SpaceX Falcon 9 launch of AMOS-17 satellite scheduled for Saturday - CNET

It will mark the Falcon 9's eighth flight this year.

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Scientists create fabric that smells better the more you sweat - CNET

Your gross workout gear could double as an air freshener.

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Huawei Y9 Prime With Pop-up Selfie Camera to Launch in India Today

The Huawei Y9 Prime features a notch-less display with a pop-up selfie camera and could be priced under Rs 20,000.

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PlayStation Plus August 2019: all the free PS4 games you can get this month

Fintech firm Revolut launches a Robinhood-style stock trading service

Revolut's trading feature lets users buy or sell popular U.S. stocks from Apple to Beyond Meat.

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Pokemon Go has crossed 1 billion in downloads - CNET

Don't call it a comeback.

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OnePlus 7 Pro Gets OxygenOS 9.5.11 Update; Beats Google Pixel Phones to August Security Patch

The latest software patch will iron out the adaptive brightness issue as well.

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Samsung Galaxy A80 With Rotating Camera Goes on Sale Today: Price, Specs and More

The Galaxy A80 is the first phone to feature the Snapdragon 730G chipset and also comes with a sliding and rotating camera mechanism.

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Chromebooks could soon get face unlocking, starting with the Pixelbook 2

We’ve officially heard from Google that its upcoming Pixel 4 flagship smartphone will feature Apple-esque face unlocking thanks to a complicated array of sensors and camera systems on the front of the phone, but that might not be the only Google device gaining this biometric security measure.

A recent discovery by specialist website Chrome Unboxed has found mention of Face Detection in an update for the Chromium open-source project, which itself is responsible for the ChromeOS software that powers Chromebooks. (Eeesh, that’s a lot of Chrome…)

• Google Pixel 4 officially revealed to support Apple-esque face unlocking
• What is a Google Chromebook?

While this in itself isn’t solid proof that the feature is definitely happening, when coupled with the aforementioned Pixel 4 announcement, it's a fairly strong hint that Google will start implementing its Face Unlock in future Chromebooks.

Chrome Unboxed convincingly makes the case that the source code updates suggest the new feature is being “aggressively worked on” for ChromeOS and we could well see its debut in the anticipated Pixelbook 2 (believed to be codenamed 'Atlas') alongside the Pixel 4 launch this October.

• Google Pixel 4 release date, price, news and leaks

What isn't known is how many older Google laptops the new tech will come to. While we know that the Pixel 4 will include an array of infra-red, dot-projector and other dedicated face sensors, the same isn’t true of most existing Chromebooks.

As such, if the feature is rolled out to older Chromebooks, it’s likely that facial recognition will be used as an optional layer of security to add more convenience – the suggestion being that, on Google laptops that only have simple webcams, users will need to enter their passcode once after booting the device, but could then quickly unlock the device using a face scan for the rest of that session.

Although any speculation surrounding the successor to the excellent Pixelbook must of course be taken with a grain of salt for the time being, the addition of Face Detection to Chromium does indeed look like it's almost official... we just don’t yet have any solid information on when it will become publicly available.

• Google Pixelbook review
• Pixelbook begone? Google reportedly reduces in-house computer production
• The best Chromebooks of 2019

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The music's official over for Woodstock 50 festival - CNET

After Miley Cyrus, Lumineers, Jay-Z, Santana and more drop out of the music fest, the organizers pull the plug.

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Intel says it's been selling products to Huawei and has applied for licenses to sell more

Intel CEO Bob Swan told CNBC that the company has applied for a license to sell "general purpose compute" products to Huawei.

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Intel sold its smartphone modem business to Apple, but it says it will still be a big player in 5G

Intel CEO Bob Swan explained the rationale behind the sale of the company's modem business to Apple for $1 billion.

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Game of Thrones' finale script explains why Drogon melted the Iron Throne - CNET

The Iron Throne was melted by accident. No, really.

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Netflix offers first look at de-aged De Niro in trailer for Scorsese's The Irishman

It's been a long time coming, but Netflix has finally dropped the first trailer for Martin Scorsese's biggest crime epic to date, The Irishman, which is said to have cost upwards of $140 million (USD).

Based on the book 'I Heard You Paint Houses' by Charles Brandt, the film follows WWII veteran Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro), a real-life hitman who was allegedly involved in the infamous disappearance of union boss Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), which is a mystery that remains unsolved to this day. 

• The best upcoming TV shows and movies on Netflix
• Netflix to be more selective with big-budget shows
• Which Netflix plan is right for you?

So why the huge budget? As the story takes place over the course of multiple decades, director Martin Scorsese (Goodfellas, Casino, Gangs of New York) and his team have employed expensive and cutting-edge de-aging technology to make some of its cast appear up to 30 years younger in certain sections of the film.

The extensive de-aging work can also be blamed for the long wait leading to the film's release, with Scorsese's longtime editor Thelma Schoonmaker telling Yahoo in February that the production is "youthifying the actors in the first half of the movie," and that "the second half of the movie they play their own age. So that’s a big risk."

Based on the trailer below, it certainly looks like Scorsese and Co. have pulled off the de-aging effect – we'll know for sure when the film lands on Netflix and in theaters this US fall.

• Why Steven Spielberg is wrong about Netflix

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Best Democratic debate memes, night 2: No malarkey! The protester chant explained - CNET

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris go at it. And go at it. Also, Andrew Yang says an Asian man who loves math is the opposite of Donald Trump.

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Japan-South Korea dispute may be good news for memory chip prices

If Japan takes away special trade privileges from South Korea, Samsung could be forced to look for alternative suppliers for its memory chips and that could give prices a boost, says Mark Newman from Sanford C. Bernstein.

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Lyft yanks e-bikes from San Francisco after possible battery fires - CNET

Two of the company's rentable electric bikes appear to have burst into flames in the past week.

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Facebook says 'not our role' to remove content some politicians 'consider to be false' - CNET

Facebook rejects Australian political party's claim about fake news.

