Inhoudsopgave van January 2017 - Tech Advisor

For Google to compete, it needs to build a watch that targets the same type of features that Apple is banking on to drive customers to its new Series 2 watch Google is just getting started when it comes to selling its own hardware. A report from the usually accurate Evan Blass points to a pair of Google-built watches that will come early next year. We’ve heard this before, but we have a lot more context now after attending the recent ‘Made by Google’ hardware event, where the company showed off the Pixel, Daydream View headset, Chromecast Ultra, Google Wifi and Google Home (see page 76). Something new to wear The tenor of the gathering and the new shift by Google told us this wasn’t a one-off event. The firm…

The micro:bit is smaller and cheaper than the Pi, and it has a built-in keyboard and display, albeit consisting of just two buttons and 25 red LEDs arranged in a five-by-five grid Anew educational foundation hopes to introduce children worldwide to coding, using a tiny single-board computer that has changed the way coding is taught in schools across the country. You’ll have heard of the Raspberry Pi, a £29 computer the size of a credit card that, with the addition of a monitor, keyboard and mouse, can stand in for a desktop machine. But this isn’t about that. It’s about the UK’s other single-board educational computer, the micro:bit. This is smaller and cheaper than the Raspberry Pi, and it has a built-in keyboard and display, albeit consisting of just two…

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (pictured) faced sharp questions from Gartner analysts recently about the privacy-invading implications of its $26.2 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, and its all-knowing virtual assistant, Cortana. Helen Huntley, one of the Gartner analysts questioning Nadella, was pointed about the fears. Cortana, she said, “knows everything about me when I’m working. She knows what files I’m looking at, she knows what I’m downloading, she knows when I’m working, when I’m not working”. Cortana is “big brother intersected... with productivity,” she added. Nadella countered this with his own question: “How does one build trust in technology?” He called it one of the “most pressing issues of our time”. Cortana will operate on ‘four pillars’, which include keeping data secure, as well transparency, meaning that users will “know exactly what…

With a slim grey metal build and chamfered edges, the Pro looks more expensive than it is, and it feels well made with no rough edges or creaking parts £172 inc VAT Contact en.chuwi.com Specifications 10.1in (2560x1600, 298ppi) 16:10 IPS display; dual-boots Windows 10 Home 64-bit and Android 5.1 Lollipop; 1.44- to 1.84GHz Intel Atom X5 (Cherry Trail) Z8300 quad-core 64-bit processor; Intel HD graphics; 4GB DDR3L RAM; 64GB storage; microSD support up to 64GB; 2Mp front camera; 5Mp rear camera; 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; USB-C; Micro-USB; Micro-HDMI; 3.5mm headphone jack; mic; dual speakers; 8000mAh battery with 3A quick-charging technology over USB-C; 262x167.5x8.5mm; 550g Chuwi has a range of Windows tablets under £200 that can be docked to a magnetic keyboard to turn them into budget laptops. The HiBook Pro…

The screen is sharper than we expected from the specification sheet, and when you zoom into text, the pixellation is pleasingly minimal £99 inc VAT Contact imomobile.co.uk Specifications 5in 1280x720 HD IPS display; Android Marshmallow 6.0; 1GHz MediaTek MT6735P quad-core processor; 1.5GB RAM; 16GB storage with microSD up to 32GB; 8Mp main camera, dual LED flash; 5Mp front-facing camera, single LED flash; 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; 4G LTE; Nano-SIM; GPS; 1950mAh battery; 143.6x72x9mm; 150g While there are many excellent high-end smartphones on the market, making buying decisions tricky, purchasing a budget handset is also not an easy choice. There are many mid-to-low range devices vying for our attention and there are some that stand out in the way that they successfully balance value and performance. Virgin Media has teamed…

