TechLifeの December 2017 の目次

LAST MONTH, I harped on in this editorial about good password practices, and this issue, I’d like to share a bit of other password knowhow — something that we touched on (but didn’t really dive too deeply into) in last month’s security superguide. In a broad sense, I personally still advocate that everyone should use a password manager (like KeePass, Lastpass or 1Password) to ensure their accounts are as secure as is reasonably possible. That’s not practical in 100% of security situations, however, so what should you do in circumstances where you have a password you actually need to remember and be able to type out, but can’t use your password manager? I’m thinking specifically, for example, about the password you use to unlock your password manager — the whole…

Germany is taking a stand against the spread of online hate and other criminal material by passing legislation that requires social media sites operating in the country to take down “obviously illegal” posts or cough up fines of up to €50m. Businesses with more than 2 million German users will have 24 hours to comply, but larger companies like Facebook, Google and Twitter will be given seven days to file a report. Critics say this “raises concerns about freedom of expression”.…

THE PIRATE BAY is now utilising your idle CPU to mine for cryptocurrency. Certain pages on the site will cause your computer to work harder as it runs an embedded digital coin miner. Known as the go-to site to illegally torrent TV shows and movies, TPB is trialling new ways to make money in lieu of paid-for advertising. “As you may have noticed, we are testing a Monero Javascript miner. This is only a test. We really want to get rid of all the ads. But we also need enough money to keep the site running,” TPB stated in a blog post at thepiratebay.org. The test had been running surreptitiously until users noticed a dramatic spike in their CPU’s workload. According to TPB a ‘small typo’ was to blame, and…

After months of speculations and rumours that HTC will be bought out, Google and the phone manufacturer have finally announced that the internet giant has acquired part of the HTC business, including some HTC employees, “many of whom are already working with Google to develop Pixel smartphones”. The acquisition also includes non-exclusive licence of HTC intellectual property, allowing the Taiwanese company to continue manufacturing its own products, including HTC smartphones.…

THE MOTHER OF USB ADAPTERS.  tinyurl.com/tla70-magible | Goal: US$10,000 Raised: US$55,321 from 1,703 backers | RRP: US$28 So you’ve got a swathe of different devices and each of them comes with its own charging cable. Keeping track of them and carrying them with you wherever you go is a right pain in the royal derriere. Now, we’ve seen quite a few solutions to this problem, but the fully funded Magible one-size-fits-all cable caught our eye. It combines Lightning, USB-C, microUSB, USB-to-USB-C, and we assume up to USB 3.1 (although it’s not stated anywhere). That gives you access to transfer data to and from, as well as charge or simply connect, a huge number of devices, including phones, tablets, e-readers, laptops, speakers, controllers, headphones, mice, keyboards and cameras. One of the…

WHILE THE HUMBLE polaroid was kept within a photo album in the privacy of one’s home, Instagram has gone the way of the 21st century and made photo viewing a shared activity. A social network reliant on photo-taking, Instagram users vary far and wide in terms of both age and content added to the site. Posting new photos is as easy as pointing, shooting, editing and publishing. It could be a tourist landmark, mouth-watering meal or simply a photo of your cat. THE BASICS FILTERS: Scrolling through your feed, you’re unlikely to spot any particularly bad looking photos. The secret ingredient to any good image is its filter. Begin by taking a photo, video or selecting one from your phone’s camera roll. You’ll then be given free reign over a…

FOR VR LOVERS, it’s looking like the end of 2017 will be a hot one. In the lead up to the December 12th launch of Fallout 4 VR, developer Bethesda continues to tease us with additional, fleshed-out details on an adapted first-person VATS system and an awesome looking, reworked Power Armor HUD. Add to this the announcement of a Samsung VR headset designed for Microsoft’s PC-based AR/VR platform (aka Windows Mixed Reality) and Intel’s unveiling of a proof-of-concept technology that’ll let you stream feeds from a powerful PC to your smartphone VR using Wi-Fi and this has turned into a pretty big month for VR news. That said, with the launch of iOS 11, Apple’s ARKit platform is proving to be a hotbed of development for augmented reality, with a…

