PC & Tech Authorityの August 2015 の目次

There is no doubt that Computex week is the big one on the PC tech calendar. Like all trade shows – at least the big established successful ones – if you’re a player you need to be there. We are, as should be magnificently clear, players of the highest order, so a posse of four Nextmedia crew hit it and hard. As always, it was stinking hot and the show itself was welcome respite from the blazing Taipei tropical heat. There inside, is to be found the standard trade show hierarchy. At the top of the food chain are the Big Three of Taiwan: Gigabyte, Asus and MSI. The effort these guys put into a display is essentially what you would expect of Electronic Arts at E3 or Ford or…

GOOGLE PHOTOS Photography fans will be keen to look at Google Photos, an extension to the firm’s existing photo-storage system. It aims to converge all of your pictures into one place, rather than leave them scattered across multiple devices and cloud storage. Google Photos will organise images automatically, by dates, places and even people (without the need for tagging). The flipside is that this involves reading metadata and using facial recognition, so those concerned about privacy may prefer to avoid the free service. While the search giant is offering unlimited storage, it’s setting a resolution limit of 16 megapixels for photos and 1080p for videos – sure to disappoint anyone with a decent DSLR. Google Photos is available immediately for desktop, Android and iOS. FROM SMART JEANS TO ENCRYPTION The…

New things to put on your desk and head Oculus has revealed the consumer edition of the Rift. The VR headset will ship with an Xbox One controller, a tabletop camera which tracks the LED markers on the headset to interpret head movement. The headset will display games through a combination of two AMOLED displays with low image persistence, which will reduce the chances of image burn-in and reduce blur. The headset’s frame is wrapped in a cloth cover, though the reason for this is unknown. Oculus’ partnership with Microsoft means the Rift will run Windows 10 natively, and play Xbox One games via the headset. The partnership also means that this is the first time the headset will be shipped with a controller. Previously, players who wanted to use…

HOW TO GET IT BECOME A WINDOWS INSIDER Almost four million Windows users are already testdriving a preview build of Windows 10. You can too, by signing up to the Windows Insider Programme (insider.windows.com). Through the Windows Feedback app, Insiders can also submit bug reports to Microsoft and vote on feature requests – so Windows 10 will be shaped by real user feedback. WHEN IS THE OFFICIAL RELEASE? At the time of writing, Microsoft hasn’t set a firm date for the release of Windows 10, but all the signs are that it will be with us sooner rather than later, with final code potentially provided to manufacturers of PCs and tablets as early as mid-July. That would mean we’d see Windows 10 systems in the shops in time for the…

The D-Link 4G LTE VoIP Router with SIM card Slot, unlike ADSL2+ or cable modem routers, takes advantage of the increasing proliferation of 4G services to get you online. The D-Link router currently ships with a Globalgig 4G SIM card with $30 of credit. Once the SIM is registered and inserted into the back of the router, the D-Link uses Globalgig’s 3G/4G network (supplied via Optus) to get you connected to the Internet. You can also use data SIM cards from other network providers, but be aware that this router does not work with the newer 700MHz frequency used by Telstra & Optus. This means you will be sharing bandwidth with other devices on the older 1800MHz frequency. The router is capable of 4G download speeds up to 100Mbps and…

Different people want different things from a smartphone. Some value appearance and design above all else. Others want the fastest performance. A fair number, however, value the practical things in life, and it’s these folk who will be looking closely at the LG G4: of the current generation, it’s the only major smartphone with both a microSD slot and a removable battery. The question is, does the rest of it pass muster? In its basic shape and controls, the G4 breaks no new ground. The rear is still gently curved and fits in your hand nicely. The volume and power buttons still reside in the centre of the rear panel, just below the camera lens. The overall dimensions haven’t changed much either. The LG G4 is slightly taller and wider…

$69 (64GB), $39 (32GB), $29 (16GB) • www.sandisk.com/dualdrive This is not a complicated product. It’s simply USB storage, but with a regular USB 3.0 plug on one end, and a microSD plug on the other, and it’s OTG-enabled. In between the two connectors, within its 3cm long body, is 64GB of storage (16 and 32GB also available). The idea is that it’s your new tool for transferring data between devices, and that would primarily be smartphones to tablets to PCs, a task that should be straightforward but often involves annoying apps or clouds. It’s also handy dandy to use as a plain old USB drive, with the utility of having dual connectivity options. If simple dragging and dropping is a bit of a chore, SanDisk has its Memory Zone app…