£369 inc VAT Contact apple.com/uk Specifications 38mm, 340x272 AMOLED display; iOS 10; 4GB storage; 273mAh battery; 18-hour battery life; 38.6x33.3mm; 28.2g 42mm, 390x312 AMOLED display; iOS 10; 4GB storage; 273mAh battery; 18-hour battery life; 42.5x36.4mm; 34.2g It’s been a while coming. The constantly evolving iPhone and iPad line-up has taught us to expect Apple products to be updated on a yearly basis, but the original Apple Watch was on the market for 16 months before its successor was released. And here it is: the Apple Watch Series 2, which attempts the classic second-generation tech product trick of correcting everything that went wrong with the original, retaining everything that went right, and expanding its appeal from early adopters to the elusive mainstream. Design Depending on the model, colour finish and watch…

Starting with the screen, you firstly need to decide on a size. Most laptops will be 12- to 15in, which will be a happy medium for most, but you can also go smaller or larger if you want There are so many mid-range laptops that it can be hard to know where to start looking. Do you go for a 2-in-1 that’s basically a tablet with a keyboard, or do you get a ‘proper’ laptop? If you fall into the latter camp, there are some great deals at the moment, and we’ve cherry-picked four of the very best this month. We recommend them all: there’s no dud here that’s not worth your time. But we understand that your budget might be different, so if you see a slightly different model,…

£549inc VAT • lenovo.com/uk The Lenovo Yoga 11 710 has been designed with a specific purpose. It wants to offer the best, most convenient ultraportable laptop experience you can get without spending a scary amount of money. It has a 360-degree hinge and a touchscreen, making it more useful while you’re out of the office. Design This is a laptop that’s as small as you’d want to use for real work, rather than the household admin you might do on a Sunday morning. It is, of course, worth mentioning at this point that Lenovo offers a 14in version of the 710 that costs £100 more. It has an Intel Core i5-6200U processor, 8GB of RAM and a full HD screen, but is in every other respect a bigger version of…

Price: £69 For use with its new Pixel smartphones, Google has released its first VR headset: the Daydream View. Price Rather than a fully fledged VR headset such as the HTC Vive, the Daydream View is a headset with which you look at a smartphone through built-in lenses. It’s a step up from Google’s popular cardboard VR and a rival to the likes of Samsung’s Gear VR. Plus, because it doesn’t contain a huge amount of tech, its price is low. You can preorder one from tinyurl.com/hmLb9qh for just £69. It’s due to be released in the UK in November. Design The Daydream View is one of the most attractive headsets we’ve seen with its fabric covering on the outside. It’s available in three colours: Slate (see right), Snow and…

GAME ON Your computer processor may be the heart of your PC, but your graphics card is the parallel processing monster that powers your gaming adventures. Producing digital worlds that run without stuttering and stopping is no easy feat. On page 112 we show you how to set up a new graphics card. Now, we’re dismembering an old AMD Radeon R9 290 that died when a power supply gave up the ghost during a firmware update. There’s a practical reason for ripping apart this beast screw-by-screw: to give you a better understanding of its workings. You’ll often hear complaints that some GPUs run too hot, too loud or are too expensive. If you want to understand why, then tearing down a graphics card is a great place to start. BACK…

Select the entire spreadsheet Everyone knows that Ctrl+A selects the entire spreadsheet, document, email, and so on. In Excel, however, there’s an even faster way. Click the small green arrow in the square space between the row numbers and column letters. Number formats Which is faster, the mouse or the keyboard? Those who use both work faster than either one or the other alone. Try these shortcuts. After you enter a number or column of numbers, highlight the target cells and press: Ctrl+Shift+! to display the Number format with two decimal points Ctrl+Shift+£ to format the selected cells as currency Ctrl+Shift+% to format as percentages, Ctrl+Shift+~ for the General format Ctrl+Shift+# for the Date format Ctrl+Shift+@ for the Time format Ctrl+Shift+^ for the Exponential number format Quick Zoom If you…

 Nintendo has finally pulled back the curtain on its long-rumoured NX gaming console, and well, it’s not named the NX. And it’s not really a console – but it is, kind of? Nintendo’s new device is interesting. The Nintendo Switch blends together traditional consoles and portable gaming handhelds by pairing a Sony PSP-like slate with the Nintendo Switch Dock. When you’re at home, the handheld slides into the dock and you play games on your TV, just as you would with any other console. The Switch appears to double down on Nintendo’s dual strengths of portable design and damned fun games. And while AMD won over the Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Wii U with its PC-like chips, the Switch turns to Nvidia’s mobile Tegra chips – which also drive…

