Table of contents for November 2015 in PC & Tech Authority

Like many of you, I’m sure, I’ve been busying myself planning and building a new PC. Intel’s Skylake CPU, or ‘6th-gen’ as it’s now officially known was the impetus, along with Windows 10, but it’s not strictly the CPU or OS that has me so excited. With Skylake, came the 100-series Intel motherboard chipset, and with that, a big leap forward. Parts of this project have been smooth and delightful, but, as is the way of the PC, unexpected headaches got in the way of complete satisfaction. Ultimately it was a learning experience, being the whole point of it all. The CPU is the i7 6700K, and it’s sat in a Gigabyte GA-Z170X Gaming G1 motherboard equipped with 16GB of Corsair DDR4 thumping along at 3200MHz. So yes, it’s a…

From the first convertibles to prototype laptops with a transparent chassis, the Intel Developer Forum (IDF) has traditionally showcased the latest computing innovations – and the processors that go inside them. Yet, even with the release of Windows 10 still fresh in the mind, there was little focus on laptops and PCs at this year’s IDF in San Francisco. Instead, Intel’s execs couldn’t stop talking about the cloud and the Internet of Things (IoT). “I look at all the opportunities, and one thing is clear: computing is everywhere. It’s in our bags, our homes, our cars,” said Intel CEO Brian Krzanich during his opening keynote speech at the event. Industry watchers claim that Intel’s emphasis on IoT shows it’s determined not to miss out on the emerging market in the…

KELLER MOVES ON When AMD revealed that it was working on a completely new x86 CPU architecture known as Zen, and brought out the big guns in the form of Jim Keller, who had overseen work on AMD’s incredibly successful K7 and K8 architectures, the x86-64 specification and the HyperTransport interconnect before moving on to Apple to help with their A4 and A5 series SoCs. Having brought Keller back in 2012 to “oversee the teams defining the roadmaps for AMD’s CPU cores, systems IP, and server and client SoCs”, Keller is now moving on “to pursue other opportunities”. AMD stressed that Keller’s departure won’t have any effect on the company’s planned product roadmaps and has in fact put in place a strong team that it says can successfully deliver Zen…

W e all love a bargain. And one of the best ways to save a few bucks is to buy used equipment. However, that can come with some risks. Depending on what you’re buying and where it comes from it’s possible that the saving made in buying a used item are lost with a defective product or one that doesn’t meet your expectations. What can we do to reduce the risk of getting stuck with a lemon or dealing with a dodgy vendor? 1. LOOK AT PRODUCT RELEASE CYCLES If you’re particularly loyal to a specific brand, it’s worth researching their product release cycles. In many cases, the period immediately before and after a new product release can be a great time to pick up a bargain. About to be…

“THE USER ACCOUNT YOU CREATE WHEN YOU INSTALL THE OS CAN’T CHANGE SYSTEM SETTINGS AT ALL” Switching to Linux is easier than it used to be: you can set it up and get working just as easily as you can with Windows. Inevitably, though, there’s a learning curve, as Linux has its own ways of doing things. Here’s what you need to know when taking your first steps with your new Operating System. ACCOUNTS AND PERMISSIONS When you want to change system settings or install software in Windows, a User Account Control (UAC) requester pops up and ask for authorisation. Most Linux desktops work in a similar way, although you’ll probably be asked to enter your password rather than click a button. It’s useful to understand why these requesters appear.…

D espite the vast number of cases you can choose from, real innovation is rare. Mostly it comes down to a style decision, which is nice when building a new PC to give it a sense of fresh newness, but building (and subsequently adding-to) a PC with a case that’s especially enjoyable to work in, and flexible to customise, is a sweet joy. Last issue we reviewed the monstrous Antec S10, which is a super-premium $700 case (and worth it). This month we have another uniquely interesting case, but for different reasons. The Master Case’s claim to fame is its open flexibility. The whole idea is that it’s all about modularity and customisability. The stock case’s various bits can all be removed, with your build only including what’s needed. Extra…

Sometimes all you need is good looks. The Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge isn’t quite that shallow, but its seductive curves certainly catch the eye. Its larger sibling, the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge+, has just been unwrapped by Samsung and provides more substance to the world’s sexiest smartphone. The S6 Edge+ is a larger version of the Galaxy S6 Edge. It’s clad in glass at the front and rear, and uses Gorilla Glass 4 to prevent scratches and more serious damage. The camera unit at the rear sticks out, just like the S6 and S6 Edge, and the twin curves either side of the main display remain in place. Its Super AMOLED screen measures 5.7in diagonally, with a Quad HD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution (just like the Galaxy Note 4 from…

$3.79 • Android At first, You Must Build a Boat looks like a regular puzzle game, in which you slide blocks around to match symbols. But you quickly realise there’s much more to this addictive, fastpaced, side-scrolling RPG. Your task is simple: you must build a boat. To obtain the necessary parts, and assemble a crew, you’ll find yourself raiding caves, tombs, bunkers and Japanese pagodas. You’ll also meet monsters, and fight them by mastering the sliding-block puzzle mode, matching sword or stafftiles to attack and defend. You can also build strength and intelligence to improve your character and recruit new shipmates. You Must Build a Boat is fantastic fun. OVERALL…

