IT News Head Lines (Techradar) 6/5/2015

Round Up: 11 great fitness devices and wearables to use with the iPhone's Health app

Getting started

One of the best things about the iOS Health app is just how much data it collects in one place. With deep nutrition metrics, lab results, body measurements, fitness, and sleep data, this virtual file cabinet keeps everything organized. You might know what the Health app can do by itself and with additional apps, but if you're really serious about monitoring your health, you might want to take things to the next level and invest in a wearable or other additional device.
Sure, you could weigh yourself every day and enter that data manually. You could write down the time you fall asleep and the time you wake up. You could hope that the 10-year-old treadmills at your gym give a reasonably good estimate of your workout. You could use the free blood pressure cuff in the drug store and enter that information manually.
Or you could pick up one (or more) of these cool gadgets. We spent weeks wearing fitness trackers, monitoring our heart rate and blood pressure, and even took devices to bed with us, all to capture as much health data as possible. Here are our findings: 11 devices, compatible with the iOS Health app, that you can count on to take fitness monitoring to the next level.

Jawbone UP24

Jawbone has been one of the best-known names in this field since 2011. With a wide-open API, the Jawbone UP24 fitness tracker (see full review here) can be paired with other services in literally hundreds of ways. Integration with the Apple's Health app could be better, though: currently, it only shares sleep-analysis and step-tracking data. Data in the Up app is presented in a pleasing, vertically scrolling icon arrangement with Sleep and Steps at the top of your day's view. Silent vibrating alarms can be set to remind you to get up and move around during the day, or to wake you in the morning. Smart alarms can even analyze your sleep and buzz when you're in a light sleep stage near your set waking time.
Additional third-party apps can feed nutrition information to the UP, but calories, weight, and moods - while able to be logged in Jawbone's app - don't make their way back to Health. If you're looking for ease of use or fantastic ways to pair with smart-home options, then Jawbone's UP is a serious contender. But if you're looking for deep Health logging, you may want to consider another band.
Price: $129.99/£125/AU$180

Polar Loop

The colorful Loop, from the Finnish company Polar, is waterproof, so you can log swimming data without worry. (This is rare for a band with a charging port instead of a long-life battery.) The Loop's band needs to be trimmed to size - it took us a couple attempts but once we got it right, we were solid. The band saves battery life by going dark until you tap the touch-sensitive button near the screen. Brightly colored LEDs show the time, your steps, calories burnt throughout the day, and how close you are to completing your activity goal.
The Polar Flow app syncs with a web portal and your device, but the app's visualization of a clock broken into color-coded segments is a bit hard to translate into activity level. If partnered with one of Polar's heart rate monitors, the Loop can send your beats along to Health as well as convert that data into workouts. (Actually, a heart rate monitor is almost a necessity with this band if you want deep data.) The Loop tracks sleep, or periods of inactivity as shown by the reclining figure in the app, but doesn't pass that data to the Health app. Overall, the Polar Flow app is fairly single-minded in its workouts approach, so the Loop will best serve that market.
Price: $109.95/£84.50/AU$179

Garmin Vivofit 2

The Vivofit 2 (see full review here) is a nice, mid-priced workout band that pushes active calories, steps, and walking/running distance to Health. It runs strictly off a common watch battery (boasting a 1+ year battery life), which makes it more waterproof and enables uninterrupted tracking. Backlit only when you briefly hold the button, the LCD display delivers date and time, steps, steps remaining until goal (which updates daily based on previous activity), distance traveled, and calories burned.
The Garmin Connect app delivers a no-nonsense display of your data. Through it you can customize what counts as a workout using the device's stopwatch function, and you can pair with a heart rate monitor to quickly check your pulse while working out. The Vivofit 2 also tracks sleep and can report your level of movement as you slept, but it doesn't push this data to the Health app (we're told this is under consideration). One of the device's best features is the customizable chirp it emits when you sit still for too long, reminding you to get up and get moving throughout the day.
Price: $99.99/£89.99/AU$139

Misfit Shine

The most futuristic-looking tracker, the Shine (see full review here) is a minimalistic aluminum disc with small round lights in its face for feedback purposes. These lights tell time in analog format to the nearest five-minute mark and will light up to show any progress to your daily activity goal. Available in 10 colors, the quarter-sized Shine can be worn on the simple strap provided, on a clip you can fasten to your lapel or your shoe, tucked in your pocket, or dropped in a necklace clasp. Like the Vivofit 2, it uses a common watch battery, and once you've installed it and snapped the Shine shut you needn't worry about power for a reported six months.
The Misfit app is relatively stripped down, as is the data it collects (steps and sleep), though you can add in your weight and food eaten (only via photos to pair with Misfit's calories burnt calculation), and set it to track you during specific fitness activities such as swimming, soccer, yoga, dancing, and more. Water resistant to 50 meters, the tightly closed Misfit can stay on your wrist no how much you sweat, swim, or shower. Currently, only steps go through to Health, but we've heard that sleep-data integration is under consideration.
Price: $99.99/£80

Pebble Steel

Of all the fitness trackers featured here, the Pebble Steel (see full review here) comes the closest to the Apple Watch in offering features that go beyond fitness tracking. But for fitness purposes, the Pebble has a wide range of apps to track your body. Your first step is to download the Pebble Smartwatch app to your iPhone; the app is used to manage your watch and contains its own built-in Pebble App Store. Pebble devices can load up to eight Pebble apps and watch faces at any one time, though in the iPhone app there is a Locker where you can store many more apps and faces to quickly swap in.
There are plenty of free choices for step tracking like Pedometer or Movable, though both need to be active to actually track, and Movable requires a companion app on your iPhone. For workouts, Endomondo (free) is a good choice (which also requires a partner app on your iPhone), while there is also a Pebble version of Misfit, which can track data in the background. Our favorite Pebble app is SmartWatch Pro ($3.99), which captures step data and can export sleep data through another app called Morpheuz (free), on top of sending your calendars and reminders from your phone to your Pebble. If you're the kind of person who has a workout mix, the Pebble's ability to control music (even in third-party apps) and to dismiss phone calls at your wrist is a blessing when you'd rather not fumble with your phone.
Price: $199/£179

Beddit

Beddit, a thin strip that you tape in place under your fitted sheet, focuses on one particular aspect of your health: how do you sleep? It grabs your heart rate, tracks your sleeping respiration rate, and uses your iPhone's microphone to note when and for how long you snore.
The Beddit app shares your heart rate (a measure every five minutes) and your sleep and waking times with the Health app. The Health app only logs total time asleep, but Beddit's companion app takes all the data - plus movement in bed to map out how much you toss and turn - and then scores your sleep. The app has four alarms that can be set to wake you either at a specific time or close to your waking time when you're sleeping lightly. For weekends, you can choose "No Alarm" and Beddit will log you without waking you. As a bonus, there are even built-in ambient sounds to help you drift off to dream land.
Price: $149/£106.71

Lumo Lift

For specialized activity tracking, the folks at Lumo are carving out their own little niche. The Lumo Lift (see full review here) is a handy little gadget to measure steps and posture, so if you want to stand and sit straighter for better spinal health, this could be your ticket. Simply charge up the magnetized Lift in its USB-powered cradle, then attach it and the other half of the two-part clasp to your shirt at roughly the collarbone. We worried the Lift would be dislodged by daily activity, but the strong magnets held it tightly in place. (We did find that seatbelt shoulder straps press uncomfortably against it, though.)
The Lift app shows how well you're doing throughout the day, and lets you adjust settings. Turning on Posture Alert, for example, will cause a buzz if you're out of proper posture for a selected period of time. While the Lift tracks steps and posture, the latter data doesn't have a measure in Health (though it'd be a nice addition) and the former logs in the companion app but is not currently sent on to Health. As with other trackers, we're told Healthkit integration is on the roadmap, so if you want good posture, this is a solid option with more to come.
Price: $79.99/£80

Withings Smart Body Analyzer

A wide variety of tracking devices count steps, but all of them require you to manually input your weight. The problem is that this data can come from multiple sources: at home, the gym, the doctor's office, and elsewhere under different conditions, using different kinds of scales. For consistency, it's best to stick to a single scale and to weigh yourself first thing in the morning, without clothes. The Smart Body Analyzer pairs with your phone through the Health Mate app and will push your weight to Apple's Health app, along with your body fat percentage, BMI, and heart rate. And since this tracker stays put, it can recognize up to eight family members' profiles on their own devices, so everyone in your house can weigh in.
Ideally, you'll want to keep the scale in your bedroom so the built-in sensors can measure room temperature and air quality (which is most beneficial if you also use the Withings Aura sleep monitor). However, despite promises from Withings, we never got anything close to accurate weight measurements when using the scale on carpet, even with the provided feet adapters. For best results, place the scale on the hardest floor surface in your home, such as bathroom tiles.
Price: $149.95/£129.95/AU$239.95