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T-Mobile tech chief throws shade at Verizon's 5G network - CNET

Neville Ray wants to see a 5G coverage map from the rival carrier.

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NBN plan comparison: best value options (updated July 2019)

With the NBN rollout well underway and expected to reach its completion target by 2020, there's a good chance you've already got access to the nation's high-speed network. While different addresses and areas have access to different connection types, one of the toughest choices customers will face is deciding which provider to go with, which speed tier to choose, and how much data they'll need.

On this page, we'll break down the best NBN plans currently on offer, whether it be the most affordable offering, the highest speeds and data allowances, or the overall best value. Along with our hand-picked choice offers, this page will feature a live tracker of the best NBN plans as, and when, they're put on offer, so you can be sure to get the best deal available right now!

• Cheap NBN plans compared: the best internet deals in Australia
• The fastest NBN plans in Australia

Best NBN plans

After years of waiting, many Australians are now finding that the NBN has finally reached their area. If you do have access to a fibre connection, it's definitely worth considering one of the plans below. While a great many plans offer unlimited data, there are still some that don't, and others will sacrifice certain perks in order to cut costs, so keep an eye out for what's included and what's been left out.

Editor's Pick: Best Value

Editor's Pick: Premium Package

Editor's Pick: Budget Plan

Live-updated NBN deals: today's best-value plans

• Want to see other broadband options? You can use our broadband plan finder to compare a huge range of Australian NBN, broadband and cable plans!

Other factors to consider

It's important to note these recommendations do not take into consideration other factors which could make certain deals a better option for you. For instance, do you already have a Telstra or Optus mobile plan and home phone line? If so, sometimes combining them with their respective NBN plans could save you some money.

When applying for new NBN deal, make sure you're not already signed up to a contract you can't get out of – most contracts are on 12 or 18 month terms, so it's important to contact your current provider before committing to anything else. 

Another thing worth noting is some services may not be available in your area. If a particular deal seems good to you, head over to the provider's website to find out if it's available at your address. 

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Samsung's budget Galaxy A20 phone now on Boost Mobile - CNET

You can grab the phone for $130.

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Joe Biden joins Snapchat ahead of Wednesday's Democratic debate - CNET

Welcome to the world of dog filters, Mr. Biden.

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Drone app now shows where you're allowed to fly - CNET

The FAA's updated app now has useful flying zone info available on an interactive map.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 revealed today, Galaxy Watch Active 2 to follow next week

We had initially expected Samsung to unveil the new Galaxy Tab S6 tablet and Galaxy Watch Active 2 smartwatch alongside the Galaxy Note 10 on August 7, but the company will now unveil those former products ahead of its next smartphone.

July 31 - that's today - is the official unveiling date for a new tablet from Samsung, according to an official video that teases it alongside the smartwatch.

We're expecting to hear all about the tablet at 10AM ET (7AM PT, 3PM BST or midnight ACT on August 1 for those in Australia) but it's currently unclear if the company will be hosting a livestream or if the details will just drop on the company's website.

• Our guide to the very best Samsung phones
• Can't wait? Try our best Android tablet guide
• Our thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e

The video doesn't outright confirm it'll be called the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6, but the 20 second teaser definitely shows a tablet with a stylus and gives us a quick glimpse at the edges of the device.

While in the video description, Samsung has written: "Take a first look at the new Galaxy Tab, our all-new tablet that inspires creativity and elevates your productivity to another level."

A smartwatch is also pictured in the video, but it's clear we won't be hearing about that until August 5.

We expect this to be the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2, and while it's difficult to make out any changes in the video it definitely shows a device without a rotating bezel, which matches with other leaks we've seen.

The video's description reads: "Also, say hello to the new Galaxy Watch, your assistant to keep you fit and on top of your day."

Samsung's Galaxy Tab S6 is expected to come with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 chipset inside, which is the first time we've seen Samsung's tablet range embrace the latest power available at the time.

Others specs include a AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a 7,040mAh battery. On the rear is a dual-lens camera that's expected to harness both a 13MP f/2.0 main lens and a 5MP f/2.2 secondary one.

Those waiting for the Note 10 are expected to have to continue waiting until August 7 when the company is hosting an Unpacked event in New York, but this allows the company to focus on its phone on that day while giving us some exciting news in the next week too.

• Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6

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Samsung Galaxy Fold is Expected to Re-Launch in September, And we Hope it is Second Time Lucky

After its initial launch in South Korea and the US, Samsung Galaxy Fold could be launched in the UK, Germany and France.

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Vivo Shows Off The Multi-Turbo Engine For Gaming at The 2019 PUBG Global Championship

The Multi-Turbo Engine adds and software and hardware tweaks to improve the gaming experience on smartphones.

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Jaybird's new true wireless earbuds are more compact than ever

Facebook says 'not our role' to remove content some politicians 'consider to be false' - CNET

Facebook rejects Australian political party's claim about fake news.

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The best TV shows on Foxtel Now: the top television series to stream right now

UPDATE: We've now added HBO's Barry and Chernobyl series to our list of the best TV shows on Foxtel Now – check out the next two slides to find out more about them!

Joining Netflix and Stan in the Australian streaming landscape, Foxtel Now gives Australians the easiest way to access Foxtel to date – especially if you own a Foxtel Box.

Offering an unparalleled selection of TV shows in its library (so long as you've subscribed to the right packages), Foxtel Now is currently providing access to some of the biggest and best shows of any streaming service in Australia. In fact, if you have multiple packs in your subscription, you may find yourself with an overwhelming amount of content.

• You can buy the Foxtel Now Box for $99 from Dick Smith

With that in mind, we've created this TechRadar guide to the best TV shows to stream on Foxtel Now at the moment (in no particular order). We'll keep this best TV show list constantly updated with the latest series that you should be watching and also tell you why.