$39 • www.roccat.org This sexy little desk scorpion is a mouse bungee and powered USB hub in one, we must say, very attractive form. I saw this at Computex at the Roccat stand, and rudely zeroed in on it, temporarily ignoring the more... important products from Roccat. It looks sensational on a desk, with that lovely rubbery plastic texture and blue lighting to make it stareworthy. Passersby, too, will stop and gape, before asking what the heck it is. The actual utility value of mouse bungees all depends on how you mouse, and what you mouse with. Twitch gamers love them, as do a couple of graphic designers here in the building, all because they raise the mouse cable and make the mouse itself feel like it’s gliding free like…

Even the most cursory glance will tell you that the Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 is no ordinary wireless extender. For a start, it looks more like a router, with a 252 x 174mm footprint and three sizeable antennas sticking out at the back. You can use it in its horizontal orientation or place it vertically on the supplied stand, but either way it’s a formidable piece of networking kit, with a distinctive, angular design. What’s more, that design has been thought through. The single USB 3 port is accessible at the front, with five Gigabit Ethernet ports around the back. Admittedly, it’s a little odd that the WPS button is smaller than the power button and located on the rear, but you’ll need it only when adding new devices to the…

D-Link’s DAP-1520 seems miraculously good value, sporting dual-band 802.11ac support at a price you’d expect to pay for a single-band 802.11n product. There are signs it’s been stripped back to hit this price point, though: it’s the only extender on test without an Ethernet port, and the exterior design is very basic. However, if all you want is a wireless signal in an upstairs room, this might not bother you. Intriguingly, the DAP-1520 can be set up through either a browser-based control panel or through D-Link’s mobile app. The former approach involves logging on to a temporary network and entering a WPA password before you can do anything, so it’s not quite as simple a process as it could be. The app makes setup a little easier, and may also…

The TP-Link RE210 has one advantage over rival wall-plug 802.11ac extenders: it off ers a Gigabit Ethernet port, where most stick to a basic 10/100 connection. Don’t get too excited: the connection between the extender and your 802.11ac router will still be a bottleneck, but at fairly close range this could double as a wireless bridge. The quick-start guide recommends a WPS setup, which works perfectly well. Using the browser-based wizard gives you more options, however, including the choice of separate SSIDs for the extended 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks. Otherwise, the control panel is functional but spartan, with basic LAN and WLAN configuration pages, update tools and a status page. As far as finding the optimal location goes, TP-Link could make it a lot easier. The guide advises you to…

Computer management involves a lot of repetition. Whether you’re supporting a multinational corporation, or just helping out friends and family, you probably find yourself doing the same tasks over and over again. You might even have a collection of utilities that you’ve carefully curated over the years to help you deal with the issues you come across regularly. If this sounds familiar, then one addition to your toolbox that will prove invaluable is PowerShell. PowerShell is basically a scripting language and an interactive shell. In that way it’s similar to the familiar command prompt, or the Windows Script Host that handles JScript and VBScript files. It’s more powerful than either, however: there are things that you might want to do in the Windows ecosystem that can only be achieved with…

There are many examples of 3D-printed construction around the world: China is home to the first 3D-printed apartment building, and a 3D-printed estate, complete with swimming pool, can be found in New York. Now, Facit Homes is building a 3D-printed home in London’s Highgate. We spoke to managing director Bruce Bell for an insider’s guide to the technology. How does the technology work? Is it really “3D-printed”? “People like to use the term [3D printing],” Bell said, but revealed that he tries to avoid it. “But it makes sense in a way, because you’re using a computer... and you’re getting components that are an exact replica of what you see on the screen. Conceptually, it’s the same thing.” However, the actual production techniques employed to build homes aren’t the same…

