TechLifeの January 2018 の目次

THE XBOX ONE X is the powerful premium console Microsoft first promised gamers over a year and a half ago. It’s capable of driving games along at 4K HDR at 60 frames per second — at least on a handful of titles — and, as part of Microsoft’s Xbox family, it doesn’t force you to throw out the games you already own for new ‘enhanced’ editions. In some cases, Xbox One games you might have played a year ago will now look absolutely stunning when fired-up on the One X. Those might be the only Xboxexclusive games you’ll be playing for a while, though, with few big name first-party titles currently on the horizon. Thankfully, all of the major holiday 2017 releases, including Call of Duty: WWII, Assassin’s Ceeed: Origins…

0 THE NUMBER OF F*CKS ISPs GIVE ABOUT DELIVERING GOOD NBN SERVICE According to NBN Co board member and founder of iiNet Michael Malone, most Aussie internet service providers (ISPs) “don’t give a f--k about the quality of [NBN] service” they deliver, instead “the reason they are moaning is that they are price fighting”. In the interview with Fairfax Media, Malone very much pointed the finger at the ISPs rather than NBN Co itself when it came to where the blame lies for the slow speeds suffered by some NBN users. 322,000 NUMBER OF BANNED PLAYERUNKNOWN: BATTLEGROUNDS PLAYERS As of mid-October, PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds’ anti-cheat software, BattlEye, had identified and banned over 322,000 cheating players and, according to tweets from the official BattlEye account, was banning players at a rate of…

Pen Fly THE FIDGET SPINNER THAT’S ALSO A PEN. tinyurl.com/tla72-penfly | Goal: US$500 | Raised: US$310 from 1 backer | RRP: US$89 Now, ‘fidget spinner’ might be a bit of a poisonous phrase here at TechLife, but out in the wild, there are still some who need to keep their fingers occupied by some sort of rotating doodad. The Pen Fly labels itself as a “fingertip gyroscope” rather than a fidget spinner, but they’re not fooling anyone. It comes ‘disguised’ as a pen, so we suppose it might actually have a purpose beyond keeping fidgety humans occupied. But it is an expensive pen and also a very expensive fidget spinner, and amusingly, the creators are trying to spout the idea that the Pen Fly will encourage creativity and imagination. Sure,…

WITH THE GOOGLE TRANSLATE APP OPEN, THE BUDS USER TAPS AND HOLDS THE RIGHT BUD AND SPEAKS A PHRASE IN THEIR NATIVE LANGUAGE, WITH THE TRANSLATE APP ON YOUR PIXEL PHONE THEN AUTOMATICALLY TRANSLATING AND THEN SPEAKING-OUT THE FOREIGN-LANGUAGE EQUIVALENT DEVICES WITH NEAR-MAGICAL language-translation capabilities are one of those tropes that’ve been a sci-fi staple since the original Star Trek’s Universal Translator — Google even named its first online translator ‘Babel fish’ after the small yellow fish from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy which, when inserted into a user’s ear canal, spat out alien languages in the native user’s tongue. Well, the search giant’s now taken that homage to another level with its first set of Google-branded headphones, the Pixel Buds. These are largish earbud-style headphones connected together via…

NOW THAT THE Fall Creators Update has been downloaded and installed on your PC, the fun begins — checking out all the cool new things that Microsoft has included. There’s a huge amount of new features included in this update, so we will focus on the most exciting additions. WINDOWS MIXED REALITY Probably the most incredible feature to have been added to Windows 10 with the Fall Creators Update, Windows Mixed Reality has the potential to change the way you interact with your PC in future. Essentially, it enables you to use Windows 10 and various apps in a virtual reality (VR) setting. A number of big name brands, such as ASUS, Dell, HP and Lenovo have already created special headsets for Windows Mixed Reality. You can explore Windows and…

WHILE IT’S NOT GOING TO GIVE YOUR PICTURES THE PERFECT MAKEOVER, IT WILL MOST LIKELY GIVE THEM A BIT OF SHINE Phancer GET YOUR PHOTOS DIDDLED WITH BY AN AI. Phancer.com If you find photo-editing apps a bit too complicated with all the filters, sliders and styles, but still see the benefit of getting your photos touched up a bit, then you might be interested in this service. First of all, upload your photo and choose which type of phone it was taken on. As the dataset that the neural network is relying upon was set up with images from only a handful of cameras, you can only choose between an iPhone 6, iPhone 7 and ‘Nexus 5X and other Android phones’. To be honest, we’re unsure to what extent…