One of the best new comedies in recent years, Barry follows a hitman (played by Bill Hader) caught in an existential crisis who joins an acting class in order to track his latest target. Of course, Barry soon finds that he has a knack for performing, as it allows him to safely express the darkness within him to a group of people without judgement. These people include classmate Sally (Sarah Goldberg), whom Barry is immediately smitten with, and Gene (Henry Winkler), his eccentric acting teacher. And while things are looking good for Barry, his killer work commitments threaten to derail all of his newfound relationships.

A harrowing recounting of the worst man-made disaster in human history, namely the Chernobyl nuclear accident of 1986, this HBO miniseries details the arrogance that led to the event and the Soviet cleanup (and cover-up) efforts that came after. While it might take a few moments to get used to Ukrainian and Russian characters speaking with British accents, you quickly get over it because the performances (from actors like Jarred Harris, Stellan Skarsgård and Emily Watson) are so good. Elsewhere, the show oozes authenticity at every turn – from its use of real locations, to its exceptionally accurate retelling of events, Chernobyl is bound to go down as the definitive dramatisation of this horrific event.

Perhaps the biggest show in the world at the moment (especially as its in its final season), Game of Thrones is required viewing for fans of fantasy and prestige television. Based on George RR Martin's best selling series of fantasy novels, the show follows a number of powerful families as they wrestle for control over the fictional realm of Westeros. While they're all doing this, the undead threaten to destroy the entire world. Will they come together to prevent this from happening? It doesn't seem likely... If you haven't gotten around to watching it yet, Foxtel Now has all eight seasons available to stream in an instant. If you hurry, you might be able to catch-up before its highly-anticipated ending is spoiled!

One of the most relevant and gripping television shows of our time, Mr. Robot follows a group of hackers who attempt to take down the world's biggest corporation. We follow Elliot (Rami Malek), hacker-extraordinaire and cybersecurity engineer, as he orchestrates the biggest hack in history, all while battling social anxiety disorder and clinical depression, among other problems. But is he really the one in charge, or other there darker, more sinister forces pulling the strings? A modern masterpiece of television.

Set in the formerly gritty New York City of the 1970s, this new series from David Simon (The Wire, Generation Kill) follows a number of characters operating around Times Square during its sleazy heyday. This includes a pair of twin brothers (James Franco in both roles), a college dropout (Margarita Levieva), several hookers (including Maggie Gyllenhaal) and their pimps (including Gbenga Akinnagbe and Black Thought from The Roots) and a cop who's tired of corruption in the force (Lawrence Gilliard Jr). An eye-opening look at the sexual revolution and the dawn of New York's porn industry, The Deuce is similar in tone and style to Simon's other HBO masterpiece, The Wire.

This Australian drama has picked up a decent local following and has even aired in New Zealand and the UK. Inspired by the Australian 80s soap opera series Prisoner, Wentworth is set in a contemporary re-imagination of the same fictional women's detention centre. Following a mother who has been separated from her daughter after being convicted of the attempted murder of her husband, the series tracks her introduction to life within the Australian correctional system.

Supergirl is one of the best shows in the CW's 'Arrowverse', and regularly features cameos from the likes of The Flash and Arrow. What makes the show great however, is its progressive storytelling, which puts issues like sexism
and racism in the spotlight and deals with them in a way that only Supergirl (perfectly played by Melissa Benoist) can. That it also occasionally brings spectacular heroes like Superman and Martian Manhunter into the mix is just the icing on the cake.

A terrific NZ/Australian drama starring Elizabeth Moss (Mad Men, The Handmaid's Tale), Top of the Lake: China Girl sees Robin Griffin (Moss) investigate the murder of a young girl found on Bondi Beach. Joining her in this season is Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as a Sydney detective who helps Griffin on the case. One of Foxtel's best original shows.

Based on Michael Crichton's classic science fiction movie of the same name, the HBO version of Westworld expands the mythology of the universe, in which rich people visit a Wild West themed resort filled with incredibly lifelike robot NPCs. The show explores the inner workings of the park, as well as a robot revolution that is on the cusp of taking place. A fantastic series that rivals Game of Thrones in terms of budget and scope, Westworld is highly recommended.

The Sopranos is a highly regarded American-Italian mob show based in New Jersey in the early 2000s. Tapping into the psychologically introspective culture of New York and the classic family/crime dynamic found in many mobster films, The Sopranos explores the difficulties of juggling both a functioning crime syndicate and a nurturing family environment, through the prism of a psychologist's chair.

Featuring the most jaw-dropping houses in the country, Grand Designs Australia follows host Peter Maddison as he showcases a number of people who attempt to construct their dream homes. The kind of show that makes you simultaneously entertained and envious, Grand Designs Australia is a terrific Foxtel Original.

Based on a comic book series of the same name, The Walking Dead is an American horror drama set in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse. Former Sheriff's Deputy Rick Grimes heads up the survival party attempting to find his wife, daughter and shelter from the impending danger of this new world. We hope you enjoy watching your favourite characters ruthlessly killed on a near-weekly basis, because The Walking Dead delights in shocking its fan-base.

If uncomfortable comedy is your bag, you're going to love Curb Your Enthusiasm, starring Seinfeld co-creator Larry David as himself. Imagine Seinfeld, only with a much more insufferable protagonist, sans laugh track and with a tonne of swearing and you get the idea of what this show's about. After a hiatus of several years, the show is back with a brand new 9th season which Foxtel Now fast-tracks as new episodes arrive. If you ask us, that's pretty, pretty, pretty good.

An action-packed series that dials its violence and sex up to ludicrous levels, Banshee sees an ex-con (Antony Starr) released from jail after 10 years only to immediately assume the identity of a dead sheriff in an Amish country town called Banshee. Before long, he's up to his eyeballs in trouble involving a local gangster (Ulrich Thomsen), and an ex-lover (Ivana Miličević) who has put her criminal past behind her, all while trying to keep his real identity under wraps. Trashy and addictive, Banshee is almost too entertaining!

From Mike Judge (Office Space, Idiocracy) comes Silicon Valley, a hilarious show about a young startup called Pied Piper and its various misadventures navigating the tech capital of the world. Whether it's internal struggles or outside pressure from tech giant Hooli (a clear Google stand-in), the team must do everything it can to keep its company afloat in an incredibly competitive landscape. A must-watch for tech enthusiasts.