FEATURES +ASHAMPOO WINOPTIMIZER + ABELSSOFT ANTILOGGER + PANDA ANTI-VIRUS 2015+ XARA WEB DESIGNER 7 SILVER + ICECREAM PDF SPLIT & MERGE PRO DRIVERS + ATI CATALYST + NVIDIA FORCEWARE HELP + DISCLAIMER + DAMAGED OR FAULTY DVDS + USING THIS DVD + INSTALLING SOFTWARE EDITORIAL + BURNING AN ISO IMAGE + PC&TA EDITORIALS TROUBLESHOOTING + SERIAL CODES + BLANK REGISTRATION WEBSITE + CAN’T FIND A FILE? + INSTALLATION ERROR WINDOWS CCLEANER + CLASSIC SHELL + CUTEPDF + DEFRAGGLER + FOXIT READER + GREENSHOT + APPLE ITUNES + LIBRE OFFICE + OPEN OFFICE + MALWAREBYTES’ A/M + SANDBOXIE + VLC MEDIA PLAYER + FLUX + 7ZIP MAC + ALFRED + BETTERTOUCHTOOLS + APPLE ITUNES + DROPBOX + FLUX + GOOGLE CHROME + MOZILLA FIREFOX + PLEX + SKYPE + TEAMVIEWER +…

I discovered that my site had an issue. Running a workshop for a group of small businesses and entrepreneurs, I was showing attendees how to get images to the top of Google and Bing. Correctly formatting the image, using descriptive titles, and adding wellformed Alt tags will help pages climb in search results – something that many web designers forget to do when adding images to a client’s site. Part of my demonstration includes carrying out a search for an image with the term “Amastra kitten”, “Clyde kitten” or “Eileen Brown kitten”. This usually brings up an image of my ginger kitten Clyde to the top of Bing and Google. Then the shock: in the search results, Google had marked that my site, Amastra.com, “may be hacked”. This isn’t what…

There is a common meme out there that the net was designed to be impervious to a nuclear attack. After all, it stemmed from the American military and university worlds, and keeping the key players connected was necessary as part of the original Arpanet design. So it isn’t surprising that many believe it has the ability to cope with anything that’s thrown at it. And this is true, up to a point. For example, the protocols that control routing can cope with outages in the links, rerouting around a problem, providing that particular part of the net is set up to do this. This happens at the big hubs, because outages can’t be allowed to disconnect whole wedges of the internet in one swoop. It’s also true that you could…

INDEX THIS When I purchased my Windows 7 laptop four years ago I used Windows Experience Index to purchase what appeared to be the best laptop in my price range. Several had similar specifications, but the one I selected had the best MS rating. I used the comparisons as I believed it helped demonstrate which one had the best component integration. It was relatively easy (at the time) as I simply opened System in the Control Panel on each laptop and compared results. The differences for similar specs were shocking. With Windows 8 & 10, MS has removed the graphical interface, making comparisons much more difficult. While there is no doubt there are better real world tests, I believe the MS Index makes a very good basic system comparison and…

HOT INTEL THUNDERBOLT 3 In one stroke, Intel has elegantly given us what will probably be the next decade or two’s connectivity standard. It doubles the Thunderbolt 2 20 Gbps transfer rate, quadruples USB 3.1 speeds and all with a universal USB-C connector and 100w of power down the line to boot. NOT STYLE OVER FUNCTION This month’s star culprit is the gaming headset. Priority #1 is to make them look like something Darth Vader would wear, so add lots of heavy plastic and some lights, then make the cup area crazy-shaped so it looks cool but fits no normal ear on the planet.…

Every small tech company dreams of piquing the interest of a giant such as Intel – and Basis has made that dream a reality. Intel was so enthralled by Basis’ original vision of the activity tracker, the Basis B1, that it snapped up the company for its new Devices Group. Now Basis has unleashed the Basis Peak – a device it describes as “the ultimate fitness and sleep tracker”. That’s quite a claim, but the Basis Peak is different to its rivals: this is a fitness tracker in the purest, most hands-off sense. A clutch of sensors monitor your vitals continually, and this stream of data allows the Peak to recognise sleep patterns, bike rides and runs – all without any intervention. Strap it to your wrist and you can…