Though Intel’s PC group, data centre and Internet of Things (IoT) businesses helped drive the firm to record revenue in its third quarter of 2016, all eyes seemed focused on one number: the company’s fourth-quarter forecast, which isn’t great. Intel achieved a 9 percent year-over-year increase in profits, up to $3.4 billion, and a 9 percent increase in revenue as well, to a record high of $15.8bn. Unfortunately, its projections for fourth-quarter revenues are slightly down: $15.7bn, with some $500 million either way in terms of wiggle room. Traditionally, Intel sees its highest revenue in the fourth quarter, so the numbers provide an indication of how the holiday tech sales season is expected to go. In all, it was the sort of topsy-turvy earnings report not usually associated with Intel:.…

Unlike other botnets that rely on PCs, however, Mirai works by infecting internet-connected devices such as cameras and DVRs that come with weak default usernames and passwords Malware that can build botnets out of IoT products has gone on to infect twice as many devices after its source code was publicly released. The total number of IoT devices infected with the Mirai malware has reached 493,000, up from 213,000 bots before the source code was disclosed around 1 October, according to internet backbone provider Level 3 Communications. “The true number of actual bots may be higher,” Level 3 said in a recent post. Hackers have been taking advantage of the Mirai malware’s source code, following its role in launching a massive DDOS (distributed denial-of-service) attack that took down the website…

The Hi10 Pro’s screen is clear and bright enough in all but the sunniest conditions, and its 16:10 aspect ratio is well suited to media £128 inc VAT Contact en.chuwi.com Specifications 10.1in full-HD (1920x1200, 16:10, 350nits brightness) IPS touchscreen; Windows 10 Home 64-bit, Android 5.1 Lollipop-based Remix OS; 1.44GHz Intel Atom X5 (Cherry Trail) Z8300 quad-core; Intel HD Graphics; 4GB RAM; 64GB flash storage; microSD card support up to 128GB; USBC; Micro-USB; Micro-HDMI; 2Mp/2Mp front and rear cameras; 802.11b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.0; 3.5mm headphone jack; 6500mAh battery; 261.8x167.3x8.5mm; 562g Keyboard: 267x174x18mm; 545g Stylus: 256 levels of pressure sensitivity; 110mAh battery; 139x9x9mm; 15g The Chuwi Hi10 Pro is a cheap tablet that dual-boots Windows 10 and Android Lollipop and to which you can add a stylus and keyboard to turn it into…

The lack of customisation means you get a Nexus-like experience with the notification menu and recent apps displayed as Google designed them £539 inc VAT Contact sony.co.uk Specifications 5.2in (1920x1080, 424ppi) full-HD display; Android Marshmallow 6.0.1; Qualcomm MSM8996 Snapdragon 820; Adreno 530; 3GB RAM 32/64GB storage; 23Mp main camera, LED flash; 13Mp front camera; 802.11ac; USB-C; Bluetooth 4.2; 4G LTE Cat 6; Nano-SIM; A-GPS with GLONASS; NFC; 2900mAh non-removable lithium-ion battery; 146x72x8.1mm; 161g The Xperia XZ is Sony’s latest flagship smartphone and comes with impressive technology, especially in the camera department. Design The phone has a 5.2in display and a metal body that is noticeably curvier than previous Xperia smartphones, making it more comfortable to hold. Although you can definitely see lines where materials meet (the small strip at the…

You can also set network access times on a per device basis, so you can apply these filters to your children’s devices without it affecting yours £129 inc VAT Contact synology.com Specifications 802.11a/b/g/n/ac 1900ac router; dual-band 3x3 MIMO; Dual-core 1GHz; 256MB DDR3 RAM; 3x external antennas; 4x Gigabit Ethernet; 1x USB 3.0, 1x SD card; 206x160x66mm; 510g For technology enthusiasts, the name Synology is synonymous with Network Attached Storage. The company has offered a string of well regarded NAS drives for many years. What it’s not known for, however, is routers, but with the RT1900ac it’s clearly looking to change that. One of the strengths of Synology’s NAS drives has always been its software, so that’s one area we hope is carried over into this new arena. As its name…

