Table of contents for February 2022 in TechLife

Most magazines have a motto; a mission statement about what that publication aims to do for its readers. For TechLife, that’s ‘Live life smarter’; we want to be able to help you interface with technology – an ever-increasing amount of technology, I’ll add – in ways that improve your work, your play, and everything in between. So, more technology means more ways to use it, and so we need to keep up. Over the last few issues you may have noticed an uptick in our Help Station section – more Windows and Mac tutorials, for instance, and now with the addition of Linux guides, too. And this issue we’re kicking off a new series that aims to keep you up to date with the ever-expanding range of streaming services we…

After six months of virtually nothing, Chromecast with Google TV owners have finally been treated to a new update, and it’s a pretty good one. The update adds better Dolby Vision playback on some apps, as well as storage and security improvements for the streaming device. As reported by Android Community, the update clocks in at around 158MB, which doesn’t sound like much until you remember Chromecast with Google TV’s paltry 8GB of total storage. However, one big improvement the update brings is better storage optimisation, and users have reported getting an extra 200-300MB to play with after updating. The update also brings some much-needed quality-of-life changes to Chromecast with Google TV, including better DRM video encoding as well as a dedicated “uninstall apps” menu, something we’re genuinely surprised the…

The Tajezzo PZ5 Smart Backpack is a hardshell backpack with an LED display that offers multiple features and oodles of style. If you regularly ride bikes or motorcycles then you can appreciate most of its features as quality-of-life improvements, but there’s still plenty of fun to be had simply wearing it around town. The LED display is rather simple. There are a few different light modes to choose from: Music Mode that fluctuates with your tunes, Breathing Mode that just calmly, uh, breathes, Night Mode for a solid line of light and Sport Mode, which detects rapid deceleration to flash red if you come to a sudden stop. You can get the bag in two styles, a black model that has an ‘exposed’ display with visible screws, and a white…

In 2013, doctors delivered a life-altering diagnosis to a woman in Argentina: she had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Eight years later, the virus has all but disappeared from her system. In fact, stunned researchers were unable to find evidence of any HIV viral particles in her body, “despite analysis of massive numbers of cells from blood and tissues, suggesting that this patient may have naturally achieved a sterilising cure,” researchers wrote. This represents the second known case of a person’s immune system eliminating HIV without a bone marrow transplant or drug intervention. The first such case was a California woman named Loreen Willenberg, who in 2020 found out that the virus was absent from her body for the first time in 27 years. Just two other people, pseudonymously…

Audeze has long been one of the pioneers of planar magnetic headphones. In short, planar magnetic headphones use a different driver than typical headphones. Typical headphones use what’s known as a “dynamic” driver, which is a cone diaphragm with a voice coil (think speaker drivers) whereas planar magnetic drivers use a conductive diaphragm sheet that’s sandwiched between magnet arrays. The advantages of planar magnetic drivers are speed and resistance to distortion. Design If you’ve been following Audeze, the LCD-X doesn’t stray far from the company’s iconic look and build quality. The LCD-X is an open-back headphone, which means it lets sound pass inside and out to give sound a better sense of space and imaging. The headphone is built like a tank and pays for it with its 612g weight.…

PlayStation Studios adds God of War co-developer Valkyrie Entertainment to its ranks Sony’s latest studio acquisition is Valkyrie Entertainment, a co-development specialist which has contributed to the God of War franchise among many other games. PlayStation Studios boss Hermen Hulst announced the purchase via Twitter, saying that Valkyrie’s order of business as part of the company is “making invaluable contributions to key PlayStation Studios franchises.” PUBG studio hiring for an unannounced AAA game Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds studio Krafton is developing a new AAA game. As was first reported in December by Exputer, Krafton appears to be staffing up for an unannounced AAA game. Chiefly, a job listing on Krafton’s website for a Senior Animator confirms that a potential new employee would be working on a “new unannounced project.” Secondly, there’s another…

$57.99, www.playstation.com,PlayStation, PC I’m increasingly convinced that movement-driven games aren’t just my type of game; they’re the best type of game. Demonstrably – mathematically, even. Because a game that turns the simple act of getting to point B into a constant delight, and then presents infinite points to get to, is always at its best. I signed up for Solar Ash looking to skate elegantly on the clouds of a beautiful world, and that’s exactly what I got. It’s a third-person platformer that pushes its core skating mechanic to its technical and creative limits, and the result is a sublime chorus of double jumps, grind rails, bounce pads, collectibles, and momentum. What I didn’t expect was for the wrapper on that straightforward idea to be so heavy and memorable. I…

$2,295, www.asus.com The Asus TUF Gaming F17 FX706HE is an attractive gaming laptop with a low price and a large, inviting 17-inch display. From its sleek, gamer-focused design to its affordable price tag, the Asus TUF Gaming F17 stands as a quality machine for casual gamers looking for a dedicated gaming laptop. The Asus TUF Gaming F17 leans heavily on screen quality with an IPS panel capable of reaching a refresh rate of 240Hz but doesn’t always pack the punch necessary to make full use of that output. On the Asus TUF Gaming F17, most games run optimally at mid-to-low level video settings, but gamers will be hard pressed to play AAA titles at maximum video settings. The battery life is somewhat short, lasting just under two hours, and the…