Regarded by many (this writer included) to be the greatest television series of all time, The Wire paints a portrait of an American city (in this case, Baltimore) the way that no other show has done so before. Framed against the backdrop of America's 'War on Drugs', The Wire shows both sides of the struggle, focusing on the environment that produces street dealers and turns innocent children into hardened killers, while also examining the issue from the police's perspective, showing how bureaucracy prevents it from affecting any real change. Raw and uncompromising, The Wire is unlike any other crime series you've seen.

HBO's western series Deadwood was devastatingly cancelled before its time, but thankfully we can relive the show's harsh and brutal world on Foxtel Now in its entirety. Ex-lawman Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant, clearly loving his status as a cowboy hero) arrives in the lawless frontier town of Deadwood to start a hardware business and provide for his dead brother's family. Before long, the crime and corruption of this town, headed by bar owner Al Swearengen (Ian McShane), forces Bullock back into the life he tried so desperately to leave behind. A truly magnificent show, Deadwood is binge-worthy bliss. Also, with news that a Deadwood follow-up movie could be in the works, now's a great time to reacquaint yourself with this classic series.

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Realme X to go on Sale on Flipkart and Realme.com: Price, Features, Offers and More

Realme X is priced at Rs 16,999 for the 4GB RAM + 128GB storage variant while the 8GB RAM + 128GB storage variant is priced at Rs 19,999.

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Windows 10 S Mode release date, news and features

Windows 10 S was first revealed back in May 2017 as a standalone OS, but it faced some controversy at launch. A lot of the criticism stemmed from the fact that it limits users to apps found on the Microsoft Store. Luckily, users can switch out of Windows 10 S Mode for free. Still, the lightweight operating system has proved instrumental in getting Windows 10 the over 825 million installs it has today.

Windows 10 in S Mode makes a lot of sense for specific users and devices. The Microsoft Surface Go, for example, a cheap alternative to the Surface Pro, only has a low-power Intel Pentium Gold processor, which means that it’s an ideal candidate for Windows 10 S. 

We’ve also seen reports of people getting Windows 10 S running on a Raspberry Pi 3, which makes a lot of sense for the lightweight OS. Microsoft is also rumored to be working on Windows Lite, which will further the lightweight nature of the OS, to compete with the best Chromebooks.

Windows 10 S Mode is also able to take advantage of any Windows 10 updates, like the October 2018 Update and the now-available Windows 10 May 2019 Update. What does this mean for Windows 10 S users? Simply that they get nifty features like the May Update’s “Light Mode” and useful storage space tools, as well as the possibility of playing Xbox One games natively.

Even now, a few years after its initial release, Windows 10 S is still a large part of the Windows 10 landscape, so we thought it would be the perfect time to dive in and explore everything this lightweight version of Windows can do.

Make sure you bookmark this page, as we’ll keep it updated with all the latest and greatest Windows 10 S information that appears.

Cut to the chase

• What is it? Windows 10 without x86 and x64 apps
• When is it out? Available now
• What will it cost? Free to all schools using Windows 10 Pro

Windows 10 S release date

Windows 10 S initially launched on May 2, 2017, with devices using the OS trickling out over the next few months. Fast forward to 2019 and Windows 10 S is bigger than ever, making lower spec Windows 10 devices more versatile now than ever before. 

Eventually, there will be a UI toggle that’ll let Windows 10 users switch in and out of S Mode (this was not available at the original time of this writing). Sadly, switching out of S Mode is a one-way street and permanent. Fortunately, if you need more than what this light OS can offer, you can get out of S Mode easier than you think – simply go to the Windows Store and search for “switch out of S Mode”.

At the moment, to get Windows 10 in S mode, you are required to have the qualifying devices that are already enabled in S mode. You can also ask your computer manufacturer to see if you can get it installed in a new device you are purchasing. Unfortunately, Windows 10 S is not for individual sale, but it is issued to IT administrators in education as well as laptops found in stores and online. It’s no coincidence that Windows 10 S is focused on the education sector, where Google’s Chromebooks are having unparalleled success and popularity.

Windows 10 S price

Windows 10 S is basically free for users. Microsoft subsidizes the cost of the OS to hardware manufacturers, assuming they’re not getting Windows 10 S for free. Essentially, as a user, you don’t really pay for Windows 10 S Mode, instead you’re paying for the hardware running it. 

With the exception of premium devices like the original Surface Laptop, you can find devices running Windows 10 S Mode starting at just $189 (about £146, AU$251) and cap out around $299 (about £239, AU$396). PC makers across the board – including Dell, HP, Asus, Acer and Lenovo – all have Windows 10 S Mode-powered devices in their stables.

However, now that Windows 10 S Mode is a thing, it’s a toggle that won’t cost you anything extra. Both Windows 10 Home and Pro S Mode users are able to go to the Windows Store and opt out of S Mode. Although, again, the conversion only works one way – out of S Mode. At least, at the moment.

There might be a switch in the settings app of a future build that will let users go back and forth, but so far, opting out of it is permanent.

What is Windows 10 S?

Microsoft designed Windows 10 S to serve as a lightweight yet more secure version of Windows 10 for lower-end devices. By lightweight, that also means that in “S Mode,” Windows 10 will only support apps that are downloaded from the Windows Store.

This talk of a version of Windows that can only download Microsoft-approved apps is familiar, isn’t it? Microsoft believes it has perfected this approach since the turbulent days of Windows 8 RT and Windows 8 with Bing – both of which tried to position Microsoft as the sole provider of apps through curation.

The great thing about this, though, is that it allows for a startup time of under 5 seconds, instead of Windows 10 Pro’s startup time of 30 - 40 second. Additionally, configuration settings (such as Wi-Fi, webcam, etc.) across an entire classroom of students is as easy as inserting a USB stick in each of their laptops.

