Technology Simplified

Is social media making us dumber? Fox News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel on new evidence that technology is hurting us. via http://bit.ly/2wvho6v

If you're buying a new iPhone, this should be your starting point. from CNET Reviews - Most Recent Reviews https://cnet.co/2I6Uvf2

When Google officially announced the Android Q beta program at Google IO 2019 in early May, it revealed 21 handsets that were part of the beta program.  One of those handsets was Huawei's Mate 20 Pro, however, when the US Government put Huawei on the entity list , Huawei's products disappeared from the Android Enterprise program and the list of devices eligible for Android Q beta. However, the Huawei Mate 20 Pro has reappeared on the Android Q beta program , as spotted by Android Police . We don't know if there has been any progress on talks between Huawei and Google but this is surely good news for Mate 20 Pro owners that registered to be a part of the Android Q beta program. Re-instating the beta suggests that Mate 20 Pro will receive updates that Google posts to the Android Q beta program. Huawei calls for quick end to US ban Huawei ban: the global fallout explained How to download the Android Q developer beta from TechRadar - All the latest technology news...

Often praised as a steadfast holdout amongst smartphone manufacturers for its refusal to cave to handset trends that negatively impact the end user (i.e. removing the 3.5mm headphone jack), it now seems Samsung is planning to do just that, if a new report from Android Police is to be believed. Samsung Galaxy Note 10 could have a quad-lens camera Samsung Galaxy Note 10 may miss out on the new 64MP camera sensor Samsung Galaxy Note 10 looks set to offer 5G Citing a "source familiar with the company's plans", the site is reporting that Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 10 may finally (and regrettably) ditch the headphone jack that it's held onto for so long. Additionally, the report states that Samsung may also drop all physical buttons from the Galaxy Note 10, including volume and power keys, opting instead to use "capacitive or pressure-sensitive areas" which may or may not be "highlighted by some kind of raised 'bump' and/or texture al...

The end-of-financial-year sales in Australia are just around the corner and, as always, there'll be a massive list of bargains to look forward to, and plenty of tech that sells for cheap. During this time, retailers are often trying to get rid of aging stock they’ve accumulated over the year, or trying to reach sales targets. This is good news for the consumer, with substantial discounts available on a range of products – from cars to home appliances and pretty much everything else in between. It’s also the best time to get your own finances in order. At this time of year, you’ll find plenty of discounted products that are also tax deductible. So not only will you be able to snag a great bargain during Australia’s annual EOFY sales, but also get back in the form of tax returns. Planning on shopping on Amazon Australia during EOFY? Then save on shipping by signing up for a Prime membership . While it might be fun to visit brick-and-mortar stores to browse everything on sale, ...

At its fourth annual TrailheaDX developer conference, Salesforce announced its new low-code platform called Salesforce Blockchain that enables organizations to share verified, distributed data sets across a trusted network of partners and third parties. By bringing blockchain to its CRM platform, the company is enabling organizations to create blockchain networks, workflows and apps that have the potential to deliver entirely new customer experiences. To deliver increased connectivity for their organization and customers, businesses need to be able to harness and share massive amounts of data with their network of partners and third parties, all without sacrificing trust. Blockchain technology is able to solve this “ trust gap ” through the use of a distributed ledger that saves, traces and authenticates data across every employee and partner in the network. Salesforce resolves massive outage with gradual access restoration Demystifying enterprise blockchain Apple and Salesfo...

Computex 2019 is clearly the biggest computing trade show of the year, focused almost exclusively on the latest in desktop PCs and the components that power them. However, it has increasingly become a show about laptops, too, and 2019 is the biggest year for them yet at the Taipei show. We’ve sifted through a veritable ton of laptop news and hands-on reviews to bring you the absolute most exciting highlights from the show. You’ll find dual-screen wonders, incredible new redesigns and bold, fresh directions that will make 2019 a landmark year in mobile computing – all debuting at Computex 2019. Check out all of TechRadar's Computex 2019 coverage. We're live in Taipei to bring you all the breaking computing news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from fresh laptops and desktops to powerful new components and wild overclocking demonstrations. Asus has been experimenting with additional displays on its laptops for about a year or two, but the Asus ZenBook Pro D...

Update: Apple has released a blog post in anticipation of WWDC telling stories about passionate members of the Apple community: a young app developer fresh out of college and an older CEO of AssistiveWare, which has had a long relationship with the company improving accessibility. This is very typical of Apple: few hints for the big show, but the inspirational stories will tide us over. The Apple WWDC 2019 keynote date is days away on Monday, June 3. This close to the big event, we're predicting what will likely come from Apple CEO Tim Cook. In short? A lot of software updates. WWDC 2019 stands for Worldwide Developer's Conference 2019, so it traditionally appeals to app developers by giving early access to upcoming tools immediately. And for everyone else, especially iPhone and iPad owners, the show grants a first look at the company's digital offerings slated to come later in the year, and that's exciting, too. The mid-year Apple hype machine will almost certai...