QardioArm

If hypertension is something you're concerned about and want to keep track of, good news: the QardioArm makes it easy. Unwrap the blood pressure cuff entirely to turn it on, then wrap it around your arm and tap the big green Start button on the Qardio app. The Bluetooth-enabled cuff will measure blood pressure and heart rate, log them in the app for your history at a glance, and send both along to Health. For more accurate results, there's an option to allow the cuff to take three measurements with 30-second breaks in between and average out your numbers. You can also select the option for a picture slideshow of built-in nature scenes or your own photos for something relaxing to look at while you measure.
Price: $99-$109/£99/AU$169

iHealth Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor

iHealth Labs is a known name in the health field offering not only blood-pressure cuffs, but also glucose meters, activity trackers, and scales. Unlike the QardioArm's convenient one-piece design, the electronics of iHealth's Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor can be disconnected from the cuff proper, but can be tricky to reattach and sometimes had to be held in place while measuring.
The Bluetooth-enabled cuff pairs with the companion app, iHealth MyVitals, whose dashboard includes space for your blood pressure and other data tracked by the other devices in the iHealth line. Measuring is done easily enough: slip the cuff on, press the Test button at the app's bottom, and blood pressure and pulse are taken in short order. Tapping on My BP Trends in your dashboard takes you to more-detailed results including graphs of your BP over time as well as a list of results and your averages over the last 3 and 10 measures. The app also allows for manual input of blood-pressure data after doctor visits, though this information can also be easily added through Apple's Health app.
Price: $99.95/€99.95

Wahoo Tickr X Workout Tracker with Memory

You can count on your workout equipment to give you a measure of calories burned or you can rely on apps to approximate that data, but best of all is getting your own accurate, personal measurements. Strap on the Wahoo Tickr and fire up the Wahoo Fitness app to log your workouts with far more precision. You'll keep track of your heart rate, including an average and maximum rate, and also get a more exact calorie count, plus you can set Burn and Burst rates to log more intense parts of your workouts and see what your running cadence is.
Wahoo Fitness comes with plenty of built-in workouts including cycling, spin class, swimming (due to the Tickr X being waterproof up to five feet; just don't take your iPhone in the pool with you), skiing, skating, weight lifting, golfing, running, and loads more, plus your own custom workouts. Data is also stored locally on the device, so you can leave your iPhone at home if you like and sync later. You can export active calories, cycling distance, walking and running distance, heart rate, and workouts data straight to the Health app, or you can use a variety of third-party apps. Wahoo partners directly with the Garmin Vivofit 2 mentioned earlier, and you can export your workout data in several formats to be imported elsewhere.
Price: $99.95/about £65 with free standard shipping/about AU$128.49 plus $9.99 shipping









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Buying Guide: Mac Buyer's Guide 2015

Picking the perfect Mac

Buying a new Mac isn't as easy as picking out a new iPhone. With a phone you only have to worry about cost, color, and capacity, but when upgrading your computer you need to consider portability, power, speed, storage, screen size, pixels, expansion needs, and more.
So while Apple's Mac lineup is fairly streamlined and straightforward, there's still a lot to consider. If you decide you want a desktop, there's the Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro to choose from. If portability is your primary concern, you have the MacBook Air, MacBook and MacBook Pro. Even if you pass on the build-to-order options, there are dozens of possibilities ranging from $499 (about £325/AU$646)all the way up to $3,999 (about £2,610/AU$5,181).
A new Mac is a long-term investment. You don't want to be stuck with the wrong one for years and years, so we sorted through every option for every model to help pair you with your perfect match. Head to the next page as we dive right in.

Mac Desktops

Mac mini

While the all-in-one iMac is Apple's most popular entry-level desktop, the screenless Mac mini is a more cost-effective option. Its small, square enclosure can easily fit on any desk, no matter how cluttered it may be. The mini isn't exactly a powerhouse, but it performs well for a computer that's cheaper than an unlocked iPhone 5s.
The Mac mini doesn't come with a keyboard, monitor, or mouse, but it's packed with ports: one for HDMI, a pair for Thunderbolt 2, four for USB 3, an SDXC card slot, and an IR receiver sensor. The entry-level model skates by with a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive, but for an extra $200 you can double most of the specs. That's a 40% price increase over the base model, but it's worth considering since Apple has made it almost impossible to upgrade your mini after you get it home.
The top-of-the-line Mac mini bumps the processor up to 2.8GHz and adds a Fusion Drive in place of the 5400-rpm spinner, but at $999, we wouldn't recommend it. If you're willing to spend over a thousand dollars on a desktop computer, you'll be better served by moving up to an iMac.
In the UK, the Mac mini runs from £399 to £799, while in Australia it starts at AU$699 and tops out at AU$1,399.

iMac

The iMac has always been a trendsetter, going all the way back to its Bondi Blue CRT days, and the current razor-thin model is as stunning as ever. Even the cheapest iMac has a lot going for it, most notably the 21.5-inch screen - you'd have a hard time finding another monitor that looks this good, let alone a whole computer. And the starting MSRP of $1,099 (£899/AU$1,549) puts those luxury looks in an affordable price range.
The base model is a little limited by its processor, but it's not a bad entry-level machine. Its specs are comparable to the base Mac mini, but the iMac gets a bit of a performance boost thanks to a healthy 8GB portion of RAM. The machine doesn't include an HDMI port, but either of the two Thunderbolt ports can double as a Mini DisplayPort connector for dual-monitor setups.
As with the mini, spending an extra couple hundred bucks gets you a whole lot more. The middle iMac configuration has double the hard drive capacity (1TB), plus it gets you better graphics with an upgrade to Intel's integrated Iris Pro technology over the lower-performing HD Graphics 5000 card. The processor jumps to the quad-core 2.7GHz CPU, with a Turbo Boost that pushes it all the way to 3.2GHz. And don't sweat the 8GB of RAM - its easy to upgrade through a memory compartment door in the back. Unless you're on an extremely tight budget, this is the model we recommend.
If you want a larger screen, there's also a 27-inch iMac. The sole configuration consists of a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, and a hefty Nvidia GeForce GT 755M graphics card for $1,799 (£1,449/AU$2,499). It isn't a bad deal, but we can't recommend it when, for $1,999 (£1,599/AU$2,799), you can get your hands on the mother of all iMacs.
Packing an eye-popping 14.7-million pixel screen, a 3.3GHz chip, and the AMD Radeon R9 graphics card, the iMac with Retina 5K Display isn't just one of the most powerful Macs in Apple's lineup, it might actually be the most practical purchase you can make. A decent stand-alone 5K display will set you back at least $2,000, and when you factor in the cost of a machine that can handle it, the retina iMac starts to look like a bargain. The lower-end model packs more than enough punch for most people, but you might want to consider upgrading the platter drive, either via a $200 BTO option or by stepping up to the 3.5GHz model for an extra $300.

Mac Pro

The Mac Pro was cutting-edge when it launched in late 2013, and it's still one of the most advanced PCs money can buy. The machine has power and performance to spare, with quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processors, dual AMD FirePro graphics cards, and super-fast PCIe-based flash storage. And its distinctive 9-inch-high cylindrical form fits great on any desk.
Of course, the Pro's price tag matches its performance - ranging from $2,999 (£2,499/AU$4,399) to around $10,000 depending on your storage, memory and processing needs - but it's as future-proofed as any Mac you'll find. Even if OS X were to transform into some kind of a Multitouch hybrid in five years, today's Mac Pros will surely be able to handle it.

MacBooks

MacBook 12-inch

Apple's newest MacBook isn't for everyone. While it supplanted the MacBook Air as the lightest and smallest laptop, the extra portability came with compromises. Most notably, Apple replaced the standard USB 3 and Thunderbolt 2 ports with the brand-new USB-C protocol. While it's cool that a single cable can now be used to handle both power and data as with an iPhone, Mac users who are used to plugging in a variety of devices may find themselves frustrated until the market for USB-C hubs, docks, and drives starts to flourish.
There's also the keyboard. When the PowerBook debuted in 1991, Apple caused a stir by pushing the keys closer to the screen to create a natural palm rest and room for a trackball. Apple is attempting to change the game again with the new MacBook, this time by re-engineering every key to be thinner and far less springy to the touch. It feels quite a bit different than any other laptop we've ever used, so we recommend trying one at an Apple Store before making a decision.
If those two concerns (and the loss of the glowing Apple logo) aren't an issue for you, the MacBook is pretty great. Even though its 1.1GHz or 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor has nowhere near the power of the Pro or even the Air, the laptop is more than capable of running iMovie, Photos, and even Photoshop with ease. It's also easy on the eyes with a stunning design that's available in silver, space gray, and gold, and it comes packed with the latest in portable technology, from the 2304x1440 retina display to the Force Touch trackpad. An affordable $1,299 (£1,049/AU$1,799) gets you 8GB of RAM, a 256GB flash drive and a 9-hour battery.

MacBook Air

The MacBook Air is in an interesting spot. While it's still one of the most popular and well-known notebooks around, the launch of the slimmer, lighter new MacBook has stolen some of its thunder, and we have to assume one of two things: either a major update is in the works, or it will soon be made obsolete by an expanding MacBook line.
But until then, we wouldn't discourage anyone from buying it. The MacBook Air will still give you all-day battery life, USB 3 and Thunderbolt ports, and an SDXC card slot. Even without a Retina display or Force Touch trackpad, it's a very capable machine, with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB flash drive. Either model can be had for less than a grand, and with identical specs, choosing between the two sizes comes down to preference, with just $100 separating the $899 (£749/AU$1,249) 11-inch version and the $999 (£849/AU$1,399) 13-inch one.