£49 inc VAT Contact griffintechnology.com Specifications 10,500mAh power bank; 5V/2A (10W) Micro-USB input; 5V/2.1A (10.5W) USB output; IP66 water- and dust protection; four-LED power indicator; built-in LED torch; passthrough charging, auto-on/-off; 93x75x25mm; 238g; lifetime guarantee Griffin’s Survivor portable charger is more expensive than many of its similarly specified competitors, but it’s a tough little power bank and we like it. Our review unit has a 10,500mAh capacity, and should offer at least 7000mAh to your connected devices. We’d expect the Survivor to offer most iPhones around four full charges, and Android phones between two and three full charges. However, with a 10.5W (2.1A) USB output, it’s fast and has enough capacity that you could conceivably connect a tablet instead. Charging is automatic, and you simply plug in your device to…

From £49 inc VAT Contact bitdefender.co.uk Requirements Windows 7 SP1 (Windows 10 recommended); 1.6GHz CPU (Intel CORE 2 Duo recommended); 1GB of RAM (2GB recommended); 1.5GB free disk space (2GB recommended) Bitdefender Total Security 2017 is a comprehensive security package for Windows, macOS and Android, all managed from a central web portal. Its core technology regularly scores top marks in independent tests, and it now offers features that will protect users from new and emerging threats. Price Total Security is the flagship product in the Bitdefender range, and offers five-device protection for £59 (£69 for 10 devices). Unlike comparable suites from other vendors this includes Android and Mac OS cover. If you don’t need such comprehensive coverage, there’s also Bitdefender Advanced Protection for three devices (£49). This offers most of…

£599inc VAT • acer.co.uk The Acer S 13 is an ultrabook for normal people. By this we mean those who still get a shock when they see the price of a MacBook Air. Like the Asus ZenBook UX310UA this is a more affordable alternative. Aside from some cheaper components and a quirky trackpad, there are no elements that make it less of an option than a more expensive alternative. Price In the UK, two main versions of the Acer S 13 are available. Our review unit will set you back £599, though you can get it for less if you search online. It has a Core i3 processor and a 128GB SSD. If you are willing to pay more, it’s worth considering the £699 Core i5 version, which comes with…

£599inc VAT • uk.msi.com The MSI GL62 is a 15.6in low-cost gaming laptop. From looks alone you would assume it costs over £1,000, but its entry-level specification is less than £600. It’s a bit of a patchwork of hits and misses though, and we’d advise getting a slightly higher-end specification than the model we’re reviewing if you can afford it as it will really pay dividends for discerning gamers. This version can handle recent demanding titles at bottom-rung settings only, and its lack of SSD storage means our MSI GL62 lacks the speed of some otherwise less powerful laptops at the same price. Design It’s not hard to spot a gaming laptop, but the MSI GL62 has little bits of gaming flair here and there rather than opting for an…

Price: £719 (32GB) £819 (128GB) Google has pulled the covers off its newest smartphone creations: the Pixel and the Pixel XL. The new devices mark a departure from the Nexus line that has served the company well for so long, bringing high-end specifications and prices to match. Price With its new Pixel phones, Google has decided to move up to the premium end of the market, both in terms of specifications and pricing, where it will compete with other flagship models, including the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge and the iPhone 7 (page 29). Two versions of the Pixel XL are available: a 32GB version, priced at £719; and a more capacious 128GB iteration that will set you back a whopping £819. That’s a big difference from last year’s Nexus 6P,…

Price: £69 The new Chromecast is here with added support for 4K streaming. We’ve had an early look at Google’s latest dongle. Price Whereas the old Chromecast was a pocket money product thanks to its £30 price tag, Google is releasing the updated Ultra at £69, which is quite a leap in price from its more humble brethren. No doubt the added technology involved in rendering 4K content required a general bump in specs, hence the increased cost, but bear in mind that this is currently the only mainstream streaming stick available in the UK that can handle UHD content. There’s no set release date as yet, but Google announced that you should expect to see the new Chromecast ‘soon’, so we expect it to be hitting stores before Christmas.…

