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Earlier this year, Canon announced that it was working on a slew of new lenses to beef up its EOS R line. Some of these optics have already been released, and now we welcome another pair, one of which is the RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM.

The RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM, whose official stamp was rumored recently, becomes the widest lens in the company’s RF stable, and is an evolution of the popular 16-35mm lenses the company has offered users of its EOS DSLR lines, including the most recent EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM and EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM.

On top of its useful wide focal range and constant f/2.8 aperture, the optic arrives with the promise of edge-to-edge sharpness throughout the zoom range. SWC (Subwavelength Structure Coating) and ASC (Air Sphere Coating) lens coatings have also been applied to the elements to prevent flare and ghosting.

As an L-series lens, the new arrival also combines a dust- and water-resistant construction, together with a fluorine coating on the front element to keep water, dust and grease from adhering.

With a length of around 126.8mm when set to 15mm, the lens manages to be around a millimeter shorter than the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM, despite the inclusion of an image stabilization system. This will no doubt please EOS R and EOS RP users looking to use the lens away from a tripod, given that such a system isn’t present inside their camera bodies.

As with the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM, the lens accepts 82mm filters. The barrel also incorporates a zoom ring towards its rear and a control ring towards the front, the latter of which can be customized to adjust exposure compensation, ISO or other settings when it’s not needed for manual focus.

Autofocusing, meanwhile, is handled by a Nano USM motor, which arrives with claims of precision and high speed, as well as smooth and silent operation for the benefit of video recording. This motor also appears in the previously announced RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, together with the RF 24-70mm f/2.8L IS USM that’s been announced alongside the RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM.

Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM sample images

The new optic arrives just a few months after the RF 85mm f/1.2L USM and the more recent RF 24-240mm f/4-6.3 IS USM lenses, which leaves just the RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and RF 85mm f/1.2L USM DS due to arrive before the end of the year, according to Canon’s lens roadmap.

The RF 15-35mm f/2.8L IS USM will be available in September, priced at £2,329.99 in the UK. Pricing for the US has not been disclosed yet, while pricing for the Australian market is at the retailer’s discretion – the UK price converts to around AU$4,225.

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Most of us flit among multiple devices throughout the day, so it’s reasonable to expect our “computer” speakers to do so as well. Logitech’s Z207 speaker system was designed with this in mind. Supporting both wired and wireless connections, it can effortlessly switch from your PC to your tablet to your phone, bringing rich, room-filling sound to your media wherever it’s stored.

This review is part of our ongoing roundup of the best budget computer speakers. Go there for information on competing products and how we tested. 

Each of the speaker enclosures measures about 9.5 x 3.5 x 4.9 inches (HWD) and weighs just over 2 pounds. They’re constructed entirely of plastic, including the attached stands. My review model had a matte-black finish, but they’re also available in white. Both enclosures contain one uncovered speaker driver that handles the mid and high tones, and one passive radiator for the bass.

The Z207 speakers lack setup instructions, but they don’t need any. The enclosures are hardwired together, with the power/volume knob and Bluetooth button on the right one clearly designating it as the control unit. All you have to do is plug one end of the supplied 3.5 mm audio cable into the AUX jack on the back of that speaker and the other end into your computer. Then just turn the system on, and fire up you favorite playlist or movie.

Logitech

The speakers deliver 10 watts of peak power. Sitting at the computer, I kept the volume around the halfway point. But I could crank it higher without distortion if I wanted to soundtrack activities away from my desk. The sound was well balanced, with clear highs, mids, and bass–the last is surprisingly deep for system without a subwoofer.

I don’t keep any music files on my computer, so when I wanted to listen to downloads I had to switch to my phone. The initial pairing process takes under a minute: You press the Bluetooth button on the control speaker to put it in pairing mode (the power LED blinks green and blue), then look for the Z207 to appear on your phone’s list of available devices. Mine connected to the speakers automatically. The speakers support up to two Bluetooth connections in addition to the wired connection to your computer. To switch streaming between them you just press Pause on one device and Play on another.

Logitech’s Z207 speakers deliver impressive audio with few compromises for their modest price. And their ability to support up to three devices at once is surely welcome given our multi-device habits. Some Amazon reviewers have commented on their size as they do take up a fair amount of desk space. If that’s a concern, you might consider AmazonBasics USB-Powered Computer Speakers or Creative’s Pebble speaker set, both of which have a smaller footprint and a bit more style without sacrificing sound quality. You’ll have to sacrifice multi-device support, though, as neither of those systems include Bluetooth.

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Sprint confirmed in early August that it would be bringing a 5G-capable OnePlus phone that would work on the carrier’s network. As we predicted, that device is the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, and we got to take it for a spin around New York City.

Sprint 5G in NYC works on 2.5Ghz bandwidths, which promotional materials claim gets  around 400Mbps – not quite the 1Gbps achieved by millimeter wave, but much higher than 4G LTE speeds. 

The service went live in NYC today as well as Washington DC, with Phoenix and Los Angeles networks going live tomorrow – but there’s a lot of attention on the Big Apple as more challenging terrain: the city has three to four times the signal density of less populated urban areas in North America, a Sprint executive claimed at a media event launching the NYC network.

