Tech Advisor的April 2017目录

While Android Wear 2.0 has had a rocky ride since its unveiling in May 2016, it seems that the next version of Google’s smartwatchcentric operating system has finally reached the finish line. In an email sent to developers, Google has seemingly outed a targeted timeline for Android Wear 2.0’s launch as it works to put the finishing touches on its wearable operating system. In the message first published by Android Police, the firm informs developers that it is eyeing an early February launch for Android Wear 2.0 and wants app makers to be ready: “Your app… uses a legacy embedded APK mechanism that is not optimised for Android Wear 2.0,” the note reads. “If you do not take action, users will not be able to search for and find your…

Google has released the latest Android distribution numbers and surprise, surprise, Nougat adoption is crawling along. The latest version of the mobile operating system is installed on less than 1 percent of all phones, while the two-year-old Lollipop remains in the lead with more than 33 percent. It’s a trend Android users have come to accept. During the same period last year, Marshmallow had exactly the same 0.7 percent adoption rate as Nougat does now. On the contrary, more than 75 percent of iOS users have upgraded to iOS 10 since its launch in September, a figure higher than the past three versions of Android combined. Now, there’s no reason to think an Android release can ever reach such a lofty goal – there are just too many budget phones…

Robots should one day have rights as ‘electronic persons’, members of the European Parliament recommended recently, though not until the machines are all fitted with ‘kill’ switches to shut them down in an emergency. Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee wants the European Commission to propose legislation that will settle a number of ethical and liability issues in the field of robotics, including who is to blame when an autonomous vehicle is involved in a collision. Granting the more sophisticated autonomous robots some kind of electronic personhood could settle issues of who is responsible for their actions, the committee suggested. More urgent than the question of robot rights though, is the setting up of an obligatory insurance scheme that would pay out to the victims of a self-driving car if it caused…

This laptop seems more ‘stealth bomber’ than plain black box, and unlike a lot of gaming laptops, you could take it out in public without looking silly £1,549 inc VAT Buy from razerzone.com Specifications 12.5in (3840x2160, 352dpi) IGZO LCD glossy; Windows 10 (64-bit); 2.7GHz, up to 3.5GHz Turbo Intel Core i7-7500U, two cores four threads; Intel HD 620; 16GB RAM DDR3-1866; 512GB SSD; 802.11b/g/n/ac 2x2 Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1; 2x USB 3.0 port; 1x USB-C 3.1 port; HDMI; stereo speakers; HD webcam; digital array mic; 3.5mm headset jack; UK tiled keyboard; 52.6Wh lithium-ion battery non-removable; 321x206x13mm; 1.29kg The Blade Stealth is an unusual laptop. Even though it’s aimed at gamers and isn’t cheap, it doesn’t include a high-end graphics card. Instead, this is a normal MacBookstyle system, though the styling has…

Zendure has done a great job of cramming in so much capacity into a small case, while keeping down the weight and size to a reasonable amount £33 inc VAT Buy from   amazon.co.uk Specifications 10,000mAh power bank with durable casing; 1.5A (7.5W) Micro-USB input with passthrough charging, charges in around 6 hours; 2x 2.1A (10.5W) USB outputs, total max output 10.5W; ZEN+ device-recognition technology; auto-on; longterm standby; 80 percent energy efficiency; cloth carry case; Micro-USB cable; 96x62x24mm; 220g; 12-month warranty Zendure isn’t as well known as some power bank manufacturers, such as Anker, but they could learn a lot from how it does things. The A-series is by no means perfect, but it takes into account the features people need most and present them at a reasonable price. Price…

£109 inc VAT Buy from overclockers.co.uk Specifications 14 compute units; 896 stream processors; 1220MHz (Boost Mode) core speed; 7GHz memory speed; 128-bit memory bus width; 4GB GDDR5 RAM; 4096x2160 maximum digital resolution; PCIe 3.0; CrossFire Ready; DirectX 12; HDR; <75W power consumption; 400W minimum system power supply; 1x 6-pin power connector; 1x DVI-D, 1x HDMI 2.0b, 1x DisplayPort 1.4; 2 card slots; 238x121mm; 3-year warranty The AMD Radeon RX 460 4GB Double Dissipation from XFX is a reasonably-priced graphics card featuring AMD’s latest graphics technology and optimised for playing the latest AAA games at 1080p resolution. It comes in at the bottom of a range of three GPUs based on the fourth generation of AMD’s Graphics Core Next (GCN) technology and brings with it all of the main technologies of…