Cat Bird! A PLATFORMING ADVENTURE STARRING A FLAPPY FELINE. Free with IAP | twitter.com/raiyum CAT BIRD! IS very cute, but don’t let that cuteness lure you into a false state of ease, for this game has some hidden claws. You’re a cat who is also a bird and you fall off your pleasantly green planet, through the vacuum of space, to a less-pleasant reddish-brown planet. You now need to find your way back home through a series of increasingly challenging platforming levels across three worlds. Along the way, you need to collect keys to progress, and crowns for bonuses, all the while avoiding traps, spikes, white rippling water stuff, enemies, chasms and more horrors. Once you’ve made it to the end-level portal, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Each…

GPU This is the most important component in a gaming laptop — and obviously, the faster, the better. It’s almost wall-to-wall Nvidia GeForce cards in today’s gaming laptops — at the moment, AMD GPUs are rarer, although not completely unavailable. If you can afford it, we’d suggest aiming for a GTX 1060 as a minimum. STORAGE Games and movies increasingly take up a lot of hard drive space, so how much do you need these days? Ideally, we’d aim for at least a 256GB SSD and a 1TB hard drive. That gives you enough space to put your key games on the faster SSD, then plenty of room on the hard drive for the rest. SCREEN SIZE Bigger means bulkier, but if you don’t plan on taking your laptop with…

HOW WE TESTED All speakers were paired to a Huawei P10 Plus and a OnePlus 5, streaming from Spotify or downloaded tracks, as well as MP3 files of varying bitrates from 160kps to 320kbps. BANG & OLUFSON BEOLIT 17 $749 beoplay.com CRITICAL SPECS Bluetooth 4.2; 37–20,000Hz frequency response; 2,200mAh battery; 3.5mm auxiliary input; 23 x 18.9 x 13.5cm; 2.6kg BOSE SOUNDLINK MICRO $170 bose.com.au CRITICAL SPECS IPX7 water resistance; up to 6 hours battery life; speakerphone capabilities; 3.8 x 9.5 x 9.5cm; 290g JBL PULSE 3 $299 www.jbl.com.au CRITICAL SPECS Bluetooth; 3 x 40mm drivers (20W total power); 65–20,000Hz frequency; 3.5mm auxiliary input; IPX7 water resistance; 6,000mAh battery, up to 12 hours; JBL Connect+ app; 22.3 x 0.9cm; 960g UE WONDERBOOM $130 ultimateears.com/en-au CRITICAL SPECS Bluetooth; 80–20,000Hz frequency response; dual…

IOS 11 consolidates all of the items in Control Centre into a single page, rather than expecting you to swipe left or right between general, media playback, and HomeKit controls. Because it makes things much faster to access, it’s one of our favourite changes in this year’s upgrade. At a glance, you might think some controls have been removed in iOS 11. There’s no sign of AirDrop, for example. The key to getting the most from Control Centre is to remember that you can apply a  long press (or a firm one on devices with 3D  Touch capabilities) to many of the individual or groups of controls to reveal additional features, or sometimes contextual settings. Aside from it being better structured and quicker to navigate, there’s a long list of…

Emergency SOS is a method of calling for help when you can’t interact with your iPhone as normal — using its touchscreen or by talking to Siri. It debuted in iOS 10.2, but hasn’t been available until now. It’s triggered by pressing the Sleep/Wake button five times in quick succession. That reveals a special form of the ‘slide to power off’ screen with two additional sliders: one that displays your Medical ID (conditions you have and treatments you take, configured in the Health app), and another that calls emergency services. To use Emergency SOS without touching the screen, tap ‘Auto Call’ in ‘Settings > Emergency SOS’. This reveals the Countdown Sound option, which plays a clearly audible sound and gives you the chance to cancel. After the call, the feature…