$149 • www.kingston.com Two huge 53mm drivers in the HyperX Cloud II provide excellent sound quality and not just for the price range. The full range of sound is excellent, all the way from the punchy bass through to the clear treble. In addition to the standard 3.5mm jack that makes the Cloud II a suitable headset for nearly any audio device, the headset also comes with a USB virtual 7.1 soundcard that also features simple in-line controls. The 7.1 virtualisation is good for the most part, with Kingston’s software generally doing a good job working out from which direction each sound originates, but the overall audio quality takes a little bit of a hit, becoming slightly less defined than a straight stereo input. The detachable microphone is also excellent,…

www.imation.com • $119 (16GB), $149 (32GB), $189 (64GB) This palm-sized 110g minibrick has a 3000mAh battery, and functions as a portable power source for your mobile devices. It also has onboard memory for data storage, which is its big appeal. So, it’s a cross between a battery and a USB drive. That’s some party trick and its usefulness is greater than the sum of its two functions. You do pay for the convenience; however, as you would be paying roughly half the cost of this for a regular power brick of similar capacity and a separate USB drive. Annoyingly it’s only USB 2, but that’s supplemented by a Lightening connector, so I suppose that sort of evens it out. It’s also Mac-only at this stage. An Android version hasn’t been…

$80 • www.antec.com This is the second budget Antec case we’ve seen in recent months, and while GX900 comes in black and military green, with black and yellow hazard stripes around the front fascia, the GX300 is altogether more traditional. It’s plain black, with some design flourishes that set it apart, but for the main it’s very workmanlike – in a good way! With two fans bring air in, and one taking it out, it keeps positive internal pressure, which is great for keeping your system dust-free. The slight rise to the front panel also helps this. There’s a drive cage which can be configured for any size of drive, or stripped down to make more room, though not a lot of space for cable management. With a windowed side-panel,…

While some extenders are happy to compete on price and performance, Asus is focusing on product design and innovative features. On paper, the RP-AC52 is just another wall-plug AC750 extender with built-in Ethernet, but it has a compact, angular design and interesting, pseudo-quilted finish to distinguish it. You also get audio-streaming features and a built-in nightlight, activated by a configurable touch panel at the front. Plus, if a soft glow doesn’t do it for you, you can also connect the RP-AC52 via Ethernet to a wired network and use it as a wireless access point. Not all of these features work brilliantly, however. The Ethernet is 10/100 rather than Gigabit, while audio streaming requires Asus’ own AiPlayer Android app for streaming tracks from local and network sources, which must be…

Linksys’ compact dual-band 802.11n extender is notable for its ability to double as a wireless audio streamer. But where the similarly featured Asus RP-AC52 targets Android devices running specific Asus and third-party apps, the Linksys works as a DLNA-compliant media extender, and even works with the “Play To” button in Windows Media Player. Hook up a pair of speakers and you have a simple wireless music system as well as an extended Wi-Fisignal. This aside, the RE4100W is short on exciting features. It’s a compact and unobtrusive device, but its one and only Ethernet port is a basic 10/100 effort, and its single LED gives precious little help when you’re trying to find the optimum position for your new extender. The quick-start guide simply advises you to place the extender…

ZyXEL’s 802.11 AC750 extender is one of the smallest and lightest on test; it isn’t going to win any design awards, but you’ll hardly notice that it’s there. On the downside, it’s also a bit short on exciting features. The presence of a single 10/100 Ethernet port puts it ahead of the D-Link DAP-1520, as does an access point mode, but you won’t find more than simple connectivity here. The easiest way to get set up is to use WPS to configure the extender, in which case it’s automatic, with new SSIDs created for the extended 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks by default. The browser-based configuration feels like a fallback option, although it exposes more configuration and status tools for advanced users. Positioning is a case of using the colour-coded LEDs…

Fallout 4 Fallout 4’s announcement couldn’t be more timely, or succinct. Among the many appeals, Bethesda announced a whole raft of customisation options, mod support for consoles, and, as a first for the series, a voiced playable character. Other innovations include changing the V.A.T.S. system, so that it follows a more bullet-time approach, rather than freezing time and acting as an ‘auto-win’ button. Previews also show power armour that players climb inside, a more dynamic pip-boy UI which also includes retro-style mini-games, and a dialogue system that allows players to leave a conversation, or shoot the NPC they’re talking to. Building on the news and anticipation, Bethesda has released Fallout Shelter, a free mobile app that’s more asset than gimmick, offering hours of gameplay that doesn’t rely on typical skinner-box…