FREE • iOS An avant-garde American composer may not be the most obvious starting point for an addictive rhythm game, but developer Touchpress has managed to create a fun app based on a 1972 Reich composition performed entirely by clapping. The aim here is to tap the screen in rhythm, which starts hard and ramps up further in difficulty when the claps abruptly change pattern. You’ll most likely give up in sheer frustration every couple of minutes – think Flappy Bird (or Clappy Bird) – but the minimalist design and information about Reich’s music will keep you coming back for more. OVERALL…

FREE • Android Android has its own set of batterysaving tools, and many phones now offer power-saving modes, but these kick in as a last resort. Greenify, on the other hand, helps to prevent your phone’s battery from running down in the first place. It does this by regulating how much battery power various apps are using. It freezes selected apps when you’re not using them, and instantly and automatically defrosts them when you need to gain access. Earlier versions of the app required root access, but this is no longer the case, so it’s perfect if you’re looking to save power on any Android device. OVERALL…

FREE • Android and iOS Password managers sometimes get a bad name. Many people are nervous of storing their passwords on a server somewhere, seeing this as a single point of failure – something that the recent security breach of LastPass will have done little to assuage. And while they allow you to conveniently synchronise your passwords for websites across different devices, if you’re using a modern browser, that’s taken care of. But there are still good reasons to use a password manager. Dashlane – recently updated on iOS but also available on Android, Windows and OS X – does a lot more than let you synchronise your passwords across different devices. Like most password managers, it also lets you generate and automatically store complex passwords, the kind that make…

$54 • www.turtlebeach.com This ‘kit’ is sold as a mouse and mouse pad combo, and it’s pitched as a gaming product. But after using the mouse at home for a couple of weeks it’s clear that this is simply a very good mouse, whether for gaming or regular use, with what I’d call a ‘bonus’ mouse mat that may or may not bring you happiness, depending on what product you’re currently using. The mouse is small and slim, but even with my big hands it’s instantly natural to feel at home with. As is the current fashion, the surface is that semirubbery material popping up on everything. It’s terrific, I love it. Despite the mouse not having particularly ergonomic indents it still holds firm. As for the mouse pad, well…

$599 (4TB) • www.lacie.com It’s hard to imagine wanting more from a portable drive, if toughness is an important part of your criteria. Lacie has been making ruggedized drives for a very long time, and the rubber-like material padding it is reassuringly thick. We did a 2m drop test and the data survived, which is notable as it’s only rated to 1.5m. The connector end is sealed by a relatively massive plug, and Lacie claim it to be dust and water-resistant to IP 54 standards, which means water splashes. As a result the drive is quite large, and because it has two physical drives, is slightly heavier than the slim drives you may have seen. What’s most interesting is the initial configuration option of running in RAID 1 or RAID…

“Reading notifications, swiping through Google Now cards and navigating maps is a pleasure” Round faces are all the rage among Android Wear manufacturers, and with the Watch Urbane it’s easy to see why. It might be a little thicker and heavier than your average mid-range timepiece, but it looks like the kind of watch that people – albeit mostly men – actually buy. Not all of us like the styling or admire the finishing, but with its leather strap and the right watch face, the Watch Urbane looks sophisticated. There’s no danger of forgetting that it’s there, though, at 67g. The 1.3in P-OLED screen has a 320 x 320 resolution, and it’s bitingly sharp. Blacks look black, colours look rich and punchy. Reading notifications, swiping through Google Now cards and…

Described as a “fitness superwatch”, the Fitbit Surge could do with a little slimming down itself. It’s a surprisingly thick, wedge-shaped unit integrated into a chunky rubber band and, while light and very comfortable, it looks dated. What’s more, there’s a surprisingly thick bezel around the 1.25in monochrome TFT touchscreen, which only makes the display look smaller. Throw in the fact that the transflective screen is rather dim when used indoors, and the Surge doesn’t look or feel all that super. Neither is it much of a smartwatch. You receive texts and call notifications, but that’s about it – there are no alerts for emails or events. This is a bit embarrassing when even bargainbasement smartwatches such as the Liquid Leap cram them in. If Fitbit has any sense, it…

Motorola was the first smartwatch manufacturer to deliver a round watch, and while the Moto 360 now faces competition from LG, it’s still one of the best-looking Android Wear devices. Not everyone will like the large 1.56in face, the 49g weight or the bling of our sample’s light gold strap and finish, but in its black and silver versions it’s a comfortable, elegant timepiece. It’s strong in other ways, too, packing in a heart-rate sensor for health apps and an ambient-light sensor to control the screen’s brightness. The larger screen size and 320 x 290 resolution means both a black strip at the bottom of the display and a lower pixel density than the LG Watch Urbane, but it’s crisp and very bright – we measured maximum brightness levels at…