MacBook Pro

The name may suggest a high-priced machine, but the MacBook Pro is far more affordable than the desktop tower that shares its surname. If you're looking for more of a desktop replacement than a road companion, it's definitely the way to go.
We don't recommend the cheapest model, however. While it does have a zippy 2.5GHz i5 processor, we aren't wowed by the laptop's 13-inch non-Retina screen, 5400-rpm hard drive and 7-hour battery life. At $1,099 (£899/AU$1,549), we'd either get the upper-end Air for the same price or chip in another $200 to go Retina. The extra money also buys double the RAM, three additional hours of battery life, a Force Touch trackpad, and Iris graphics. You'll give up quite a few gigs of storage (125GB vs 500GB), but the upgrade to a flash drive makes the tradeoff much more palatable. You can spend even more for extra storage and a few megahertz, but most users will get what they need for $1,299 (£999/AU1,799).
At the very top of Apple's laptop lineup is the 15-inch model, and it earns its premier spot. Packed with a 2.2GHz or a 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, a Force Touch trackpad, and 16GB of RAM, it's a screamer whether you're editing videos in Final Cut Pro or making music with Garageband. Starting at $1,999 (£1,599/AU$2,799), this model is significantly more expensive than its smaller sibling but worth every penny. And the $2,499 (£1,999/AU$3,499) step-up brings more than the usual storage and chip bump; Apple has also crammed in AMD's Radeon R9 M370X graphics card, which makes this the only laptop advanced enough to power a 5K display.









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Samsung just indirectly confirmed the Galaxy Note 5 launch

Samsung just paid an unexpected price for delaying its Samsung Pay app: cluing us in on the Galaxy Note 5 launch three months early.
At the same time, executive Rhee In Jong said that the mobile payment platform will debut in the US and South Korea along with Samsung's next high-end mobile device.
If A = B and B = C, then the Galaxy Note 5 and Samsung Pay are both due for an unveiling in September, which was only previously speculated for IFA 2015.

Watch out for Android Pay

This unofficial confirmation is one of the more exciting things to happen to Samsung Pay, as much as any delay is unfortunate.
It's just that there isn't as much of a need for Samsung Pay if Android Pay is close to launch. So far Google says its app is coming "soon."
Both Samsung Pay and Android Pay act as a strong counterweight to Apple Pay, which is limited to the NFC-included iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The one other benefit that Samsung Pay does have is that it'll be pre-loaded on the most popular Android phones.
As Apple has proven, launching digital wallet software in conjunction with attention-grabbing hardware is way easier to market.

• See why Android Pay is better than Apple Pay

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Apple Watch in-store availability could be revealed next week

Apple has been hiding away opportunities to buy the Apple Watch at retail stores, but that will hopefully change very soon.
It hasn't been entirely confirmed but Chinese website Feng reports that Apple will announce smartwatch availability outside the internet during its upcoming World Wide Developer's Conference.
Apple CEO Tim Cook has also recently said that its stores will offer the wrist ware in June - which happens to be when the conference will take place.
Seems like it's all matching up and we'll soon be able to pick up the coveted watch in-store instead of simply trying it on with an anti-theft wire attached.

• We probably won't hear about a new Apple TV though

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New Apple TV likely a WWDC 2015 no-show

The anticipated new Apple TV and improved remote are now unlikely to make an appearance at Apple's WWDC conference next week.
The unveiling of the new Apple TV at WWDC has been rumored for months, which The New York Times confirms was Apple's unannounced intention, even "as recently as mid-May." But, according to two sources close to the matter, the product simply isn't "ready for prime time," and has been postponed to release at a later date.
The new device is supposedly bringing the capability for developers to build apps for the TV box. A new-and-improved remote is also rumored to be in the works. No information has been disclosed on how the new remote will differ from its predecessor, the minimalist silver paperweight seemingly predestined to find that one endless crevasse in your couch.
A possible cause for delay is Apple's reported Sling-competitive internet TV service, through which the company reportedly wants to provide local TV programming. The logistics involved with securing the rights from all the local channels Apple hopes to reach is presumably something of a nightmare for the Cupertino firm.
Whatever the culprit may be for holding up the unveiling of the new Apple TV, it's unfortunate that one of the most anticipated products at WWDC will most likely be a no-show. Maybe Apple's new music streaming service will blow us away and we'll forget all about it?

• Here's our thoughts on the Apple Watch

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Updated: Fallout 4 release date, news and rumours

War... war never changes. And neither will our excitement for Fallout 4 until we're sat with a controller/mouse in our hands, playing it.
The open-world RPG franchise, set in a post-nuclear wasteland occupied by giant ants and the hits of the 1940s, has kept us coming back for more and more - but it's been five years since Bethesda's last entry in the series, Fallout: New Vegas. Good thing that Fallout 4 is confirmed to be one its way, then.
Bethesda revealed all on June 3 with a teaser trailer for the game, which looks to be set in Boston and will arrive on PS4, Xbox One and PC... some time. No release date has been confirmed but we expect we'll hear something at Bethesda's E3 conference next month.
For now, you can check out the 10 most important things from the Fallout 4 trailer, but probably best you watch it first:
YouTube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnn2rJpjar4
Pre-announcement article below...

When will we see it?

E3 2015. We'd put money on it. Probably quite a lot of money, in fact.
As soon as the invite to Bethesda's E3 press conference landed in our inbox, we knew it had to be Fallout. Skyrim is too recent, the team are still working on Elder Scrolls Online… it's time for something different, and we're not talking about another Brink. As this is Bethesda's first ever E3 press conference, it has to be for something big.
However, if the game is announced at E3 on June 14 we still doubt we'll see it launch this year. It's likely that Bethesda will choose to tease us with a trailer - possibly some demo footage if we're lucky - but don't expect to get your hands on it in 2015.

What do we know about it?

The most recent hint comes from the Linkedin profile of a 3D artist which states that between December 2014 and March 2015 he was responsible for creating a "Fallout 4 cinematic trailer" for Mirada Studios.
Given that his previous work includes trailers for The Elder Scrolls, Far Cry 4 and Forca Motorsport, we can't help but wonder if someone, somewhere is getting a major telling off right now. In fact (quite hilariously) Mirada Studios contacted Destructoid and asked a story on the leak be removed, confirming that an NDA had indeed been broken. Oops.
Bethesda certainly likes to keep its cards close to its chest, but since the launch of Fallout New Vegas in 2010 there have a number "leaks" and rumours relating to Fallout 4, along with a few hints thrown in from Bethesda itself to keep us hungry.
In 2008, between the releases of Fallout 3 and New Vegas, Bethesda's Pete Hines suggested there was longevity in this franchise: "This is not something we're going to do once then go away and never do it again. When that will be or how long that will be God only knows, but we acquired it specifically because we wanted to own it and develop it and work on it like we do with The Elder Scrolls."

In 2013, Bethesda Game Studios (the team behind Fallout 4 and Skyrim) announced that it had completed work on Skyrim content and was moving onto a new project that had been in pre-production. Also that year, Kotaku acquired and verified casting documents that revealed Fallout 4 would be set in Boston.
Codenamed 'Institute', the documents made no explicit reference to the Fallout name, but did refer to the setting and locations of the series. The script also started with the familiar introduction: "War. War never changes." Assuming these documents were real, we'd say that's pretty conclusive. The script also revealed a character named Preston Garvey who sends the player character to hunt down a fusion core from a museum in the Commonwealth.
However, if all of this is leading up to Fallout 4 at E3, we don't expect it will be playable this year. Two years isn't a long production time for a game of this amount of scale, which may be built on an entirely new engine. But a teaser and maybe a vague release date? We don't think we're asking for too much there.









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Hands-on review: Huawei P8 Lite

Huawei is trying to take hold of the US smartphone market through the backdoor, so to speak. The Chinese firm just released the $249 (about £162, AU$320) P8 Lite in the states solely through Amazon and its own online store.
Designed to work with just about any SIM card (or two, thanks to dual SIM slots), the P8 Lite is aimed at folks that can't swing the fat subsidies lathered onto the "just $199 with two-year contract" deals that the carriers push for the latest flagship phones.
Of course, Huawei looks to offer as much of that primo phone experience as possible for as close to the same price as possible. At a (longer than normal) glance, how does the P8 Lite manage that herculean task?

Design

In case you hadn't noticed, the P8 Lite is essentially a budget version of the company's flagship Huawei P8. Through and through, this phone is the P8, only more plastic and a bit slower on the uptake.
The 5-inch phone comes housed in a somewhat-thin 7.7mm, unibody plastic frame that's banded by brushed chrome, with its large volume rocker, power button and dual SIM card slots on the right side of this band. (Naturally, they're all in chrome too.)
Much like the majority of leading flagship smartphones of today, the P8 Lite takes on a rounded rectangular shape. Like many iPhones before it (and now the Galaxy S6), there is no curvature to this handset, save for its rounded corners.

You'd think that, at 5 inches, it'd be hard to handle the P8 Lite with one hand. Not so, even for a guy with smaller hands like myself. Part of that could be due to how light the phone is – just 4.62 ounces – thanks to its plastic frame.
Overall, the phone is easy to handle and feels substantial in my hand. But I have to admit: I'm a bit too spoiled by aluminum handsets to "enjoy" holding a plastic phone.
Huawei has released the P8 Lite in three colors: white with silvery chrome trim (as you see here), white with gold trim and black with a deeper chrome trim.

