Table of contents for August 2019 in Tech Advisor

Intel extended its public microprocessor road map through 2020 recently, confirming the existence of Tiger Lake, a 10nm Core chip due in 2020 that features an entirely new microarchitecture and Intel’s forthcoming Xe graphics. Executives also began disclosing some of the performance improvements associated with its previously-announced chips, such as how fast Intel’s first 10nm chip, Ice Lake, will be compared with the previous generation. Intel also began talking a bit about the improvements in Lakefield, which stacks logic together to create a denser system-on-a-chip. Combine the new 10nm Ice Lake core – which executives said would ship in June – plus the redesigned Tiger Lake chip, as well as Intel’s other major announcement, 7nm chips by 2021, and Intel is at least talking more aggressively than it has in…

To celebrate the 10th major release of Android, Google has a present for all of us: a dark theme. After several starts and stops and half-efforts, the tech firm is finally bringing full dark mode to all Android Q phones, and from what we’ve seen it’s glorious. But while dark mode will probably be the most popular feature of Android Q, it’s only a small part of what the next-generation operating system will deliver. From security and privacy to folding screens and 5G, Android Q is packed with features that will transform your phone. Here are the six features we’re most excited about (other than that sweet, sweet dark theme) after witnessing the Google I/O keynote. 1. Live Caption If you’ve ever been in a quiet room and needed…

We’ve already looked at the Pixel 3a (page 26), so it’s now time to look at its big brother – the Pixel 3a XL. Design There’s not a huge amount to say about the design because Google has kept the same design language from the existing phones. So the 3a XL is a similar size to the Pixel 3 XL (£869) – 160.1x76.1x8.2mm compared to the latter’s 158x76.7x7.9mm. Plus, it has the same two-tone finish on the back. With a £400 price difference between the two phones, Google has had to cut costs somewhere, so there’s no waterproofing here. Otherwise, it’s just smaller tweaks, such as the lower speaker being mounted to the side of the USB-C port instead of forward facing. The pressure sensitive Active Edge sensors remain though,…

Price: £899 from fave.co/2YsLxzm Huawei’s MateBook X and MateBook X Pro are some of the best-looking laptops on the market, but they each came with a few compromises – and hefty price tags. That’s all the more reason to be excited about the MateBook 13, which promises to bring the same style at a friendlier price. Announced at CES 2019, and now available to buy, the MateBook 13 looks an awful lot like the X and X Pro – with a few compromises, to be fair – but shaves a few hundred off the price, turning it into a competitive rival to the likes of the MacBook Air or the new Dell XPS 13 and potentially one of the best laptops of 2019. Price The MateBook 13 is out now,…

Price: £tbc We get it. You’ve already decided that folding screen devices are a Mach 3 flame-out at 85,069 feet. But hear us out, because Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 foldable prototype (it has no official name yet) might have you thinking that you’ll never want to buy another laptop again. Seriously. The ThinkPad X1 foldable prototype concept is simple: take a 13.3in, Intel-based, full-service Windows OS-running PC/tablet/device and fold it in half, with a diagonal corner-to-corner measurement of about 10 inches. At about an inch thick, it has the feel of a medium-sized journal. If you’re on the train or plane, you can open it and do your pleasure reading or browsing. While Lenovo didn’t disclose the weight, it felt close to or lighter than Apple’s 12.9in iPad Pro, which comes…

So you’ve mastered Windows 10 keyboard shortcuts and Snap open windows like a boss. Now what? Microsoft’s OS offers many other power tools for enthusiasts – if you know where to find them. Some are older, yet still obscure. Others are relatively new, added during the twice-annual major upgrades Microsoft’s been pushing out since Windows 10 launched nearly four long years ago. But all 10 of these little-used tricks and tools can help hardened PC users save time or eliminate headaches. 1. Timeline Microsoft rolled out Windows 10’s Timeline feature as part of the April 2018 Update, and it’s awesome. It’s basically like a browser history for your desktop programs, showing files you’ve opened previously in chronological order. Selecting one opens the file once again. Paired with the ‘Pick…

Microsoft’s new-found infatuation with open-source projects is spawning an unexpected love child that might just bring a tear to the eyes of PC veterans. PowerToys, a collection of power-user tools for enthusiasts from the Windows 95 through XP era, will return this summer in preview form with a pair of Windows 10 utilities. Many more projects being put forward for consideration. You’ll find the modern PowerToys suite hosted on GitHub fave.co/2VC8SBz. The pair of projects kicking off the endeavour look very helpful. The first, called the ‘Maximize to new desktop widget’, takes advantage of the virtual desktops that remain one of Windows 10’s most helpful tools that you might not know about. It reveals a pop-up button when you hover over the Minimize button for an application. “Clicking it creates…

Sayonara, Siri. During Google’s I/O keynote, the company revealed several jaw-dropping new features coming to Google Assistant, and the AI-enhanced software on Android phones appears ready to run laps around Apple’s still-too-simple rival. Google calls it “the next-generation Assistant”. The secret ingredient? Moving Google Assistant’s processing from the cloud to your device. CEO Sundar Pichai claims that the company managed to condense Assistant’s speech recognition models from 100GB in size all the way down to a mere 50MB, letting it run directly on your phone. “This breakthrough enabled us to create a next-generation Assistant that processes speech on-device at nearly zero latency, with transcription that happens in real time, even when you have no network connection,” Google revealed in its announcement post. Google says the shift allows Assistant to process…