One of the joys of owning a smartwatch is having the ability to change your watch face. Have a classic chronograph look one day, a digital face the next, some fancy animated face after that – it’s like wearing a different watch every day. The Pebble and Android Wear stores are packed with custom faces covering everything from retro styles to Hello Kitty, and even Garmin’s Vivoactive can use alternative faces, courtesy of the Connect IQ store. What if you want to build a watch face from the ground up? Well, depending on your smartwatch, there are tools available to do just that. APPLE WATCHOS Bad news if you want to make your own Apple Watch faces – Apple has decided to maintain tight control of watch-face design, rolling out…

The Nyth is a mouse dedicated to customisation. Although labelled as an MMO mouse, the fact that the buttons can be so easily changed both on the mouse and in the driver makes it great for most games that require more than just a few inputs. In addition to the left and right buttons, the Nyth boasts a rocker paddle that sits in between the fingers as well as up to 12 thumb buttons. The basic Nyth box contains a number of swappable thumb buttons, allowing users to choose the size and number of thumb buttons available and the drag and drop driver interface makes setting them up extremely easy. In case all those buttons aren’t enough, the Nyth also features a shift key that enables each button to have…

The underwater nightmare world presented in SOMA is wonderfully physical. Despite the biomechanical growths that thread through the underwater facility and the facility and the screaming monstrosities, neither machine nor human that wander through it, PATHOS-II, the underwater facility in SOMA feels like it takes place in a real physical space thanks to the nuanced environmental interaction available to the player. Draws can be slid open slowly to keep the noise down, different kinds of doors and locks require different kinds of interactions to open and anything not bolted down can be moved in some, hopefully beneficial, way. SOMA is much more haunted house than it is action packed Resident Evil style survival horror game. It is, for the most part a game that combined maintenance with hide and seek…

PC DESKTOP ALL-IN-ONE Apple iMac 27in PRICE $2,199 SUPPLIER www.apple.com/au If you can afford it, the 27in iMac is the finest piece of all-in-one engineering on the market. A truly powerful beast with performance to match its looks.. SPECIFICATIONS 3.2GHz quad-core Intel Core i5; 8GB DDR3 RAM; 1TB Western Digital Caviar Black HDD; NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1GB; 27in 2560 x 1440 LCD. Close but no cigar, for the Aorus X7 Pro-Sync (reviewed on page 43), as a contender for the Performance laptop category. We’re fans of the Aorus design aesthetic and the way the company manages to squeeze top-end power into a slim and attractive body. But it’s just too noisy to use day to day. So we’re sticking with the standard X7, for now. Some alternatives that have…

When IFTTT was founded in 2011, it was primarily used for keeping up with public services. Since then, however, it’s gained a second string to its bow, as a system for managing personal devices and services. “Connected home” is now IFTTT’s largest channel category, supporting 54 different services and devices. If you’ve started to invest in smart technology for your home, this could be IFTTT’s killer feature. So far, the market for Internet of Things technologies has been held back by a lack of universal standards: the gadgets you buy for your home can’t be relied on to work together. IFTTT can bridge the gap. For example, if you invest in a Homeboy IP camera, you can use IFTTT to trigger it when your Nest Protect home alarm registers a…

FEATURES + ASHAMPOO PHOTO MAILER + DRIVER BOOSTER 2 PROFESSIONAL + O&O SAFEERASE 7 PROFESSIONAL + WASHANDGO 2015 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 + VLC INTERNET + VUZE…

Last month I looked at three interesting USB gadgets and, as promised, I’m going to examine three more in this column. I’m looking at some of the more unusual, esoteric and downright useful USB gadgets that I’ve bought or had sent to me for testing over the past few months. I’m going to start with a very novel cable – in fact, it’s unique. The old joke about USB runs: “Which way round does the plug go? The other way, of course.” I know the odds are mathematically 50:50, but it seems that a USB lead is always upside down when you first go to plug it in. Of course, this “wrong-way-up-ness” (I’m sure there’s a technical term) isn’t anything new. From the serial, parallel and SCSI connectors of old…

Aresearch paper titled “No-one can hack my mind: comparing expert and non-expert security practices” (tinyurl.com/ozp4y6j) grabbed my attention recently. Written by three Google researchers – including Dr Iulia Ion, an expert in strong authentication – its abstract suggests that “average users” and “security experts” are miles apart in their thinking. Non-experts think in terms of antivirus software and regularly changing strong passwords, while experts primarily focus on prompt installation of security patches, twofactor authentication (2FA) and strong, unique passwords which are controlled by manager software. There’s so little overlap between these perspectives that average users may overlook 2FA, patching and password management completely. They’re not getting it wrong, but could certainly do better by, for example, adopting a password manager. The authors encountered scepticism from nonexperts, who preferred remembering their…

