
Apple and Qualcomm’s current legal clashes, including a blockbuster patent argument with literally billions of dollars on the line that just started its opening arguments, are all officially over. Both companies have signed an agreement to dismiss all ongoing litigation, renew licensing and chip supply contracts, and even secured a payment from Apple to Qualcomm, per a press release.
Apple and Qualcomm have been fighting in court for years. The aforementioned patent case was the largest of several legal disagreements: Apple brought suit against Qualcomm in 2017 for $1 billion, alleging the latter was overcharging its licensing fees for mobile communication tech – and then Apple would have to pay Qualcomm again for its modem chips to stick in iPhones.
In opening remarks, Apple lawyers characterized this by saying Qualcomm “double dips,” making $16.1 billion in chip sales and an additional $7.23 billion in licensing fees from Apple in the years 2010 to 2016, according to CNET.
That fight is over. Per the agreement, both companies have reached a “sid-year license agreement” starting April 1, 2019, which includes a two-year option to extend, as well as a multiyear chipset supply agreement.
Summer is just around the corner, and if you’re looking to get in shape, a fitness tracker can be the perfect companion to help you. Lucky for you Amazon has the best-selling Fitbit Alta on sale for only $84.99. That’s the best price we’ve found for the top-rated activity tracker.
The Fitbit Alta is made for everyday wear, with an ultra-slim and lightweight design. The Alta tracks activities such as steps, distance, and other exercises, and will even give you friendly reminders to stretch your legs and start moving. The water-resistant Fitbit also tracks calories burned and records your sleep to provide you with helpful insights.
Once you download the Fitbit app, you can track all of your activity on your smartphone or computer and follow progress you’ve made. You can also get personalized workout videos, and log your exercises to help you meet your fitness goals. The Alta has an impressive battery life of up to five days, and offers basic smartwatch features such as call, text and calendar notifications.
If you want a fitness tracker that also offers heart rate monitoring, you might be interested in the Fitbit Alta HR. The Alta HR has all the features of the Fitbit Alta, but continuously tracks your heart rate, and has a slightly longer battery life. The Fitbit Charge 2 is more advanced than the Alta HR and not only monitors heart rate but also includes GPS technology and features a larger display screen. Both activity trackers are on sale at Amazon.
Fitbit deals:
Fitbit Alta HR $129.95 $95.94 at Amazon Get the Fitbit Alta HR on sale at Amazon for $95.94. The ultra-slim fitness tracker continuously tracks your heart rate, activities, and calories burned, and has a battery life of up to seven days. View Deal
Along with the Samsung Galaxy S10 phone, Samsung has also launched a pair of true wireless headphones – the Samsung Galaxy Buds. The Samsung Galaxy earbuds are available for purchase now, so we’ve put together a list of the best prices and sales from several retailers below.
The Samsung Galaxy Buds come in a small compact case that doubles as a charging station. One full charge provides an impressive six hours of play time, and the charging case provides up to an additional seven hours.
The Galaxy Buds are lightweight and compact and come with three adjustable ear tip and wingtip sizes so you can find a size that’s right for you. The water-resistant earbuds also feature touch controls so you can turn up the volume, skip songs and more with a touch to your ear. You can also control the Galaxy Buds from its compatible app which offers a “Find My Earbuds” feature if you ever misplace them.
The Samsung earbuds deliver quality audio by AKG which provides powerful bass and a balanced range of sound. You can also control how much surrounding noise you want with the Ambient Aware feature. This lets you customize what you want to hear while still blocking out background noise.
Samsung Galaxy Buds prices
The Samsung Galaxy Buds currently retail for $129 (£139 / AU$249) which is actually cheaper than Samsung’s previous truly wireless headphones, the Gear IconX ($149.99 / £157). The only features that the Galaxy Buds lack when compared to the Gear IconX are the ability to load your music to the earbuds, increased water-resistance and audio coaching for exercises. The Samsung earbuds are also cheaper than Apple’s Airpods ($159/£159) which makes the Galaxy Buds one of the most affordable high-end wireless earbuds on the market.