The city’s coverage area extends from Central Park down to the southern tip of Manhattan at launch, Sprint claimed – and in our quick tests, we found that to be mostly true: when roaming from Midtown near Bryant Park down to the East Village, we only flickered down to 4G/LTE a handful of times, and saw speeds subsequently dive down to 3-5Mbps.

We didn’t quite see the around 400Mbps Sprint claimed in its media presentation – not in the area they specifically suggested would get those speeds. Instead, we caught a median of 200Mbps, occasionally rising up 250Mbps – and rarely, up to 333Mbps.

That’s a far cry from the peak 1.4Gbps we saw with the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G when hooked up to Verizon 5G that we tested in Chicago – but Sprint’s network spans a far wider area than the handful of neighborhoods that Verizon’s millimeter wave setup covers. 

More importantly, we didn’t have to do the “5G shuffle” hopping between nodes: when we tested Verizon’s Chicago network, its millimeter wave emitters projected in such a small radius that we had to keep them in line-of-sight to maintain such high speeds. Not so with the 2.5Ghz Sprint network, which reliably delivered the aforementioned 200Mbps-median speeds across its coverage area.

We’ll have to do more extensive testing to see how widespread that area is: unlike T-Mobile 5G, Sprint hasn’t released a specific coverage map for NYC, Washington, DC, or any of its other cities.

What’s all that speed for?

Practically speaking, we haven’t found essential uses for the highwater 1.4Gbps speeds we saw in Verizon’s network – we’ve mainly put it to work quickly downloading media as an armchair comparison metric. 

Instead of downloading the entire first season of Netflix’s Stranger Things in just under 39 seconds, as we achieved in our Verizon 5G test with the Galaxy S10 5G in Chicago, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G on Sprint 5G downloaded it in under 5 minutes.

In other words, you could queue up a short season of TV in the time it takes for the next subway train to arrive, or while waiting for a latte. 

Sprint 5G today – and beyond

Sprint is launching its 5G network in NYC and Washington, DC, and a day later, in Phoenix and Los Angeles. At the media event in New York City, executies claimed the company would cool its heels for awhile and build out its service in its existing cities – now 9 total – instead of announcing other areas it will launch its 5G network. For instance, its spread availability in its Dallas-Fort Worth hub to the Richmond and Garland suburbs since launching there in April. 

Which could be the carrier waiting for its merger with T-Mobile to pass its final hurdles after getting major approval by the US government back in July. Assuming it goes through, the combined network could provide more robust 5G service in overlapping areas, like NYC. 

As it stands, Sprint’s 5G network currently covers 2,100 square miles and covers 11 million people, according to the carrier. While we can’t get to all these cities to test them out, assuming they get the same speeds as we found in NYC, we should expect those with 5G phones (Sprint 5G phones include the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and LG V50 5G, along with the HTC 5G Hub) the to enjoy speeds much better than they found with LTE. 

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The web hosting company Hostinger has disclosed that it has experienced a security breach which impacted both its platform and users.

The company revealed in a blog post that a hacker was able to gain access to an internal server where he discovered an authorization token for an internal API. The hacker then used it to make “API calls affecting information about Clients”.

According to Hostinger, the hacker made API calls against a database which contained the personal information of around 14m customers that included their usernames, IP addresses, first and last names, and contact information such as their phone numbers, emails and home addresses. Information about user passwords was also stored on the database but thankfully it was in a hashed format.

Following the security incident, Hostinger decided to forcibly reset the passwords for all users whose accounts had been impacted as the company attempts to discover which of its customers were affected.

Security breach

The hacker did not obtain any financial data nor were they able to compromise customer sites according to Hostinger.

Following the security breach, the company set up a status page where customers can see up to the minute updates regarding the extent of the incident. Hostinger also said that the breached server and API have both been taken down.

The company provided further information on the steps it has taken following the security breach in a blog post, saying:

“Following the incident, we have identified the origin of unauthorized access and have taken necessary measures to protect data about our Clients, including mandatory password reset for our Clients and systems within all of our infrastructure. Furthermore, we have assembled a team of internal and external forensics experts and data scientists to investigate the origin of the incident and increase security measures of all Hostinger operations. As required by law, we are already in contact with the authorities.”

Via ZDNet

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The release of Intel’s 10th Gen chips has seen many device manufacturers release updated versions of their most popular laptops and now Lenovo is following suit with the launch of new ThinkPads that will feature the chip giant’s latest processors.

However, design-wise these new laptops are quite similar to the company’s previous models, though they do feature better specs and some sport Intel’s Project Athena label which means they’re guaranteed to provide at least nine hours of battery life.

The new seventh generation ThinkPad X1 Carbon will include Intel’s 10th Gen Comet Lake chips with options for a Core i5, Core i7 and even a hexacore Core i7 processor. The device is also one of the laptops that will include Intel’s Project Athena label which will likely please power users looking to get more work done on a single charge.