WIN WOES One would think that with all the months leading up to the release and with Windows 10 Preview being available, all the companies would be ready. Well they weren’t. I know for certain Logitech had to release an update after the release so their ‘LCD’ series of keyboards would work. And if you troll through the myriad of different products out there and check their specifications, there aren’t a great deal that quote ‘Windows 10’ ready or have it listed as compatible operating systems. My next point is with Windows 10 itself. I have seen comments like, ‘I am going back to Windows 8.1’, or ‘I am going back to Windows 7’, much like the comments post XP and Vista. I am an amateur overclocker and enjoy my…

Rob North takes a break from the hardware to enjoy the wonderful world of gaming U bisoft has announced plans to open a ‘next-generation’ theme park based on its popular video game titles in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 10,000 square-meter indoor park will feature rides and attractions with characters and features from the company’s biggest franchises including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance and the Raymanspin-offRaving Rabbids. The project is being led by Ubisoft Motion Pictures in collaboration with Malaysian theme-park developer RSG, and is scheduled to open in 2020. “Together we are creating a place where every guest is a player, every ride is a playground, every visit is a game,” said Jean de Rivières, senior vice president, Ubisoft Motion Pictures. While opening a theme-park might seem like a strange move…

R9 380X Last year AMD released the R9 285 with the then new GCN 1.2 architecture powered chip codenamed Tonga Pro. The R9 285 is a die-harvested chip, with 256 of its shader cores disabled and a portion of its memory interface also disabled which left the GPU with a 256-bit wide interface. The full blown version, Tonga XT, with all 2048 shader processors and full 384-bit memory interface were cherry picked and kept solely for Apple products under the moniker of the R9 M295X, and we were left wondering if we’d ever see Tonga XT come to desktops. Well the wait could soon be over. Pictures and details have leaked of what will purportedly be called the R9 380X. Claimed specs are that of a fully enabled Tonga XT…

In this guide for those considering a fresh start with Linux, we’ve picked six of the best distros, each tailored to suit a different type of user or purpose. Then we’ve selected five applications that will justify your decision to make the switch. Finally, we’ll help you take your first steps in a Linux environment, with the lowdown on how the operating system functions and how it differs from what you’re used to in the Windows world.…

When people switch to Linux, they usually do so for ideological reasons. However, there are some exceptional cases where Linux software outstrips its equivalents for Windows and OS X. Here are our five favourites. Not all of them are Linux exclusives, but they originated on the platform and are often better maintained on it. FOCUSWRITER gottcode.org/focuswriter We journalists are partial to writing tools. Focuswriter is one of the very best – and it originated on Linux. For those who aren’t familiar with the idea, distraction-free writing programs are intended to be the polar opposite of Microsoft Word or LibreOffice. Instead of offering toolbars cluttered with options, they limit you to plain text and keep formatting options to a minimum so that you spend more time worrying about the writing than…

Shuttle has long been known for their small form factor computers and their latest release is the Slim PC DS57U. Made for the industrial market, this silent and fanless little box houses a variety of low power Intel CPUs but still packs in all the features you could reasonably need. The first sign this computer is for the industrial and installation market is that there’s two serial ports on the front and bare pins on the rear for CMOS clearing and an external power switch. Inside there’s two Mini PCIe slots, one full size for an mSATA SSD and the other half-size for a Wi-Fimodule or LTE modem. There’s space for a 2.5inch disk drive and two DDR3-L 1600 SO-DIMM slots. In addition to those ports are two gigabit Ethernet…

Todoist 10 FREE • Android and iOS There are a million and one taskmanagement apps with varying degrees of complexity, but few offer the same power and range of platforms as Todoist. At its simplest level, Todoist allows you to break down projects into lists of tasks. Projects can have subprojects, letting you group different categories (such as home or work projects) together, and tasks can have labels – allowing you to group together all of your phone calls or emails in one place. “You can filter tasks by a wide range of criteria, including who is assigned to a shared task, when it’s due or its associated project” The design of Todoist on both Android and iOS is simple and elegant. It’s easy to get to grips with quickly,…

$1.29 • iOS What used to happen for free with VHS players is now the subject of an app that lets you turn photos into glitchy works of art. For less than a quid you get a sizeable range of tools, from databending to turning pictures into a grid of emoji. There’s definitely a book waiting to be written about the popularity of the glitch as an aesthetic – the purposeful created from the accidental – but it’s probably best not to think too hard and just enjoy making freaky photos. There are more than enough tools included in the base version to impress and terrify your followers, but you’ll need pay $1.29 for the Pro version’s hi-res exports. OVERAL…

$FREE • iOS You can tell that Microsoft is serious about Satya Nadella’s new “Microsoft software everywhere” approach from the number of new applications it’s releasing for iOS and Android. Office Sway is a good example. But what exactly is it? Initially released as a web application, Sway is a tool for telling stories using photos, links, text, embedded tweets and video. You could think of it as a reimagining of PowerPoint for people who don’t like conventional presentations. Imagine a 21st-century “what I did on my holidays” slideshow and you’re getting close to Sway. Because Sways are hosted on Microsoft’s servers, you need a Microsoft account to use the app. It’s incredibly easy to get to grips with: you insert media and drag it around, then Sway will format…