To create a PowerShell script, you can open the Integrated Scripting Environment directly from the Start menu (or Start screen if you’re using Windows 8). By default it will open with an interactive command line; click the New icon or press Ctrl+N to open a new script-editing pane, into which you can type your code. Here’s a sample script for removing multiple Windows Store apps: # When the Gridview control pops up, you can select multiple apps by shift/ctrl clicking Get-AppxPackage | Out-Gridview –PassThru | ForEach-Object{ $AppName = $_.name # In a ForEach loop, $_ is the current object Remove-AppxPackage -Package $_ -Confirm # The Confirm parameter is a safety net # Some built-in apps can’t be removed, so let’s check that If ($?) { # $? is a handy…

Elon Musk wants us to drive electric cars, travel through supersonic Hyperloop tubes, and spend our holidays in space – and now he’s turned his attention to home energy. His company Tesla has unveiled a home battery system called Powerwall that lets you store solar energy to power your home. IS POWERWALL THE FUTURE OF ENERGY? Musk thinks so – and so do tens of thousands of others who have pre-ordered the battery. A BATTERY? PEOPLE ARE EXCITED BY A BATTERY? They are – Musk claims that 38,000 people have already signed up for what is, essentially, a giant rechargeable lithium-ion battery. They’re hoping it lives up to Musk’s promises of being less battery and more home-energy-management system. AND WHAT MAKES IT SO SMART? The Powerwall is charged via solar…

Microsoft unveiled more details about its Windows 10 plans at its recent Build conference. Many were reportedly enough to make the audience gasp, and to fill the blogosphere with an outpouring of extreme geek love. t’s look at the upside first. Microsoft clearly knows how deep a black hole it created with Windows 8 and is determined to crawl out of it using Windows 10 as a ladder. As I’ve said before, many – even most – of the stupid mistakes that happened in Windows 8/8.1 are being addressed in 10, which can only be a good thing. It’s too late to discuss how and why Windows 8 happened the way it did: that’s for lecturers at business schools to pontificate upon to future students (which is, coincidentally, where Mr…

There’s no shortage of encryption technology out there, and this has been true since Phil Zimmermann first created Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) and released its source code into the public domain in 1991. PGP was the first public-key crypto program to gain worldwide popularity, but by 2004 TrueCrypt had taken over as the encryption solution for many individuals and business users. The open-source nature of its code; the full-disk encryption on off er for free; the huge community of users; its “volume within a volume” plausible-deniability option; the fact that it’s tried, tested and, above all, reliable and secure mean that for ten years it’s ruled the roost. Despite the last release being version 7.1a in 2012, it looked as though TrueCrypt might remain as popular for the next ten…

LENOVO SMARTPHONE USES PROJECTOR FOR KEYBOARD Lenovo has revealed a concept smartphone that can project a display you can interact with, giving users a bigger touchscreen surface or keyboard. The Smart Cast system uses a built-in pico projector combined with laser sensors, but the technology isn’t expected to arrive in retail devices for another year or two. WINDOWS 10 RELEASE DATE CONFIRMED Microsoft has confirmed that Windows 10 will be released on 29 July as a free upgrade to those on Windows 7 and 8.1 (see p18 for our feature on Windows 10). Windows Insiders – those who have been testing the new OS in beta – will also receive free upgrades.…

CPU INTEL LAUNCHES BLACK SHEEP E3 saw Intel launch its socketed desktop refresh CPUs as it waits for Skylake production to come online. The i7 5775C and i5 5675C are curious products to be launching. They’re not any faster than the previous generation Haswell parts (namely the i7 4790K and i5 4690 respectively) in general compute tasks. However they do draw a whole 20W less power with a smaller 65W peak TDP rating while packing in their big ticket item, the Iris Pro integrated graphics with integrated eDRAM, giving them quite a speed bump in the graphics department. So much so, they actually outperform the typically strong (in graphics benchmarks) AMD APU’s by as much as 30%! With the rumour mill suggesting an early August launch for Intel’s new Skylake…

One of esteemed readers, Dennis posed the following question to us recently. “Desktop computers are the dinosaurs of the digital age and I’m not sure that your fine magazine should be giving disproportionate coverage to the diminishing tribe of their owners Of course, minorities must be respected and given their due weight in your magazine. I am certainly not about to call any of your esteemed readers energy-sucking, greenhouse gas emitting vampires or anything of the sort. But I wonder whether, if it is good enough to have energy star ratings on other domestic appliances, why they are not present on computers? Perhaps you could kick things o by providing some energy-consumption figures on the machines you review, both when idling and in use?” The challenge for the computer industry…