Does social media make us more friends? ON AVERAGE, PEOPLE have five social media accounts and spend an hour and a half checking them every day. It’s billed as a way to make and strengthen connections with people, but, for all the social benefits, there is an argument that all of the time we spend online is taking away from the relationships that we make in the real world. According to evolutionary anthropologist Robin Dunbar, we can only maintain up to 150 friendships at a time. This is known as the Dunbar Number, and it’s based on the social groups that we evolved to live in; it’s the size of most villages recorded in the Domesday Book, for example. Beyond that number, we can’t maintain meaningful relationships because we don’t…

NORMALLY, YOU DON’T have to concern yourself with the file system that’s used to store data on drives, whether internal or external. In fact, the only time you may ever have thought about this in the past is when setting up new storage, such as an external hard drive or a USB flash drive. In the past, the choice was easy: you would use Mac OS Extended (also known as Hierarchical File System Plus, or HFS+) if a drive would only be used with Macs, or FAT or ExFAT if it’ll also be used with a Windows PC. You have a new choice in High Sierra: Apple Filing System (APFS). The reason is Mac OS Extended’s origins lie all the way back in the ‘80s, when spinning magnetic disks were…

DESPITE ALL YOUR precautions, bad stuff has gone down. A PC is rendered unusable through a virus or some kind of meltdown of the operating system. You can’t even boot into that puppy. It’s time for a rescue disc. “A rescue disc?” you ask. “I don’t have one of those!” Well, you should make one immediately. It doesn’t have to be an actual CD-ROM. It can be a bootable flash drive as well, which works better with laptops that inconveniently don’t have optical drives. START WITH AVIRA RESCUE SYSTEM There are many rescue tools available (see the sidebar on ‘Other recovery CDs’), but one of our current favourites is Avira’s Rescue System. It can be downloaded for free from www.avira.com/en/download/product/ avira-rescue-system. Avira Rescue System can do the following: * Run a…

The TechLife team finds the best budget, value and performance products, and the latest releases in the top technology categories. If you believe there are other products that deserve the title in any of the tech categories, let us know and give us your reasons why in 50 words or less. Equally, if there’s a hot new product that’s worthy of attention, we want to know. Send your email to techlife@futurenet.com.…

Come March 2018, Australia may well have a working plan and a structure in place to set up a space agency Down Under, although exactly where is yet to be determined. According to Michaelia Cash, Acting Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, the space agency “will provide the vehicle for Australia to have a long-term strategic plan for space”. In the meantime, someone’s already gone ahead and created a mock website for the Australian Research & Space Exploration, aka ARSE.…

Ahead of NSW’s November trial of digital driver’s licences, South Australia rolled out the functionality across the entire state in October. While the trial in NSW will take place over 12 months exclusively in Dubbo, South Australian residents are already able to use the myGOV app for police checks and proof of age. Following this rollout, other accreditations will be made digital, such as boat, taxi and security licenses…

Transit X FLYING SOLAR PODS, THE FUTURE OF TRANSPORTATION? www.transitx.com | Goal: US$100,000 | Raised: US$3,059 from 38 backers | RRP: From US$125 for a transit pass Yes, most cities have transportation problems: there are either too many cars, not enough trains, not enough bus drivers, not enough bicycle lanes, impractical public transport routes or all of the above. So while councils are madly trying to put some ideas together, a few brave blokes have banded together and come up with Transit X, the “cure for Roads Disease”. Partnered with engineering innovator Altran (a branch of which is collaborating with Elon Musk’s Hyperloop project), Transit X hopes to create a solar-powered raised rail system with automated pods to replace cars, buses, trucks, trains and also short flights. Each pod zooms…

WHILST EXERCISE IS undoubtedly an important factor in weight loss, the foods you eat actually have a bigger impact on your overall weight, making your diet the best place to start if you want to cut some kilos. To start, you’ll want something that’ll analyse the basic carbohydrate, fat and sugar profiles of what you’re eating so that you can scientifically cut out the foods that are weighing you down. There are a heap of apps that have taken the hard work out of calorie counting by including barcode scanners and preconfigured, searchable meal breakdowns, that’ll make it easy to keep track of your food intake. If you cross reference what you consume against the calorie burning counts you get from some fitness trackers, then you have an excellent system…