You’ll find all of the prices below from several different retailers so you can find the best deal that’s currently available.
Apple’s long-awaited HomePod 2 smart speaker could sound even better than the original, if new patents granted to the tech company are anything to go by.
Apple’s patent for a ‘Multi-listener stereo image array’ describes a system where “multiple people can experience a stereo audio effect, regardless of where they are seated,” according to Apple Insider.
In layman’s terms, the patent describes a system that uses multiple drivers and advanced sonic processing to send an audio signal to each person in the room – and each of them will hear the appropriate left and right channel, no matter where they are.
Now, you might wonder how the HomePod will know where you’re standing in the room. For that, Apple has a second patent that it calls “System and method for dynamic control of audio playback based on the position of a listener.”
Again, sparing you the technical jargon, the patent describes a system that uses an imaging device (i.e. a camera or sensor of some sort) to see where people are located in the room as well as how they’re sitting or standing.
The idea, more or less, is that the next HomePod will be able to tell what you’re doing – if you’re lying down, walking closer to the speaker or walking out of the room completely – and change the sound by amplifying or reducing volume, or completely pausing the audio until you come back.
Psycho-acoustics are really something, huh?
If you’re coming from the world of two-channel sound, this might all sound a bit… implausible. Or at least unlikely to ever be developed.
But as crazy as this all sounds, there really are a number of companies working on 3D sound at the moment. Creative has its solution called Super XFI, and Sony has 360 Reality Audio that made its debut at CES 2019, not to mention Dolby Atmos and DTS:X that have been on the market for years.
Now, all of these solutions work differently – Creative uses a software solution, Atmos uses upfiring speakers and 360 Sound is both an audio format and a technology. The main takeaway: not only is this possible for Apple, but other companies are already doing something similar.
Will all these technologies finally give Apple’s next HomePod the edge on the better-selling Amazon Echo and Google Home? We’ll just have to wait to find out.
Microsoft, in its continuous mission to make Windows 10 better than ever, finally released the Windows 10 October 2018 Update at the end of last year. This update follows in the footsteps of the Windows 10 April 2018 Update.
The Windows 10 October 2018 Update, much like previous versions of the OS, brings a ton of new and exciting features to freshen up your PC experience. With new features like the Windows 10 News app and improved phone integration, the Windows 10 October 2018 Update revolutionizes the way we use Windows 10.
So, now that you can download and install the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, we thought it was about time to jump into all the details. So, keep this page bookmarked and we’ll update it with any new information that comes our way.
Cut to the chase
What is it? The next major update for Windows 10
When is it out? The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is available now
What does it cost? As with previous major Windows 10 updates, it is free
Windows 10 October 2018 Update release date
The Windows 10 October 2018 Update is finally out now, even though there are plenty of problems.
While Redstone 5 is what it was called during development, the actual name is going to be the Windows 10 October 2018 Update. It’s not as catchy as past launches like the ‘Anniversary Update’, or the ‘Creators Update’, but at least it has a very clear title, we guess.
Windows 10 October 2018 Update confirmed features
Now that the Windows 10 October 2018 Update is available, we know all of the features that made it into the final update. From the Cloud Clipboard that lets you copy and paste between devices to the new release of DirectX Raytracing, which takes advantage of the new Nvidia Turing cards, here are all the features that are included in the Windows 10 October 2018 Update.
Improvements to Windows 10 Fluent Design
Microsoft introduced elements of the Fluent Design user interface with the April 2018 Update, and at its Build 2018 event, it showed off more effects and features that will come in Redstone 5.
So, expect more apps, including standard Windows programs, using the Fluent Design interface, and there will be some eye-catching 3D effects for Mixed Reality experiences.