$129, www.dlink.com If you want to improve the performance of your home Wi-Fi network then it makes sense to upgrade to a new router that uses the latest Wi-Fi 6 technology (aka 802.11ax). Looking very much like a rather fat memory stick, the Wi-Fi 6 adaptor simply plugs into a USB port on your PC and provides a quick plug-and-play upgrade to high-performance Wi-Fi 6 technology. It does actually have a small amount of memory built into it, which stores the adaptor’s driver software, so you can just double-click on the adaptor in the Windows File Explorer to view and install the drivers. The adaptor uses a USB-A connector, but our office laptop has both USB-A and USB-C ports, and we found that it also worked with the USB-C port…

Free for the basic service, www.autocrit.com AutoCrit has a free trial, which should be enough to get you started with the tool and help you figure out whether it’s right for you in the long run. Most features should be available during the free trial period, and the application doesn’t really nag you with any ads for its premium tiers. They also have a free tier, technically, but if you’re serious about using AutoCrit in the long run, you will definitely want to invest in a premium subscription. That will cost you US$30/ month if you pay by the month, or US$297 for a full year paid upfront. The premium version gives you access to lots of additional editing reports, as well as an exclusive community where you can discuss…

1 Open the app Activity Monitor lets you see what’s running on your Mac. To launch it, press Cmdspacebar , type "activity" and then press Enter. Or you can launch it by clicking on Applications > Utilities. 2 See wh apps that are currently running. 3 Sort it out Click on a column header to sort, so if you want to list apps alphabetically click "Process Name". You can view different resources by clicking the right button: CPU, Memory, Energy, Disk, and Network usage. 4 Who’s the hog? Look at CPU usage. Here, we can see that Logic Pro is using 27.3 percent of our CPU while it exports a project. If an apparently idle app is using lots of power, quit and restart it: if it’s Safari, close tabs.…

> When should I reset the NVRAM or SMC? NVRAM is where your Mac stores settings such as your startup disk and connected devices; the System Management Controller handles the battery, heat, the power button, and the light sensor. Resetting the former can solve startup issues; resetting the latter may tame unruly processes such as kernel_task. To reset NVRAM, power on while pressing Opt-Cmd-p-r. Hold the keys until the second startup chime. Check out bit.ly/apple-resetsmc for Apple’s guide. > How do I get my lost files back? Open the folder that used to contain the file(s) and then launch Time Machine. You can now use the arrow keys to move back in time. Select a file or folder and click Restore to bring it back. For a full restore, start…

> How much is a new laptop battery? If your battery isn’t covered by warranty or AppleCare+, Apple will replace it. The prices start at $189 for a 13-inch or 15-inch MacBook Pro rising to $299 for the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and the 16-inch MacBook Pro. > What should I do before I put my Mac in for repair? If your Mac is still functional apart from the fault it’s going in to fix, it’s really important to take a full backup of its storage drive before you drop it off. While it’s unlikely that anything awful will happen to your Mac while it’s in for repair, it’s still possible that you’ll end up with a blank drive once it’s returned. For example, a new…

Proponents of VR like to claim that it is here to revolutionise gaming, but the technology has actually been kicking around since the ’70s, initially used for military and flight training purposes. The first VR headsets designed for gaming emerged in the early ’90s, when Sega announced a headset for its Mega Drive console. Unfortunately, Sega VR never made it into consumers’ homes, with only a half-baked arcade version ever seeing the light of day. A handful of other manufacturers attempted to develop similar technologies, but the gaming public remained indifferent until 2012, when engineer Palmer Luckey and id Software co-founder John Carmack revealed the first Oculus Rift headset at the E3 expo. The Rift was a revelation for the VR industry. Improved tracking, a wider field of view, and…

In the realm of entry-level soundbars, manufacturers have to make brutal decisions about which features to focus on and which to miss out. That means there are many soundbars available at almost identical prices that take very different approaches. Our current favourite at this level is the Sonos Beam, now in MkII form. It’s a single unit that’s easy to house. This Sony takes a different route, and comes with a wireless subwoofer. It doesn’t, though, have music streaming, multi-room or voice control. Its focus is much more upon films and, for some, that will be just the ticket. The soundbar is more substantial and solid than most in its class. It’s roughly the width of an average 49in TV and will sit low enough not to get in the…

We're big fans of Samsung’s punchy and vivid QLED TVs, but so far we haven’t been quite so enamoured of the company’s range of soundbars. For its latest soundbar offering, the HW-Q800A, the company has made some improvements to performance and added some new intelligent features. The HW-Q800A has a separate wireless subwoofer, and it's that ability deftly to replicate the low frequencies that a single-unit bar couldn’t reach that distinguishes the HW-Q800A from its closest competition, most notably the similarly Dolby Atmos-enabled Sonos Arc. At only 57mm in height and 116cm wide the Q800A's unassuming build is ideal for TV sizes from 48in to 65in. The rear-ported active subwoofer is also modestly sized and has a side-firing 20cm driver. Across the front edge of the main soundbar are the…