Performance and display

Frankly, it's safe to expect less-than-blistering speeds from a mid-range Android phone, and that's just what the P8 Lite provides. With an octa-core (that's eight cores), 1.5GHz Snapdragon 615 processor and 2GB of RAM running Android 4.4 KitKat (through Huawei's custom Emotion UI), this thing looks like it would be blazing fast on paper.
In my brief time with the handset, I found switching between apps to show a more than noticeable delay. Furthermore, switching orientation between landscape and portrait within apps proved to be awfully slow. That said, it's unfair to expect much more for 250 bucks flat.
As for space to fit all those apps and photos, 16GB of storage is onboard, but that's expandable to up to 32GB through a microSD slot. However, that memory card slot doubles as the P8 Lite's second LTE SIM card slot. So, you better reserve that SD card for photos and other non-essentials if you travel a lot or have two numbers.

All of this rests behind a 720 x 1,280 touchscreen – did I mention this is a mid-range phone? You can definitely see the pixels on this display, especially when reading articles or sending text messages. At any rate, colors pop vibrantly on the not-so-sharp screen, which is what matters most for watching videos on your commute.

Camera

Now, as for taking photos and video, the P8 Lite's mid-range flag waves once more. Through its 13-megapixel rear snapper, photos are no doubt crisp, but are generally filled with noise without the perfect lighting conditions. You can expect your selfies to turn out in about the same quality, if not worse, with a 5MP shooter up front.
Huawei's touting two unique camera software features with the P8 Lite: Ultra Snapshot and All-focus. The former allows you to shoot photos with the rear lens while the phone is locked by just double tapping the lower end of the volume rocker.

However, without optical image stabilization, the force required to do that causes the phone to move in your hands just enough to screw up your shot.
All-focus essentially takes multiple snaps within a single press, taking in light and depth data from multiple focal points. This allows you to change the focus after the fact. In theory, it sounds awesome, but in practice it's little more than a neat trick. And don't even try this on remotely moving subjects – you'll get different "shots" as you change the focal point.
In short, if you pick up this phone, you might want to hold onto the point-and-shoot.

Early verdict

I find budget-priced devices the toughest to pass early or final judgment on, and the P8 Lite is no exception. It's all about leveling your expectations. For just 250 smackers, you're getting a phone that will do the basics just fine, with neat features – like dual SIM support and an octa-core chip – to boot.
Plus, the phone works on just about every LTE network under the sun, including both CDMA and GSM, the two most popular network types in the US. That said, the P8 Lite is handily beat by Alcatel's Idol 3 with its 5.5-inch, 1080p IPS screen for the same price. But if that sounds just too big for you, the P8 Lite will likely be the budget 5-inch phone to beat for some time.









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Review: Updated: Tidal

Tidal Music review

Tidal has changed since we first reviewed it seven months ago.
It used to be a plucky new underdog from the makers of WiMP in Sweden, a Spotify-like streaming service with a unique focus on CD-quality music.
It was a shining beacon of opportunity for music lovers who coveted sound quality over everything else; a chance to combine the convenience and mobility of Spotify with the fidelity and prestige of a CD collection.
But while Spotify remains to this day a plucky upstart from Sweden, albeit a rather popular one these days, Tidal has since been acquired by little-known rap star "Jay Z" (ahem) for 56 million American dollars.
Tidal is consequently now the first major music service to be owned by artists themselves, and claims to pay higher royalties to artists and songwriters.
Whether it actually does that or not is unproven, and certainly the controversial American relaunch earlier in 2015 - during which Jay Z dished out shares in the service live on stage not to young, up-and-coming musicians but to some of the wealthiest artists on the planet including wife Beyoncé, Coldplay and Madonna - is seen by some as a curious way of achieving its stated aim.
But whatever your opinion on that, Tidal as a CD-quality alternative to Spotify and a high-quality rival to Deezer Elite remains a compelling proposition and one thoroughly worthy of your consideration.

How much does Tidal cost?

When it launched at the back-end of 2014, Tidal cost £19.99/$19.99 for the CD quality service, but seven months on, the service now operates a two-tier system.
Tidal Premium now matches Spotify's Premium price of 9.99 per month and offers music at the same bitrate - 320kbps. That's lossy but still not too bad compared to an MP3 at a lower bitrate.
To get the "lossless high fidelity" sound Tidal hangs its hat on, you'll still need to shell out 19.99 a month for a "Tidal HiFi" membership.

• Get your free one-week Tidal trial

How Tidal works

On the surface, Tidal looks just like Spotify. It's got an excellent Chrome-based web player and a desktop player for PCs as well as decent iOS and Android apps.
It offers comprehensive playlist functionality, sharing of music as well as offline listening. And the library is off to a good start, now with well over 25 million tracks. We regularly noticed holes in Tidal's library when we first reviewed it but these days things are looking a lot more healthy.
Where Tidal really differs from its other rivals is that instead of only serving up compressed music formats like MP3 and OGG – as do Spotify, Google Play Music and most of the others – Tidal offers music at CD quality.
It streams music in the form of 16bit, 44.1kHz FLAC files with a bitrate of 1411kbps. And I can tell you now, it's brilliant.
Tidal is more than just a FLAC streaming service though. It's been designed from the ground up to be the ultimate music resource for fans of hi-fidelity music, offering playlists and recommendations curated by experienced music journalists, not to mention 75,000 music videos.

Why FLAC?

For the uninitiated, FLAC is the format of choice for many people who want to listen to music files without having to put up with lossy formats like MP3.
When you compress a music track into an MP3, you have to shave off a lot of detail in order to achieve that miniature file size. Other formats like OGG (as used by Spotify) do a highly commendable job of limiting that shaving mostly to parts of the audio that might be considered 'inaudible'.
The truth is that all compression formats are a compromise, a victory for convenience over sound quality.
FLAC tracks are also compressed but in a totally different way. They're a lot more like a zipped file, so when they're played back, they can be decompressed to their original glory without any loss of fidelity.
Thus, while a CD track might take up anywhere between 60 and 100MB, a FLAC file will be more like 30 to 50MB. MP3s encoded at the maximum bitrate of 320kbps are typically only about 5-10MB in size, and there's no way to get back the information you threw away during compression. That's why MP3 is described as a lossy format while FLAC is not.
The upshot of this is that FLAC is the perfect format for delivering CD-quality music down an internet pipe.
There are several other music services that offer FLAC such as Deezer and Qobuz, but it's still a fairly niche area of growth.

• Read: the 5 best high-quality music streaming services

Tidal Music Library

Tidal went live in the UK back in October 2014 with 25 million tracks in its library and that was a good start. Back then, I used my CD collection and Spotify account to guide my search for all the music I would consider 'mine' and most of what I searched for was available. But also it wasn't hard to find some omissions - these days though, the Tidal catalogue is far more complete for all types of music.
For example, one of my favourite bands, Wolf Parade, was completely absent at launch but is now fully available. The Strokes were also missing last year but now all their albums are accounted for.
That said, folk-rock superband Bright Eyes is only represented by two albums instead of the full roster and there are plenty other examples of bands and labels that are yet to sign up. This is a work in progress though and Spotify suffered the same painstaking sign-up process back in the day.

The good news is that the 'Your Music' feature that Spotify added a year ago was part of the Tidal service from day one. Big relief.
It works in exactly the same way, allowing you to go through all your favourite bands and 'star' any album you'd like to add to your own personal music library. Once you've done this, they're all waiting for you in your 'My Music' area.
It's the digital equivalent of a a CD collection, only the discs are stored in the cloud instead of racks on your wall.
Remember to star the bands themselves at the same time, though, because unlike Spotify, Tidal won't automatically add the tracks from those albums to 'My Tracks' and the artist isn't auto added to 'My Artists' either.
The headlines are that most music I searched for – even obscure stuff – was ready and waiting for me.

Using Tidal Music

The fear with a brand new music service like this is that it starts off looking quite basic and feature-light.
However, Tidal impressed from the first second we fired it up and while it hasn't changed much since then, it remains a fully functioned, highly usable service. The Chrome-based web player is visually very similar to Spotify, with a homescreen that offers links to curated playlists and recommended hi-fi albums as well as top 20 charts. It looks great and there's no learning curve – it works exactly how you'd expect it to.
A simple click on the sidebar will take you to your 'My Music' area where you'll find all your stuff. And browsing music is very easy.
You can't search by genre, which might have been a great way to win over some Spotify subscribers, but there is a 'Genres' button you can click on in the sidebar which will take you to curated areas with playlists and recommended albums. A decent compromise.

Search generally isn't terribly smart - misspell an album or artist name even by one character or one piece of punctuation, and you'll be left with zero results. A bit of optimisation here wouldn't hurt, but as long as you're careful you won't have any problems with it.
And if you're a fan of the 'radio' function on Google Play Music or Spotify, you'll find an identical service ready and waiting in Tidal. You can select Artist radio or individual track radio, and it's a great way to discover new music.

Social features

In the settings, you can connect Tidal to Facebook which will allow you to share music with your friends. You can also extract a URL if you want to link someone to any album, playlist or track.
But the social features are nowhere near as mature as the ones in Spotify – it'll take a lot of work to catch up in that regard. But judging by the amount of care and attention that's gone into Tidal pre-launch, I would expect that side of things to be developed quite quickly.

