PCWorldの April 2020 の目次

AMD confirmed recently that its next-generation RDNA 2 graphics architecture will be its first to include hardware ray tracing, and that it will advance performance-per-watt improvements by an additional 50 percent over its current designs. The company also plans to add a compute-specific version of its GPUs, dubbed “CDNA.” AMD has traditionally used its financial analyst meetings to provide insight into its future strategy in the CPU and GPU markets, especially with regard to the PC, mobile, and server spaces. It’s the latter market in which AMD is driving hard, as enterprise and scientific markets are willing to pay top dollar for a high-margin Epyc processor—the sort of boon financial analysts like to hear about. AMD habitually offers more insight into its server road maps as a way of building…

Beginning with the current version of Microsoft Edge, Microsoft will start blocking adware, Bitcoin miners, and other unwanted apps that sometimes accompany apps that users download from the web. Microsoft Edge version 80 contains a new Settings menu with the option to Block Potentially Unwanted Apps, which works in conjunction with Windows’ Microsoft Defender SmartScreen to detect and warn against what Microsoft calls PUAs, or Potentially Unwanted Apps. (Microsoft has listed what it considers to be common PUAs here: go.pcworld.com/puas.) If turned on, Edge will block these apps by default, though you’ll have the option to override Microsoft’s decision and allow the app to download and install. The new option takes Windows’ own built-in protection in a different direction. To date, Microsoft’s efforts have been focused primarily on malware. The company’s…

When Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 launched in 2018, I thought its “Blackout” mode would become the third big battle royale game. Splitting the difference between Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds and Fortnite, between hardcore and cartoony, Blackout felt like a more refined take on those already well-trod ideas, with snappy gunplay and a streamlined interface. Problem was, you had to buy Black Ops 4 to play it—and then Apex Legends released a few months later, for free, and took all the wind out of Blackout’s sails (and sales). Activision’s back for round two though, and this time it’s being smarter about it. Warzone, released on March 10, is the next evolution of Call of Duty’s battle royale—but this time it’s free-to-play. Modern Warfare owners can launch it from within the usual client,…

Lenovo’s C940 Yoga 14 just might be the laptop Goldilocks would pick if she found it in the Three Bears’ house. It’s neither too much nor too little of what most people need in a 2-in-1 convertible laptop—it’s just right. Think about other popular convertible 2-in-1 laptops playing in this space, such as HP’s Spectre x360 13t, or Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1. The Yoga C940 14 has the bigger display size compared to either, obviously, but it still stays just under the 3-pound mark that suddenly makes a laptop more of a luggable (and don’t even ask about the weight of most 15-inch convertibles). It doesn’t sacrifice keyboard travel in pursuit of thinness, and its speakers aren’t godawful like those of the LG Gram 2-in-1. It even has a holster…

If there’s one word that can describe NordVPN it has to be “impressive.” This VPN offers incredible speeds, a high country and server count, and an excellent selection of VPN protocols, including Wireguard. It’s also removing the hard drives from its servers to increase privacy and security. And in its aim to be more than just a VPN, its expanding its data-privacy options to include a password manager and secure file storage. Indeed, it’s only real shortcoming is its lack of transparency regarding company ownership. When you first open NordVPN on Windows, you get a very user-friendly interface. The left-hand rail includes a list of all available countries in alphabetical order. This section also has quick links to NordVPN’s specialty servers, such as dedicated IP (for an extra cost), double-hop…

We don’t often talk about power supplies, but Intel’s new ATX12VO spec—that’s an ‘O’ for ‘Oscar,’ not a zero—will start appearing soon in pre-built PCs from OEMs and system integrators, and it represents a major change in PSU design. The ATX12VO spec removes voltage rails from the power supply, all in a bid to improve efficiency standards on the PC and meet stringent government regulations. But while the spec essentially removes +3.3-volt, +5-volt, and +12-volt and +5-volt standby power from the PSU, they aren’t going away—they’re just moving to the motherboard. That’s the other big change, so keep reading to find out more. DON’T TAKE MY ATX12V POWER SUPPLY AWAY! Don’t panic, DIYers: The PSU Enforcement Agents will not be coming to take away your 1,500-watt ATX PSU (there’s no…