It seems that LG can do no wrong when it comes to OLED TVs, but its soundbars have proven to be more of a mixed bag. The company is clearly determined to get things right with this, its 2021 flagship model, despite the two-star bruising we gave its predecessor. Like the previous model, the SP11RA is a serious investment in both money and space. If your idea of a soundbar is affordable, compact convenience, you may be surprised by the price, size and number of boxes involved here. It’s still more convenient and less overwhelming than building a true home cinema system, though, particularly one to match the LG’s 7.1.4 channels of Dolby Atmos action. Best of all, while the SP11RA looks similar to its underwhelming forebear, the feature set…

THIS MONTH Q&A Your questions answered WINDOWS Focus on what matters in Windows 10 WINDOWS Make good photos look even better MAC Screen Time on Mac MAC Free up storage space LINUX How to emulate an Oric 8-bit computer IOS Master drag and drop ANDROID Road trip with an Android SECURITY & PRIVACY Browsing with multiple identities HOME NETWORKING Syncing without a server STREAMING Netflix 2021 PHOTOGRAPHY MASTERCLASS The vertical axis DIGITAL DARKROOM Focus stack fast in Photoshop Cooling M.2 drives I’ve spent several weeks seeking advice on this topic, but haven’t found a spec for the recommended operating range for M.2 drives. All I’ve found are mixed messages suggesting they do need cooling and they don’t need cooling. People have asked the question because they were concerned after seeing…

SET LIMITS ON CHILD ACCOUNTS Family Sharing ties in well with Screen Time. You can set individual Screen Time rules for each child by clicking System Preferences > Family Sharing > Screen Time, clicking your child’s name, then clicking Open Screen Time. Now choose their name in the list to get started. In addition, child accounts can request exceptions to your Screen Time rules, such as a little extra time in an app. When they send a request, you’ll get a notification on your Mac, and you can view them all at once in the Requests section of the Screen Time sidebar.…

We recently wrote about using an Android smartphone as a car dash cam, and since then we embarked on an 800km road trip. When researching dash cam options many more automotive functions and apps came to light, so this was a great opportunity to explore some of them – along with the countryside. One challenge was to add a bit of current driving technology to our 2010 model vehicle. How about a digital speedo and heads-up display for starters? Plus navigation of course. We set out to make the best use of the native apps in our Android 9.0 phone, plus see what free goodies we could find at the Google Play Store. But the first thing to do was set up the navigation, and we were using the Google…

Focus-stacking is a great way to increase the depth of field in your close-ups, landscapes or any other type of scene where you want to achieve front-to-back sharpness. Sometimes this simply isn’t possible in one exposure – especially when you want to include details that are very close to the lens – but by shooting a set of photos with varying focus points, we can combine the sharpest parts into a single image later on. To shoot for a focus stack, simply use a tripod and focus on the closest point. Take a shot, then manually shift the focus slightly and take another, continuing until you’ve recorded front-to-back sharpness. To shoot for a focus stack, simply use a tripod and focus on the closest point. Take a shot, then manually…

Known as the Great Red Spot, this swirling high-pressure region is clearly visible from space, spanning a region in Jupiter’s atmosphere more than 16,000 kilometres wide – about one-and-a-quarter times the diameter of Earth. But there’s even more to the churning tempest than meets the eye; Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is also extraordinarily deep, extending as many as 480 kilometres into the planet’s atmosphere, or about 40 times as deep as the Mariana Trench on Earth. That’s far deeper than researchers expected, with the bottom of the storm extending well below the atmospheric level where water and ammonia are expected to condense into clouds. The storm’s deep roots suggest that some as-yet-unknown processes link Jupiter’s interior and deep atmosphere, driving intense meteorological events over much larger scales than previously thought.…

$89.95, www.xbox.com, Xbox, PC Halo Infinite feels like a homecoming. 343 Industries was faced with what should have been an impossible challenge: to celebrate a 20-year legacy while outlining the foundations for future adventures. And so there’s another ringed world to explore and a new Smart AI companion to shine a little light in its darkest corners; a new extinction event for humanity to narrowly circumvent and yet another fight for Master Chief to threaten to one day finish. Halo Infinite is Halo as you remember it; Halo Infinite is Halo as you’ve never seen it before. While 343 may have been at the helm of this series for a decade now, it never felt as if the studio truly understood what it had in its hands. Halo 4 was…

Stranger Things 3: The Game A SHRUNK DOWN UPSIDE DOWN. Free (Requires Netflix Subscription), iOS/Android When it came to making a game based on one of the most popular television series in the past decade, Netflix took a slightly different route. Each season has been given pixel-based treatment, and with the introduction of Netflix’s new Games feature – where mobile games are offered free without ads and in-app purchases – the latest offering moves to a co-op adventure. Stranger Things 3 is based around “the mall”, where our young adventurers are continuing to understand the supernatural conspiracies that surround their town. The entire experience is beautifully detailed and designed, with plenty of interesting quests, easy navigation, a clever combat and exploration system, and lots of references for fans of the…