There’s never been a better time to give Linux a try. Wait, don’t turn the page. We’re not one of those rabid ‘Year of the Linux desktop’ types. Windows works just fine for hundreds of millions of people, and – sorry, Linux lovers – there’s little to suggest Linux usage will ever be more than a rounding error compared to Microsoft’s behemoth. That said, there are some pretty compelling reasons you might want to consider switching to Linux on your computer, or at least give it a hassle-free trial run. 1 WINDOWS 10’S TAKING AWAY YOUR CHOICES Bear with us. This may seem off topic, but it’s the crux of the issue for a lot of people. Linux’s most alluring feature for many won’t be anything that it does, but…

Solid-state drives are fundamentally different from hard drives, and they can, in fact, die in one of two ways. Here we explain this difference, how SSDs can die and how you can check yours to make sure it still has plenty of life. The main difference between hard drives and SSDs is this: the area of a hard drive that can hold data can be rewritten as many times as is needed, and will always be usable as long as the drive is functioning (bad sectors aside). This is not the case with SSDs: each cell that holds data can only be written to, or programmed, a finite number of times before it is effectively dead. That’s because every time a write operation needs to be performed, any data in…

It became evident that matters were getting more difficult for the tech giant when it was widely reported it was considering temporarily halting production of the replacement Note 7s Samsung has announced that it has stopped production of its Galaxy Note 7. The phone had been plagued with battery problems, which caused fires and even explosions. The company confirmed it is stopping production, a day after it had advised carriers and retail partners worldwide not to sell or exchange replacement Note 7s. Phone providers, including Vodafone, EE and Three, had already announced that they would stop offering exchanges after reports of fires and explosions involving replacement handsets. These included a report of a Note 7 catching fire on a Southwest Airlines flight. Samsung had offered to give customers the replacement…

After you’ve enabled ‘Capture living images’ in the Camera app’s settings, the feature kicks in whenever the subject of your picture’s moving when you click the Capture button The relentless march of Windows 10 Insider previews continues with the release of build 14951 for PCs and Windows Phones. This latest glimpse at the future of the operating system reveals several interesting tweaks, including a Microsoftian rival to the iPhone’s Live Photos. If you install Windows Insider build 14951 on a Surface Book, Surface Pro 4, Surface Pro 3 or Surface 3, its revamped Camera app can “extend your still captures with a snippet of video,” writes Windows Insider boss Dona Sarkar. After you’ve enabled ‘Capture living images’ in the Camera app’s settings, the feature kicks in automatically whenever the subject…

Computational workloads are growing, and processors, memory, and storage are getting faster at a blazing pace. Emerging technologies could leave computers choking for bandwidth. The potential chokepoint worries companies including Google, IBM, Samsung and Dell, which are moving to remedy the problem. New specifications from two new consortia will bring data unprecedented boosts in data transfer speeds to computers as early as next year. OpenCAPI Consortium’s connector specification will bring significant bandwidth improvements inside computers. OpenCAPI, announced Friday, will link storage, memory, GPUs and CPUs, much like PCI-Express 3.0, but will be 10 times faster with data speeds of 150GB/s (gigabytes per second). Memory, storage and GPUs will keep getting faster, and OpenCAPI will keep computers ready for those technologies, Brad McCredie, an IBM fellow, said recently. Graphics processors are…

£230 inc VAT Contact geekbuying.com Specifications 11.6in full-HD (1920x1080) 16:9 screen; Windows 10 64-bit; 1.44GHz Intel Atom X5 (Cherry Trail) Z8300 quad-core processor; Intel HD graphics; 4GB DDR3L RAM; 128GB flash storage; 0.3Mp front camera; USB-C; dual-band 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.0; built-in stereo speakers and mic; 3.5mm headphone jack; 8,000mAh lithium-polymer battery; 294x200x14.9mm; 960g Jumper is a new name to PC Advisor, but the EZBook Air follows the EZBook 1 and EZBook 2 as the company’s third super-budget Windows 10 laptop. Here we find out what it’s capable of. Price Jumper is a Chinese brand that is sold in the UK via grey-market importers such as Geekbuying. It charges £230 with free shipping to the UK for the EZBook Air, although you may also have to pay import duty when…