Other formats

In settings you can also change your streaming settings, so if you want to save bandwidth you can drop down a notch to 320kbps AAC or, if you've gone insane, all the way down to 96kbps AAC+.
It's important to have these settings, as I anticipate plenty of people using the FLAC service at home while opting for 320 AAC when they're out and about. Those files are big, after all...

Performance

As you might expect, streaming FLAC files from the Tidal HiFi service is a lot more bandwidth intensive than streaming the Premium option at 320kbps. Typical albums weigh in at around 400MB, so you're either going to need to download when you're on wi-fi or make sure you have an unlimited data plan for on-the-move listening. Either that or opt for the reduced-quality AAC versions.
Quickly downloading an album before you leave for work in the morning is a lot harder with FLAC – you'll be waiting a while, depending on your connection speed.
I found that even when listening on a PC in the web player, tracks did not start instantly when selected. It takes at least a few seconds to buffer up and begin playing when you skip through tracks etc. But when listening to an album or playlist, the next song is buffered ahead of time so you won't get any annoying gaps in Dark Side of the Moon unless you have bandwidth issues.
This is nothing to do with Tidal's server performance though, it'll be down to your own connection and how fast it can suck those FLAC files through the tubes.
As for the 75,000 HD music videos... I would call it a work in progress. A lot of the videos I specifically looked for were absent. I'm a big Queen fan and love a lot of the Queen videos, but there are none in Tidal. The system uses Flash as the video format, and I did notice some quality issues on a lot of the videos, but most of them looked at least 720p - there's no way to tell for sure.
It's certainly a great feature to have, though, and something the other services might like to copy, I would suggest.

Sound quality

As for sound quality, what can I say? It's brilliant.
As you would expect from a FLAC service, sound quality is a lot better than Spotify and the other music streaming services. Hi-fi enthusiasts don't need to be convinced about the benefits of FLAC over MP3 or OGG.
But what about your everyday Spotify subscriber? Well the good news is that there's a free trial for Tidal so you can decide for yourself if you think it's worth it.

But certainly, you'll only get the very best out of Tidal if you have some decent audio gear and a willing pair of ears. This could be the perfect excuse to buy that pair of headphones you've been eyeing up.
I primarily tested at home with a PC plugged into a separate DAC and headphone amp. Into this was plugged a pair of Oppo PM-1 headphones and with this setup I would defy anyone to tell me Tidal doesn't sound absolutely incredible.

But what about laptops, mobile devices and headphones that don't cost £1000? I tested with a Samsung Galaxy Note 3, an iPod touch 5th Gen, iPad 2 and several laptops with a variety of headphones and speakers at different price points. Results were great but each device imprints its own noticeable sound signature on the output.
The Galaxy Note 3's DAC, for instance, is like many Android devices, known for being quite feeble.
Android and iOS as operating systems aren't exactly the best for handling high resolution audio, either.
And that ultimately means that FLAC will never sound quite as good through an average mobile device's headphone jack as it does from a device with more competent audio hardware.
But even so, it's still a noticeable step up from a 320kbps Spotify stream on whatever device you listen on.
However, if you don't even know which quality setting your Spotify app is set to (320 is not the default!), and if you're happily using your Apple EarPods to listen to music every day, it's unlikely that Tidal is for you and that's fine.

Apps

Update: Tidal has recently released updated desktop apps for PC and Mac. Changes include a more inclusive search function, support for media keys and integration with Ticketmaster. The desktop app will now also be able to detect external audio sources when needed - like a digital-to-analog converter or Mac AirPlay.
When we first tested Tidal, there was no desktop app so computer-bound users had to use the web-player. These days, there is a desktop player but it's nowhere near as refined as that of Spotify. And a quick look on the Tidal website reveals it's been hidden away - Tidal wants you to use the web player only. And frankly, that's probably a good idea - it's a lot better.
It's got plenty of functionality, and will even allow you to import your Spotify playlists into Tidal pretty easily, but it's clearly in need of some development. It doesn't look great at higher resolutions and so the web player offers a better experience.

Mobile apps

On the whole, both the Android and iOS apps were very good. There's not much difference between them, frankly, but I found that the Android one seemed a bit more slick and responsive.
The syncing of playlists and albums for offline listening could be improved. You select 'Offline' to download, the button being exactly the same as the Spotify one, but you have to go into your sidebar, select 'Offline Content' and then swipe to your download queue in order to see whether something has finished downloading or not. I found this really quite annoying.
It's worse on iOS. Because, on Android, the downloading files show up in your Action Bar in the same way as any other downloading file. But on iOS, there's just no way to see what's downloaded and what's not.
One very cool feature that the Tidal has that Spotify doesn't, is audio-search. It's like having Shazam built directly into the app - press the button and it'll listen to any song you can hear in your environment, identify it and allow you to save it to your own Tidal library.

• Check out the best headphones around before you invest in Tidal

Verdict

Tidal is the CD quality music streaming service hi-fi people have been waiting for.
For a brand new service, the level of detail that's been put in and the number of different ways to explore new music is simply fantastic. If it didn't cost double the price of a standard subscription, I would say it's well worth anyone switch over immediately.
Whether your ears care about the increase in fidelity, whether you have the headphones and playback devices to make the best of it, and whether the extra cash is worth it, only you can tell. But with a one-week trial for everyone, there's simply no reason not to at least give it a try.

We liked

Sound quality is the obvious attraction here and provided you listen using the right equipment, you'll easily notice the difference compared to lower-quality formats.
The service is compatible with Sonos and other players such as Marantz receivers and if you're an iPhone or iPad owner you'll be able to stream over AirPlay without any loss of quality.

We disliked

Honestly, the fact that Jay Z now owns Tidal and has dished out shares to all his rich chums in the industry hasn't made us any more fond of the service. But we can get over that.
It's clear the desktop player needs plenty of work and the catalogue could do with some fleshing out but these are works in progress and not major issues that should dissuade you from getting involved.
The price is obviously the main turn-off for Tidal. There's absolutely no reason to opt for the Tidal Premium option over a Spotify Premium one, given that they're the same price despite Spotify's clear superiority. No, the only reason to go with Tidal is for the £20 HiFi streaming and on that score, only you know how much you value sound quality.

Verdict

We really love Tidal. And while seeing Jay Z and his mates at the helm is almost as hard as watching Joffrey Lannister terrorise the citizens of King's Landing, it's really no reason to not give it a shot. The sound quality is truly excellent and the apps are largely very easy to use.
The price is clearly the barrier to entry but we reckon if you're a fan of sound quality, the free trial might be enough to persuade you that it's worth the cost.









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Tidal ushers in a wave of new features in the hopes of winning you over

Jay-Z's music streaming service, Tidal, is pulling out all the stops to gain a foothold in the game, finally launching desktop apps for Mac and Windows users and a half-off discount for students.
Tidal prides itself in bringing exclusive content with high-fidelity sound quality. The company has come to realize it needs more features to sweeten the pot, especially since its premium tier costs twice that of competitor Spotify.
The hi-fi music streaming hub is launching its first desktop apps for Mac and PC users since Jay-Z's high-profile takeover, which are available for download at Tidal.com.
In addition to the new desktop apps, the mobile and web interfaces are getting an upgrade, improving search results, offering more personalization options and a streamlined menu.
Interestingly enough, Ticketmaster, a.k.a. the guys that charge you an extra 8 bucks per ticket for "fees," have thrown their hat into the Tidal pool as well, offering users the ability to view concert info and make ticket purchases from within Tidal. Spotify offers a similar service via the SongKick Concerts app.
Tidal's most attractive announcement is that "in the coming weeks" students will be able to get 50% off of a Tidal subscription. All the students need is a valid .edu email address and voilà! Now that $20 hi-fi package starts to look a bit more reasonable.









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Updated: Xbox joins E3's first-ever event all about PC gaming

Update: Microsoft has RSVPed for PC Gamer and AMD's big E3 show all about PC gaming! Check out the details below.
Year in and year out, our friends at PC Gamer would look on at the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (or E3) in Los Angeles Calif. with wanting eyes. While Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony showed off their wares with bombast, the excellent games and infinitely more powerful hardware on the PC received no such spotlight. In 2015, that changes.
Finally, the editors at PC Gamer asked themselves, "Why don't we just host an E3 event?" And thus (with much more work), the PC Gaming Show was born.
Presented by AMD and sponsored by Blizzard Entertainment, Bohemia Interactive, Tripwire Interactive and Digital Storm, the PC Gaming Show will celebrate the ultimate gaming platform with breaking news and insight from some of the biggest names in the industry.