At long last, the Pixel 3a has arrived. At its I/O Developer’s Conference, Google took the wraps off its newest handsets, and lo and behold they look at whole lot like the Pixels that came before. Except they’re very different. A mid-cycle release with a far lower price tag than the Pixel 3 or any of its flagship peers, the £399 Pixel 3a and £469 3a XL don’t have frosted glass or wireless charging, or even a dual selfie cam. Sure, they have a new colour and a headphone jack, but they’re very much in the vein of a mid-tier Android phone, with specs and features to match. But if you dig a little deeper, the Pixel 3a and 3a XL have a whole lot more to offer than a…

Price: £249 from fave.co/2HklPYb The Honor 20 itself and the rumoured Pro version won’t appear until the end of May, so the new Lite version can have its 15 minutes of fame before the main launch. Highlights include the triple rear cameras, a big screen with tiny bezels and a whopping 32Mp selfie camera. Most of today’s important boxes are ticked, then, but does the rest of the 20 Lite’s spec sheet offer enough to persuade you to part with your money? Design For every Honor model, there’s often an equivalent Huawei phone and the 20 Lite is the spitting image of Huawei’s P30 Lite. Although they look identical, there are subtle differences: the camera protrudes much less on the 20 Lite and the bottom edge is curved rather than…

There was a time when ‘free-to-play’ was a dirty term in the games industry. There are still terrible, exploitative free-to-play games on the market, but occasionally we get a free offering that doesn’t try to con players out of money or make the design intentionally boring in order to make those purchasable unlocks more exciting. Here, you’ll find a list of games so good the developers could’ve charged money (or, in some cases, did charge money) before going free-to-play. These aren’t just good free-to-play games, they’re good games, full stop. Fortnite Price: Free from fave.co/2HjRSHD Fortnite is the largest game in the world, with 250 million registered accounts and a peak of 10.8 million concurrent players. It’s so big, it forced Sony to consider crossplay between the PlayStation and other…

Microsoft is preparing an updated Windows Terminal application, alongside an updated Windows Subsystem for Linux, for power users who enjoy diving into the guts of the OS. The Linux subsystem now includes a full virtualized Linux kernel. When Linux arrived on the Anniversary Edition three years ago, it was considered one of the more revolutionary aspects of Windows – a surprising embrace of the open-source operating system that Microsoft had once resisted. The firm unveiled both updates at Microsoft Build, its developer conference in Seattle. It said a preview of the Windows Terminal app is currently available, while the first WSL 2 preview will be available later this year. Though both interfaces are typically predicated upon the command line, the new Terminal app looks more like Windows and the Edge…

As expected via the usual onslaught of Internet leaks, Google has announced some new mid-range smartphones. The firm’s own-brand Android range is now more affordable thanks to the addition of the Pixel 3a, and we were lucky enough to have an early look at it. Design A mid-range device, especially a version of a flagship phone, can often be a much poorer construct due to the price difference. Google has, however, kept things very similar with the 3a, and even side by side you’d struggle to tell it apart from the regular Pixel 3 (£739). The design is kept the same with all the little details found on flagship devices. That includes a two-tone finish on the back with a shiny glass section around the camera. The main difference is…

As well as new Pixel 3a phones, Google used its I/O developer conference to announce another smart display. Now branded with the Nest name, we’ve taken a look at the Nest Hub Max. We loved the Home Hub when we reviewed it last year and still do, but it was a shame that Google didn’t offer a larger option with a built-in camera. Well that’s exactly what the Nest Hub Max offers, so we’re rather pleased. Before we begin, it’s worth explaining that the branding is now ‘Google Nest’ with the two coming together. Google has owned Nest for five years now, so it’s no surprise that it has decided to use the names together. The Hub Max combines Google and Nest technology, so it makes sense, apart from the…

Price: £69 from fave.co/2YrRlsI Amazon’s All-new Kindle brings its entry-level e-reader out of the dark ages. With the addition of glare-free, adjustable front lighting, it allows users a more comfortable reading experience day or night without having to spring for the higher-priced Kindle Paperwhite or the luxe Kindle Oasis. It replaces the 8th generation Kindle e-reader and retains many of its slimmed-down specs. It does, however, introduce a few upgrades including improved E-Ink technology and a capacitive touchscreen. Design When I first unpacked the All-new Kindle, I couldn’t discern much difference between its design and my 8th-gen Kindle’s. Side-by-side comparison revealed some slight but obvious differences, though. Although they have roughly the same dimensions – 160x113x8.7mm for the latest Kindle and 160x115x9.1mm for the older model – the older version…

Time may not necessarily be money, but it still matters. Every second you spend wading through context menus or clunkily navigating Windows is a second you could be doing something you love instead. And with so much of modern life tied up in technology, those wasted seconds can add up fast. Now it’s time to reclaim those lost seconds, minutes, and hours. These simple Windows 10 tips and tricks aren’t glamorous and most aren’t even new, to be honest, but when deployed together they can seriously streamline your workflow. Once you’ve mastered these methods, be sure to check out our guide to 10 helpful Windows 10 tools you might not know about on page 107. Optimizing your setup gets awfully addictive, awfully fast. 1. Adjust your startup programs Let’s…