$56.99 • iOS Ulysses is a powerful writing app that has recently made the transition from Mac. It’s designed for anyone who writes regularly but wants to maintain the portability of the iPad. Described by its creators as “desktopclass writing for iPad”, the app offers a productive, minimalist design alongside all the essential word-processing functions. A three-paned sidebar lets you see all your files at a glance, and you can export your files as PDFs or Word documents. In addition, you can share them directly via Dropbox. It’s priced at $57, which may seem a little expensive, but it’s worth it. OVERALL…

$399 • www.sonymobile.com/au Sony has created a mid-range phone with a premium feel, in the Xperia M4 Aqua. The M4 Aqua’s glass backing and metal edging certainly give the appearance of a more expensive handset. It’s only when you start digging into the specs that it’s at this price point for a reason. Running Android 5.0 Lollipop, it has a 5in screen and only a 720p resolution, but isn’t blurry by any stretch. Inside is an energyefficient Snapdragon 615 processor, which helps the M4 Aqua meet its claims of a 2-day battery life (with moderate use). Its 8GB of storage is paltry, but is expandable via Micro SD up to 128GB. Its 13MP camera also takes decent pics. Its party piece is it’s waterproof and dustproof, so you can easily…

$124.95 (1-year subscription) • www.parallels.com/au Parallels has expanded its virtualisation software offering to include a Pro edition of Desktop for Mac, which provides more tools for developers and testers to work with. For the extra outlay over the Standard edition (both of which are El Capitan ready), you get access to the Microsoft Visual Studio plug-in, and support for various dev tools, such as Docker, Vagrant, Jenkins, and Chef. You also have the ability to allocate 64GB vRAM and 16 vCPUs, compared to 8GB vRAM and 4 vCPUs in the standard version, and access to advanced networking tools. As with version 10, you can install Windows from a DVD or an ISO, or migrate an installation from a different PC. You can also download trial versions of multiple Windows versions…

$249 • www.wd.com.au Two new hybrid drives landed on our desk (‘thud’), this week. One, a 4TB 3.5incher, as well as a 2.5inch 1TB model. ‘Blue’ denotes WD’s hybrid range, which is an interesting category, as it gives you far higher capacity than you would see at this price point for a pure SSD. There hasn’t been a huge amount of activity in this area. Seagate have models, and WD made a splash with its consumer Black 2 two years ago. Each drive has 8GB of NAND flash onboard, on it are automatically placed the most used files in whatever operation you are conducting, with a smart algorithm on the drive to keep tabs. This algorithm boasts smart learning. The benefit is generally snappier performance, as well as better boot…

Sony’s Android Wear smartwatch hasn’t got the best styling, the strongest feature set or the sharpest, brightest screen, but it almost claws its way onto the winner’s podium through value. This is a good Android smartwatch with reasonable battery life, fine performance and a decent screen for around $200. It’s a simple design, with the core watch module available in a choice of a thick rubber straps, more lightweight sports housings and premium metal bands, all available in two colours. Our black rubber version isn’t exactly glamorous, but it feels solid, comfortable and robust, with a secure folding clasp. There’s just one button on the right-hand side to wake the watch up, with most other actions handled through the large 1.6in touchscreen. Given the work Google has put into making…

Acer’s leap into the smartwatch world is a hybrid band, packing a handful of smartwatch features into a low-cost fitness device. It looks low-rent, and our white review sample was hard to keep clean, if reasonably robust. Acer claims it’s waterproof, although only for up to 30 minutes in depths of up to one metre. Paddling pool swimmers only, then. Officially the Liquid Leap isn’t onsale yet in Australia, but can be bought online. We acquired one so in the interests of an all-encompassing group test have included the review. It’s not hard to find evidence of the low budget. The strap is comfortable but hard to fit, with studs that only just squeeze through the holes provided. It charges via a tiny plastic cradle that feels like it fell…

Like the Fitbit Surge, Garmin’s Vivoactive is a fitness watch with smartwatch pretensions – but, unlike the Surge, it makes those features count. You’ll miss out on complex apps, voice-powered search, turn-by-turn navigation and the ability to dictate messages, but the Vivoactive doles out email, text, phone and event notifications, and you can expand it with apps and watch faces via the Connect IQ store. The slab-like square design is humdrum but functional, and there’s nothing overweight or irritating about the design. The transflective LCD screen makes sparing but intelligent use of colour, and while the 205 x 148 resolution doesn’t exactly pack detail, it’s easy to read in all conditions. Most importantly, the combination of taps, swipes and actual buttons soon becomes intuitive. You use the touchscreen to swipe…