Names like Blizzard Entertainment, Bohemia Interactive, Cloud Imperium Games, Tripwire Interactive, Square-Enix, Obsidian Entertainment, Paradox Interactive and Humble Bundle among many others. Since the initial announcement, several more guests have been added to the docket.
Those esteemed guests include Guild Wars creator ArenaNet, EVE Online maker CCP Games, Creative Assembly, Fullbright, Frictional Games, Frontier Developments, Nexon, Pixel Titans, SCS Software, and Splash Damage. Expect to hear about plenty more speakers and presenting studios in the coming weeks leading up to the E3 event.
Most recently, Microsoft signed on for the proceedings, with plenty to share about Windows 10 and Xbox's role in the future of PC gaming. More specifically, Xbox chief Phil Spencer, alongside several more game developers, will make an appearance to share the latest details about gaming on Windows 10 as well as showcase several upcoming games.
Hosted by StarCraft 2 e-sports commentator Sean 'Day9' Plott, the PC Gaming Show will be live streamed in partnership with Twitch from the Belasco Theater in Los Angeles on June 16.
With Steam Machines, virtual reality and countless games on the horizon, surely there will be plenty for guests like game designer Cliff Blezinski (and now Phil Spencer) to talk about. PC gaming is about to get the E3 spotlight it deserves, so stay tuned to the PC Gaming Show website for more details as we get closer to the big show.

• What else do we want to see at E3 2015?

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Samsung Galaxy S6 Active details leak ahead of announcement

Samsung US has jumped the gun and uploaded the details for the Galaxy S6 Active to the company's official site before the phone's announcement. Whoops.
The full specs and manual were released following another set of press photos circulated by well-known leaker Evan Blass (@evleaks) on Twitter. Blass was also behind the leaked photos last month of the somewhat jarring blue and white camouflage models.
Many of specs for the new Galaxy phone fall in line with what most were expecting, barring a few significant alterations. For example, the S6 Active will hold the same 2,550mAH battery as the original Galaxy S6, not the improved 3,500mAH battery that was rumored.
Also, despite much wishful thinking, it looks like the S6 Active will follow suit with the other new Galaxy models and won't support microSD cards (sad face). Pleasantly though, a fingerprint sensor is mentioned among the listed sensors, perhaps debunking the rumors that the phone wouldn't be able to integrate a sensor into a raised home button.

For the active lifestyle

Overall, this handset is made to rough the elements. According to the manual, the phone is water- and dust-proof for 30 minutes of 1.5 meter submersion, making your trip to the beach this summer a bit less worrisome.
For the truly active crowd, the phone also comes with a handy Activity Zone app, relaying a compass, weather information, barometric pressure and S Health info, accessible via a dedicated button in the top left corner of the handset.
We are still lacking a formal announcement from Samsung or AT&T, the carrier that's expected to carry the device. With the details laid out for anyone to see, it's safe to assume an announcement in imminent though. In the meantime, you can check out the full list of specs at Samsung's site.

• Check out our thoughts on the LG G3

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Microsoft shows 9 diverse PCs that will ship with Windows 10

Microsoft revealed how it plans to get Windows 10 into a billion devices within the next two to three years on stage at Computex 2015 by showing off nine new products from its hardware partners. Highlighting the diversity of the Windows ecosystem, these products range from all-in-one desktops, convertible and hybrid PCs, traditional notebooks with gorgeous designs, a portable desktop that turns your living room TV into a big screen PC and a pluggable PC that's as big as a wall charger.
Nick Parker, corporate vice president of the OEM division at Microsoft, showed off devices from Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Toshiba, Foxconn and Quanta. "Windows 10 will be available on July 29, and our partners will have devices that light up new Windows 10 features in market later this year," Microsoft said.
The devices were used to show off some of the new and unique capabilities that Windows 10 will bring to consumers, including changes to the Start menu, universal apps, multitasking, switching between tablet and laptops on convertibles with Continuum, the new Microsoft Edge browser, and Windows security with Windows Hello.

Acer

Acer has redesigned its Aspire Z3 all-in-one desktop. The new Acer Z3-710 shown on Microsoft's stage is a sleek device that looks like it has the body of Apple's iMac and the soul of Windows 10. It is just 1.4-inch (3.56cm) thin, has a gorgeous silver base and looks like it could have been designed by Jony Ive himself.

Asus

Asus had two products on stage, a detachable 2-in-1 notebook and an all-in-one. The Transformer Book T100HA is a 10.1-inch 2-in-1 with a removable keyboard dock that promises up to 14 hours of battery life on a single charge thanks to the power efficient Intel Atom-based Cherry Trail processor. The tablet is only 0.33-inch (8.45mm) thin and weighs 1.28 pounds (580g) without the dock. The device also comes with a USB-C connector, like Apple's MacBook.

The Zen AiO Z240 is an iMac challenger with its stunning design and fast performance, boasting a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GTX960M GPU for gaming. It also features a 3D camera and a six-speaker sound system to satisfy your multimedia and entertainment needs.

Dell

As a follow up to this year's gorgeous, five-star rated Dell XPS 13 Ultrabook, the larger Dell XPS 15 comes with the same carbon fiber and metal design, sleek nearly borderless infinity display screen, and a larger 15-inch form factor. Aside from its stunning good looks, users should expect a large screen to stay productive and entertained on the go, but with a more space-saving, compact design.

HP

HP has two tablets on deck for Windows 10. The first is the new HP x2, a detachable 2-in-1 that uses a simple magnetic connecting mechanism to join the keyboard dock and tablet together. The magnets eliminates complicated latches and makes it easier to convert between the two form factors. Microsoft has used magnets before on its tablets, including the Surface 3 and Surface Pro 3. The slate comes with Bang & Olufsen's B&O sound experience.

We don't know much about the second device from Hp, except that it is a mobile productivity tablet. Given its focus on note taking, we expect a digital stylus, though it's unclear what pen-enabled technology HP will utilize in that device. Microsoft says that the slate features "revolutionary note-taking capabilities" in a statement.

Toshiba

From the description it appears that Toshiba has an all-in-one desktop that supports Windows Hello. The device comes with "the latest in biometric security, including a face-authentication camera," 4K UHD display and enhancements to make Cortana work even better.
We're not sure what optimizations Toshiba did, but given Cortana's speech and natural language understanding, we would wager that the company added more microphones and perhaps even a noise canceling microphone for better speech recognition.

Foxconn

The Foxconn Kangaroo is an interesting ultra-portable PC with a six-hour battery life that comes with a fingerprint reader that works with Windows Hello. Think of it like an Ultrabook, but without the screen. Similar to other mini PCs on the market – like Apple's Mac Mini – users will have to bring their own keyboard, mouse and screen.

We imagine this to be an excellent solution for road warriors who have to give presentations in the board room as the device can easily connect to a projector or UHD display. The added fingerprint security and Windows Hello support should put IT departments at ease given the portable nature of this PC.

Quanta

The Quanta Compute Plug is a super miniaturized PC that's as big as a standard wall charger. It comes with several USB plugs and and an HDMI connector to connect to a display or your living room TV. Bluetooth connectivity allows users to connect a keyboard, mouse or remote to control the Compute Plug, or use their Voice thanks to Cortana integration in Windows 10. The idea is not unlike Intel's Compute Stick.

Pricing, specs and availability

Microsoft used its Computex keynote to highlight the features of Windows 10 and the diversity of form factors the operating system enables. As such, the Windows-maker did not reveal hardware specifications for the system nor did it disclose pricing or availability.
We know that Windows 10 will be arriving for consumers starting on July 29, so these systems should arrive on or after that date given they ship with Microsoft's latest OS.
In addition to the devices on Microsoft's Computex stage, Lenovo, Acer, Dell and Asus announced a broader portfolio of PC products at Computex.

• Read our picks for the best Ultrabooks

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How To: How to create eBooks on a Mac

Introduction

Pages is a fantastic program used to create visually appealing documents, but you might not realize how versatile it is. It can also be used to create digital books for the iBooks app, and sold on the iBooks Store.
This conversion from Pages to iBooks is done via the ePub file format, which is used for digital books on Apple's iBooks app on both OS X and iOS. With Pages for OS X you can export a text document straight into ePub, and import it directly into iBooks for OS X.
For those looking to self-publish, in Pages you can add Retina display-quality images, chapters, headings, custom artwork, even video clips. Pages turns it into an ePub you can share, or even sell on Apple's iBooks Store.

Step 1

The text document

Open your soon-to-be book's text file in Pages; in this example, we're using The Life of Ludwig van Beethoven by Alexander Wheelock Thayer from Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.org), downloaded as a text file, to turn from plain text into a media-rich, digital book.

Step 2

Use the Format window

It's possible to turn a text document straight into a digital ePub file using the guide in Step 8. But digital books are far more friendly if you format the text first. Choose View > Inspector > Format. Click the Paragraph Styles area to view the text styles available.

Step 3

Change the title

Find the book's title (or write it in full). Highlight the text and choose Title from the Paragraph Styles menu (Format bar). Styling up the title is important because Pages uses it to list the book in various areas, such as Contents. Only use this Title style once.

Step 4

Add chapter headings

You use Styles to identify chapters. These are then used to create the contents. Find the first chapter title and change its style to Heading. For a sub-title, change its style to Heading 2. You can also use Heading 3 and so on, but it can make the contents look cluttered.

Step 5

Cover image

Create a cover image by going to the start of the text and choose Insert > Page Break. Now drag an image file to the first page. Click the image, drag it so it snaps into position, then use the drag handle (bottom right) to resize it. You want it to fill up the entire page.

Step 6

Create the chapter list

At the start of your text (after the image) choose Insert > Table Of Contents > Document. A Generating Table Of Contents box appears. You'll see a box displaying the title and headings marked with the Styles. This appears when you click Contents in iBooks.