While the extra resolution that 4K offers is best appreciated on a large screen (55in plus), that hasn’t stopped smaller panels appearing If you’re after a new TV and want the best there is, you’ve come to the right place. Over the following pages we look at the very best sets – including 4K and HDR models – available to buy in the UK right now. We’ve tested and rated specific models, but other sizes are available in all ranges, so if one is slightly out of your price range or you just don’t want such a large one, then our ratings apply to those models, too. All but one of the TVs tested here have 4K resolutions. These UHD (Ultra HD) sets are the ones to buy now. Only…

Tech novices need our help. They tend to run into the same pitfalls, and some of them make the same mistakes over and over again. A novice friend may have cost you hours of informal tech support. Here’s something you can show them before that next desperate phone call. To the novices out there: get smarter by reading this. 1. Don’t fall for a remote support scam Remote support scams usually start when someone calls you out of the blue, saying you have some computer problem or have been hacked. You might see a dialog box pop up on your computer, prompting you to call or download something. The person who answers may say they’re from Microsoft or Windows support, or are certified from them. The scammers typically show you…

Everyone who owns an Android phone has a Google account, but there are lots of other apps on our phones that require their own login credentials. The longer you have your phone, the more they can pile up, and before long your app drawer is filled with all sorts of services that may or may not be tied to an active account. But you don’t have to open each app to manage them. Whether you want to add, remove, or tweak one of your accounts, Google has built a handy way to do it right inside the Settings app. Under the Personal tab in Settings, you’ll find an option for Accounts. This is separate from the Google tab, where you’ll see a slew of preferences related to how your Google…

Valve’s Steam Link (£39) is billed as a budget-friendly, hassle-free way to bring the best of PC gaming to the living room by streaming your Steam games from your main computer straight to your TV. It is designed to be easy to set up, though the included Quick Start Guide is pretty uninformative – it’s just a diagram of two different hardware setups, with no real instructions. There are a few different configurations to think about, and a couple of problems you might run into along the way, so read on to find out how to set up the Steam Link and how to enable in-home Steam streaming. Set up your PC The Steam Link works by mirroring the display from your PC to Steam’s device, so the first step…

START As you may have surmised from the photo this project involves a bit of sewing, so if that isn’t your strongpoint, it might be worth buttering up any needlepoint fans in your family. Equipment-wise, you’ll need earmuffs, some felt or soft, thick material, earbuds, darning needle, thread, scissors, ruler and a marker pen. 2 First, you’ll need to measure the size of the earpieces on your earmuffs. 3 Next, mark up the felt with a line that will fit inside the circumference of the earpiece. You’ll be sewing these directly onto the earpieces, so be sure to make the covers slightly smaller in diameter. You can use a compass to draw a circle, though we just drew a cross shape and joined up the edges freehand. 4 Cut out…

you take great pains to come up with a strong password when registering for an account on a website, only to see that site get hacked. Several had their databases of user accounts not only breached but stolen in 2016. The following websites are ranked starting with the fewest number of user accounts with stolen passwords. Also, these hacks were reported to have been executed during 2016, so this list does not feature Myspace (427 million user accounts stolen) or Yahoo (a cool billion). Both were supposedly hacked before 2016, but were only reported last year. This list also does not include reports of user records that were exposed due to poor security, but where there is no evidence they were actually stolen. 10. i-Dressup: 2.2 million This social site…

The information about AMD’s hotly anticipated Ryzen processors just keeps coming. Basic speeds, feeds and gaming performance for the high-end flagship model were revealed late in December, rounding out everything we know about Ryzen quite nicely, but that still didn’t stop AMD from teasing more enthusiast-focused information at CES 2017. We were there as AMD launched an army of Ryzen PCs and motherboards, revealed deeper Ryzen technical details, and promised long-term support for the AM4 platform, but those facts spread out across several articles as AMD drip-dropped the details at CES. Here, we’re pulling it all together for your convenience, as well as filling in a few more details we didn’t have an opportunity to cover before (mostly about AM4 cooling details). You won’t find release dates or prices, alas,…

The suit covers purchases of apps from 2007 to 2013, but Bloomberg quoted Mark Rifkin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, as saying he may try to extend the proposed class action suit An appeals court has ruled that Apple must face antitrust charges in a lawsuit that alleges that the company monopolised the market for iPhone apps. The US Court for Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a previous decision by a lower court and ruled that the app buyers filing the lawsuit are direct purchasers of iPhone apps from Apple, rather than from app developers, and hence have standing to sue. Apple was a distributor of iPhone apps, selling them directly to buyers through its App Store, according to the court. The proposed class-action lawsuit started in 2011 with…