LIKE THE MX Master 2S we reviewed last month, this smaller laptop- friendly version isn’t exactly a ‘new’ mouse. In fact, as with its bigger Master sibling, the Anywhere 2S is, in most regards, the same mouse as the Anywhere 2, just with an ‘S’ whacked on the end of a model name — something which denotes that it works with Logitech’s Flow cross-computer control software. The latter’s an app which, when installed across multiple Windows or Mac computing devices, lets you use the same mouse (and, optionally, keyboard) to control them all. It’s kind of like a software-driven, cross-platform multi-monitor setup, and in practice, it does actually mostly work as promised — it’s fairly seamless, just requiring you to move your mouse cursor onto the screen of the device…

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A GAMING LAPTOP can be a great alternative to a full-on desktop PC, but they do face some limitations. As such, it’s very important to optimise and tweak your machine to maximise gaming performance, so we’ve put together this guide to help out. It’s worth noting that AMD GPU-based gaming laptops are very rare, so we have focused on Nvidia models. Some of the latest models can support external GPUs via USB-C, which can make for a powerful upgrade. DRIVERS AND SETTINGS It’s very important to check you have the latest GPU (as well as other hardware) drivers, as new versions can bring small but important performance boosts. You also want to check that Windows is set to run in high performance mode — ‘Control panel > Power Options >…

STEREO OR PARTY MODE Many small- to medium-sized speakers can be paired to a twin for stereo mode, or multiple units to daisy chain and play the same music. FITNESS FOR PURPOSE Sacrifice some clarity for waterproofing if you’re going to the beach, though a larger unit will bring life to a social gathering at home. PHYSICAL SIZE The bigger the speaker, the more powerful the sound and — in theory — a longer- lasting battery. They will be portable between rooms. INPUTS All speakers here have Bluetooth, but only some have a 3.5mm input. Be aware if your music player needs this type of socket. BATTERY LIFE Anything that lasts over eight hours is good, but consider how much importance you put on the trade-off between ultra portability and…

1 LOW (iPHONE POWER ONLY MODE ) Tap to shut down certain functions — see ‘Settings > Battery’ — and slow the rate of power consumption. 2 DO WHILE NOT DRIVING DISTURB (iPHONE ONLY) This feature for driving more safely normally kicks in automatically, but this starts it manually. 3 VOICE (iPHONE MEMOS ONLY) Tap this to go to the Voice Memos app, or hold it for options to start a recording or play back the last one. 4 WALLET (iPHONE ONLY) Tap to open Wallet to use Apple Pay or another card there. Hold it to check your last transaction. 5 APPLE TV REMOTE This opens a built-in remote control, with a menu to choose an Apple TV, plus a Siri button for tvOS. 6 ACCESSIBILITY SHORTCUTS This opens…

1 TYPE TO SIRI Until now, speaking was your main way to ask something of Siri. Typing on a keyboard only figured if you wanted to correct something Siri misheard. iOS 11 has a new Type to Siri option in ‘Settings > General > Accessibility > Siri’. If enabled, typing is used to interact with Siri when you hold the Home button. 2 COMBINE WITH DICTATION You can still use your voice with Siri if iOS’s Dictation feature is enabled in ‘Settings > General > Keyboards’. Open Siri, tap the microphone key, speak your request, then tap the keyboard icon followed by Done. 3 HEY SIRI Even with Type to Siri enabled, Apple’s personal digital assistant will switch to voice control if you call for its help by saying “Hey…

Instant Markup is a set of  tools for annotating documents in any app, whether for your own use or to collaborate with other people. In  most apps, you only have to tap the Share icon, then Create PDF in the bottom row of the sheet. Some add extra steps, for example, at the documents list in Pages, tap the Share icon, Send a  Copy, PDF, then Create PDF. If an app has no  sharing feature, you can take a  screenshot and annotate that! Here’s  how to get started. 1 START MARKING UP While viewing a document, use its app’s means of opening the Share sheet. In the sheet’s bottom row, tap Create PDF. When the PDF opens, tap the pen icon on the toolbar. 2 THE LASSO TOOL Tap this,…