The 2019 NBA Finals lineup is set and the Golden State Warriors will take on the Toronto Raptors in a best-of-seven series to see which team will be this year’s NBA champion. If you’re looking for a Warriors vs Raptors live stream, then you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading and we’ll show you exactly how to watch the 2019 NBA Finals online wherever you happen to find yourself in the world. For the first time in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors have advanced to the NBA Finals. The team may have lost two games to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference Finals but thanks to a run led by Kawhi Leonard, the Raptors managed to win Game 6 and earn themselves a spot in the Finals. The Golden State Warriors on the other hand, swept the Portland Trail Blazers 4-0 in the Western Conference Finals to advance to the final round. The Warriors are back in the Finals for the fifth straight season and the team will be shooting for their third title in a row. If they can pull it off...

Apple and other tech firms have rallied together to criticize a GCHQ proposal which would enable the UK government to eavesdrop on encrypted chat services . The iPhone maker, together with WhatsApp and 50 companies, civil society organizations and security experts, have signed an open letter calling on the GCHQ to abandon it so-called “ghost protocol” and instead focus its efforts on “protecting privacy rights, cybersecurity, public confidence and transparency”. Technical director of the UK's national cyber security centre, Ian Levy and head of cryptanalysis at GCHQ Crispin Robinson first raised the proposal back in November of 2018. Together they suggested a technique that would require encrypted messaging services to share any encrypted messages sent with a third recipient in addition to those already in a chat. US and UK governments call for mandatory backdoors in encrypted chat Five Eyes nations want access to your encrypted communications data The war for encrypted data...

The days of easily blocking ads in Google Chrome may soon be over thanks to a proposed change to the browser's extensions system called Manifest V3 that Google announced back in January. Manifest V3 would prevent current ad blockers from working efficiently and despite overwhelming negative feedback, the search giant is sticking to its guns concerning Chrome's ad blocking changes. However, enterprise users will not be affected and will be able to continue utilizing current ad blocking capabilities going forward. Once Manifest V3 goes into effect, Chrome's extension system will see a revamp to its permissions system as well as a fundamental change to how ad blockers operate.  Latest Google Chrome update draws government and telecom concerns Popular Chrome ad-blockers could be crippled under proposed design changes Google Chrome update blocks fake ads Ad blockers such as uBlock Origin and Ghostery, which rely on Chrome's webRequest API to block ads before they...

Sprint has officially launched its 5G network in a handful of US cities: Texas, Georgia and Kansas/Missouri today, with aims to expand to more including Los Angeles and New York City by the end of 2019. The carrier is the third to join the 5G race this year after Verizon and AT&T back in April. Sprint 5G is live today in Atlanta, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Kansas City. Customers can access the network by picking up a Sprint 5G phone – the LG V50 ThinQ 5G or an HTC 5G Hub , or the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G in the coming months (‘summer’ in the northern hemisphere).  Unlike the ‘millimeter wave’ 5G in Verizon and AT&T’s nascent networks, Sprint is opting to spread their low-frequency network essentially on top of its existing 4G LTE one – literally, with the carrier deploying its 5G Massive MIMO radios (which broadcast on the 2.5 Ghz mid-band spectrum that Sprint already uses) on existing 4G cell sites. The 5G network should then have similar (if not identical) covera...

NordVPN is known for providing VPN services to users around the world and now the company is expanding its offerings with the announcement of a new tool for securing files stored locally or in the cloud. The company's new cybersecurity tool called NordLocker will secure files stored on a user's computer or in the cloud with end-to-end encryption. NordVPN's CMO, Marty P. Kamden explained how NordLocker will make data security more accessible to all users, saying: “We at NordVPN believe that the digital environment must be better than it is today. As a company, we strive to move towards becoming an all-around cybersecurity solution that people trust. By releasing NordLocker, we want to make top-notch data security available for everyone – regardless of their tech skills. To achieve this, we combine the best usability practices with the highest encryption standards.”  NordVPN kills popular free trial due to widespread abuse BullGuard and NordVPN announce new partners...

After laying dormant for close to a decade, Activision has finally announced the next game in the Call of Duty Modern Warfare franchise called… well, Modern Warfare.  The game was unveiled in a new trailer posted by Activision that stars one of the game’s protagonists, Captain Price, and gives us our first look at some of the locales we’ll be visiting in our next tour of duty. (We’ve posted it down below.)  One of the most striking parts of the trailer, however, is all of the nightvision scenes, where the footage seems almost identical to real-life raids. According to Activision, everything in the trailer was in-game footage, so that seems really promising. According to information sent to TechRadar in a press release, the game won’t feature a traditional season pass and will instead offer at least some of its map packs for free. We’ve also seen reports that Modern Warfare will support cross-play between the three platforms - though, thanks to some pre-existing deals betwee...