You won’t find better reviews anywhere in Australia! Can AMD trounce Nvidia with its Fury/X video card? At the time of writing... I don’t know! As I write, it is about an hour to go before we send this issue off to the printers. It’s also a day since the first Fury X video card arrived in Australia and was expressed over to us for testing and the review by AMD. So, this is one of those thrilling ‘hold the front page’ moments in publishing. So very exciting. Our kind production department spun some plates and gave us an extra 24 hours for the three pages that have been given to the Fury X. So, overnight, tonight, our printer is preparing 98% of the magazine and will add the three…

There are times when good looks and sleek design must take second place to practicality – situations when tough is more important than pretty. So it is with the 2015 edition of the Dell Chromebook 11. It may not be stylish, but it’s unfussy and practical, and for the target market – the education sector – that’s exactly what’s needed. That’s not to say that Dell has skimped on design. The manufacturer says the laptop has passed US Military Standard testing, and while you’re unlikely to need to use it under enemy fire, that sturdiness means it’s more than equal to the knocks of student life. It’s covered in solidfeeling matte-black plastic that hides any smudges or scratches, and encircled by rubber bumpers that protect against drops. Open it up…

This machine was supposed to be in last issue’s mainstream laptops group test, but an unfortunate courier incident saw it miss out. It would have stacked up reasonably well, so let’s have a look now. Its strongest feature is the i7 5500U CPU. At this price most competitors offer an i5, or even a Core M. The Lenovo Yoga 3 14 for example is very similar is spec, with an identical CPU, similar form factor but is $400 more. With that machine, however, you get a superior GPU (Nvidia 940M vs Nvidia 820M for the Acer), a higher resolution screen and an SSD. The 820M GPU won’t be much chop for gaming at high detail, and its 1TB hard drive won’t compete for read and write speed – so what…

The Seagate Personal Cloud 2-Bay 8TB is a consumer NAS device for the home. It has a minimalist design, piano black finish and set-top box dimensions. The appeal for home users lies in its ease of use, and its combination of media sharing and backup capabilities. Once connected to your network via the Gigabit Ethernet port, setup via the device’s webpage is straightforward, requiring a firmware update and setting up a Seagate Access account, which enables the cloud (remote access) functionality. You can also choose to run the two internal drives in RAID 0 (to make full use of all 8TB), or RAID 1 (halving the available capacity to enable redundancy) during the device’s setup. You can upload files to the drive a number of ways. You can download and…

$99 • www.steelseries.com Similar in design to the great Steelseries Siberia V2 headset as well as the pricier V3 Prism, the V3 headset features two large ear cups connected with a structural band and a floating head strap that sits the headset lightly and comfortably in place. As far as design goes, the Siberia V3 is a winner. It looks great and is extremely comfortable to wear. It’s also equally good when it comes to sound quality. Like the V2, the Siberia V3 has a flattened EQ which means that there isn’t the bass enhancement you find in the majority of gaming headsets. The 50mm drivers provide excellent audio through the mid to high ranges but lack a little bit of oomph when it comes to the bass. For the…

$5900 • www.leica-camera.com Lieca’s newest addition to their line up is a stunning rangefinder-styled camera sporting a Summilux 28 mm f/1.7 ASPH. lens and a 24MP full frame CMOS sensor, that together produce truly beautiful, sharp images. The Leica Q also features an industry leading integrated electronic viewfinder with a resolution of 3.68MP, making capturing fine details, framing and exposing correctly a breeze. Once you starting shooting with the Q, you fall even more in love with it. Not only does it look and feel amazing in the hand, its performance and usability is as exciting as its looks. Incredibly fast focus, the option to shoot at 28mm, 35mm or 50mm, macro shooting at just 17cm, good high ISO performance, touch screen focusing and an easy to use smartphone app…