NOTHING IS MORE frustrating than a phone that can’t even make it through a full day without needing a date with the charger. For those who are running out, there are a range of simple ways to dramatically improve your battery life, so read on! REAL-WORLD BATTERY USAGE Just in case anyone is suffering from any misconceptions, it’s OK to charge your phone at any level, not just when it is flat. It’s also perfectly fine to leave it plugged in to the charger, even when full charged. That said, Android’s inbuilt battery monitoring can get out of wack, but is easily recalibrated. Fully drain your device, until it turns off, then fully charge without turning it back on. Repeat this at least twice, and your battery monitor should be…

THE ONE SILVER LINING HERE IS THE INCLUSION, FOR THE FIRST TIME ON AN IPHONE, OF WIRELESS CHARGING, COURTESY OF THE GLASS REAR ON THE HANDSET. WITH THE HIGHLY-ANTICIPATED iPhone X set to operate in a new premium tier all of its own when it arrives in Australia this November, in the meantime, Apple has seen fit to update its current, more-affordable options for those who simply want to refresh their existing handset. Enter the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus — two devices that look nearly identical to their predecessors. So do they pack enough new features to qualify as worthwhile upgrades? NICE GLASS One of the most notable changes Apple has made to these new iPhones, and the focus of the design, is a glass back — it’s an…

Despite efforts to stop the spread of online fake news, Google has admitted to including the imageboard site 4chan as an ‘authoritative’ source during the recent Las Vegas shooting. The site had posted a false name for the shooter, which Google’s algorithm picked up and spread via the Google News service. Google claims that “when the fresh 4chan story broke, it triggered Top Stories, which unfortunately led to this inaccurate result”.…

INVESTIGATIONS HAVE REVEALED that over 3,000 political ads on Facebook were paid for by Russians during the last US Presidential election campaign. Seen by an estimated 10 million Americans, the ads mostly targeted folk in Michigan and Wisconsin, states that were pivotal in Trump’s success with the Electoral College. According to unnamed CNN sources, some of these ads were anti-Muslim. In the wake of these revelations, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has not only promised to release all the ads to investigators, but is making political advertising more transparent on the social media site. In the US, politicians are required to reveal who is paying for their ads on TV, but that’s not the case for social media. “Going forward [...] we’re going to bring Facebook to an even higher standard of…

We learned late last year that a security breach from 2013 affected an estimated 1 billion Yahoo account holders. The mail-serving company has since announced that every single one of its users were compromised, increasing the amount to a staggering 3 billion affected accounts. This information is based on ‘new intelligence’ uncovered in the investigation by external forensic experts and Verizon, who recently acquired the company.…

THE WEARABLE LIVESTREAM HD CAMERA.  www.wolfcomusa.com Goal: US$25,000 Raised: US$83,887 from 536 backers RRP: RRP: US$359 Venture comes from a company that specialises in creating wearable cameras for US-based police officers, so you know that these little cameras will be built with toughness in mind. The head of the device can be rotated to the angle of your choice and it can be clipped onto almost anything, be it a bag strap, bicycle handlebars, a wall in your house or a car dash. The camera packs a 120° wide-angle lens and possesses four LED lights to give your subject extra illumination. It boasts to be lighter than a GoPro at just 62g, splashproof and last 2.5 hours on a single charge or 23.5 with the battery accessory. This little camera…

THESE DAYS, NAS boxes are powerful mini computers that can handle a huge range of tasks beyond basic data storage. While the wealth of features is fantastic, it also means that higher-end network-attached storage devices can be very expensive. So what options are available for those who don’t have a lot to spend, but still want plenty of everyday functionality? To find out, we tested 10 two- and four-bay NAS boxes, with prices under $250 and $350, respectively, for diskless models. At this range, some brands have very few NAS boxes available (or none at all), and many of the better value options are slightly older models, which now sell significantly under their launch prices. As always, it’s very important to shop around, as even with shipping costs, some retailers…