TILE IS A small device you can attach to or place inside an item you want to keep track of. Its associated smartphone app can locate the Tile, or make it play a sound for you to find. It can even help if you’re out of range, by using its network of existing users to anonymously pinpoint your stuff and get you happily reunited. The Pro Series’ Sport and Style models feature an improved 60m range, a louder speaker and waterproofing — so practically nothing can get in the way of this device doing its job. Setup is simple, but our first Tile unfortunately stalled during activation. The second went fine. Locating a Tile can be spotty. It worked great at home, but failed to alert us to a Tile…

WE’VE REVIEWED A few of these pro-oriented, mechanical keyboards from Texas-based company Das Keyboard over the course of 2017, and the Prime 13 is definitely our favourite. While Das’ boards are all quite similar, small differences can ultimately add up to quite different usage experiences — and this ‘board is a perfect example of that. The ‘Prime’ in this board’s name is meant to imply that it focuses on delivering good solid basics rather than integrating fancy extras. First and foremost among those is, as you’d expect, a great typing experience, with Cherry MX Brown mechanical switches delivering reliable performance with subtle resistance, so you know when you’ve pressed a key without it having to hit bottom. This more basic board has ditched both the bank of media controls and…

MODERN HOME ENTERTAINMENT isn’t as simple as it used to be. Once upon a time, you’d buy a TV that was barely distinguishable from the competition, you’d use it for five, 10, 15 or 20 years, then you’d replace it. Nowadays, much research goes into deciding which television is best for your home, what resolution it supports, whether it can stream, and whether it can iron your shirt for you (none do the latter yet, we’re afraid, but we’re sure it’s coming). One thing is consistent, though — the sound on modern TVs, no matter the quality of its screen, is almost universally crap. That physical flatness comes at a cost, and that cost is a lack of real estate for speakers that aren’t absolutely terrible. That’s why you buy…

VIRTUALBOX IS A free app in which you can create a Windows 10 ‘virtual machine’. This means you can run Windows, use programs written for it, and share files from the comfort of your macOS desktop. In order to proceed, all you need to do is buy a Windows 10 DVD or download an ISO file, as well as obtain a valid product key for your chosen version. Our guide also contains tips on installing the VirtualBox Extension Pack and Guest Additions. These allow for the more advanced features that you would find in a physical computer, including fullscreen mode (press Command-F to switch to it) and support for USB devices. Once you have followed our walkthrough, check out VirtualBox’s Devices menu for more hidden treasures. Choose ‘Devices > Shared…

YOU ARE LIKELY to be eaten by a grue. If that phrase means anything to you, then this month’s column is for you! We’ve previously talked about the huge variety of retro arcade and console games you can stream to you PC using just a web browser, but there was a major category we left out: interactive fiction, also known as text adventures. For old-timer gamers, text adventures were once the bee’s knees. Usually, they had no graphics at all: you would get text descriptions of locations and events, and just typed what you wanted you character to do and hoped that the language parser could understand you. They were awesome, and frustrating, and often insanely difficult. There is still a notable community of interactive fiction developers around today, and…

STEP BY STEP MAKE A DOUBLE EXPOSURE 01 COPY AND BLEND Open the double_exposure01 and 02 start files. Grab the Move tool and drag the 02 image up to the tab of the other image and then down inside the image window to copy the layer over, then go to the Layers panel (‘Window > Layers’). Click the Blend mode dropdown at the top and change it from Normal to Screen. 02 FINE-TUNE POSITIONING Double-click the lower layer to make it editable. Use the Move tool to alter the positions until both layers are aligned in the way you want. Press ‘Ctrl/Command-T’ if you need to resize or rotate, and use the Crop tool to remove messy edges. Finally, make any tonal adjustments you like — here, we’ve desaturated and…