Being in competition with Google’s Chrome OS, Microsoft has, of course, also positioned Windows 10 S to be a more secure PC operating system. However, its resilience to viruses is mostly a side-effect of the inability to install apps not approved by Microsoft, since historically, Windows viruses have tended to come from untrustworthy internet downloads.

Should you find a must-have app that isn't available in the Microsoft Store in Windows 10 S, you can switch from Windows 10 S to Windows 10 Home or Pro simply by going to the Windows Store and searching for “switch out of S Mode”. Microsoft used to charge a fee for this service, but now it’s free for everyone.

Microsoft will also allow users that upgrade to Windows 10 Pro to move back down to Windows 10 S. And now, Microsoft is rumored to be working on a Windows 10 Lean Mode, which will be even more lightweight and locked down. 

Oddly enough, the shiny new Surface Laptop 2 now ships with Windows 10 Home, not in S Mode like the previous.

That said, what exactly can you expect to see included in devices running Windows 10 S? Well, the Edge browser, OneNote and Windows Ink are all givens. The standard Movies and Groove Music apps, not to mention Maps, Mail and Calendar, are obvious picks as well. 

Of course, we won’t see x86/x64 program support on a Windows 10 cloud operating system until sometime in 2019 when the previously mentioned Polaris is expected to come out and implement a ‘virtualization container’ for each of your favorite legacy applications. This means that, yes, should everything work according to plan, there will be a Windows 10 cloud OS that can emulate the .exe’s of the past.

In spite of its limitations, Windows 10 S still features File Explorer. And, while many of the laptops that come with the lightweight OS pre-installed may ship with smaller capacity SSDs, Microsoft’s upcoming introduction of OneDrive Files On-Demand will allow users to access files stored in the cloud and view them the same way as locally stored content.

All things considered, there are still questions looming regarding the viability of Windows 10 S. Fortunately, as new developments emerge to address those criticisms, you can count on us to cover them right here in this article.

Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article

Images Credit: Microsoft

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Xiaomi Redmi K20, Redmi K20 Pro Sale Today at 12PM: Price, Specifications, and More

The Redmi K20 and K20 Pro were announced earlier this month and feature an AMOLED display, pop-up selfie camera, in-display fingerprint sensor, a triple-rear camera and more.

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Samsung Profits Down 56% in June Quarter With Expectation That Galaxy Fold Will Revive Profits

Samsung has been hurt by a long-running trade war between the United States and China, and an escalating spat between Japan and South Korea is likely to pressure third-quarter results.

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Mirrorless Cameras Continue to be in Focus as Panasonic Adds The Lumix G95 to Its Portfolio

Panasonic's high mobility Lumix cameras, with powerful 4K features and 9fps burst shooting speeds, are aimed at videographers, YouTubers, advanced still photography.

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An Artificial Intelligence Tool That Predicts Cell Behaviours During Diseases And The Treatment

The study, published in the journal Nature Methods, shows that the AI tool, scGen, will help to map and studying the cellular response to diseases and their treatment beyond experimentally available data.

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Shares of Nintendo tumble after 10% quarterly profit plunge

Shares of Japanese gaming firm Nintendo fell more than 3% on Wednesday morning after the company reported a 10% drop in its quarterly profit.

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If This is a Real Sony PlayStation 5 For Pre-order, it is More Expensive Than You May Have Imagined

The PlayStation 5 will take on Microsoft’s next Xbox, codenamed Anaconda.

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The Crab Nebula slammed Earth with highest-energy gamma rays ever seen - CNET

An immense star left behind from a huge explosion just blasted the Earth with extremely energetic photons.

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Apple Q3 Results: Full Steam Ahead For Services as The iPhone Makes up Less Than Half of The Revenue

It is sharper focus on Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud and App Store, which are seeing more traction than ever before.

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Chrome 76 blocks Flash by default and stops websites detecting Incognito Mode

Chrome 76 has been released today on all platforms, and it’s brought with it a number of security patches, bug fixes and handy features to help with your browsing.

The most notable change for most users will be how Google is choosing to handle any Flash Player content that’s still lingering around the web. While the move to kill off Adobe’s archaic format has been in the works for a few years, Chrome will now officially block Flash by default.

Since 1996, Flash content has allowed web users to view and interact with media online, but since the launch of standards such as HTML5, WebGL and WebAssembly, it has become redundant and something of a potential security hazard.

For now, users can still enable it manually every time they want Flash media to be played but, considering that Adobe will be discontinuing the format entirely next year, this feature will be relatively short-lived.

• Google Chrome for desktop is finally getting a dark mode
• Google is cracking down on snooping Chrome extensions
• How to remove suggested URLs from Google Chrome

As we reported earlier in July, Google is also plugging a loophole that allowed websites to easily detect when a user is browsing in Chrome’s Incognito Mode, something that was particularly problematic for people in political or social situations that warranted them to conceal their web activity.

Previously, websites that employed a metered paywall (one that offered a limited amount of free articles) would use this method of detection to stop those browsing the web from avoiding detection and exceeding the metered limit.

A side effect of this loophole being plugged is that, these websites will no longer be able to tell when you’re browsing Incognito, and users will now be able to reliably bypass these paywalls.

• Google to plug Chrome loophole that exposes Incognito status to sites

Outside of these two major improvements, Chrome 76 implements a total of 43 security fixes, offers a variety of minor tweaks, and a host of developer-facing improvements – the full rundown of which can be found here.

Chrome 76 is currently rolling out for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.

• Adobe finally kills Flash

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2 million want to raid Area 51 to 'see them aliens' - CNET

"They can't stop us all."

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The Lion King remake closes in on $1B, beats original at the box office - CNET

Long live the King.

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Facebook's futuristic mind-reading wearable is one step closer to reality

It began with a simple question: “So, what if you could type directly from your brain?” 

That was something Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerburg asked on stage during the company’s annual F8 conference back in 2017. Since then, Facebook has been funding research into a brain-computer interface (BCI) that it could use in augmented reality wearables, like its long-talked about AR glasses.