$379, www.technics.com It’s a confident or foolish company that enters the mid-range true wireless fray. Happily, Technics is the former, and where the EAHAZ60 are concerned, it has every right to be. As far as the design goes, Technics took the welcome step of reducing the bulk of these wireless earbuds relative to the EAH-AZ70W (its first entry in the premium true wireless in-ear market). Battery life, while we’re on the subject, is an OK-but-hardly-dazzling 25 hours. That’s your best-case scenario, when listening to the standard Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec content with active noise cancelling (ANC) switched off – between seven and eight hours from the buds themselves and a little over two charges held in the slender little charging case. Go to town (in performance terms, at least)…

US$499, www.linksys.com The new Atlas Pro 6 is designed to provide a more affordable option (we’re still waiting for Australian pricing) for people who want to upgrade to Wi-Fi 6. Its top speed of 5.4Gbps is actually higher than the 4.2Gbps of the Velop, although it keeps the price down by opting for dual-band Wi-Fi 6, rather than the Velop’s more expensive tri-band option. Somewhat confusingly, Linksys has dropped the Velop name for this model, although the Atlas Pro 6 still looks just like all the other Velop models, with the same white mini-tower design. The three routers are identical, standing 185mm high, and 86.5mm wide and deep, so they’re small enough to sit on any convenient shelf or table. Each router houses five internal antennae to provide good transmission…

YOU KNOW THE LINE: when you have Apple hardware, it just works. But while that’s true most of the time, sometimes it doesn’t just work. Sometimes your Wi-Fi goes weird, your system slows, or your everyday app crashes. What then? If your Mac’s misbehaving, don’t reach for your iPhone to book that Genius appointment just yet. The majority of Mac problems are straightforward to fix, and in most cases they can be sorted in much less time than it’d take to travel to the nearest Apple Store or get a convenient appointment. It’s great that Apple Geniuses and Apple Support are there for us, of course, but it’s also great when we can solve the problems ourselves without having to go anywhere. Troubleshooting can be intimidating, we know, especially if…

> Where are my files? Your files are stored in Macintosh HD > Users > [Your name] in various folders: Movies, Music, Pictures, and so on. If you use iCloud Drive, your files and folders are in the Mobile Documents folder in your user account’s library; to locate it in Finder, follow the steps in “Where’s my Library folder?” > Why can’t I empty the Bin? This is usually because something in the Bin is still being used by an app (or because your Mac thinks it is, which can sometimes happen after an app crashes). Quit the app if you can and try again; if that doesn’t work, you’ll need to restart your Mac. Still no joy? Boot into Safe Mode and try once more. > Where’s my Library…

1 Boot your Mac Turn off your Mac, wait 10 seconds, then turn on, holding down Shift (Intel) or the power button (M1). On an M1, select your startup disk, hold Shift and click "Continue In Safe Mode". Your Mac will boot with non-essential items disabled. 2 Look at logins A common cause of problems is unwanted login items, which load when your Mac boots. Go to System Preferences > Users & Groups > [Your name] > Login Items and remove any you don’t want. This disables but doesn’t 3 Find the folder If you’re not sure what something is, right-click and choose ‘Show In Finder’. This enables you to see where the item lives on your Mac. You might need to enable the status bar in Finder > View…

> Why isn’t iCloud syncing? Make sure that you check out apple.com/ support/systemstatus to see if any iCloud services have problems. Nothing? Ensure you’re logged in with the correct ID on your devices and that the specific services are turned on in their preferences. You can do this on your Mac by going to System Preferences > Apple ID. > Why have I run out of space on iCloud? Unless you’re a student, your free iCloud space is a miserly 5GB – but even paid accounts can run out of room, especially if you’re backing up mobile devices. You can manage which apps use iCloud storage in System Preferences > Apple ID and delete unwanted data by clicking Manage. > I can’t access my iCloud emails. Why? As with Photos,…

It’s fair to say that when Connecticut-born physicist William Higinbotham started messing about with the trajectory-plotting features of the Donner Model 30 analog computer – a chunky block of metal covered in dials, designed for calculating the flight paths of ballistic missiles – he probably didn’t think he was birthing a medium that would eventually come to rival the film and music industries in terms of scale and worth. And yet, in 1958, at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, New York, that’s exactly what he did. His initial prototype took only a few hours to design and less than a month to implement, using an oscilloscope display to render a simple “ball” and lines, along with a pair of custom-made controllers, each with a single button and dial. Two…

The esports world is a strange beast. Competition is so ingrained in human nature that competitive games have been around since the early days of Spacewar!, and real-world tournaments for arcade titles such as Street Fighter were popular across the US and Asia throughout the ’90s and the early 2000s. The huge success of StarCraft in South Korea saw major matches televised for increasingly significant cash prizes. Fighting games, shooters, and MOBAs (multiplayer online battle arenas, such as League of Legends) dominated the market, and still do. Only in the past decade, though, has the esports scene achieved widespread appeal. Major publishers started setting up their own events, while streaming platforms such as Twitch offered new routes into the competitive scene. The esports formula is something many developers have tried…