It’s not officially time for spring cleaning, but Microsoft is allowing developers and users to tidy up the Start menu and notifications drawer. Windows 10 phones already enjoy this The Windows 10 Creators Update is due early this year, and Microsoft served up what you might call a hearty appetizer: its massive Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15002, with so many improvements that we will limit this article to a discussion of front-end changes (see our feature on page 70 for more details). Build 15002 is being released for the PC only, as part of the Fast Ring of Insider builds. If you are thinking of installing it, be aware of a few bugs: Miracast connections won’t work and the Netflix app probably won’t render video (instead, use Edge). Microsoft…

Viewers may soon see a big change in the way they experience the thrills of live sports events. It’ll be customisable, interactive and will put them at the centre of the action. If it goes as envisioned, Intel’s multi-year plan will allow viewers to tailor their own broadcasts and watch events as if they were on the pitch. They will be available for VR headsets, PCs and even televisions. Currently, the views and angles on offer are selected by broadcasters. In the future, viewers will be able to create their own 3D show and select any type of camera angle they want. For example, they will be able to get a bird’s-eye view of a goal in a football match or watch the same experience from a player’s perspective. Intel…

The UX390UA will elicit praise from everyone who picks it up: it’s incredibly slim and light. Asus has tried pretty hard to nail the ‘svelte’ factor £1,499 inc VAT Buy from asus.com/uk Specifications 12.5in (1920x1080, 176dpi) LCD glossy; Windows 10 Home 64-bit; 2.7GHz, up to 3.5GHz Turbo Intel Core i7-7500U , two cores four threads; Intel HD 620 GPU; 16GB RAM DDR3-2133; 512GB SSD; 802.11b/g/n/ac 2x2; Bluetooth 4.1; 1 USB-C 3.1 port; quad speakers; HD webcam; digital array mic; 3.5mm headset jack; UK tiled keyboard; 40Wh lithium-ion battery non-removable; 296x191.2x11.9mm; 910g The ZenBook 3 UX390UA is a top-tier ultraportable laptop. Asus makes dozens of more powerful machines, but if there’s one you’d find in a glass case, on a rotating pedestal, this is it. Typical of the ZenBook range, it…

£224 inc VAT Buy from vmall.eu/uk Specifications 5.5in (1920x1080p, 403ppi) full HD display; Android Marshmallow 6.0; Huawei Kirin 655 octa-core processor (4x 2.1GHz and 4x 1.7GHz); Mali-T830MP2 GPU; 3GB or 4GB RAM; 32GB or 64GB storage with microSD up to 128GB; 12Mp/2Mp rear facing dual cameras with LED flash, support for 1080p video at 30fps; 8Mp front-facing camera; 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1; Nano-SIM; GPS; NFC; 3340mAh non-removable battery; 150.9x76.2x8.2mm; 162g In 2016 Huawei took big, confident strides into the Western market. It’s continuing to do so right at the start of 2017 at CES, announcing the US availability of its flagship Mate 9 and this, the Honor 6X. Honor is Huawei’s not-so-secret sub-brand, its phones largely similar to its parent brand with lower specifications. That’s not to say Honor smartphones…

Unlike other models that aim to blend into the environment around it, the Circle makes a statement with its modern design £159 inc VAT Buy from logitech.com/en-gb Specifications Multiple camera support; mobile app and web browser access; 360p, 720p or 1080p HD video; Wi-Fi 2.4- and 5GHz; 135-degree wide angle lens; auto night vision up to 15 feet; advanced motion detection; 8x digital zoom; built-in speaker and mic; 1600mAh rechargeable lithium battery; instant data encryption with secure sockets layer (SSL) web transfer; manual 360-degree pan, 110-degree tilt; 67x65x75mm; 186g Home security cameras are getting smarter as well as cheaper, but in terms of functionality, not much has changed. While remote viewing, night vision and two-way audio systems are all impressive, Logi is aiming to offer something unique with the Circle…