There are two things that might put you off the Linksys RE6500. The first is that it’s a little more expensive than most 802.11ac extenders, coming in at around $130. Second, it isn’t a neat all-in-one unit that plugs into a mains socket, but a device that looks a little like a scaled-down router, complete with its own power supply. On the first point, we’d argue that the RE6500’s features and performance make the extra expense worthwhile. On the second, it’s still very compact and discreet, while the separate power supply gives you valuable flexibility on positioning. Place it on a bookshelf or windowsill or, better still, mount it on a wall, and you’ll probably get a better signal than rivals stuck in a plug socket down near the floor.…

It’s one of the cheapest extenders around, and it hails from one of the most established networking brands – but unfortunately, the price of Netgear’s WN3000RP is reflected in its specs. This is a simple, single-band 802.11n extender with a single 10/100 Ethernet port, two external antennas and not much else. On the plus side, it comes wrapped up in a very small and unobtrusive wall-plug design – it’s quite likeable if you’re not upset by the sight of aerials. In theory, setup should be simple, but we were unable to persuade the WN3000RP to connect to our router through the magic of WPS, and had to resort to a clunky browser-based wizard. While not as user-friendly as Linksys’ setup process, this worked fine, connecting to the existing network and…

Are there any specifications as confusing as the numbers printed on the outside of wireless networking products? Promotional messages on boxes and in adverts talk of speeds of 300Mbits/sec, 600Mbits/sec or 1,300Mbits/sec, but try connecting to a router in anything other than optimal laboratory conditions and you’ll find realworld bandwidth falls short of the mark. Throw distance into the mix and those real-world speeds fall further, while with Wi-Fiextenders, the headline speeds grow even sillier. The box still says 300Mbits/sec, 600Mbits/sec or more, while actual throughput inside your home may be as low as 70Mbits/sec. That’s why it’s smart to be realistic about your expectations. Buying an extender won’t see you backing up files to a NAS drive at 300Mbits/sec if you’re working from a back bedroom that hasn’t previously…

KICKSTARTER FOR IOS/ANDROID (FREE) Monitor donations and send campaign updates from wherever you are with Kickstarter’s official mobile app. At present you still need a desktop computer to launch or edit your campaign. BOOMERANG FOR GMAIL (unlimited, from $5/mth) Craft personal emails and send them to potential backers at the ideal time of day with this email-scheduling tool. KICKTOTAL (www.kicktotal.com/kicktotal2) This handy web service lets you tot up your project’s costs, along with fees, the cost of any rewards and expected sales revenue, to ensure your fundraising finances stay on track. BACKERKIT (US$99/mth) If your project attracts very large numbers of backers, BackerKit can help you track backer contacts and manage rewards – including those that aren’t offered through Kickstarter.…

What is it? PrintedTouch stickers feature conductive ink on the rear, enabling you to build interactive devices that play sounds when you press them. It’s a great way to teach programming basics to children, and the stickers have also been used to add track samples to posters and album covers. These are stickers you’d actually want to collect. Why would you want conductive stickers? The technology allows you to make pretty much any surface interactive – so you can make posters that speak when you prod them, or floors that play music when you tap a spot. The CreatorKit bundle includes printed touch stickers, control modules, battery packs and software to set up your program. How does it work? Conductive ink on the back of the sticker behaves like wires,…

I’ve been castigated by a few readers because of my failure to revisit the OnePlus One handset following a promise to do so in my “China phone” column three months ago. There’s a reason for my tardiness, however: as I hinted back in issue 210, big things were afoot at OnePlus, and so I should probably rewind the clock to look at a few factors that have got us to where we are today. The OnePlus One was launched in April last year. Sales were slow, not through a lack of interest but because the manufacturer deliberately held back inventory, selling on an “inviteonly” basis. I’ll get to the specs in a minute, but crucial to this project was a tie-up with Cyanogen Inc, which provided the CyanogenMod version of…

Say hello to Donny and Marie, two of my friends whose real names I shall be keeping to myself. I know you all love other people’s disaster stories – and these ones are rather outside my normal brief – but both their dilemmas posed a serious question about networks, so I’m going to tell them anyway. Donny and Marie were both laptop users of the typical modern kind, lone entrepreneurs linked in to a web of friends and business affiliations mainly by email and partly via social-networking apps. One of them is remarkably well off , while the other is just about making it; one has an ancient Sony VAIO, while the other has a shiny, recentish MacBook Pro. However, the possession is the opposite of what you might expect:…