Pebble has won a sizable userbase by focusing on core smartwatch features and handling them well. The Pebble Time might have the luxury – for a Pebble – of a colour display, but it hasn’t lost sight of the ethos. If a long battery life, useful apps and at-a-glance notifications matter most to you, this is a great smartwatch. It won’t be to everyone’s taste. The Time is simple and solidly built, but the thick bezel is hardly elegant, and in some ways the styling’s a step backwards from the grown-up Pebble Steel (a Steel version of the Time is imminent). The screen is colour, but a limited resolution and colour palette mean that everything looks like it belongs on an old 8-bit PC. It’s telling that the Pebble’s best…

ROG MAXIMUS VIII RANGER The entry point to the Republic of Gamers (ROG) Maximus VIII series, don’t make the mistake of thinking the ROG Maximus VIII Ranger lacks bells and whistles. This motherboard is a fully featured, gaming orientated motherboard injected with overclocking DNA from its established Maximus VIII stable mates. Featuring extended connectivity options with support for USB3.1, PCIe x4 M.2, SATA Express and Intel i219 LAN with software and hardware optimisations courtesy of ASUS exclusive GameFirst and LANGuard, this board is ready to help you dominate the gaming arena. Like a cherry on top, this board is rocking the ROG SupremeFX 2015 audio solution with amplification for 600Ω headphones, ESS Sabre DAC and a de-pop relay. Want the best? Demand ROG! TUF SABERTOOTH Z170 MARK 1 Introducing the…

Take equal parts Italian Mad Max rip-off, Oregon Trail and miniatures combat came and you have something resembling Skyshine’s Bedlam, a turn based, Rogue-like strategy game in which players must pilot a giant tank/transport called the Dozer across a post apocalyptic desert in search of the fabled refuge of Aztec City. The desert, Bedlam, is populated with the dregs of the apocalyptic war; rogue AI, cyborgs, mutants and marauders, and while these violent factions hate each other, they definitely hate you more. To make matters worse, the warlord of Byzantine, the city you are escaping is not a fan of you either and wants you dead. Can you survive a trip through the wastelands and make it to freedom? For the first half a dozen games, probably not. Skyshine’s Bedlam…

“Chrome’s sandboxing architecture makes things hard, if not impossible, for those who want to exploit a vulnerability” Ask a roomful of people to name the most insecure web browser and hands will quickly shoot up to answer: “Internet Explorer”. Ask people to pick the safest, and “Chrome” will be the answer on the lips of many. But how true is that in reality? It depends on how you measure safety. The Secunia Vulnerability Review suggests that known browser vulnerabilities increased from 728 in 2013 to 1,035 in 2014, with most rated as critical. Safari had the fewest, followed by Firefox, Internet Explorer and then Chrome. Secunia also took patch status into account: the more users with unpatched vulnerabilities, the less secure the browser. Using this metric, Internet Explorer is easily…

It’s finally happened! It’s here! Fire up the marching band and get the party started! Windows 10 has shipped. Or rather, if some reports on Twitter are to be believed, it’s “escaped”. Without doubt, some users are having problems: I recently read about disk configurations getting so scrambled that you end up with an unreadable volume and all your data disappearing – something of an “oops”. Other people are reporting problems with multiple-monitor setups, many of which appear to recover after a reboot. There have also been some, to be kind, “suboptimal” driver releases. All of this was to be expected. Anyone who installs a new OS on day one could definitely be described as displaying an abnormal degree of bravery. Microsoft knows this and has staggered its launch upgrade…

Six years ago, a university I’m connected with set out to create a web-based portal for its 3,000 staff. The powers that be made two crucial decisions: that Microsoft SharePoint was the way to go, and to use the unreleased 2010 version, rather than the 2007 flavour. I took up the new SharePoint farm administrator post in June 2011, and spent the next two weeks on the sofa with lots of strong coffee and a copy of SharePoint Unleashed – still the best series of books on the subject. After another week at Learning Tree’s training centre, we were ready to start building test farms. Microsoft is pretty poor at getting people to understand what SharePoint actually is. The official line is that it’s a collaboration platform, but so is…

This month I’m going to talk about five things that Microsoft should have made clearer. This means getting technical – the sort of technical that, were I more like an archetypal consultant, I’d be wanting to keep to myself. But I’ve come to realise that Microsoft’s five pillars of successful network design are dropping far too many IT guys (and the networks they support) into hot water, to the detriment of their careers and the businesses they work for. Are things really that risky? I’d have to say they are. There are clear use cases to be made for cloud computing, that marvellous phenomenon that causes all those happy blokes down the pub to hold forth about the wonders of Office 365, and all those super-happy IBMers to flaunt their…

“A few months ago, it was the 30th anniversary of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s seminal album Welcome to the Pleasuredome. There was a special remastered box set produced through crowdfunding, and some of us went to Sarm Studios for an evening playback of the album and a Q&A session with producer Trevor Horn and his team. It was a great event, one to be treasured. Why, aside from bragging rights, am I mentioning this? It’s because the track “Two Tribes” has a sound sample of someone pretending to be Ronald Reagan saying “war breaks out and nobody turns up” – which is exactly how I feel about Windows 10. Alright, it’s here. It’s a huge step forward from the unmitigated disaster that was Windows 8. I get a good feeling…