Unprecedented Yashica Y35 Camera THE NEW OLD CAMERA. www.yashica.com Remember those old cameras you had to wind after taking each photo? While some may get a tingle of nostalgia at the thought, few of us would want to go back to those days. Cameras have come a long way, so why would you want to buy a camera that was worse than the one you have, say, in your phone? Yashica thinks looking ‘faulty’ is charming, tells the story better and captures the ‘moment’ rather than the image, unlike most digital cameras. Questionable logic, especially in a world ruled by filters in photo-editing apps. Apart from the unnecessary winder ‘feature’ on the Y35, the camera also comes with cartridges of fake film which allow you to take photos in different…

ASHAMPOO ZIP 2017 & ABELSSOFT CLEVERPRINT TAKE CONTROL OF A POWERFUL COMMUNICATION TOOL CAPTURE, EDIT AND ARRANGE WITH ASHAMPOO SNAP 8 FULL VERSION REQUIRES ONLINE REGISTRATION. Ashampoo Snap 8 enables users to capture, edit and share screen content either as single images or videos. The application comes with powerful image editing capabilities. Use Ashampoo Snap 8 to create images and videos that precisely demonstrate what you are meaning to tell! Download link: www.ashampoo.com/techlife RECLAIM YOUR PRIVACY FIND PEACE OF MIND WITH ABELSSOFT ANTIBROWSERSPY FULL VERSION WORTH $47. Many tracking features of common web browsers cannot be easily disabled by PC users, but AntiBrowserSpy makes it easy to control all browser settings. With one click, you can configure the settings of all your browsers and disable hidden espionage features.…

TWO AUSTRALIAN STATES have commented on the recent ‘loot box’ trend in videogames, and can’t agree if unseen and random rewards in games bought with real money should be considered to be a form of gambling. EA’s recent release, Star Wars: Battlefront II features ‘loot boxes’, digital treasure chests that contain rewards to be used in-game, but the contents of which are only revealed once you’ve spent actual money on them. While Battlefront II isn’t the only game to include them, it’s the most (in)famous example as the rewards can be used to improve your character. While speaking to Kotaku, Jarrod Wolfe of the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation, says that “what occurs with ‘loot boxes’ does constitute gambling by the definition of the Victorian Legislation,” while Robert…

TEXT-SHARING EVERY PROBLEM WITH FRIENDS COULD BE MAKING YOU MORE ANXIOUS A TOUCH OF THE FOMOS? The condition ‘intolerance of uncertainty’ or IU, according to the Journal of Anxiety Disorders, results from “negative beliefs about uncertainty and its implications” and may be partly responsible for many anxiety disorders and even depression. According to experts, uncertainty and learning how to deal with it properly is vital to our mental health. The rise of smartphones, however, has unintentionally had a negative impact on the ability of many to manage their FOMO (fear of missing out). Rather than allowing the brain to fully process the facts (and often rationalise-away any paranoid thoughts), phones constantly give us the opportunity to check whether someone has read our message or liked our post, or to instantly…

IT’S BEEN ABOUT 18 months since Amazon’s original Kindle Oasis was launched, a premium ereader that dropped jaws with its unconventional design — where one side is considerably thicker than the other — and rather outlandish price; in Australia, buying one would set you back $449. Amazon’s second-gen Oasis ups the ante in numerous areas and this is a redesign that, by and large, has definitely been worth it. This is a premium ereader that finally feels like it does enough to match its price tag. With an aluminium body and a matte-finish glass panel to cover its high-res, 7-inch E Ink display (adding an inch over its predecessor), the new Oasis has an almost iPad-like feel that’s both classy and durable. It’s also the first Kindle to include water-proofing,…

WHEN WINDOWS 10 launched back in 2015, Microsoft promised that this would be the ultimate version of Windows that will continue to get new features and major updates well into the future, and it’s stayed true to its word with the release of the Fall Creators Update (released in our spring) — the most recent package of new features that’s available to download for free. Following on from this year’s earlier Creators Update and last year’s Anniversary Update, the Fall Creators Update brings a wide range of new features and tools that makes Windows 10 even better. As the name suggests, many of these new features are geared towards creative pursuits, such as editing your home videos and photos, and exploring 3D worlds in mixed reality, but it also brings…