Being a Pascal card, the GTX 1050 provides an up-to-date feature set, including DirectX 12 and Vulkan support, HDMI 2.0b and DisplayPort 1.4 £107 inc VAT Buy from   overclockers.co.uk Specifications 640 CUDA cores: 1345MHz/1455MHz (Base/ Boost) core speed; 7GHz memory speed 7GHz; 112GB/s memory bandwidth; 128-bit memory bus width; 2GB GDDR5 RAM; 4096x2160 maximum digital resolution; PCIe 3.0 x16; DirectX 12; OpenGL 4.5; HDR ready; 75W power consumption: 300W recommended system power supply; DVI-D, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4; 2 slots; 166x12mm Small enough to fit into cramped PC cases, and without the need for any dedicated power wires, the Palit GeForce GTX 1050 StormX 2GB is a no-hassle way to add genuinely competent 1080p gaming performance to PCs that would otherwise be unable to support a modern graphics card.…

From £34 inc VAT Buy from   amazon.co.uk Specifications Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Windows 10 PC After seven numbered entries (including the prequel Resident Evil Zero) and countless spin-offs, it’s probably not too surprising that publisher Capcom took Resident Evil 7: Biohazard as an excuse for a bit of an overhaul. The new game brings the series into a first-person viewpoint, and echoes the likes of Alien: Isolation by bringing in more enemies that you simply have to run and hide from, rather than tackle head-on, while upending the series’ themes with a delve into Texas Chainsaw Massacre territory. But how does it hold up? Is Resident Evil 7 a return to form, or a stumble in the dark? Read on to find out. Price As you might…

One build, almost a new operating system Microsoft releases new builds of Windows 10 for its Insider beta testers every so often – some minor, some significant. The recent Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 15002 is a big deal. The company’s notes on the new build run to over a dozen pages and we found over 20 notable new features. (We left out some minor tweaks to keep this list manageable.) Some are cosmetic improvements that enhance the user experience, while others add powerful new features that Windows lacked before. Running a vanilla PC? Don’t be jealous. This will all be part of the Creators Update– most likely coming in a couple of months. Eventually, you’ll be able to try these out, too. Let’s dive in. Start menu folders Windows…

It’s the start of 2017 and most people are looking toward the year ahead and maybe trying out something new. With this in mind, why not improve your Linux skills with these easy-to-follow projects? 1. Try a new Linux distribution A lot of Linux users love it because of the level of customisation it allows. Once everything is set up, workflows can be quicker, and computing can be a more personal experience. But sometimes it’s good to step out of your comfort zone. If you’ve never tried running a Linux OS, this is a great time to dip your toes in the water. Total novices might want to try Fedora 25 (getfedora.org) because of the ease of writing the image to a USB stick. Canonical’s Ubuntu 16.04 (tinyurl.com/jr63kws) is also…

You’ve spent a good amount of time getting Alexa to properly activate your wireless speakers, living room lights and smart cam, but is your new IoT setup secure? BullGuard (bullguard.com) has a quick and easy tool that can help you find out if there are any basic problems. It’s called the Internet of Things Scanner. The service checks to see if any of your devices are on Shodan (shodan.io), a search engine that lets anyone find Internet of Things devices like cameras, printers, and thermostats that are publicly accessible on the internet. Anything that’s publicly accessible may also be vulnerable to hackers if there are any security flaws in the software that can be exploited. Using BullGuard’s web app is easy, just land on the website and click Check if…

In this supposed wireless age our desks, TVs, living rooms and whole houses remain a viper’s nest of trailing, tangled, tense cables. Nowhere are these wires more massed than where you heap your device chargers for phone, tablet, camera, power banks, and even other chargers. There’s probably a knotty pair of old earbuds in there, too. In this author’s house this is a drawer in the kitchen once reserved for handy items such as corkscrews and foil cutters, non-standard cutlery and cocktail sticks. What days they were. Fighting through the knotty cables to the corkscrew requires a rolled-up sleeve and several minutes of fighting through Lightning, Micro-USB, Mini USB, 30-pin, and proprietary charging cables. Sometimes we even come across a FireWire 400 cable, which is then hastily pushed to the…

Don’t say Intel never gives you anything for free. Although this news flew under the radar when the company’s seventh gen Kaby Lake desktop CPUs were launched at CES, the firm’s latest budget Pentium CPUs have received a performance buff with Hyper-Threading. The Pentium G4600, G4620 and G4560, as well as their power-saving ‘T’ versions, all feature Intel’s Hyper-Threading, which delegates unused portions of the CPU for other tasks. While it doesn’t turn these dual-core CPUs into quad-cores, there is a real-world performance boost on most multi-threaded loads. Hyper-Threading was introduced with the Pentium 4 in 2000 and has been a standard feature of Intel’s higher-end processors since then. The budget Pentium series, however, hasn’t had the feature until now. Besides the support for Hyper-Threading, the new Kaby Lake budget…