Looks like the mind-reading interface could be one step closer to reality with Facebook releasing the first significant update on the project, with researchers now able to “decode a small set of full, spoken words and phrases from activity in real time”.

This breakthrough, published in the journal Nature Communications, came about via an algorithm that was able to read the thoughts of participants suffering from brain injuries.

Mind reading

When the project was first announced in 2017, the goal was to “decode silent speech”. 

In this experiment, scientists at the University of California, San Francisco – backed by Facebook Reality Labs – were allowed to implant electrodes into the brains of three epilepsy patients.

The participants were asked questions which they needed to answer aloud. This helped them identify activity and patterns in parts of the brain associated with understanding and producing speech in real time.

The readings from the electrodes, according to the researchers, were accurate 61% of the time, demonstrating it is possible to decode speech “in an interactive, conversational setting” to help people suffering from brain trauma to communicate.

Back at Menlo Park

Facebook, however, is willing to be patient as the research progresses to where “real-time decoding speed of 100 words per minute with a 1,000-word vocabulary and word error rate of less than 17 percent” becomes possible… even if it takes a decade.

In the meantime, the company is working on a “portable, wearable device made from consumer-grade parts” that monitors oxygen levels in the brain. This, the social media giant claims, could be a way for a BCI device to read people’s minds without the need for invasive surgery.

The device is “currently bulky, slow and reliable” but, if or when perfected, could be used as a basis of Facebook’s AR glasses, allowing us – at some point in the future – to communicate without the need for smartphones.

• What is augmented reality

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CNN Democratic debate 2019 memes: Bernie Sanders wrote the damn bill - CNET

Can we make Marianne Williamson US Ambassador of Candles? Here's what social media is buzzing about from the second round of debates.

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Apple put an iPhone in everybody's pocket -- now its growth depends on devices all over our bodies

The main product category picking up the slack for declining iPhone sales is what Apple calls "wearables" — the category including Apple Watch, AirPods wireless earbuds, and Beats headphones.

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Samsung says its second-quarter profit fell 56% from a year ago

Samsung Electronics says its operating profit came in at 6.6 trillion Korean won, which was slightly better than the company's guidance.

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Google Pixel 4 to Feature Face Unlock And Motion Gestures Thanks to Project Soli

Google also revealed that Pixel 4 will have a feature called “Motion Sense,” which means that it will have a Project Soli chip that uses radar to detect hand gestures near the phone.

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Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Latest Leaks Confirm Dual Camera, 7040mAh Battery and Snapdragon 855 SoC

The Galaxy Tab S6 sports a 10.5-inch display which is most likely AMOLED. The resolution is likely 2K. The processor of the Galaxy Tab S6 will be from the flagship Snapdragon 855 line.

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The best 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray movies

Realme 3i Goes on Sale Today via Flipkart and Realme Store: Price, Specifications, Features and More

The Realme 3i sits between the Realme 3 and Realme C2, with a diamond-cut pattern on the back.

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Lenovo Patents New Slider Smartphone With Round Camera Module

According to reports, the first model from Lenovo has only a dual-camera setup on the back and a single-camera selfie setup that’s revealed only when the phone is in the slid position.

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Oppo K3 Goes on Sale Today at 12PM on Amazon: Here’s Everything You Need to Know

The Oppo K3 is available in India for a starting price of Rs 16,990 and comes in two variants.

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Everything that happens in Avengers: Endgame's newly released deleted scenes - CNET

Some are good, some are... not so good!

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Xiaomi Remains in The Lead Even as Smartphone Shipments in India Slip to 33 Million Units in Q2 2019

Xiaomi led the tally with 31 per cent market share to mark eight straight quarters as the market leader.

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PUBG Mobile Lite is Already Topping The Google Play Store Charts in India, And Here is Why

And it has only been three days since the app was rolled out for downloads.

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Vodafone Idea is Adding Free Call And Data Packs For Customers in Flood Affected Assam

Vodafone Idea also has teams on the ground which are ensuring availability of food and water to flood victims at the relief camps.

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The best smart thermostats of 2019 - CNET

In search of a smart thermostat? Here are our favorites.

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Airtel is Offering Free Calls And Extra Data to Customers in Flood Affected Districts of Assam

For Postpaid customers the bill payment dates have been extended.

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Airtel is Offering Free Calls And Extra to Customers in Flood Affected Districts of Assam

For Postpaid customers the bill payment dates have been extended.

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The best-sounding true wireless headphones of 2019 - CNET

A lot of people may be looking for cheap true wireless headphones, but if you're looking for something with top-notch sound, this is the list for you.

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NSW commuters now get full Opal benefits when using contactless payment

When Transport for NSW first introduced the ability to pay for your transit fare using your credit card or phone’s contactless payment functionality, the feature was rather limited.

Initially, it was only available for light rail and ferries, and you wouldn’t receive any of the rewards that you normally would when using your Opal. Now, much of this has changed.

As Transport for NSW has officially partnered with CommBank, passengers paying for their train, light rail, Sydney Metro or ferry fare using contactless payment will receive the same benefits as if they used an Opal card.

This includes off-peak pricing, the transfer discount applied when changing between modes of transport, the half price fares after travelling eight times in a week, and the caps applied to daily, weekly and Sunday trips.

• NSW commuters can now use Samsung Pay on Opal terminals while locked

Although the partnership is with CommBank, this is simply due to the company's key role in Australian contactless payment infrastructure and any format is compatible – including Visa, Mastercard, American Express and smartphone systems.

There are some caveats however – the system only applies to adult fares, so senior and concession commuters will want to keep using their physical Opal cards for the time being. 

While buses don’t yet have access to the feature, they’ll be getting it “soon”, according to the Transport NSW post, so we can expect to all-but ditch our Opal cards by the end of the year.

• Uber's flying taxi will slash your commute by 2023

Uber joins the party

Another win for Sydney commuters comes from the likes of Uber, which has started to roll out a new feature for its ride-sharing app that integrates public transport information as an alternative to get to their destination.