IT CAN BE incredibly frustrating to buy a product or app, only to have it end up heavily discounted a short time later. Alternatively, if it is something you don’t need in a hurry, waiting for a price drop or big discount can really pay off. Manually checking prices yourself is extremely tedious, but fortunately for us, there is a huge range of apps and websites devoted to helping consumers nab the best deal. We’ve put them to the test, and compiled this handy guide on using the best of them. It should go without saying by now, but the best site Down Under for community- driven bargain hunting is OzBargain. PRODUCT PRICE DROPS It is surprisingly hard to find a good price tracker, with no dedicated Australian options. While…

WAS 2017 EVERYTHING you hoped it would be? Did you achieve anything you wanted to? Those New Year’s resolutions you set yourself at the beginning of 2017... how many of them did you manage to cross off? Your humble writer set herself two main goals: lose weight and get fit, and finish one of those books she’s trying to write. Happily, we can report that one of those things got done. How did you go? Well, if you’re feeling slightly embarrassed about your efforts over the course of the last 12 months, maybe you need to listen to some of these podcasts. We scoured the radio waves this month to bring you the inspirational, motivational and slightly guilt-tripping audio productions to help you set those 2018 New Year’s resolutions and,…

Assassin’s Creed Origins A SPRAWLING OPEN-WORLD EGYPT RIDDLED WITH NUMBERS. $99.95 | PC, PS4, XO | www.assassinscreed.com IT’S HARD TO detect at which point in recent gaming history numbers started to figure heavily into anything that wasn’t a niche RPG. Nowadays, you see numbers everywhere, whether it’s the interminable level grind of your average online FPS (Overwatch, Battlefield) or in once breezy and noncommittal arcade racers (Forza, Need For Speed). Games like Diablo arguably perfected the “loot grind” — actually a cyclical, alarmingly futile chase for bigger numbers — but now it’s difficult to imagine any blockbuster game launching without some form of levelling attached. And so it is with Assassin’s Creed Origins, which has enjoyed a longer period of gestation since Ubisoft ceased dishing them out on a yearly…

SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO ON demand has become big business in Australia. The launch of Netflix in 2015 drove a major increase in internet bandwidth consumption across the nation and played an influential role in the accelerated uptake of 4K TVs locally. While the first round of media players jumped on the initial opportunity, most of these are now becoming obsolete as they don’t output at 4K and most 4K smart TVs will have at least a couple of streaming services available directly on the screen. So what is the point of a media streaming box? Well, most TV manufacturers do deals to decide which streaming and catch-up apps will be baked directly into the screen’s OS. This annoying powerplay means no TV has every service and opens a space in the…

MEDIA Share your Kodi media libraries I enjoyed your Kodi add-ons tutorial from issue 66 (page 98), but I’d like to be able to share my media directly from Kodi without having to use another program such as Plex. What must I do? [ GERRY BUKOWSKI ] Nick Peers replies: Good as it is, Kodi simply doesn’t provide as slick a user experience as Plex or Emby, but its DLNA-compatible server is widely accessible from a range of other devices. Here’s how you set it up... Open Kodi and click the Settings button followed by Service Settings. Select ‘UPnP/ DLNA’ in the left navigation pane, then flick the ‘Share my libraries’ switch to ‘On’ to share your media. Kodi should show up as a DLNA/UPNP source on compatible devices. You…

ACCESSIBILITY IS SOMETHING many people consider an add-on for those with specific assistive needs. A well-known example is screen reading software, baked into Macs and iOS devices to help anyone with a visual impairment. But modern accessibility’s aim is to cater for everyone, whatever their specific needs. So iOS 11 includes settings to benefit people who have hearing or motor impairment, too, and issues such as vestibular disorders. Chances are that if you don’t have any such concerns, you skip past the Accessibility section of Settings entirely. That would be a shame, because ideas and concepts geared towards easing device use for a subset of people can often benefit a much wider audience. And that’s what this tutorial is all about — highlighting accessibility controls that can be a boon…

 IT’S NO REVELATION to note that the amount of information that ad services gather on internet users and mobile phone users is astronomical. Depending on your privacy settings, they can monitor which sites you visit, what mobile apps you use and any ads you might tap on. They can often track your location and movements and get a surprisingly complete picture of all your online activity. WHEN YOU VISIT A WEBSITE WITH A BANNER AD, THAT SITE IS USUALLY NOT ACTUALLY SERVING UP THE AD ITSELF. INSTEAD IT’S JUST MAKING SPACE ON THE PAGE, AND THEN REACHING OUT TO A THIRD-PARTY AD SERVER LIKE DOUBLECLICK AND ASKING IT TO FILL THAT GAP WITH AN AD. It’s not just the ad companies that can do this. Using the interfaces provided by…