Step 7

Adding video

For the full digital feel, you can even add video clips to ePub documents. Drag a video file from the Finder into the Pages document. The video clip is converted to a iOS-compatible format when you export the file from Pages for OS X.

Step 8

Export the book

To create the book, Choose File > Export To > ePub. Fill out the Title and Author fields, and select a genre for the Primary category. Click Advanced Options; select Use the First Page as the Book Cover Image and click Next. Save when prompted, then click Export.

Step 9

Open in iBooks

Open iBooks and choose File > Add to Library. Select the ePub file and click Add. It appears like any other book in the iBooks app – click to open it. Your first page will be the cover and the Contents icon displays the contents you added using Styles. Enjoy your book!









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Showtime breaks free of cable with HBO Now-like standalone service

Whatever Apple is doing over in Cupertino, it's working.
Today, HBO competitor Showtime announced a partnership with the inventor of the MacBook and iPad that will give iOS and Apple TV users the first shot at its new standalone streaming app, simply called Showtime.
The service won't require a subscription to cable and will be available in time for the season premieres of Ray Donovan and Masters of Sex on Sunday, July 12. It will cost $10.99/month for non-Showtime subscribers to start, and will roll out to additional platforms and providers sometime after launch. Current subscribers should be able to login with their regular Showtime account and passwords.
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb2q2ktJJzo
Showtime's app follows in the wake of HBO's exclusive partnership with Apple for its new over-the-top streaming service, HBO Now, and will offer similar incentives to new users - namely, a 30-day free trial to new customers to watch shows like Homeland, The Affair, Shameless, House of Lies, Twin Peaks and Weeds.
More interesting, however, is that in addition to on-demand content, Showtime will offer users a live feed based on their geographic locations. East coast users will be able to watch live content while it's still on the air that west coast users will catch three hours later in their time zone.
For comparison's sake, Showtime is about $5 less per month than HBO Now, which has recently announced Android TV support.
Via Variety









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Updated: Microsoft previews Windows 10 on redesigned XPS 15 during keynote

Ultrabook and laptop users who have been eyeing the five-star rated Dell XPS 13 ($799, £526, AU$1,050) with its infinity display – sporting ultra-thin screen bezels – will soon have a bigger option to choose from. At a meeting at Dell's Round Rock headquarters in Austin, Texas last week, Ken Musgrave, Dell's executive director of design, told TechRadar that Microsoft will showcase a newly redesigned Dell XPS 15 on stage at the Computex 2015 keynote.
Like the Dell XPS 13, the marquee feature of the XPS 15 is its gorgeous display, which is further highlighted by ultra-thin screen bezels. This makes the laptop appear more compact than it really is – slimmer bezels around the display means that the laptop occupies a smaller footprint.
Update: We've attached images of the Dell XPS 15 from the Microsoft keynote at Computex 2015 below.

Specs

Dell briefly showed me a non-working prototype of the XPS 15 during our meeting. Aesthetically, the XPS 15 maintains the same design language as the XPS 13 – which is pictured above – complete with a carbon fiber keyboard deck and metal case.
Erin Walline, Dell's director of engineering of user experience and design, was quick to note that while the XPS 13 is a 13-inch notebook that's as compact as an 11-inch, the 15-inch is a larger Ultrabook that can't be made as diminutive.
As such, the biggest appeal to the XPS 15 would be the minimal bezels rather than the shrunken size.
The current XPS 15, which debuted in early 2014, measures 14.6 x 10.0 x 0.3-0.7 inches (372mm x 254mm x 8-18mm) and weighs 4.9 pounds (2.22kg). Dell did not provide us with measurements and weight for the 2015 model.
Beyond the design, Dell would not comment on the laptop's specifications or features, saying that the information will be coming later this year ahead of the official availability.
This year's XPS 13 launched with Intel's Broadwell processors, and it's unclear at this time whether the XPS 15 will also debut with Broadwell, or if Intel's Sixth Generation Skylake processors with improved integrated graphics will be ready.
Although Dell offered a brilliant QHD upgrade option for the display of the XPS 13, it's unclear if higher resolutions will be made available for this year's XPS 15. The current Dell XPS 15 comes with a 4K UHD touch panel option.

Pricing and availability

Dell would not comment on when the laptop will be available. For reference, the current XPS 15 costs $1,599 (£1,052, AU$2,102) with an Intel Haswell processor. The XPS 13 starts at $799 (£526, AU$1,050) without touch, and adding a QHD touchscreen panel takes the price up to $1,599 (£1,052, AU$2,102).
Given that the XPS 15 was used to show off Windows 10's features at Computex, the laptop will likely ship with the operating system, meaning that it may not arrive until July 29 at the earliest, the date that Windows 10 will be made available for consumers.

• Read our picks for the best Ultrabooks

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Updated: Buying guide: Best gaming mouse: top 10 gaming mice reviewed

Best gaming mouse rundown

PC gamers have never had it so good. The e-sports scene is enjoying unprecedented popularity, with plenty of (not entirely frivolous) talk about how gaming should be added to the Olympics roster.
Whether you fancy becoming the next League of Legends or Call of Duty superstar, or something more sedate, like leading a vicarious virtual life in an MMO or RPG, one thing is for sure: you will be at an instant disadvantage if you skimp on your choice of mouse.
And there's no excuse for that if you've lashed out eye-watering sums on an overclocked, water-cooled rig festooned with neon lights, or a top-of-the-range gaming laptop.

How to choose the best gaming mouse

Your choice of mouse depends very much on your gaming preferences: if you're into first-person shooters, say, finding the right balance of sensitivity and responsiveness is vital, so you'll need to pay attention to DPI ratings and decide between optical or laser sensors (fear not – leave the technical stuff to us). Whereas if you're into real-time strategy, MMOs or MOBAs, it's vital to pick a mouse that lets you map macros triggering the actions you use most to specially configured buttons.
So, we've picked the 10 best gaming mice: whatever your gaming preferences or needs, one of these will complete your ultimate PC or Mac gaming setup.

1. Razer DeathAdder Chroma

Sports a classic design and has an insane DPI

DPI: 10,000 | Interface: USB Wired | Buttons: 5 | Ergonomic: Yes | Features: Textured rubber side grips, Chroma lighting, 1000Hz Ultrapolling, On-the-fly sensitivity adjustment, Always-on mode

See more Razer DeathAdder Chroma deals

High DPI

Grips well

Pedestrian design

No macro buttons

Many pro gamers swear by Razer's PC peripherals, and the Death Adder Chroma mouse is one of the most popular gaming mice around. There's nothing too flash about it (except for the ability to make various bits of it glow in different colours), but it feels right in the hand, is light, the rubber side-grips come in handy at frenzied moments, its optical sensor is tried-and-tested and it goes up to an insane 10,000DPI (probably too sensitive for mere mortals, but it's there if you need it). MMO fans may be slightly disappointed by a less-than-generous allocation of macro buttons, though. But in the world of gaming mice, it's considered something of a design classic.
Read the full review: Razer DeathAdder Chroma

2. Roccat Kone XTD

With a clever easy-shift system that effectively doubles the number of its buttons, Roccat's Kone XTD scores particularly highly with those who crave macros at their fingertips. But it's a great all-rounder which is built to last, with easily adjustable sensitivity and a rugged wheel. With a 32-bit processor and ability to analyse your mouse-pad and automatically set lift-distance, it might just be the most high-tech mouse on the market. Plus it looks and feels spot-on. Some of the software may be a tad gimmicky, but it provides all the customisability any serious MMO, MOBA or RTS gamer could desire, and can hold its own on the first-person shooter scene.

3. Mad Catz R.A.T.TE

Sure, Mad Catz's R.A.T.TE may look like some kind of deconstructed micro-cyborg, but there's method in its futuristic-looking madness. If you have particularly large, or weird-shaped hands, its ability to change shape – both width-wise and in its palm-extension – will prove a boon. It's a decent all-rounder, perhaps more skewed to first-person shooters with 8,200DPI sensitivity and the not overly generous total of two macro buttons. Plus it's super-light, accurate and responsive. May prove a bit flash for some, but it's quite decently priced, too.

4. Cougar 600M

The Cougar 600M isn't for shrinking violets – it's very, um, orange (OK, you can get it in black, too). But at least it has the specifications to back up the paint-job. 8,200DPI sensitivity (with on-the-fly adjustment) allied to a "sniper" button on the wing that extends below your thumb should wow the first-person shooter crowd, while a possible eight macro buttons render it equally appealing to fans of MMOs and MOBAs. Plus it has the requisite light weight, and an LED that displays your sensitivity settingvia colour-coding. Its unusual matt finish feels good to the touch, too. An impressive slice of German engineering.

5. Turtle Beach Grip 500

Turtle Beach is best known for its gaming headsets, but the Grip 500 suggests it's ready to muscle its way into the gaming mouse market. It's competitively priced, but a decent all-rounder, with 8,200DPI sensitivity for the first-person shooter brigade, and the ability to load several different macro setups into its own memory, which you can switch between on the fly with the help of colour-coded LEDs. With a maximum of 45 macros possible, it's ideal for those who favour MMOs and MOBAs. And aesthetically, it's a bit more discreet than some of its rivals.