Hardware vendors sometimes publicise their visions of the future. So do car makers. Now Opera Software is getting into the game with Neon, the company’s first concept browser for Macs and Windows PCs. It isn’t game-changing – in fact, rather than a ‘concept’, it feels more like applying a fresh coat of paint – but Opera also succeeds in paring down the browsing experience to a few select tasks. It’s a refreshingly attractive design, as Neon’s background blends into your desktop, and circular tabs consciously contradict the sea of rectangles that rival browsers employ. With that said, Neon won’t replace the existing Opera browser. In fact, it is arguably less full featured than its developer’s existing browser, which includes native capabilities like ad blocking. Opera did say, however, that it…

A few brave souls predict Internet of Things (IoT) standards will start to gel this year, but making all those connected things work together still looks like a long shot. Two years ago, some industry analysts cautiously suggested that a vast array of IoT standards would merge into just a few beginning in 2017. If the IoT in late 2014 was a cacophony of discordant musicians tuning up, it’s now reached the point where a few virtuosos are playing the same tune. But there’s still a lot of sheet music getting passed around. Two of the biggest rivals in IoT did find harmony in 2016. The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) was formed out of the AllSeen Alliance – which used the Qualcomm-developed AllJoyn – and the Intel-backed Open Interconnect Consortium.…

This is one of the few top-end small laptops that feels like a road warrior. Let’s not paint it as a gnarled old Mad Maxextra, though. It looks great £1,499 inc VAT Buy from dell.co.uk Specifications 13.3in (3200x1800) IPS 16:9 screen; Windows 10 Home; 2.7GHz Intel Core i7-7500U 7th-gen Kaby Lake chip; 16GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 RAM; 512GB SSD; 2x USB 3.0, USB-C 3.1 Gen 2; 802.11ac 2.4/5GHz Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 4.1; headset jack; SDXC reader; Noble lock slot; HD webcam; 60Wh lithium-polymer battery, non-removable; 304x200x15-17mm thick, 1.3kg; 1-year warranty Dell’s range of XPS 13 laptops has been around for a few years now. The latest model comes with a seventh-generation Intel Core i7 chip, has impressive battery life and you won’t need a load of adaptors just to plug in a…

We found the Mate 9 to be blisteringly fast. We’ve not seen this kind of responsiveness and speed from any Huawei smartphone £599 inc VAT Buy from tinyurl.com/z5oxy43 Specifications 5.9in Full HD IPS display; Android 7.0 with EMUI 5.0; Kirin 960 CPU; Mali G71 GPU; 4GB RAM; 64GB storage; Single-SIM with microSD card slot; Dual 20 + 12Mp rear-facing cameras; Optical Image Stabilisation; 2x zoom; dual-LED flash; front-facing 8Mp camera with flash; 4K video recording; 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.2; NFC; Infrared Port; 4x microphones; USB-C; 4000mAh battery; 156.9x78.9x7.9mm; 190g Huawei has a growing fan base in the UK after launching a series of top-quality smartphones in 2016, including the Nova and the Nova Plus. The firm’s latest offering is the impressive-looking Mate 9. Design The first thing you’ll…

£29 inc VAT Buy from   ee.co.uk Specifications 7in, 1024x768 pixel LCD screen; Android 5.1.1; 1.1GHz quad-core processor; 16GB internal storage (7.7GB usable); microSD slot (up to 32GB); Micro-SIM slot; 2Mp main camera; 0.3Mp front camera; GPS; 802.11b/g/n,2.4GHz Wi-Fi; Bluetooth; 2820mAh battery; 191x109.4x9.25mm; 257g EE’s Robin is a children’s tablet with built-in 4G, so they can watch videos and use internet-connected apps wherever they are – without borrowing your phone. This isn’t the first version of the Robin, but the upgrades over the first model are pretty minor. It’s a 7in tablet that fits into a kid-proof case and comes with child-friendly software. Price You might think that £29 seems a fantastic price for a tablet, but this is only the upfront cost. The main expense is the EE contract,…