If you don't want to wait for Amazon Prime Day to snag deals on best-selling devices, then you should take advantage of today's sale on Fire TV sticks. You can get the best-selling 2nd generation Fire TV stick on sale for just $29.99 . That's a $10 discount and the best price we've found for the streaming media player. Amazon also has the 4K Fire TV stick on sale for $39.99 . The Fire TV stick allows you to stream thousands of movies and TV shows, and gives you access to thousands of apps, games and Alexa skills. You can also browse websites like YouTube and Facebook or stream your favorite songs through services like Apple Music and Spotify. The 2nd generation streaming device now features an Alexa voice remote so you can launch Netflix, browse movies, turn on the TV and more with the command of your voice. You can also ask Alexa to control other compatible smart home devices using the remote. If you want to stream your favorite movies and TV shows in 4K Ultra HD...

We may not know much about Starfield, but by goodness are we excited. Bethesda's upcoming single-player RPG set in outer space marks the gaming giant's first new IP for 25 years.  But just what is the game about? And, more importantly, when will we actually be able to play it? During the game's shock announcement at E3 2018, Bethesda boss Todd Howard called Starfield "our next-generation, single-player epic". However, Bethesda wouldn't divulge any more details apart from a short teaser trailer announcing the game and showing off its logo. However that hasn't stopped us from boarding the hype train with a first-class ticket. There's nothing more exciting than whetting your appetite for a new game by future gazing (or star gazing in this case). So, in that spirit, we've searched the galaxy to bring you the latest news and rumors on Starfield. Here's everything you need to know. [ Update: Starfield isn't likely to make an appearance at E...

Baltimore's mayor blames NSA for ransomware attack that cripple city's computer networks Mayor Jack Young says the ransomware is a spinoff of a cyberweapon that hackers stole it from the NSA in a 2017 breach; Gillian Turner reports from Baltimore. via http://bit.ly/30UTdMJ

New app tracks data trackers on your mobile device It may come as a surprise that there are dozens of trackers running on your iPhone, delivering the data they gather throughout the day and night. via http://bit.ly/2W4hMDo

Navy wants 350 billion social media posts for epic research project The U.S. Navy wants to amass 350 billion social media posts for a massive data archive that will provide new insight into how people communicate online. via https://fxn.ws/2KgQ83F

Anthem, BioWare's cooperative, team-based shooter is a change of pace for the makers of Dragon Age and Mass Effect. With a focus on cooperative PvE combat popularized by the likes of Destiny, it landed amid a swirl of hype and expectation, which it has so far failed to meet. Anthem has a big challenge in front of it then – with arguments that its endgame content is weak, its loot system broken and its story not up to scratch when compared with previous narrative-driven BioWare RPGs, it's fighting to win back the hearts of those who were initially in awe of its promise. With EA backing it and BioWare's heritage at its heart, there's hope yet that Anthem will be redeemed. It's being touted as a "living" game after all – one that will evolve over time to keep its fans entranced long after launch – and the likes of behemoths such as Destiny and Fortnite all went through rough launches before becoming gaming juggernauts. So what's the latest Anthem news...

Baltimore seeks federal aid to pay for damage caused by crippling ransomware attack Residents are still unable to pay city water bills, tickets, taxes and close real estate deals online, prompting city employees to work 12-hour shifts in order to conduct all day-to-day city business; Gillian Turner reports from Baltimore. via http://bit.ly/2XgyroC

US military building ‘missile-killing’ lasers that it will mount onto jets Anti-missile lasers could soon be attached to U.S. fighter jets after a successful ground test. via https://fxn.ws/2EJ1tWP

This morning’s Moto Z4 news was good cause to go back and reassess the state of the modular phone. Three years after the line launched, the concept hasn’t exactly ignited the market — in fact there are really just a handful of scattered competitors to show for it. Essential is among the most prominent with the PH-1’s clever two pin connector. By sheer coincidence, it turns out today is the two year anniversary of the company’s debut. Founder Andy Rubin took to the stage at Code 2017 with big ideas and two products. One, the Ph-1 has come and gone, launching a couple of months late in August 2017 before being discontinued late last year. The other, the Essential Home hub never appeared at all. The day the products were announced, then COO Niccolo de Masi (who appears to have since moved on to Honeywell spinoff, Resideo), spoke of a the company’s ten-year plan. It was an acknowledgement that it had a tough road ahead, as it planned to take on big names like Apple and Samsung. But ...