6. Mad Catz R.A.T.M

Finding the right mouse is a perennial problem for gamers who prefer laptops to PCs, but Mad Catz's R.A.T.M has been specifically designed to solve that conundrum. As is typical for laptop-specific mice, it's tiny (which could prove problematic for the giant-handed), but at least it's size-adjustable, and packs surprisingly decent specifications for such a tiny package, with 6,400DPI sensitivity and a clever four-way button that can run five macros. And it's wireless – with a built-in Bluetooth dongle so it works even if your laptop doesn't have native Bluetooth. Worth considering for those who place portability at a premium, but like to play MMOs and MOBAs.

7. SteelSeries Sensei

SteelSeries peripherals have a huge following among the professional gaming community, and many pros swear by the Sensei. With 11,400DPI sensitivity and a handy eight macro buttons, it comfortably straddles the first-person shooter/MMO/MOBA divide. Meanwhile, underneath its deceptively conventional looks, it's precision-engineered for all the precision and sensitivity you could desire. And it even lets you customise its "lift distance" – so whatever surface you use it on, you can get it performing perfectly. We can't vouch for your general level of talent, but the SteelSeries Sensei will at least put you on a par with the pros in terms of equipment.

• Read our SteelSeries Sensei Pro Grade Laser Mouse review

8. Logitech G602

If, for whatever reason, you can't cope with cables, then Logitech's wireless G602 is worthy of consideration. With low 2,500DPI sensitivity, it probably isn't up to the rigours of hardcore first-person shooter action, but with 11 programmable macro buttons, it's perfect for MMOs, MOBAs and real-time strategy games. Battery life (often a bugbear with wireless mice) is claimed to be an impressive 250 hours, and it's handsome, beautifully made and pleasantly tactile. The best choice if you need to go wireless and don't play first-person shooters.

9. SteelSeries Sensei [RAW]

The Sensei [RAW] is a cut-down, and considerably cheaper, version of the classic Sensei, which keeps all the Sensei's most important attributes, but does away with some more exotic features – notably the 32-bit ARM processor and the LCD display. In terms of all its mechanical bits, though, it's the same as the Sensei. So you get that tournament-honed feel and precision (and it's available in a nice rubberised finish, too). Worth considering if you're pretty sure that you don't possess the raw talent to make it to the very top of the online gaming world, and happen to be a tad impecunious – yet still want a mouse that handles impeccably.

10. Logitech G502 Proteus Core

If you like a bit of weight in the hand, as it were, Logitech's bombastically named G502 Proteus Core is undoubtedly the mouse for you. That's because its weight is customisable: it comes with five weights that you can add and reposition (making it nose-heavy, say) to your heart's content. Beyond that, its specification is sufficiently tasty for it to have made inroads into the pro-gaming community, with 12,000DPI sensitivity (adjustable on the fly) and 11 programmable macro buttons. And even its wheel can be adjusted between clicking and scrolling. A top-notch all-rounder.

• Read our Logitech G502 Proteus Core gaming mouse review

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Gallery: 10 things we learned from the first Fallout 4 trailer

Fallout 4 - 10 things we've learned

The first trailer for Fallout 4 has landed, featuring a lot more footage than we were expecting. You can see it for yourself below - then click on for 10 bits of information we've garnered from Bethesda's first teaser.
YouTube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lnn2rJpjar4

At least part of it is set in Boston

Fallout 4 was rumored to take place in Boston, and it looks it will be, at least in part, based on some telling imagery in the trailer.
In the photo below you can see the Bunker Hill Monument. Not to be confused with the similar-looking Washington Monument used in Fallout 3, this monument proves that while we might not be starting in the Capital Wasteland, we won't be too far away from it. We get a glimpse of the State House too.

We might play a bit of story before the apocalypse

Much of the trailer jumps between before and after the apocalypse, suggesting we'll get a better look at the world before the bombs dropped.
It'd be interesting if Bethesda let us play through those final moments, potentially entering Vault 111 as one character and emerging as another (a descendant, perhaps?)

Plenty of familiar faces are back

There's plenty to see in the way of vistas and characters, including Protectron (or a newer version of it) which makes a cameo in an industrial setting. Friend? Foe? Who knows, but it's got its little blaster aimed right at you.
And then - oh God - Deathclaw, everyone's most feared opponent, is back and ready to troll you hard.
In Fallout 3, reaching Deathclaw meant that you had made your way pretty far into the game, but not even a group of heavy artillery-toting militants were as difficult as taking on a single Deathclaw.

There's a talking protagonist

POTENTIALLY CONTROVERSIAL MOVE KLAXON: at the end of the trailer the vault dweller does the unthinkable and actually SPEAKS WORDS with a "Let's go, pal" to his dog. Well, we're pretty sure it's him - we don't see his lips move - and not the dog.
Giving a voice to the main character isn't something we expected Bethesda to do, unless we'll actually be playing as a mutant dog that's mastered the ability to communicate telepathically.
More importantly, he's wearing a Pip-Boy! He's also emerged from Vault 111, though we expect it won't be the experimental Vault 111 described here, where occupants had to live in an eternal Christmas.

Expect plenty more of those old-timey hits

The trailer opens with the familiar four bars of The Ink Spots, this time going into It's All Over But The Crying.
Expect Fallout 4 to continue the trend of borrowing vintage sounds from 1940s America. We also expect Galaxy News Radio anchor Three Dog to make a return after the voice actor dropped several hints on Twitter. If you look at the 2 minute mark, you'll see a GNN logo - Galaxy News Network?

The dog is back, but please don't kill it

Dogmeat was a decent companion in Fallout 3, but the dog didn't add an awful lot to the story.
However, in the Fallout 4 trailer, much was focused solely on the dog in the post-apocalyptic world. With that, one might assume that the dog is as central to the plot as the human protagonist.
But please, for the love of Nuka-Cola, don't let this dog die.

The Wasteland Ghouls get scarier

We can expect that the usual enemies will populate this post-apocalyptic world, though we're hoping that Bloaflies were left on the cutting-room floor this time.
Judging from the looks of this trailer, Ghouls, those zombie-looking humanoids, will be back, but with some new traits that make them scarier than ever. They run terrifyingly fast, pushing objects out of their paths and look to be suited with armor. Let's just hope that the protagonist is packing just the right weapon to put them back in the ground.

Where's V.A.T.S.?

The secret ingredient that made Fallout 3 so sweet compared to Bethesda's other FPS titles was V.A.T.S., a strategic element of gameplay that allowed you to gib the living hell out of your opponents.
We didn't see even a hint of it in the trailer, but you can be sure that Bethesda will have something more to say about it come time for E3 2015.

Mysterious, morally-questionable characters aplenty

Fallout 3 had a bunch of memorable characters, from Mister Burke to Three Dog and The AntAgonizer. The quality that tied them all together is that they put the player into murky water, morally speaking, by asking them to make decisions about the fate of others. These quests are why Bethesda games have a legacy.
Who's this dude, then?

It will miss the old-gen consoles

Despite the fact there's a pre-order section on the site, Bethesda hasn't confirmed a release date - but has confirmed it's only coming to PS4, Xbox One and PC. Furthermore, the linked retailers don't seem to have their orders live, so who knows what's going on?
Bethesda might be waiting until E3, where we'll get a world premiere of the game in action, to confirm when it will be available. Fingers crossed for 2015.










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This Windows 10 PC is the size of a phone charger, and 100% real

Microsoft has showcased a new form factor for Windows 10 devices, one that can actually be squeezed into a plug. The Quanta Compute Plug was demonstrated by Microsoft's Nick Parker during his Computex keynote address in Taiwan.
The mini-PC comes with two USB 3.0 ports and an HDMI port, allowing you to turn your TV into a smart computer. Users can control their TV using Cortana via a Bluetooth remote or headset.
Parker didn't mention what version of Windows it will run but it is safe to assume that it will be a full Windows 10 model rather than Windows 10 for IoT.

Deja-vu?

The Windows ecosystem is following what Android and Linux had done before. Intel recently embraced the stick form factor with the Intel Compute Stick, something that Android users first discovered about four years ago thanks to HDMI dongles.
As for the power adaptor, Marvell introduced the Linux-powered SheevaPlug back in 2009, one that obviously used an ARM system-on-chip.
Quanta doesn't sell computers but is one of the biggest so-called original design manufacturers (or ODM) worldwide. In other words, they build stuff for others (think HP, Dell, Apple) to sell.
The next step would obviously be to get a computer in a switched socket, eliminating the need to plug anything in the first place.

• The best all in one computers in the UK, compared.

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Apple forced to swallow bitter Pill and recall popular Beats speaker

Apple is in the processing of recalling all Beats Pill XL speakers – if you've got a set you can now return them to Apple for a full refund.
We recommend you do it as well, as there have been cases where the speakers overheat causing a serious fire risk.
Apple admits in its statement it's only in rare cases but it's probably not worth the risk. The speakers were announced by Beats in November 2013, before Apple's buyout of the audio firm in 2014.

Perilous Pill

If you've got a set you can find out how to recall them here and decide whether you want Apple Store credit or to receive an electronic payment of £215.

If you've got a speaker and you're unsure what set you've got it's got the Beats "b" logo on the speaker grille with the words "beats pill XL" along the handle. It's in the picture just above.

• Apple may offer free trials of new Beats Music streaming service

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