£379 inc VAT Contact sony.co.uk Specifications 4.6in (1280x720) IPS LCD touchscreen; Android Marshmallow 6.0.1; Qualcomm Snapdragon 650 hexa-core processor; Adreno 510 graphics; 3GB RAM; 32GB storage with microSD up to 256GB; 23Mp main camera, LED flash; 5Mp front camera; 802.11ac dual-band Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.2; 4G LTE; Nano-SIM; GPS; NFC; 2700mAh non-removable battery; 129x65x9.5mm; 135g The best smartphones of 2016 are generally huge. The 5.5in screen size of phones such as the Apple iPhone 7 Plus or the OnePlus 3 are becoming the norm, where just a few years ago, we thought the 3.5in iPhone 4 was huge. Times change, but Sony has been keeping happy those of us who prefer a smartphone to be small and usable with one hand; compact. The Sony Xperia X Compact is the latest of…

The crisp and vibrant 5in full-HD (1920x1080) IPS display performs well in low-light conditions due to the inclusion of a blue light filter €399 (£TBC) Contact consumer.huawei.com/uk Specifications 5in (1920x1080) IPS display; Android Marshmallow 6.0.1; 2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 octa-core processor; Adreno 506; 3GB RAM; 32GB storage; 12Mp main camera, dual LED flash; 8Mp front-facing camera; 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1; 4G LTE; Nano-SIM; GPS; 3020mAh battery; 141.2x69.1x7.1mm; 146g Huawei has gone from strength to strength in the UK, with recent releases, including the flagship Huawei P9, proving popular – but it isn’t done yet. Here we look at its latest offering: the Nova. Design Sporting 2.5D glass and a curvy body this doesn’t look or feel like a mid-range smartphone. The display meets the aluminium unibody perfectly, providing users…

£149 inc VAT Contact amazon.co.uk Specifications Wireless: 802.11n dual-band with MIMO, Bluetooth A2DP and AVRCP; 2.5in woofer and 2in tweeter; 235x83.5x83.5mm; 1064g; 1-year warranty The Echo was launched in the US in June 2015, and we’ve had to wait an agonising 15 months to get it in the UK. I say agonising because ever since learning about what the Echo can do, I’ve wanted to get one and see if it’s as good as it sounds. Price There are two versions of the Echo available in the UK. The main one (pictured) costs £149 from Amazon and comes in black or white. There’s also the Echo Dot, which is £49 from Amazon. This also comes in black and white and differs from the Echo only in that it doesn’t have…

£229 inc VAT Contact gearbest.com Specifications 2.9in (640x260) LCD touchscreen; compatible with iOS and Android devices; records 4K/30fps(60Mb/s), 1080p/120fps,720p/240fps video and 12Mp photos using a 155-degree wide-angle lens with F2.8 aperture; built-in speaker; 360-degree omni-directional dual microphones; microSD cards up to 128GB; SDXC card; rechargeable 1400mAh lithium-ion battery, shoots up to 120 minutes on a single charge; 65x21x42m; 95g If you are after an action camera but don’t want a GoPro, then the Yi 4K Action Camera is a good alternative with a nice design, touchscreen and plenty of features. Design The Yi 4K is a small action cam that certainly doesn’t look or feel cheap. Our review model came in ‘Night Black’, but it’s also available in Pearl White and Rose Gold. We’ve seen numerous Chinese products over the…

£160 inc VAT Contact omnicharge.co Specifications 13,600mAh/49Wh power bank; 120V, 60Hz AC/150V DC or 220V AC/300V DC US/EU two-pin socket type; DC 4.5- to 36V, 1- to 34W universal charging port; 65W max AC output power; 2x 2.4A USB ports, max 4.2A (now updated so a single port can output 4.8A with max total output across two ports also 4.8A); charges in two hours; OLED display; passthrough charging; 135x85x23.5mm; 365g; available in black or white; 1-year limited warranty The Omnicharge power bank is an Indiegogo project expected to ship in November. We were lucky enough to get our hands on an early press sample, and this is easily one of the best power banks we’ve ever tested. Price If you pledge support on Indiegogo (tinyurl.com/joct5a8) you’ll save on the product’s…