Netflix has confirmed that its raising subscription prices by up to 20% for UK customers. According to The Guardian the cost of a Standard plan is set to rise by £1 to £8.99, while a Premium plan is increasing by £2 to £11.99. There's good news for Basic plan subscribers though – that price remains unchanged at £5.99 per month.  The best Netflix series in the UK Best movies on Netflix this month Disney Plus vs Netflix : who will win? The Basic plan gives you access to all of Netflix's TV shows and films in standard definition, and limits you to watching on one device at a time.  The next step up from that is the Standard plan, which gives you HD 1080p streams, and allows you to watch on two devices at any one time. Finally, you have the Premium subscription package, which lets you watch on up to four devices concurrently, as well as giving you access to Netflix's growing 4K, HDR library of films and shows.  Increased competition  Netflix says that new c...

Until a price rise that can only be described as slightly extortionate in nature, Google Pixel 3 deals were our go to affordable phone. But like the saying goes - what goes up most come down. After spending some time at the higher end of most people's budgets, Pixel prices have now been slashed right back down. That means that you can now grab a Google Pixel 3 from as low as £20 a month . Even the bigger Pixel 3 XL has joined in slashing a few hundred off the price tag.  While we would love to sit here and put this down to miracles or the perfect combination of luck and timing, these kind of price drops do actually happen all the time with mobile phone deals . One minute a phone is at an all time low, next it's looking down at you from the top of its brand new high price tag. So when a phone drops in price, grabbing it quickly before it shoots back up is necessary to avoid those pricey phone blues.  You can see our picks for the best Google Pixel offers post price cut b...

The latest model iPad is getting a rare price cut at Walmart. For a limited time, you can get the latest model Apple iPad that's on sale for $249 . That's an $80 discount and the lowest price we've found for the 32GB tablet. The 2018 iPad features a 9.7-inch retina display and offers 32GB of storage. The tablet includes an impressive 1.2MP HD front-facing camera and an A10 Fusion chip which results in a powerful laptop-like performance. The additional power also allows you to use the latest apps that include augmented reality experiences. The Apple iPad features an all-day battery life of 10 hours and uses Touch-ID so you can securely unlock your tablet with a tap of your finger. This is an excellent deal from Walmart, and a fantastic price for a newer-model iPad. This deal is a limited-time promotion, so make sure you take advantage while you can. Walmart also has the Apple iPad Mini on sale for $329 . That's a $70 discount for the 8-inch tablet that features 128...

Military sealift may need more help to get combat vehicles to Europe As the Pentagon accelerates its pivot toward great power competition and moves beyond 15 years of counterinsurgency, the US military continues to build up forces, increase training and conduct exercises with regional allies in both the European and Pacific theaters.   via https://fxn.ws/2QELttG

Military sealift may deed more help to get combat vehicles to Europe As the Pentagon accelerates its pivot toward great power competition and moves beyond 15 years of counterinsurgency, the US military continues to build up forces, increase training and conduct exercises with regional allies in both the European and Pacific theaters.   via https://fxn.ws/2HOKrZn

Summer is officially here, and if you're looking for a pair of quality headphones for your upcoming travels, then you've come to the right place. Amazon has the Sony WH-CH700N Noise Cancelling Headphones on sale for $128 . That's an $80 discount and the best price we've found today for the wireless headphones. The Sony headphones block out unwanted noise with its artificial intelligence noise canceling technology that analyzes background sound and adjusts for an improved music experience. To active just tap the NC button and the headphones will instantly adapt to your surroundings. The wireless headphones are Bluetooth enabled with NFC one-touch so you can stream music seamlessly from your device and make calls hands-free with the built in microphone. The Sony headphones also provide an impressive all-day battery with up to 35-hours of battery life with a quick 10-minute charge that provides 60-minutes of playback. This is a fantastic deal if you're looking for ...

After the long, gruelling 2019 NBA season, we're finally there. The Golden State Warriors have booked their place in a fifth consecutive NBA Finals, and the Raptors have made it to their first ever. The last of this season's postseason action is ready to enjoy and we’re here to help you get an NBA Playoffs live stream of every game.  We have now moved onto the NBA Finals where the Golden State Warriors (can they really be stopped?) have already dispatched the Portland Trail Blazers and the Toronto Raptors overcame the Milwaukee Bucks. Whether your favorite team is competing in the Western or Eastern Conference, we’ll show you how to watch a live stream of every game in the 2019 NBA Playoffs online so you don’t miss a single basket this postseason. Baseball fan? You should also check out our MLB live stream guide How to watch the 2019 NBA Playoffs online from outside your country If you live in the US or UK and want to know how to catch a 2019 NBA Playoffs live stream, th...