CommBank gives its Android app actually usable tap & pay functionality CONVENIENCE JUST GOT MUCH MORE CONVENIENT The latest perk to hit the CommBank Android app is a slight twist on an existing formula, but an incredibly useful one. Previously, you would have to have the app open and be on a certain screen for Tap & Pay to work, but with the latest update, you can use the function after either waking up your phone or unlocking it. Setting it up is easy, provided you have an Android phone with NFC — after you’ve made sure NFC is switched on, open your CommBank app and select ‘Tap & Pay’. Then you choose whether you’d prefer to have to unlock the phone or just wake it up in order to…

Clockwise FUNCTIONALLY PUNCTUAL. Free with IAP | www.yoursmartalarm.com Waking up to the same stock alarm sound every morning can wear you down, but Clockwise has an interesting approach by offering you fresh information when it’s time to rise. Everything you’d expect in an alarm app is here — specific day and date selection, recurring alarms — and it is presented in an incredibly tidy fashion. This app’s point of separation is in its modules and their extreme customisability. Each module offers something useful, such as the local weather, event reminders or to-do lists, or something novel, like a quote of the day, fun fact, or top Reddit post. These are all read to you in a voice of your choosing (including Australian male or female options) and although you can…

REACH INTO YOUR pocket and you’ll likely put your hand on a powerful music player: your smartphone. Whether you’ve loaded it with MP3 files or prefer music-streaming apps like Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play or iHeartRadio, your favourite tunes are at your fingertips and begging to be shared — or brought to life in an open space rather than piped directly into your ears via headphones. All of the speakers in this roundup come from reputable brands with a history in home audio, are battery powered, and fall into two broad categories. There’s the small, ultra-portable devices that’ll slip into a satchel or backpack, and are generally built to withstand a bit of punishment — they can get wet, be knocked around and still come out smiling. Then there’s the…

How to do more with Live Photos 1 CAMERA FILE FORMATS The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus take photos and videos in the new and very efficient HEIF and HEVC formats.In ‘Settings > Photos’, Transfer to Mac or PC is usually set to Automatic, which tells iOS to work out whether to transfer in these new or older (JPEG and H.264) formats. You might pick ‘Keep Originals’ if you’re transferring media to your computer purely for archival purposes. If an app or part of your workflow doesn’t work with the new formats, force iOS to record in JPEG/H.264. In ‘Settings > Camera > Formats’, tap ‘Most Compatible’. 2 CELLULAR DATA USAGE In ‘Settings > Photos’, you can turn off the Cellular Data option to stop iCloud Photo Library updates using…

Few would argue with the notion that Apple made a bit of a pig’s ear of integrating third-party apps with Messages when it introduced the capability in iOS 10. Now it has untangled the spaghetti mess of navigation it created, by putting access to the iMessage App Store, Digital Touch, and your installed iMessage apps behind one icon that looks like the regular App Store’s. Tap it to reveal the new, easier to navigate app drawer and explore a whole world of messaging plug-ins. 1 THE APP DRAWER In an iMessage conversation, tap the App Store icon to open the app drawer. Swipe on the drawer and its row grows larger to help you find what you want. 2 FAVOURITE APPS The iMessage App Store is the leftmost item, then…

AT A TIME WHEN AUSTRALIA’S NATIONAL BROADBAND NETWORK IS SEEMINGLY AS POPULAR AS A DENTIST’S DRILL, NEXT-GENERATION ‘5G’ MOBILE NETWORK TECH NOT ONLY CONTINUES ITS QUIET BUT STEADY DEVELOPMENT , IT COULD BE HERE SOONER THAN YOU THINK. IN JANUARY 2017, Chinese phone and tech maker Huawei teamed up with a local Singapore telco company StarHub for a trial of the new fifth-generation phone network technology. The latest in a series of tests for StarHub, the aim was to max out download speeds, to push the new tech as hard as they could, using specific combinations of transmission frequency, bandwidth and compression methods. It’s unlikely we’ll see the 35.15Gbps download speed they achieved any time soon (that’s 35,150 megabits per second), but at a time when Australia’s National Broadband Network…