£149 inc VAT Buy from y-cam.com Specifications 10/100 Ethernet and mobile network (with Plus subscription); device capacity up to 32 sensors and eight remotes; 1-year warranty (3 years with Plus subscription); hub, 157x157x30mm Y-Cam has, until now, produced great home security cameras, but is now broadening its sights to alarm systems. The Protect is the result, and Y-Cam reckons it’s the best smart alarm you can get in the UK. As well as connecting to your router, it also has a built-in SIM and battery, so the alarm will sound and send you an alert even if your broadband goes down or there’s a power cut. Price The Protect Alarm System costs £124. Included in the box is the hub, a motion sensor, a door/window sensor and a remote fob.…

£69 inc VAT Buy from   amazon.co.uk Specifications A4 colour inkjet printer with 5760x1440dpi resolution; 2400x1200dpi scanner/copier; paper tray 1, 100 sheets A4; paper tray 2, 20 sheets photo paper; USB, Wi-Fi, Apple AirPrint Google Cloud Print; 130x385x335mm; 6.7kg Epson’s ‘small in one’ multifunction printers are a good choice for homes where space is tight, but previous models in the range have tended to be conventional four-colour printers. As the name implies, the new Premium model is more advanced and uses five inks to produce high-quality photo prints. Design The XP-640 uses five separate ink cartridges, with the traditional cyan, magenta yellow and black inks complemented by a special ‘photoblack’ ink that helps to improve contrast and colour in photo prints. However, it maintains the compact dimensions of its predecessors,…

£33 inc VAT Buy from tinyurl.com/h7mkvpt Specifications Sony PlayStation 4 To say that fans have been waiting a while for The Last Guardian is a bit of an understatement. First announced in 2009, after entering development in 2007, it is the third game by Fumito Ueda, the creator of PlayStation 2 classics Ico and Shadow of the Colossus. So, now that the game is finally out, was it worth the wait? Plot The game starts out cryptically. You control a young boy who awakens in a strange cave next to a giant beast, whom you later name Trico. As you begin to explore the space, your actions are narrated by the boy’s older self, recounting his memories as an adult – a system the game cleverly uses to provide occasional…

Enabling the right settings and Google Maps can help plot the perfect meandering route to your destination or keep you oriented while you’re hiking in the signal-free countryside Yes, Google Maps makes it easy to find the shortest distance from A to B, but sometimes it’s not the fastest route you’re after. It’s the nicest one. Luckily, speed and ruthless efficiency aren’t the only things Google Maps is good for. Enable the right settings and Google Maps for Android and iOS can help plot the perfect meandering route to your destination, find restaurants with local colour, keep track of what you saw, scout out the most charming B&Bs, and keep you oriented while you’re hiking in the signal-free countryside. 1. Take the scenic route If you want Google Maps to…

Google has updated its Chrome mobile browser to allow offline viewing of web pages and video. This is great news if you’re going to be away from a web connection with little to keep you occupied, although as always you’ll need to prepare before you leave. Fortunately, that’s a piece of cake. Download web pages Launch Chrome and browse to the web page you want to be able to read offline. Tap the three dots at the top of the Chrome window and hit the download icon (in between the star for bookmarks and the information icon). If you don’t see this icon you will need to update Chrome. The web page will automatically download, but do note that in our experience if it is a multi-page article you will…

One of the things that makes Android, well, Android is the incredible control we have over the interface. And it’s not just wallpapers and ringtones. With a little tinkering we can completely change the look of our phones, whether it’s through rooting, flashing a custom ROM, or installing a third-party launcher. But if you’re a little skittish at the thought of voiding your warranty, you can still tweak Android with a few tricks via the System UI Tuner, a feature Google has built right into Settings. Hide and seek When the Marshmallow preview launched in 2015, it brought a menu of customisation options in Settings called System UI Tuner. It gave us a first look at the features that Google was still working on; the menu could be found under…

START While the PS4 Pro provides users with high-end 4K gameplay, there’s no need to throw away your existing PS4. In fact, users can upgrade its standard hard drive with an SSD, making it perform much faster. This means boot times should be quicker (32.8 seconds down to 19.9 seconds in our experience), games should install faster and in-game loading should be speedier too, breathing new life into the aging console. Before you begin you’ll need the following: • A crosshead screwdriver. • Two USB flash drives. • A solid-state drive no thicker than 9.5mm. We used Crucial’s MX300 1TB SSD, priced £245. You can buy it from tinyurl.com/jhcchgq. 2 If you’ve had your PlayStation 4 since it came out, you’ll probably have a number of saved games on the…