The latest trends and products in the world of technology I s microsoft trying to snoop on users with Windows 10? That’s the accusation being levelled at the company by some customers. For example, Cortana isn’t new, but the voice-enabled smart assistant can now use your microphone to eavesdrop and learn your speech patterns. Then there’s the diagnostic tool, which can collect more data from crashes, and may even send snippets of your personal files back to Microsoft. That’s not to mention the extension of personalised advertising into apps, with Windows 10 studying your behaviour to decide which ads to display. Finally, there’s WiFiSense, which lets you share your network with anyone in your contact list, without sharing the login details. While that can protect your privacy, it also automatically…

Nintendo has promoted longserving executive Tatsumi Kimishima to the position of company president, following the untimely passing of Satoru Iwata earlier this year. You’re not alone if you haven’t heard of Kimishima before – serving as the head of Nintendo of America between 2002 and 2006, Kimishima typically played the silent leader, allowing Reggie Fils-Aimé to assume the role of the public face of the company in the West. Kimishima will pick up the reigns from acting company leaders Shigeru Miyamoto and Genyo Takeda, who many assumed were frontrunners for the president position, and who have in turn been appointed as Nintendo’s “Creative Fellow” and “Technology Fellow” respectively and will play key roles in providing advice and guidance in their areas of expertise. The announcement comes alongside news of a…

You won’t find better reviews anywhere in Australia! It is truly unfortunate that the weakening Australian dollar is currently intersecting with some exciting new product releases. This is a hot topic, and one Bennett touched on in his reviews this month of the new AMD Fury variants, the Nano and the standard air-cooled Fury. As consumers, we may be pining for the newest gear, but when to buy is now a genuine concern for many. As Bennett rightly pointed out, smart shoppers may be better offlooking to buy products that were released here many months ago (and to the point – purchased by the reseller when the dollar was stronger). As you can well imagine, this pain is acutely felt by importers and resellers. Margins on consumer tech are tight,…

FREE • Android Like to use your Android device to read? While there are plenty of ebook apps out there, Google’s own Play Books is fantastic. Usually coming preinstalled on vanilla Android devices, Google’s ebook reader packs in features other free apps lack. The capability may not be initially apparent, but you can upload your own ebooks and PDF files to Play Books and access them on any Android device associated with your login, with your progress being synced across devices. This means you can read on your tablet when at home, then later pick up your phone and carry on reading when out and about. That’s not a bad function for a free app. OVERALL…

FREE • Android and iOS Pocket has long been one of the leading applications for saving web pages for reading later. You can clip articles to it using a browser extension or bookmarklet, or use one of the many integrations with other applications (such as feed readers) to get content in. Pages are saved to your mobile device and stripped of formatting and ads, making them much easier to read. This happens in the background, so you don’t need to worry about having to open the application and download the articles. Once the pages are saved, you can share links to them, mark them as favourites, add tags for easier navigation and even play back the article using text-to-speech. However, you’ll often just be reading them, and as a method…

FREE with in-app purchases • Android Juggling multiple online storage accounts can be a headache; Unclouded is here to help. Pulling all your connected accounts into one uncluttered interface, the app lets you access your files from a single location, no matter where they’re stored. Unclouded currently supports Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box and Mega, so it’s really only iCloud users who are left out. If you only need to manage one or two accounts, it’s free to use, but if you want to aggregate more content you’ll need to pay. Thankfully, Unclouded lets you pick and choose which services you’d like, so you’ll never pay for something you don’t use. OVERALL…

$12.99 • iOS MindNode is an intuitive brainstorming app that can help organise your mental clutter. Using a variety of colours and line widths, you can create a map of interconnected thoughts, or use the app to place your ideas into different categories. Mind-mapping doesn’t work for everyone – a more freeform tool such as OneNote may work better for ad hoc notes and ideas. But MindNode offers an exceptionally clear interface and Apple Watch integration – allowing you to browse your notes and images on the go – making it one of the most complete brainstorming apps out there. OVERALL…

$110 • www.Mionix.net The Mionix Castor is a triumph of design. Rather than opting for all the bells and whistles common to many modern mice, Mionix instead focussed on comfort and accuracy with the Castor, making it one of the most comfortable mice we’ve seen in a long time. The ergonomics are designed to support the three most common grips for mousing – finger, palm and claw – ensuring that it fits comfortably in your hand no matter how you hold a mouse. The six buttons – left, right, two thumb buttons, scroll wheel and DPI switcher and nice and clicky and well placed for easy access. The PNW-3310 10,000 DPI sensor the Castor sports is extremely accurate and the lack of any hardware acceleration means that movements are smooth…

“The biggest thing in Apple’s favour is that the Watch Sport feels like a platform in its own right” The Sport may be the cheapest of the many Apple Watch models, but even still it’s a tough proposition on value. With the 38mm version clocking in at $349, and the 42mm version adding $50 to the price tag, it’s around a third more expensive than most of its competitors in this test – and that’s without moving up into the $599-$17,000 price range of the more luxurious models. It’s not a winner in other departments, either. Battery life, at around a day and a half, is a long way short of the LG Watch Urbane or even the Sony SmartWatch 3. While the Watch Sport has sophisticated heart-rate sensors, accelerometers…