Sydney is the first city in the Southern Hemisphere to see the feature added, and only the fourth in the world following Denver, Boston and London.

When users select their destination using the company’s app, the “Public Transport” option will appear beneath the regular host of Uber offerings, and once selected, it will show real-time transit alternatives including bus, train, ferry and light rail.

Included in the details on offer are the pricing of the whole trip, how long it will take, as well as directions to walk to the nearest station, bus stop or ferry terminal.

Uber is using Australia as a testing ground for a few of its services – passenger drone service Uber Air will be trialled in Melbourne in 2020, and the company has launched ScUber in Queensland to take passengers on a tour of the Great Barrier Reef.

• Uber launches ScUber: an underwater ride-hailing service

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After years of resisting, rock band Tool is finally entering the streaming age

Time to throw that old Discman in the trash, because the legendary alt-metal band Tool has announced that it will finally bring its entire catalog to "all streaming and digital formats" this Friday.

The band took to its official Instagram page to reveal the news, and while there's no mention of specific streaming services, we can assume the music will land on Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music Unlimited and more. 

• Apple Music vs Spotify
• Spotify boasts twice as many paid subscribers as Apple Music
• You can now get Apple Music on your Amazon speakers

Tool story bro

The news coincides with another major Tool-related announcement – the band will release Fear Inoculum, its first studio album in 13 years, on August 30, giving fans a little under a month to stream the group's back catalog in anticipation.

One of the last major bands to enter the streaming age, Tool has never even released its music on iTunes – until now, the only legal way to acquire the art rockers' discography was by purchasing it on CD, cassette or vinyl reissue.

With other longtime streaming holdouts like The Beatles and Prince (albeit posthumously) eventually relenting, it's no surprise that Tool would finally give in, especially with a new album on the way.

However, the band's frontman, Maynard James Keenan, insists he isn't responsible for the Tool's long streaming delay, telling one irate fan on Twitter that he was "Squawking at the wrong tool".

• Spotify is quietly testing an Instagram-style Stories feature for artists

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The Lion King remake has already beaten the original Lion King at the box office - CNET

Long live the King.

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Scientists build a 'mini-sun' at a university campus to study solar wind - CNET

It's always sunny in Wisconsin.

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Friends 25th anniversary pop-up lets fans visit Central Perk and more - CNET

Your job's a joke, you're broke, but now you can make like Monica and Rachel this fall.

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Twitter board member Debra Lee to step down - CNET

Lee is the first black woman to serve on Twitter's board of directors.

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Capital One data breach involves 'tens of millions' of credit card applications - CNET

Data stolen also included 120,000 Social Security numbers and 77,000 bank account numbers.

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HBO's Watchmen TV series: Jean Smart playing Silk Spectre, trailer, release date, plot - CNET

Yet another hero from the graphic novel is crossing over to the small screen.

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Capital One data breach exposes tens of thousands of Social Security numbers, linked bank accounts

The FBI arrested a woman who was charged with stealing tens of millions of sensitive customer records from Capital One, the Washington Post reported.

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Best movies on Amazon Prime Video: top films to watch in Australia right now

Nokia 9.1 PureView Coming Soon With 5G Network Support, Snapdragon 855 and Improved Camera

Nokia 9.1 PureView is expected to feature a five-camera design on its back like the Nokia 9 PureView, along with the addition of Zeiss lenses.

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Best Bluetooth earbuds in Australia: the top wireless earphones for 2019

Toshiba's new 4K TVs come with a plug-in Alexa microphone

Nike's New Joyride is Not The Only Running Shoe to Use a Bridge Between Rubber And Plastic

Incidentally, Nike has a solid sustainability track record to ensure recycling and reuse too.

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SoftBank will reportedly invest $2 billion in Southeast Asian ride-hailing firm Grab

SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son said Monday the Japanese conglomerate will invest $2 billion in ride-hailing giant Grab, Reuters reported.

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Aladdin hits $1 billion at the box office, The Lion King is right behind - CNET

And Disney just broke its own box office record... in July.

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Apple iPhone 2020 Models Would Offer 5G Wireless Connectivity: Ming-Chi Kuo

It is believed that all the three models of Apple will be OLED-based, in 5.4, 6.1, and 6.7-inch sizes and will feature 5G connectivity.

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Google is Replacing SMS With its Rich Communication Service (RCS) in the UK, France and More

RCS expands the 160 character limit that is found with SMS, supports group messages and issues a "read-receipt" when a message sent is read by the recipient.

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Xiaomi Redmi K20, K20 Pro to go on Sale Today: Price, Features, Offers and More

The Redmi K20 and K20 Pro will be available starting at 12 noon today on Flipkart and Mi.com.

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Watch the moment Hayabusa2 grabbed rock samples from asteroid Ryuga - CNET

History in the making.

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It is The End of The Road For Instant Games on Messenger, But Finds a New Home in The Facebook App

Facebook is planning ways to minimise disruptions and maintain overall game health. Players active on Instant Games would be notified and guided with details on platform transitions and timelines.

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Vodafone Rewards Now Offers Cashback, Extra Data And More With Every Prepaid Recharge

The Har Recharge Pe Inaam offer is now Live on the Vodafone app and website and will work will all recharge denominations.

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The Expanse is getting a fifth season - CNET

We haven't even seen season 4 yet!

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Has Donald Trump Revealed Apple's Plan to Build a Factory in Texas?

The US President made these comments to White House reporters just hours after tweeting that his administration would not grant Apple any tariff relief for Chinese-made parts for its Mac Pro computer.

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Elon Musk Confirms You Will be Able to Stream Netflix And YouTube in Tesla Cars, as Long as They Are Parked

The ability to stream Youtube or Netflix videos will only be available when the car is stationary, at least until full self-driving is approved by regulators, the Tesla CEO said.

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New laws could force Netflix and YouTube to create more Australian content

Streaming services make a hefty number of dollarydoos in Australia, with Netflix boasting 11 million Aussie subscribers according to the latest market research from Roy Morgan. 