TO CONVERT THIS INFORMATION INTO A VIEWABLE IMAGE FORMAT SUCH AS A JPEG, THE RAW DATA FIRST NEEDS TO BE DECODED. THIS IS NORMALLY DONE USING RAW PROCESSING SOFTWARE ON A COMPUTER, BUT SOME CAMERAS ENABLE YOU TO CONVERT A RAW FILE STORED ON THE MEMORY CARD TOO. MENU OPTIONS You can tweak in-camera processing options in your camera’s shooting menu or rear information screen. RAW CONVERSION Some cameras enable you to convert raw files saved on the memory card into JPEGs. JPEG PREVIEW The processing effects will be reflected in the playback image — or in real-time during Live View shooting. PARAMETERS In-camera raw processing options aren’t as extensive as those in dedicated raw software. QUITE A LOT of things happen very quickly when you press the shutter release…

The old online BBQ switcheroo I recently decided to purchase a Weber BBQ. A website appeared in Google with some great offers. Unfortunately, the BBQ never arrived. The old adage of ‘it sounds too good to be true’ was correct. Here’s what I’ve learnt from my experience: Never purchase anything online using a direct bank transfer into the vendor’s account. Write an email with an enquiry and see if you get a response. Is there an address connected to the website? There was in my case but a later search proved it was a fake. If there is a phone number, call them. Again, there wasn’t in my case. See if the company name is actually registered with ASIC. For me, it wasn’t. If in doubt, do a Google search…

Bose noise-masking sleepbuds PUTTING AN END TO SLEEPLESS NIGHTS. www.bose.com.au | Goal: US$50,000 | Raised: US$447,500 from 2,911 backers | RRP: US$249 You might be wondering, like we were, why the likes of Bose — an already well-established company — would turn to Indiegogo to crowdfund a new product. With an arsenal of already available speakers, headphones and accessories, you’d think they could simply release these ‘sleepbuds’ as per usual, but this time around, they’re trying a test prototype phase that people can pay for. And they did. This achieved, at time of writing, almost 900% funding. That’s crazy. So what are they? The Bose sleepbuds are noise-cancelling earplugs to help you sleep next to a snorer, drown out the constant sound of the city or a party going on…

EVER CATCH YOURSELF drifting slowly but surely into a different world while someone’s having a conversation with you? Or even when doing dishes, or while at work? Not to worry, we’ve all been there and done that. But have you ever wondered why we have this tendency to drift off into a daydream, or what a daydream actually is? Wikipedia defines daydreaming as “a short-term detachment from one’s immediate surroundings, during which a person’s contact with reality is blurred and partially substituted by a visionary fantasy, especially one of happy, pleasant thoughts, hopes or ambitions, imagined as coming to pass, and experienced while awake.” Despite the “happy thoughts” though, daydreaming generally has a bad rap, being associated with laziness and “a bad use of mental power,” says Dr Muireann Irish,…

ONE OF THE most pleasing results of Microsoft’s determination to make Windows 10 the ultimate version of its operating system is that you get a constantly evolving OS that’s continually getting new features for free — rather than having to pay for a new iteration every five years. It also means you don’t need to worry about compatibility — if your PC or device is able to run Windows 10, you’ll be able to install and run the Fall Creators Update as well. As with previous major updates to Windows 10, such as the Anniversary Update, Microsoft will be rolling out the Fall Creators Update as an automatic update in waves. This means that, for many people, you won’t need to do anything to get the Fall Creators Update —…

WHILE YOU’RE READING, CLICK ON THE LITTLE OWL ICON TO CHECK THE QUALITY OF THE ARTICLE’S SOURCES. [ HOOT HOOT! ] CivikOwl SEPARATE THE FACTS FROM THE FICTION. Free | www.civikowl.com WHILE FAKE OR distorted news is far from a recent occurrence, the average consumer is now a lot more aware of its presence — whether they care or not is another matter... If you’re part of the former group, then you might be interested in CivikOwl. This extension helps you decipher between the truthful and the not-so-truthful by letting you know how credible a certain article’s sources are. Once you’ve installed CivikOwl, head out into the wide world of the internet and hunt down some news. While you’re reading, click on the little owl icon to check the quality…