Since its launch in 2018, the Sonos Beam has won awards in its price category every year since – until, that is, this newest Gen 2 iteration knocked it off its pedestal at this year's Awards. Key to the Beam's success has been a simplicity of design and streamlined functionality that, remarkably for its size, has overcome two of the usual limitations of compact speakers: sonic scale and weight. Sonos proved that it can convincingly deliver Dolby Atmos audio in a larger chassis with the Arc, but we were a little apprehensive about whether that technology could justify its inclusion in a compact soundbar – especially when, unlike the Arc, there are no upward-firing speakers to be found on the Beam Gen 2. The new Beam’s quintet of front-facing drivers…

The Arc was Sonos’s first, somewhat tardy, foray into Dolby Atmos. Costing twice as much as the brilliant Beam, the Arc is designed to partner bigger TVs. At 114cm, it is a bit wider than a typical modern 49in TV and so is best partnered with a set of at least 55in. The curvy design helps mask the Arc’s dimensions and makes it look svelte, but its 8.5cm height is not inconsiderable. The Arc’s Dolby Atmos soundfield is generated by 11 Class D digital amplifiers that power 11 custom drivers – eight elliptical woofers and three silk-domed tweeters, two of which fire diagonally into the room. Sonos refers to the Arc’s arrangement as 5.0.2, which clearly doesn’t add up to 11 but makes more sense if you think of it…

Mae West once said that “too much of a good thing can be wonderful”. It’s a mantra in praise of decadence that’s clearly shared by the design team of Samsung’s HW-Q950A soundbar package. With a generous 22 drivers delivering 11.1.4 surround sound, the HW-Q950A offers the greatest number of channels of any soundbar on the market right now, as well as 3D audio format support from both Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. But, when it comes to immersive sound, does more always mean better? At 130cm long, the main unit of the HW-Q950A is shorter than many other flagship Dolby Atmos soundbars, so it’s quite remarkable that crammed inside are a whopping 15 drivers. The left, centre and right channels comprise two woofers and a wide-range tweeter. Then there are a…

SKILL LEVEL Anyone can do it REQUIRES Windows 10 In an ideal world, our trains of thought would whoosh at high speed until they reached their destinations. Unfortunately, in the real world, trains of thought are a bit more like real trains: they’re easily interrupted and often arrive a lot later than they’re supposed to. If you’re finding it hard to focus on what you’re doing when you’re in Windows, the good news is that Windows itself can help. In this tutorial we’ll discover some of the little changes that can make a really big difference to the way Windows feels. We’ll discover how to stop Windows interrupting you with supposedly helpful suggestions, how to automatically enter a special Do Not Disturb mode and how to ensure you don’t miss…

REQUIRES iPhone or iPad YOU WILL LEARN How to free up storage space on your iPhone or iPad IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes Unless you have an iPad Pro with a storage capacity that’s measured in TB, the chances are that sooner or later you’ll run into the problem of not having enough storage space on your iPad or iPhone to do what you want to do. Often, it’s only when you come to update to a new version of the OS that you realise you’re running short of space. Thankfully, there is plenty you can do to clear out the clutter and create more free space on your device. How you use your iPhone or iPad will play a big role in how much storage space you use and…

Thanks to their market dominance, Edge and Chrome tend to get all the press these days. But there are other browsers around – including the ever-faithful Firefox – and they are often doing interesting things that the “big two” have yet to implement. One of those unique features is multi-account containers in Firefox – which just might be enough for many people to switch over their browser just to use it. Multi-account containers allow you to browse with different identities enabled at once. You can have some tabs logged in with your personal Google account, for example; and other tabs logged in with your work Google account. The accounts, cookies and other persistent elements are kept separate from each other. That way you can switch between accounts without having to…

Certain subjects can pose unexpected compositional challenges. This might be to do with the arrangement of objects in the foreground, making it tricky to pick an ideal focal length, or objects in the scene impeding the perfect view of the subject. One example of a setting that, on paper, should be relatively simple to shoot, but that often causes many photographers to throw their hands up in frustration, is a tall and thin subject. It might look impossible to take a bad image of a structure such as this lighthouse, but its tall, narrow design makes it a challenge to fit into a balanced composition. The issue is not so much with the lighthouse itself as with the negative space around it. Instinctively, you might shoot in portrait orientation, but…

Grid Game Boy An unplayable reminder of a time when games were built to be fun. US$299 | gridstudio.cc If you’re too much of a peasant to afford an NFT artwork and an OLED screen to hang it on your wall, then you might need to look to meat-verse products to make the physical world – which we still have to inhabit – a little bit less depressing. You could of course make some art yourself, but then that would be time you could’ve spent grinding for ‘meaningful’ upgrades. Better you outsource these jobs to the robot production lines putting sweatshop workers out of a job and buy a framed Grid Game Boy to hang on your wall. This deconstructed bit of tech is presumably for anyone who prefers their…

