Damien McFerran 22/05/2019 - 8:43am A must for any self-respecting iPad owner £40.00 Urban Armor Gear is famous for its range of rugged, military-tested phone cases which offer an incredible degree of protection for those £1000 gadgets we keep in our pockets. However, those of you who have just picked up an iPad Pro will be pleased to learn that the company also makes tablet cases to the same high specification, and this 'Scout' range now covers both the 11-inch and 12.9-inch variants of Apple's latest slate. Let's get the basics out of the way first. The UAG Scout case has military standard 810G-516.6 drop-test certification, which should put your mind at ease if you're a clumsy butter-fingers. Despite this level of protection, it's not a massive case; sure, it bulks up the overall size of the iPad Pro when fitted, but that's mainly because Apple's latest tablet is super-thin anyway. It's worth noting that the case is designed to fit a...

Damien McFerran 21/05/2019 - 8:28am Trump's restrictions hit Chinese giant US president Donald Trump's ban on US tech companies sharing their technology with “foreign adversaries” has left Huawei out in the cold, with Google – as well as many other North American firms – now stating they will no longer work with the Chinese firm. Trump administration issued an executive order last week which imposed restrictions on US firms working with Chinese companies. In the case of Huawei, it uses chips from North American suppliers in its smartphones and is heavily reliant on Google's Android operating system. Existing handsets are not impacted by the ban. The move comes after months of wrangling by the US government as it tries to convince its allies to ditch Huawei from upcoming 5G network plans. Huawei is the world leader in the field, and comfortably so, but there have been reports that the Chinese military is capable of hacking into Huawei's networks and this present...

Michael Grothaus 20/05/2019 - 2:29pm Google FINALLY allows users to take their saved locations with them. Google Maps is undoubtedly the #1 mapping solution a majority of the world uses. Since its debut well over a decade ago, Google Maps has consistently innovated its services and features it offers. Not even a heavyweight like Apple entering the ring has caused a dent in Google Maps’ reputation. However, it should be said that Google also works overtime to keep people engaged with their products. They don’t want people jumping ship to another offering. Part of keeping users stuck on Maps has been the inability for users to download their saved Maps data and take it elsewhere. This saved Maps data includes the ability to star and favorite locations on Google Maps as well as the reviews and ratings users have left for establishments on Google Maps. But FINALLY, Google has changed that stance. The search giant has quietly unveiled a new download tool for your Maps data, which ...

Damien McFerran 20/05/2019 - 9:52am You get a lot for your £399 £399.00 Last year's Pixel 3 was, on paper at least, a real winner for Google. It combined superb specs with a pocket-friendly design and an industry-leading camera, all for a price that neatly undercut the iPhone XS. Despite this attractive package, the phone hasn't met Google's expectations in terms of sales, and this has clearly forced the search giant to reconsider its approach; hence the arrival of the Pixel 3a, a budget take on the 2018 handset which makes some key sacrifices to bring the price of entry plummeting down – it costs £399 compared to the £799 the Pixel 3 retails for – but still has enough of that Pixel magic to make it worth a look. Is this is the Pixel you need to buy in 2019? Let's find out. Google Pixel 3a Review: Design & Display At first glance, the Pixel 3a looks identical to the Pixel 3, but there are some differences. The most obvious is the inclusion of a 3.5m...

Damien McFerran 20/05/2019 - 9:49am You get a lot for your £399 £399.00 Last year's Pixel 3 was, on paper at least, a real winner for Google. It combined superb specs with a pocket-friendly design and an industry-leading camera, all for a price that neatly undercut the iPhone XS. Despite this attractive package, the phone hasn't met Google's expectations in terms of sales, and this has clearly forced the search giant to reconsider its approach; hence the arrival of the Pixel 3a, a budget take on the 2018 handset which makes some key sacrifices to bring the price of entry plummeting down – it costs £399 compared to the £799 the Pixel 3 retails for – but still has enough of that Pixel magic to make it worth a look. Is this is the Pixel you need to buy in 2019? Let's find out. Google Pixel 3a Review: Design & Display At first glance, the Pixel 3a looks identical to the Pixel 3, but there are some differences. The most obvious is the inclusion of a 3.5m...

Damien McFerran 17/05/2019 - 8:55am Hath hell frozen over? No, you're not seeing things – Sony and Microsoft have indeed announced their intention to join forces for the good of the industry. The two companies – who are rivals in the games industry at present thanks to their PlayStation and Xbox consoles – have decided to ally for a "strategic partnership", but before you get any notions of playing Halo on your PS4 and God of War on your Xbox One, it's worth noting that this collaboration is more focused on tech than it is on sharing IP. The press release issued yesterday says: "The two companies will partner on new innovations to enhance customer experiences in their direct-to-consumer entertainment platforms and AI solutions. The two companies will explore joint development of future cloud solutions in Microsoft Azure to support their respective game and content-streaming services. In addition, the two companies will explore the use of current Microsof...

Damien McFerran 17/05/2019 - 8:20am Say hello to the ZenFone 6 Ever since the 'all screen' revolution kicked off with the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the Xiaomi MiMix, phone makers have been falling over themselves to create the perfect mobile display. Samsung's Infinity screen reduced the bezels down dramatically, while Apple introduced the 'The Notch' – a design feature which, despite losing you some of the screen, has become a pretty common sight on rival phones. Since then we've seen hole-punch displays and pop-up cameras, and the wide range of 'solutions' to this problem proves that the industry is still trying to find the best choice. Now it's the turn of Asus, which has just lifted the lid on its new ZenFone 6. At first glance, you'll notice that – despite a small bezel at the bottom of the screen – this is an all-display device. Asus has achieved this by including a cool rotating camera which turns the rear-facing camera array into the ...