If you’re suffering from software bugs or other problems with your graphics card, one of the first things to try is performing a clean installation of your drivers. That point was driven home for PC gamers recently when AMD, in a post announcing WHQL certification for its bug-squashing new Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.2.2 driver, told gamers to factory-reset the software if they encounter futher issues. It’s a great reminder. Performing a clean install won’t fix GPU issues all the time, but it’ll sure fix them a lot of the time. Modern graphics card drivers are complicated beasts, sinking hooks deep into your computer. Considering that both AMD and Nvidia’s drivers weigh in at roughly half a gigabyte, they’re some of the more complex software on your PC. They build…

You don’t actually need to see the LG V60 ThinQ 5G with Dual Screen to know what it is. Based on our experiences during a recent briefing and hands-on opportunity in New York, the V60 clearly looks like LG’s V50, V40, G8, and G7. It has a few gimmicks and some unnecessary carrier compromises. And it has a headphone jack. In short, it’s an LG phone. It’s not entirely clear whether it will be the only flagship of 2020 from LG, but if there is a G9 in the works, my guess is that the only difference will be screen size. For better or worse, LG has a formula, and it’s sticking to it. I’m not really sure what, if anything, the ThinQ surname even means at this point, but…

If you’re a fan of Windows 10’s Snap feature, you’ve been waiting and hoping for Windows to allow you to design your own custom Snap layouts. Now you can! One of the first Windows 10 PowerToys apps, FancyZones, does just that—and it looks incredible. If you don’t know what Snap does, head to a PC and open any window there—this story will do. Then press the Windows key and one of the directional arrows. If you hit Windows + the left arrow, for example, Snap snaps a window as a column attached to the left side of the screen. If you drag it toward any corner, the window will snap to that corner, allowing you to create a 4-window tiled effect. But if those windows are a little smaller than…

Owl Cameras is dead. The startup made a splash in 2018 with the Owl Car Cam, a dash cam that plugged into a car’s OBD-II port and recorded both inside and outside the vehicle, uploading those videos to a cloud service via LTE. But now, two years later, the company’s employees are scattered, and its assets have been sold. The story might have ended abruptly right there, but this tale holds a glimmer of hope for existing users. PCWorld reviews dash cams, including both the debut 2018 Owl Car Cam and the improved 2019 Owl Car Cam. Even though the camera’s $350 price was very high for its competitive set, it received largely positive reviews, and some people bought the Owl Car Cam—though, apparently, not enough people to keep the company…

All laptops are a compromise in design and MSI’s Prestige 14 is no different. Even so, there’s a lot to love about what is likely the most powerful laptop in its class. We’re not exaggerating. The Prestige 14 packs a 6-core Comet Lake Core i7-10710U along with a GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q discrete GPU, all while weighing 2.8 pounds That’s basically the same weight as a Dell XPS 13 7390 or HP Spectre x360 13, which don’t have discrete GPUs. MSI does all this while also including a 4K screen and a reasonably sized 52-watt-hour battery. THE COMPROMISE But as we said, there is compromise to all laptops, and in with Prestige 14, it’s the cooling. While competitors might use two fans or beefier heat pipes to keep all of that…

Skitter. Skitter skitter. It’s time to move. Paws padding across the sand dunes, Ori scampers out from under the log, leaping up into the air and rebounding off the wall, grabbing a pole and flinging himself upward—and then movement. The owl turns its head. Ori freezes, pressed behind a scrap of fabric. The owl looks away. Skitter skitter. Up and over this time, then leaping across a gap—mere feet from the owl’s head. If it turns around…best not to think about it. Clinging to a crumbling wooden log, Ori stops for a moment. The owl screams, frustrated it can’t find its prey. It nudges the log, to no avail. Again, it looks away. Ori sprints towards a small cave, a place where the owl can’t follow. It was a ploy…

If you’ve already gotten your Galaxy S20, you’ve surely transferred over your apps, set up the home screen, and picked just the right wallpaper to show off your big beautiful screen. But there are a few settings you might have missed that will make your S20 experience that much better. Here are 10 toggles, tweaks, and settings you need to learn: 1. USE EVERY MEGAPIXEL IN YOUR PHOTOS The S20 Ultra has the largest sensor ever crammed into a Galaxy phone: a whopping 108MP. But you won’t take 108MP pictures by default. Instead, Samsung uses pixel binning to bring the resolution down to 12MP and cram more detail into a smaller shot. If you want to use all 108 megapixels (or the full 64MP in the S20+), you’ll need to…