£40 inc VAT Contact battlefield.com/en-gb Requirements Windows 7 or later; PlayStation 4; Xbox One Battlefield 1 takes us back to ‘the war to end all wars’ and the brutality that came with it. There are no drones, high-powered weapons or even that many vehicles in 1918, meaning you have to get up-close and personal with your enemies. The inclusion of bayonets on the end of weapons should tell you all you need to know about just how close range and brutal the fighting was. Single-player campaign The tales of heroism in Battlefield 1 are told via a series of ‘War Stories’ rather than one long campaign, offering a more focused experience, especially in terms of narrative, when compared to older Battlefield games. These are based on a non-linear format, and…

 £549inc VAT • asus.com/uk The UX310UA’s all-aluminium frame is a more affordable Windows 10 take on what Apple has made with its slimmer MacBooks The Asus ZenBook UX310UA is what happens when a practical everyday laptop and an expensive all-aluminium Ultrabook fall in love. It gets you the pricey look and feel of a portable, stylish machine with the features of a workhorse and a price way below that of a rival MacBook. The model on review here is the cheaper version, with an Intel Core i3 CPU, 1920x1080 screen and 4GB RAM. If you want a Core i5, a 3200x1800 display, 128GB SSD, a 500GB hard drive and 8GB of RAM, then there’s another model for £699. Design The UX310UA is a return to the roots of the ZenBook range.…

The Asus is prettier, but the Acer is a fantastic all-rounder with a great screen, keyboard, touchpad and long battery life. Whatever size of laptop you’re after, one of these four should suit. Starting with the smallest, the 11.6in Lenovo can be used as a traditional laptop, but as it has a touchscreen and a hinge that allows the screen to be folded all the way back under the keyboard, you can use it a bit like a tablet. It’s available in silver or black, and it’s small and light enough to carry around with you when you need it. Overall, a great little notebook – as long as you don’t need lots of ports and slots. The two 13.3in laptops here are both excellent choices. The Asus is prettier,…

Price: $129 (£TBC) Google announced Home earlier this year, showcasing the standalone device’s ability to interact with users via voice control and complete a number of useful tasks. Now the search giant has revealed more details about this exciting new product. Price Amazon’s Echo (page 48), which will be the main rival for Home, costs £149.99 (with the smaller Dot version at £49.99) so we expected Google to price the Home towards the bigger Echo being as it has a decent built-in speaker. So far we know only the US price of $129, which includes a free six-month subscription to YouTube Red, the ad-free YouTube variant that also includes music streaming. Alas YouTube Red is also a US-exclusive product, so it’s hard to know whether UK buyers will receive a…

Price: From $129 (£TBC) If you’ve ever played around with Powerline and Wi-Fi extenders in an effort to make your wireless signal reach all the way through your home, new Google Wifi is the product for you. Price The Google Wifi UK release date has not been confirmed, though we were told at the launch that Google hoped it would be coming soon. In the US Google Wifi is available to preorder from November, and will cost $129 for a single pack and $299 for a pack of three. Features Built on the strengths of OnHub, Google Wifi is in essence a series of mini wireless routers that all talk to each other and can be scattered across the home to ensure a strong and fast wireless signal in every…

Variable refresh rate monitor. That jumble of words isn’t rocketing to the top of any ‘sexiest tech phrases’ list anytime soon. Nevertheless, it’s game-changing technology that’s just beginning to seep into mainstream awareness and adoption. You may know this technology by another, slightly more memorable pair of names from two companies driving your PC gaming experience: Nvidia’s G-Sync and AMD’s FreeSync. There are now dozens of G-Sync and FreeSync monitors are available to satisfy a broad range of cravings. You’ll find models priced from £125 to north of £1,000, encompassing 1080p, 4K, and even gorgeous curved 1440p UltraWide displays. So what’s the big deal? Do you need G-Sync or FreeSync in your life? Does it cost more? Are there any deal-breaking drawbacks? Is this tech restricted to desktop use? Is…