Damien McFerran 16/05/2019 - 9:04am Over 20,000 sign petition for a reshoot Fans. You can't live with them, and you can't live without them. Films, TV shows, books, video games… every form of popular media needs a dedicated fanbase to be a success, and it's often a double-edged sword. Marvel's line of movies has been driven by the insanely popular reaction from its massive fanbase, driving each new film to a massive box office haul, but it's amazing how quickly fans can turn on the people who make these productions happen. Game of Thrones is a perfect example of this. Based on George R.R. Martin's successful series of fantasy novels, the TV series has grown its audience massively over the past few years and has now overtaken the books in terms of narrative. It's in its final season, and showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss – who are having to do much of the heavy lifting because they have no solid source material to use – are trying to tie up all...

Damien McFerran 16/05/2019 - 8:41am But there's a catch Motorola was one of the mobile industry's biggest movers and shakers many years ago, but now it has been overtaken by the likes of Samsung, Huawei and Apple. That doesn't mean it can't pull out some neat tricks when it wants to, though – as the One Vision smartphone proves. The phone's 6.3-inch LCD screen has a 21:9 aspect ratio, and Motorola is branding it 'CinemaVision' because it's ideal for watching movies on. Sony has pulled the same trick recently, but the One Vision looks less tall and awkward to our eyes. The resolution is 1080 x 2520 – nothing special – but the hole-punch screen means the device looks more like the Honor View 20 and less like an iPhone XS. Despite that eye-catching screen, the One Vision is perhaps less impressive when it comes to pure processing grunt. It's rocking a mid-range Samsung Exynos 9609 processor and 'only' has 4GB of RAM. There's 128GB o...

Damien McFerran 15/05/2019 - 8:59am What's the difference? OnePlus has long been a major player in the smartphone arena but with the launch of its latest range, it has entered a new phase in its evolution. This year, OnePlus is releasing not one but two phones at roughly the same time, following the lead of companies like Apple, Samsung and Google by offering consumers a wider degree of choice at the point of purchase. But what's all the fuss about? What makes the new OnePlus 7 range so special, and which model should you go for? Allow us to help out. OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro – What's the Difference? As the 'Pro' naming suggests, the OnePlus 7 Pro is the more premium of the two models, which will be released at slightly different times. While the standard OnePlus 7 looks very similar to the OnePlus 6T – complete with teardrop notch – the Pro has some sweeping design changes that make it feel like an entirely different device when compared to the stand...

Michael Grothaus 13/05/2019 - 9:18pm Apple’s new TV app has arrived! Back in March Apple unveiled an insane amount of new services at its annual Spring event. Those services include the new Apple News+ new subscription service, the Apple Arcade gaming subscription service, and Apple TV+, an Apple video subscription service. Today the company released an updated iOS related to one of the biggest announcements at that March event: Apple’s TV subscription service. Now, no, Apple’s subscription service isn’t live yet, but with today’s iOS 12.3 update the company has launched the completely revamped TV app that that service will rely on. iOS 12.3 is also significant because it’s a fairly major update to iOS 12—and almost certainly the last major update to the mobile operating system before Apple previews iOS 13 next month at WWDC. So just what new features does iOS 12.3 bring? Read on… iOS 12.3: Apple’s New TV App Without a doubt, the biggest feature of iOS 12.3 is the new TV app...

Michael Grothaus 13/05/2019 - 2:28pm Here’s how to cancel after your 30-day free trial. I’ve long been a HUGE fan of the Apple News app. The app was first introduced in iOS 9 way back in 2015 and has gone through several iterations since then. At its most basic, the Apple News app is a news aggregator: is pulls articles and stories from multiple sources and serves them up to you based on your interests. Apple News wasn’t the first to do this, of course. Apps like Flipboard have been doing the news aggregation thing for a long time. But I always found Apple New more attractive because of its beautiful design and ease of use. Earlier this year Apple took News one step further by launching a subscription service. To be clear, Apple News IS NOT a paid app. You can still use the Apple News app and read thousands of articles for free. But Apple New’s new subscription service, called Apple News+, allows you to access more content from more sources. It gives subscribers access to ove...

Damien McFerran 13/05/2019 - 8:38am These true wireless headphones are well worth a listen £84.99 EOZ isn't a household name in the world of consumer tech just yet, but the company made some waves when it successfully crowdfunded its first pair of headphones, the EOZ One. The EOZ Air are the firm's latest pair of cans, and they aim to provide a seamless wireless audio experience at a competitive price, as well as remarkable stamina. Can this newcomer really shake things up in the portable audio arena? Let's find out. EOZ Air: Design The EOZ Air headphones are made from a combination of plastic and metal, protected with a nano-coating that ensures IPX5 protection. That's good enough for using them in the rain, but not totally submerging them in liquid – something we can't imagine most people would even consider doing anyway. The main body of the EOZ Air is quite chunky, and that's because the company has included 8mm electro-dynamic drivers (by w...

Damien McFerran 10/05/2019 - 8:24am More info coming next month Final Fantasy VII is one of those special video games that really did change the world of interactive entertainment; while on the surface it was 'just another Japanese RPG', it was such a massive success that it turned the genre into something that was globally-beloved; following its launch, JPRGs became a staple of console gaming, whereas previously they had been viewed as rather nerdy and certainly not mainstream. The game continues to be extremely influential even today, and its recent release on the Nintendo Switch has given a whole new generation access to one of the best JRPGs ever made. Final Fantasy VII has also enjoyed spin-off games, movies and shedloads of merchandise – but four years ago, Square Enix announced what should be the biggest Final Fantasy VII project yet: a remake of the original game on the PlayStation 4. To say that the Final Fantasy VII Remake has had a troubled genesis would be ...