The Dell Precision 7560 is the latest in Dell’s line of portable workstation laptops, which have a reputation for being extremely powerful, but expensive. The multi-faceted line leans more toward complex visual design, architecture, and the like, and this continues with the Precision 7560 Workstation. It’s clear the centerpiece is the lovely 15.6 4K HDR display, which not only has up to 600 nits of brightness, but is able to display 100% of the Adobe RGB colour gamut. The laptop has plenty of power for the professionals that need some serious horsepower. The Precision 7560 delivers a quality mid-to-high tier desktop experience that’s ready for plenty of complex computing tasks. However, some may gawk at the lower-than-average battery life and the high price of entry. No matter what configuration you…

Bill Gates believes that the future of remote work meetings is changing, predicting that most will be held in the Metaverse within the next three years. This claim was part of a much broader commentary made by the man himself on his blog, GatesNotes, back on December 7 2021, where he reviewed the difficulties faced in 2021 and prospects to remain optimistic into 2022. As reported by VRScout, Gates discussed issues outside of the future of the Metaverse, including COVID-19 misinformation and a container ship that got stuck in the Suez Canal. But he dedicated a large portion of the post to the importance of staying connected in difficult times, writing, “We’ve all had to adapt to a ‘new normal,’ although what that looks like is different for every person.…

A new physics breakthrough shows how Einstein’s theory of general relativity continues to hold up, even for ‘balding’ black holes. Einstein’s theory of general relativity predicted the existence of black holes and that no matter what such an object ‘eats’, black holes are characterised only by their mass, spin and electrical charge. Astrophysicists refer to this as the ‘no-hair’ theorem. But there has been a lingering snag to this theorem: magnetic fields. For the no-hair theorem to hold true, ‘eating’ material shouldn’t alter a black hole’s primary characteristics. But while black holes can be ‘born’ with strong magnetic fields, they can also gain them by ‘eating’ certain material, and clouds of plasma can sustain these magnetic fields. Physicists investigated this snag by using a supercomputer to simulate a black hole…

Pininfarina Leggenda eClassic US$130,000+ From rmsothebys.com Think yourself a car fanatic? No, playing Euro Truck Simulator on your Mac does not count. And anyway, in our books nothing really counts as true automotive fanaticism unless you own a driving simulator made out of an actual car, like this one made by Pininfarina. After all, who wants to be cooped up in a stuffy bedroom playing computer simulators when you could have one of these? Sure, there’s the small matter of the price, as the auction listing for the Pininfarina Leggenda eClassic starts at US$130,000, for which you could buy a perfectly excellent real car several times over. But then, that’s not the point. You want a beautiful classic car simulator, and we get that. Better start saving. OnePlus Buds Pro…

$56.95, chorusthegame.com, PlayStation, Xbox, PC, Google Stadia Chorus makes me wonder why there aren’t more games like it. Other than a few Star Wars branded efforts and the classic Star Foxes, I can’t recall many notable single-player 3D outer space shooters, yet it seems like such an obvious choice for a medium that otherwise gorges on sci-fi and explosions. How strange that an open-world game about flying around killing stuff might be considered refreshing, but here we are. Thankfully, Chorus does a solid job and proves there’s life in the genre yet. Technically, I suppose, it’s not open-world because it doesn’t have a world, only miles of space, clusters of asteroids, and great metal constructions floating in the void. Nor is it worth exploring much without some idea where you’re…

The RTX 3060 GPU is also the only graphics card available across all of the different specifications we saw, so either way, you’ll only be getting 6GB VRAM. $3,999, www.msi.com The MSI Creator Z16 is an Nvidia Studio laptop, designed for content creators or hobbyists who dabble in creative applications, though its specifications also make it a pretty decent gaming machine, with features that should attract people looking for an all-in-one solution. MSI is already a familiar name in the gaming laptop market and professional ultrabooks, so the jump into creative-optimised devices wasn’t too much of a stretch given that portable workstations. It’s certainly taken some inspiration from the MacBook Pro series, featuring a 16-inch 16:10 display, something that MSI has previously dubbed as the ‘golden ratio’ thanks to its…

$1,499, aoc.com Can you have too much of a good thing? Such is the question posed by the epic, immense, AOC Agon AG493UCX2, a 49-inch beast of a gaming monitor. It’s actually a moderate update of AOC’s existing AG493UCX, though that makes it no less immediately impactful. As before, the star of the show is the massive 49-inch super-ultra-whatever-wide VA panel with an aspect ratio of 32:9 and 5,120 by 1,440 pixels. This time around, AOC has upped the refresh ante from 120Hz to 165Hz. As before there’s basic HDR support in the form of DisplayHDR 400 certification, but the claimed peak brightness has actually dropped from 550 nits to 400 nits. We suspect that reflects a change in the way brightness is measured rather than any actual substantial dimming.…