Three things single out the ZenWatch from its Android Wear brethren: a lovable old-school style, a lack of physical controls, and a large AMOLED screen. In fact, the display isn’t much bigger than that of the Sony SmartWatch 3, nor is the 320 x 320 resolution any different, but its 296cd/m2 luminance levels, deep blacks and rich colours make it easier on the eyes in all conditions other than bright sunlight. Notifications are more legible, and you can see greater detail when navigating with Google Maps. Despite its size, the ZenWatch is slim, light and very comfortable to wear. The hinged clasp holds the classy leather strap securely, and while it’s not as tough or as waterproof as other watches, it’s dust-and water-resistant enough to allay any fears of it…

The best thing you can say about Microsoft’s design is that it’s tough and utilitarian. The worst? That it looks like you’re wearing an electronic tag. Still, while the Microsoft Band might make you look like a young offender, it’s comfortable when fitted properly, using the ratchet clasp to get a good, tight fit around the wrist. This is primarily a supercharged fitness band, and the amount of data the Band collects is impressive. Between UV monitors, galvanic skin sensors, accelerometers, gyroscopes and an optical heart-rate monitor, the Band is busy both while you’re exercising and while you’re going about your everyday life. Even the sleep-tracking features are extensive. While a chest-band heart-rate monitor will generate more accurate results, readings from the Band were very close to those from the…

Let’s face it, barring Google Glass and the kind of high-tech adult toys we’re not too keen to review in PC & Tech Authority, technology doesn’t really get more personal than this. That means that a smartwatch that looks and feels right to one tester doesn’t always look and feel right to a colleague. Software that’s intuitive to someone from an Android background feels less intuitive to someone coming from iOS. In fact, in most respects you already made a choice about your smartwatch when you bought your smartphone. If you bought an iPhone, Android Wear watches are offthe table. Likewise, the Apple Watch is dead to anything but an iPhone (and even then you’ll need an iPhone 5 or above). Only Microsoft, Fitbit, Acer, Pebble and Garmin cater for…

Formerly codenamed Skylake, the 6th Generation Intel Core processor has landed on Australian store shelves. The latest in Intel’s powerful family of CPUs delivers even better performance than its predecessor, yet does so using the most energy-efficient design Intel has ever created. Last month in Upgrade Australia we looked at the new LGA 1151 motherboards that support this CPU, based around Intel’s Z170 chipset and bringing a plethora of new features such as plentiful USB 3.0 and Ultra M.2 connections. This month we’re focusing on the CPU itself, to see what changes have been made to make this the fastest mainstream desktop processor available. The first release of the 6th Generation Intel Core processor comes in two flavours. Mid-range users will likely favour the new i5-6600K, a quad-cored processor with…

In development for 18 months at its expansive US audio facility which I recently visited, Logitech’s new gaming headphones aim high, and hit most marks. These are gaming cans we can recommend highly; although they certainly aren’t the cheapest you can buy. Ostensibly the two models are identical, with the cheaper 633’s eschewing wireless, though in testing the wireless G933’s gain a smidge of amplification from the wireless circuitry and as a result have a slightly fuller tone. Both sound fantastic, though. The sound is very clear and unadulterated by stealthed EQ stuffing things around behind the scenes. Our resident audiophile, Jez Ford (editor of Australian Hi Fi, which we publish), was impressed, describing a “slight squeezing of some female vocals at the high end, but otherwise perfect for music”.…

We’re all connected to a bewildering range of digital services. Family members share their news on Facebook; colleagues set up meetings in Outlook; friends post photos on Instagram and Flickr. Our personal interests lead us to blogs and discussion forums. Keeping up with it all is a real challenge. IFTTT is a free automation service that helps catch what’s important. Using simple “recipes”, you can set it to do things such as send you a notification when a particular person posts on Facebook. You can make it automatically add new Outlook events to your Google Calendar, or vice versa. You can get an alert when something you’re interested in is mentioned on a blog, or when a particular item is posted for sale on eBay. In short, you can stop…

What is 3D XPoint and is that really what it’s called? It’s not as catchy as flash memory, but it’s better than what’s in your SSD. Intel says that 3D XPoint, pronounced “cross point”, is the first “mainstream” memory technology invented since 1989. The aim is to eliminate the bottleneck between storage and processing. DRAM is fast, but it’s expensive and volatile, and wipes when your device loses power. The NAND found in SSDs is cheaper and nonvolatile, but can be 1,500 times slower than DRAM. 3D XPoint is 1,000 times faster than NAND – while remaining cheaper than DRAM. How does it work? The 3D design packs a lot into a small footprint, allowing every memory cell to be accessed without transistors. 3D XPoint is made of columns, each…