The ThinkPad X1 Yoga is also getting a similar update and the device will now include either a 10th Gen Core i5 or i7 processor. Unlike the X1 Carbon, it won’t be getting Intel’s Project Athena label and for the most part the ThinkPad X1 Yoga retains the design of its predecessor.

ThinkPad refresh

Lenovo also announced that the ThinkPad T490 and X390 will also be getting new chips with the option of either a Core i5 or Core i7 processor. Just like the rest of devices announced by the company, these two laptops will feature a similar design to their predecessors.

The two devices getting the most substantial update are Lenovo’s ThinkPad L13 and L13 Yoga. The new models are an update to the older L390 model and the devices will now offer a thinner and lighter design. Lenovo has also reworked the ThinkPad L13 and L13 Yoga with brighter displays, smaller bezels, a sliding “ThinkShutter” integrated webcam cover and there is also an optional IR camera for Windows Hello available.

Users will even have the option to outfit their L13 or L13 Yoga with Intel’s 10th Gen chips. However, cheaper less powerful chips such as Intel’s Celeron processors will also be available.

Every new generation of processor doesn’t necessarily warrant a design overhaul and Lenovo has delivered a range of new devices with updated processors that feature the design and form factor users already expect from a ThinkPad.

Via The Verge

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Labor Day sales have officially begun, and that means it’s a fantastic time to find record-low prices on top-brand TVs. Labor Day TV sales include massive savings on a wide range of television sets from retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, and more. To help you find the best deals we’ve combed through each retailers site to find the best prices on TVs that include a variety of different sizes and features.

The best TV deals include the RCA 43-inch 4K TV on sale for $179.99, the Samsung 50-inch Smart 4K TV on sale for $329.99, and the Sony 65-Inch 4K Smart TV on sale for $1,298.

Our top Labor Day TV pick is the LG 75-inch smart 4K TV that’s on sale for $949.99 at Best Buy. That’s a $150 discount and the best price we’ve found for the big-screen TV. The LG TV delivers a premium sound and picture experience thanks to its 4K active HDR resolution and ultra surround sound. The smart TV includes webOS, which allows you to stream your favorite apps like Netflix and Hulu from the home screen of your TV. The ultra-slim TV also features a barely-there bezel on all four sides, so your TV looks sleek and clean from every angle.

Shop more of the best Labor Day TV deals below and keep in mind these offers are limited-time promotions and will end on Monday, September 2.

Labor Day TV deals:

Shop more deals with our guide to the best Labor Day sales of 2019.

See more of the best cheap TV sales and 4K TV deals that are happening now.

You can see more deals with our roundup of the best back to school sales 2019: deals on laptops, backpacks, tablets, and more.

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Qualcomm recently hosted a special event centered around Wi-Fi 6, called Qualcomm Wi-Fi 6 Day. Coinciding with the event, the company released a number of documents going over its ambitions for the new standard in Wi-Fi connectivity.

More and more devices are connecting to wireless networks, whether they be cellular or Wi-Fi networks, and the devices have steeper demands than ever before. Online activities, like video streaming  (with ever increasing image resolution) or cloud gaming, require high bandwidth – and low latency in the latter’s case – and Wi-Fi 6 can help deliver that.

Where to see Wi-Fi 6

Qualcomm has already been pushing for more Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. Mobile devices built around Qualcomm systems-on-chip (SoCs) can feature Qualcomm’s FastConnect Subsystems, which enable Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. These subsystems integrate both the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections of the device as well as other non-cellular connections.

We’ve already seen Wi-Fi 6 connectivity show up a number of places. Some routers are already out on the market, Samsung’s Galaxy S10 series all include Wi-Fi 6 connections through their Snapdragon 855 chipset, and some laptops already feature the new standard.

The Wi-Fi 6 implementation seen in Snapdragon 855 and Snapdragon 855 Plus chipsets is largely coming from from Qualcomm’s FastConnect 6200 subsystem. But, the company has a new FastConnect 6800 subsystem on the way, which expands on the former’s offering with improvements on users’ uplink connection.

Wi-Fi 6 is for way more than just phones

AMD, the popular chipmaker behind the recent Ryzen 3000 series of processors, is also going to work with Qualcomm. According to AMD Senior Director of Product Management David McAffee, the company will implement the Qualcomm FastConnect platform alongside its mobile laptop processors.

Qualcomm is also ready to build Wi-Fi 6 into automobiles, with its QCA6696 SoC.

The SoC company isn’t just focused on the chips going into devices that will connect to Wi-Fi 6 networks, but also working to build the networks that those devices will connect to. 

The Qualcomm Networking Pro Series is all about building networks that can deliver on the demand for a massive number of connected devices with no negative impact on user experience, all while maintaining high bandwidth and low latency. These platforms are designed with densely packed areas in mind, like “university lecture halls, malls, stadiums and office buildings.”

This push for broader implementation of Wi-Fi 6’s capabilities, alongside growth in 5G mobile networks, will be at the center of improvements in connectivity in the coming years. To say that both technologies could be transformative for how we operate online would not be an overstatement.

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