$299, www.jabra.com.au Jabra is continuing its tireless pursuit of the perfect pair of true wireless earbuds, with the Elite 7 Pro and its sporty companion the Elite 7 Active. The 7-series are taking the reins from the Elite 85t, but with a slightly more affordable price. The buds themselves are some of the most compact we’ve reviewed, with their lightweight and sculpted form fitting comfortably and securely in our ears. According to Jabra, the inner shape of the earbuds has been designed “using data from 62,000 ear scans”. They arrive with three pairs of ear-tips of differing sizes to help even further with the fit. All three colour options are relatively understated and classy. The case and buds have minimal trim or markings in their design — outside of the…

$519, www.lacie.com Compared to some of its predecessors like the 2019 edition (LaCie Portable SSD 2TB), it is more compact although we’re not sure about the thought process that convinced the designers to choose the parallelogram as the inspiration. It’s worth – at this stage – mentioning the French origins of LaCie or La Compagnie and how aesthetics was at the core of its mission. Before its acquisition by Seagate in 2014, the company had carved itself a lucrative niche amongst like-minded designers (and creative professionals) looking for creatively-inspired peripherals that could perform, regardless of the price. Trendsetters like Neil Poulton or Philip Stark collaborated with LaCie to design some iconic products. So the adage, beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, holds truer than ever in this case.…

> System folder Don’t start to panic: chances are it’s a minor and easily fixed issue that you can sort out yourself. Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds to ensure your Mac is turned off and then restart it while holding down Cmd-Opt-p-r. This resets the non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) that your Mac uses to store basic settings. Keep the keys pressed until you’ve heard the startup chime twice. No luck? Restart again but this time hold down Cmd-r. This will launch the Recovery console from which you can run Disk Utility’s First Aid feature. > My Mac crashes on startup. Why? It’s likely to be a software problem. If your Mac contains Apple’s M1 chip, turn on your Mac and keep pressing the power button until Startup…

1 Check your screens We’ve found that when we wake our Mac from sleep, macOS sometimes moves all our drives to the external display or doesn’t re-initialise the USB ports. Unplugging and reconnecting the USB cable(s) will fix the latter. 2 Look at locations The Finder sidebar includes a section headed Locations, which you may have to scroll down to see: here you’ll see any connected storage devices and your main Mac drive. If your drive is visible, you can click to see its contents. 3 Check your desktop If your drive is appearing in Locations but not on your desktop, go into Finder’s Preferences and look under the General tab. If the checkbox for a particular kind of drive isn’t checked, it won’t appear on your desktop. 4 Scan…

> When should I reinstall macOS, and how? Reinstalling macOS is the last resort when your other troubleshooting steps haven’t worked. Back up anything important (if possible) before you do it. On an M-powered Mac, press and hold the power button until you see startup options; on Intel, hold down Cmd-r, press power and don’t let go until you see the Apple logo. > What does this error code mean? Apple’s error messages are usually good at telling you what’s wrong, but some of them are just mysterious numbers that don’t really tell you anything, especially with iPhone syncing and software updates. You can look up error codes and find out how to fix them at support.apple.com/en-gb/ HT203174. > When should I start in Safe Mode, and how? Safe Mode…

> My Mac just won’t switch on! A Mac that appears to be turned off might not be: the display may be off while the Mac itself is okay. Press and hold the power button on your Mac for 10 seconds to turn the entire Mac off, and then press and release the power button like you normally would. If your Mac partially starts up and displays a no-entry symbol, that means your macOS is corrupt or incompatible. You can fix this in macOS Recovery. If that doesn’t work or your Mac didn’t get that far, it’s time to give Apple Support a call. > There’s a spinning globe on my startup screen! This happens when macOS Recovery has failed, so your Mac is trying to do it over the…

The console gaming industry has expanded for years alongside PC gaming. We’re all familiar with titans such as Nintendo and Sony, but no matter what number comes after the new PlayStation, we’re actually currently in the ninth generation of home consoles. The first console to officially hit the market was the Magnavox Odyssey, which loaded games from “cards,” which were essentially PCB cutouts, years before cartridges or disks would become the norm. The Odyssey was only capable of displaying a monochrome line and three dots, and had a total of 28 games, 12 of which were bundled with the system. Many early home consoles were effectively limited microcomputers using dedicated controllers, rather than keyboards. The Atari 2600 ran with a simple joystick, while the ill-fated Fairchild Channel F used a…

As we always advise when it comes to buying a new TV, the addition of a separate sound system such as a soundbar is sure to enhance your viewing experience. For all of the wonderful advances in television technology, it seems that audio performance continues to be shackled by the placement, size and type of the speakers within the set itself. Of course there are limitations to the quality of amplifiers that can be used in such slim TV designs too. A good soundbar fixes all that, delivering a combination of detail, dynamics and punch few TVs, regardless of price, can even approach. Then there’s the current welcome trend towards Dolby Atmos adoption, which makes watching an appropriately encoded film or TV programme so much more immersive an experience. Essentially,…