TCL isn’t exactly a household name when it comes to smartphones, but the BlackBerry and Palm phone maker is looking to change that in 2020. Ahead of the launch of its own phones later this year, TCL is piquing our curiosity with a couple of wild concept phones that make the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Motorola razr look like old news. To be clear, these are concepts in every sense of the word. They have no names, no specs, and no chance of being sold anytime soon. The models we saw were basically movie props with few working parts, but they’re certainly intriguing. And if they’re an indication of what TCL has in store for future phones, it won’t be an unknown name for very long. While we’re somewhat accustomed to folding screens…

Yes, computer processors work. But have you ever wondered how they work? Recently, Intel published a fascinating animated video outlining “key concepts and their roles in chip manufacturing.” The chatty “Chip” spokesprocessor that walks you through the video brings up memories of the cringeworthy Clippy introduced by Microsoft in Office 97 (and killed in 2014), nevertheless, it’s well worth spending five minutes to watch it if you’ve ever been interested in how the brain of your computer comes to life. PC enthusiasts often toss around terms like transistors, silicon wafers, photolithography masks, interconnects, and substrates. Intel’s video provides a great high-level overview of what all that really means. Better yet, it does it in a friendly, approachable manner that you can actually wrap your mind around even if you don’t…

I feel like I need to give Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra two scores. If I’m reviewing it solely on the merits of its components and what it can do, it’s easily a five-star device, with only the smallest of perceptible flaws. The 6.9-inch display is remarkably bright and incredibly smooth when the 120Hz refresh rate is switched on, and the 40MP hole-punch selfie camera is much more discreet than it was on the S10. The RAM, storage, and processor are all the fastest you can get in a smartphone, and the 5,000mAh battery both lasts all day and fills up incredibly quickly. And yes, the 100X Space Zoom camera is cooler than any other telephoto lens I’ve used. But if I were to score the Galaxy S20 Ultra on usability…

Well, that didn’t take long. A few short weeks after reviewing the Samsung T7, SanDisk’s Extreme Portable Pro SSD (1TB) showed up at our door and easily surpassed its rival for the top-performing USB 3.1 Gen 2 drive. SanDisk’s drive doesn’t offer the T7’s handy and fun fingerprint security, but it’s about the same price and offers software-based password protection if security is a concern. DESIGN AND FEATURES The Extreme Pro Portable SSD is a bit larger than the previous iteration, measuring approximately 0.4 x 2.25 x 4.34 inches, but it’s still compact enough to reside comfortably in a shirt pocket. Unlike the Samsung T7 competition, there’s an attachment point (a very large one!) for a lanyard or key ring. The Extreme Pro Portable is designed with an aluminum chassis…

Voice-activated assistants like Google Home and Amazon’s Alexa have been around for a few years now, but they’re still kind of gimmicky—they’re not exactly J.A.R.V.I.S.-level AIs. But Google Home might be more useful than you realize, especially if you’re only using it to verbally start your Spotify playlists and occasionally settle a family argument when nobody has their phone handy. There are plenty of ways to use Google Home for entertainment, information, or as a tool for being productive and learning new skills. If you’re going to lace your home with Google devices, you might as well make them work for you. Note: Android users can configure third-party apps in the Google Home app, but iOS users will need to download the separate Google Assistant app. Most third-party apps no…

Excel has over 475 formulas in its Functions Library, from simple mathematics to very complex statistical, logical, and engineering tasks such as IF statements (one of our perennial favorite stories); AND, OR, NOT functions; and COUNT, AVERAGE, and MIN/MAX. The basic functions covered below are among the most popular formulas in Excel—the ones everyone should know. To help you learn, we’ve also provided a spreadsheet with all the formula examples we cover here. 1. TODAY / NOW There are 24 Date and Time functions listed on the drop-down menu under Formulas > Date & Time: 11 Date formats, 10 Time formats, and as many user-defined custom formats you can create. The TODAY function reveals the current month, day, and year; while the NOW function reveals the current month, day, year,…