GOOGLE HOME WAS the first AI smart speaker to officially make its way to Australian shores, and now it’s been followed here by its smaller brother, the Google Home Mini. This little marvel pretty much does everything the Home is capable of, thanks to the integration of Google Assistant, but there are some design and specification differences that potential purchasers of the Mini should be aware of (even beyond just obvious size distinctions). The Mini charges via a micro-USB cable, as opposed to the Home’s dedicated DC power adapter and plug. The other difference is in sound quality — the Home Mini has just a single 40mm driver for all audio output. During testing, we found that, at lower volumes, music was a bit anaemic, although crank the volume up…

CANON HAS DESIGNED its new 200D camera to appeal not only to beginners — with a guided menu system on its vari-angle touchscreen display — but also to those looking for an easy-to-use shooter with reliable picture quality without the usual hefty bulk of most DSLRs. It’s one of the most compact and lightweight DSLRs available today, only marginally larger than its predecessor, the 100D. The combination of a 24.2MP crop sensor (the same being employed in the very capable EOS 800D) and Canon’s DIGIC 7 processor makes the 200D capable of handling up to 14 times more information than the outgoing 100D, upping the light sensitivity in the new camera to ISO 51,200 in expanded ‘Hi’ mode (accessible via the menu), making the 200D’s low-light performance better than the…

 MORE AND MORE Australians are ditching free-to-air TV and cable for streaming services. Netflix is still the leader, with over half of the market, but competitor Stan has around 25%. There are also loads of other streaming options, TV catch up services, not to mention content giants such as YouTube. And while generally very easy to use, there are loads of ways to bring your streaming experience to the next level. WHILE MOST NEWISH TVS INCLUDE A NETFLIX APP, FOR OLDER MODELS, THE CHROMECAST IS AN AFFORDABLE YET VERSATILE WAY TO STREAM CONTENT. Netflix With a growing collection of excellent, self-produced TV shows, Netflix is must-have when streaming. Most modern TV’s include a Netflix app, which can be used with your existing remote control. But for those with an older…

EVERY NIGHT, MILLIONS of us connect our phones back up to mains power, recharging batteries exhausted through a day of videos, social media, games and the occasional phone call or two. But increasingly, smartphones are being seen in research circles as the great untapped source of latent computing power. There are concerns over rates of smartphone addiction, but from a research perspective, the cure for a range of conditions and diseases from HIV to Alzheimer’s could literally be in your hands. YOUR SMARTPHONE IS A COMPUTER We’ve been saying it for years — smartphones are powerful computers capable of doing far more than we often give them credit for. But their portable nature makes them ripe for adoption in a range of personal-health initiatives and research that help us both…

WHATEVER YOU DO in Windows 10, chances are you’re going to use the File Explorer at some point. It’s the graphical user interface (GUI) that enables you to find, edit, copy, delete and organise your files. And in Windows 10, it carries a myriad of useful features that enable you to do more with ease — from taking a sneak peek at the contents of files without actually opening them, to changing the default file and folder views. The quickest way to access File Explorer is to click the dedicated shortcut in the taskbar. You can also open it using ‘Win-E’, by clicking its option in the Start menu (just above Settings), or by asking Windows 10’s helpful virtual personal assistant, Cortana. In this tutorial, we’re going to explain the…

POWERLINE NETWORKING PROVIDES A STABLE POINT-TO-POINT NETWORK CONNECTION, SIMILAR TO ETHERNET. IT CAN BE USED TO CONNECT WIRED DEVICES IN REMOTE CORNERS OF YOUR HOUSE. WE’VE TALKED A lot in this column about how you can use range extenders and mesh networks to get Wi-Fi to reach the far corners of your home. But there’s another great technology available for getting better home coverage: powerline networking, aka HomePlug AV, aka IEEE 1901. As the name implies, powerline networking uses your home’s electrical wires to get data from one point to another. Because it’s using physical wires, it’s less susceptible to contention and interference than Wi-Fi, and in most cases, it will provide better and more reliable performance. It’s a great alternative to running Ethernet cabling through your house, and is…