If you've got a decent-sized TV, you want the imaging of the sound to have the same breadth as the visuals. However, LG’s SP8YA proves that just because a soundbar is compact it doesn’t mean you have to compromise on sonic scope. The LG SP8YA brings all of the top tier features and format support of the flagship SP11RA down to a bar that LG suggests is suitable for a 49in screen. It includes the same model of wireless sub (the SPP8-W) as its bigger siblings, and the system can be enhanced by adding the SPK8 2.0 surround kit if you wish. At 106cm long, the SP8YA doesn’t have the same imposing feel as the mammoth SP11RA. The front and sides are wrapped in a tight black metal grille that…

At the top end of the soundbar market, there are two schools of thought. The first is that costlier models warrant additional speakers for enhanced bass and surround performance. The second is that a single, high-quality soundbar should be able to competently deliver excellent treble clarity, bass and a room-filling sound on its own – with extra boxes available (though not necessary) to suit the taste, homes and pockets of the buyer. The Sony HT-A7000 falls firmly into the latter camp. Standing proudly on its own two feet, the A7000 doesn’t require any additional speakers to justify its hefty price point or its position as Sony’s flagship soundbar. This 7.1.2 slab of sound packs two up-firing speakers, two beam tweeters, five front-facing drivers and a built-in dual subwoofer into a…

There are plenty of Dolby Atmos soundbars, but the Sennheiser Ambeo is different: it’s much more expensive, much bigger and a fair bit fussier. But it’s also much better. In fact, it’s the best sounding soundbar we’ve tested. Measuring 127cm wide and 14cm tall, this is a real beast. The Sony HT-A7000, by comparison, is 7cm shorter and 3cm less deep. A big factor in the Sennheiser’s comparative heft is that it approaches the soundbar conundrum in a different way from most. While many contemporaries combine vast arrays of small drivers with a separate subwoofer, Sennheiser has opted for much larger drivers that are capable of covering a far greater portion of the frequency range, negating the need for an external sub. This is a genuine one-box home cinema solution.…

SKILL LEVEL Anyone can do it REQUIRES Windows 11 Windows 10 Photo editing is commonly thought of as a means of correcting common errors such as under or over-exposure, or lack of sharpness in a photograph. Right at the outset, therefore, we need to put the record straight by stating our view on the main purpose of photo editing to the photographer. Although we’ll give some brief guidance on error-correction techniques, this is by no means our main emphasis. Instead we’re going to be investigating how photo editing can make a good photo even better. If you’ve never really bothered with photo editing, you might be of the view that enhancing an image in this way is going to result in only a slight improvement and is barely worth the…

REQUIRES macOS 10.15 or later, iOS 12 or later (optional) YOU WILL LEARN How to limit apps and content on your Mac IT WILL TAKE 10 minutes Many of us feel like we waste too much time on our Macs. Whether we’re getting distracted from the work we should be doing or simply spending too long sat in front of our screens, getting back on track is important. With macOS Catalina, Apple introduced Screen Time to the Mac. This handy tool is your one-stop shop for restricting distracting content and tracking your device usage. Enable a few settings and you could find yourself more focused than ever before. Because it is on iPhones and iPads too, it works well across all your devices, letting you track your habits, and learn…

The 1980s home computer scene was such an important time in our (GenX) lives. Intel was yet to make its mark all over the world, and many countries still favoured Commodore, Sinclair, and Amstrad machines. In 1982 the Cambridgeshire-based Tangerine Computer Systems released its Oric-1. This was a 1MHz MOS Technology 6502 CPU powered 8-bit computer that came with either 16 or 48KB of RAM. It was designed and priced to compete with Sinclair’s Spectrum. The Oric-1 and the ZX Spectrum shared one design trait: an awkward keyboard. Where the ZX Spectrum used “dead flesh” rubber keys, the Oric-1 used small, thin plastic keys that were a typist’s nightmare. This issue was later fixed in 1983 with the introduction of the Oric Atmos, essentially an Oric-1 with a better keyboard…

REQUIRES iPad, iPadOS 14 or later YOU WILL LEARN How to drag and drop files on your iPad IT WILL TAKE 30 minutes Drag and drop, one of the features that characterised the Mac when it first arrived all the way back in 1984, comes to the iPhone later this year in iOS 15. Even in early beta versions, it looks like it works very well, and will make a huge difference to getting work done on the iPhone. The feature will also be included in iPadOS 15, but won’t have quite the same impact on the iPad as it will on the iPhone. Why? Because you can already drag and drop between apps in iPadOS, and you can drag and drop files between folders in the Files app. The…

Cloud hosting services like OneDrive and Google Drive have become ever more popular as a way to share files between users and devices as well as a kind of de-facto backup system for sensitive files. The problems with these services are threefold: 1) they cost money; 2) they have limited space; and 3) you’re trusting your files to a third party. Resilio was built to solve that trilemma. It’s a tool built on BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing technology, and it allows you to sync your files across multiple devices without needing a third party or a server of any kind. This way, you can build a kind of peer-to-peer sharing and backup network, without paying a cent. You can back up your important files to a family member’s PC, and…