Improved Game Mode and Game Bar
Windows 10 Game Mode was already a clear benefit to gamers – even if it’s barely noticeable. With Windows 10 Redstone 5, Microsoft has stated that it’s adding more options to game mode to further optimize gaming performance, but it didn’t really get into specifics.
However, the improvements to Game Bar might be more noticeable, and even actually useful to PC enthusiasts and power users. Instead of having to run a third-party program like MSI Afterburner, users will be able to see visualizations of system utilization – think GPU, CPU and RAM usage, as well as frame rate. This will be an amazing addition, and will go a long way to informing users why their games start to run slow.
According to Microsoft’s Dona Sarkar in a blog post announcing the 17704 preview build, “we’re taking Sets offline to continue making it great. Based on your feedback, some of the things we’re focusing on include improvements to the visual design and continuing to better integrate Office and Microsoft Edge into Sets to enhance workflow”.
So what is Sets, anyway? Well, the basic idea is to bring the concept of tabs from the web browser to the entire interface of the OS in general, so you can have windows with tabs that contain web pages, apps, folders – a mix of everything essentially.
At Build, Microsoft showed off more about the potential of Sets in Windows 10, showing how you can have an open document, and clicking a web link will open the web page in a tab next to the document, with everything you open organized in that Set.
You’ll then be reminded with prompts while your working about the tabs, which should give you intelligent help when working across a variety of documents, apps and websites.
It doesn’t look like Sets is going to make it into the final release of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, but we might get it in the next major Windows 10 release.
Storage Sense
In the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, Microsoft implemented a new storage feature called Storage Sense. This will automatically free up storage space on your hard drive by getting rid of old files you don’t use anymore. It’ll take these files and back them up on OneDrive, so you’ll still have access to them – without clogging up your hard drive.
You’ll have to manually enable this feature in Redstone 5, but it could be a great option for anyone that doesn’t want to manually sort through hundreds of files to optimize storage performance.
They will look and behave more like standard Windows 10 apps thanks to an improved interface, and Microsoft also revealed that you’ll be able to download the apps directly from its Edge web browser.
Improved Your Phone app
Microsoft is making a big deal of having Windows 10 work with all manner of devices, and with Redstone 5, we should see a radically improved Your Phone app that will allow you to easily interact with your smartphone through Windows 10.
This is done by downloading the Your Phone Companion App (previously named Microsoft Apps) on Android. This app still has the ability to highlight other Microsoft Android apps, though will now allow you to interact with your PC through your phone.
You’ll be able to read and reply to text messages from your Windows 10 device, as well as easily share files, photos and more between your PC and your phone.
Windows 10 News App
With Windows 10 Redstone 5, we’re going to get a more refined News App, which will let users gather all the news relevant to them in one curated spot. Including hints of Microsoft’s fluent design, it’ll fit right in to all of the other recently revolutionized tools in Windows 10.
Microsoft is hoping to use this news apps to take on services like Apple News or Google News, with a focus on an easy, intuitive news experience.
Cloud clipboard
A new feature spotted by people using an early version of Redstone 5 is the cloud clipboard, which will allow users to copy and paste across different devices thanks to the new cloud-powered clipboard. User can trigger the new function by simply hitting Windows Key + C.
The copied content will then be available in other Windows 10 devices, and in the future Android and iOS devices as well.
Microsoft Mixed Reality improvements
It wouldn’t be Windows 10 without improvements to Mixed Reality, and the October 2018 Update should have them in spades. In one of the most recent Windows 10 Redstone 5 builds, Microsoft included a variety of improvements to Mixed Reality quality of life, including the ability to seamlessly take screenshots and immediately import them into an email.
And, if you’re using a backpack PC to fuel your Mixed Reality desires, you’re in luck. Microsoft has removed the requirement to connect a monitor to use a Mixed Reality headset.
Improved search previews
Another feature due to arrive with Windows 10 Redstone 5 is improved search previews. These now support apps, documents and other files, and should make searching Windows 10 even easier.