However, despite these impressive numbers, the US giant has only poured a small amount of that money back into the local film and television industry, producing only one Australian Netflix Original series (Tidelands, pictured) since its launch in 2015.

• Netflix vs Stan, Foxtel Now and Amazon Prime: Australian streaming services compared
• Netflix to be more selective with big-budget shows
• What's new on Netflix Australia this month

That could all change following a new report from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which sheds light on the practices of digital platforms and how they conduct business in Australia.

The report, released by treasurer Josh Frydenberg and communications minister Paul Fletcher, puts forward a total of 23 recommendations for increased regulation of digital platforms. 

Following the inquiry, Fletcher appeared on ABC's Insiders program to discuss local content rules that weren't directly addressed in the report, with the communications minister recommending that digital platforms like Netflix, Google and Facebook be held to the same laws and regulations that other media companies are forced to abide by. 

"Clearly, one of the questions is: obligations on free-to-air television networks and on subscription TV for Australian content, does it stack up for Netflix not to have such obligations, those are questions we'll consider," said Fletcher, further stating that the ACCC will "be interested in the feedback of stakeholders."

He continued, "as this report analyses, there's a set of obligations on one set of businesses, serving Australians and providing content, namely traditional free-to-air and pay TV operators. There is no such obligation on Netflix, or indeed on Stan, or others which are also providing content to Australians."

"It raises significant policy questions, those are precisely the kinds of questions that this comprehensive ACCC report [examines]," said Fletcher.

[via The Guardian]

• Netflix Australia’s best TV series: over 60 great shows to stream in 2019

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3 smart gyms tested and rated: Peloton, ClassPass and Mirror - CNET

We tested out a bunch of exercise equipment to see what works -- and doesn't work -- in today's connected homes.

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Nintendo Switch gets unofficial Android port

For many, the Nintendo Switch has a form factor and interface that would make it ideal for running a mobile operating system on and, along with it, the wealth of popular mobile gaming titles. However, it’s fair to assume that Nintendo would not be so keen on this idea.

The Japanese gaming giant is well known for being overly protective of its property and how exactly it’s used, but that hasn’t stopped the enthusiasts over at XDA Developers from releasing a publicly available (and highly unofficial) Android ROM for the portable console.

The firmware is based on the Nvidia Shield TV operating system – LineageOS 15.1, which itself is based on Android 8.1 – and can be used to browse the web, play mobile games, and (theoretically) anything else you could do on a mobile device.

With LineageOS 15.1 installed on your Switch, you’ll be able to use it in both handheld and docked modes, with audio and Joy-Con support in both modes.

• Nintendo Switch vs Nintendo Switch Lite: is bigger really better?
• Nintendo Switch Lite release date, price, games and more

There's a catch...

Naturally, this comes with a pile of caveats too, the foremost of them being that Nintendo obviously doesn’t support this kind of meddling and wouldn’t help you if any kind of issue were to befall your console as a result of the hack.

You’ll also need a Switch console that is able to run the Hekate bootloader, something that might not be possible if you’ve purchased one of the updated consoles after June 2018.

Apart from that, some other listed limitations include poor battery life, a lack of auto-rotation, Joy-Cons not communicating properly with some apps, and various patchy Wi-Fi and docking problems.

While this is certainly a hack reserved for those with some knowhow at this stage (we don’t recommend trying this if you’re inexperienced, for fear of bricking your console), it does mark a significant milestone for cracking open the Nintendo Switch’s full potential.

• Nintendo Switch Online nears 10 million users
• Best Nintendo Switch games: must-have games to play

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Scientists create contact lenses that zoom when you blink twice - CNET

Me: Accidentally blinks twice while driving.

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5G is coming to all three 2020 iPhones, according to new report

First there were rumors of Apple not having a 5G-capable handset until 2021, but then just 10 days later, there were whispers of a 5G iPhone arriving in 2020 after all, with the latter becoming possible thanks to Apple finally settling its dispute with chipmaker Qualcomm. 

The latest report from renowned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, though, suggests that Apple will be embracing the new cellular transmission technology in a big way, with all three of its 2020 iPhone models set to be 5G ready. Kuo had previously predicted that only the premium (and more expensive) 5.4-inch and 6.7-inch iPhones would support 5G.

Kuo's change of heart comes after Apple penned a US$1 billion deal to acquire Intel’s modem business, meaning the Cupertino tech giant “has more resource[s] for developing the 5G iPhone”.

• Everything you need to know about 5G

Jumping off the Qualcomm bandwagon

Apple’s acquisition of Intel’s modem business means the iPhone maker will be able to move away from its dependency on Qualcomm modems and develop its own. However, that will take time and it’s likely Apple will make use of its six-year contract with Qualcomm to get smartphone modems for the 2020 iPhones. Apple-made modems are not expected to be ready until 2021.

Kuo predicts that by 2020, many smartphone shoppers will assume that 5G handsets are the standard. So iPhones, which are generally more expensive than Android alternatives, will have to be 5G-capable to “[win] more subsidies from mobile operators and consumers’ purchase intention”.

Kuo further speculated that the three 2020 iPhone handsets will support both mmWave 5G (as used in the US) and the sub-6GHz spectrum version of 5G (found elsewhere), but that doing so means the handsets will be expensive. It's as yet unclear whether Apple will look into producing 5G iPhones supporting just the sub-6GHz spectrum for the Chinese market, which would help to lower costs.

• The count so far: all the 5G handsets coming our way

[Via MacRumors]

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TechLife's September 2019 issue is out now!

The best smart speakers for 2019 - CNET

With smart speakers from Amazon, Google and Apple as well as third-party products from the likes of Sonos, we can help you choose from all the exciting options.

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Fortnite season 10: Dusty Depot returns and everything else we know - CNET

It's back.

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Elon Musk sees Netflix, YouTube coming soon to your Tesla - Roadshow

It'll be like going to the drive-in wherever you go.

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Tesla will soon bring Netflix and YouTube streaming to its cars, Elon Musk says - Roadshow

Musk also says that streaming while driving could eventually be an option, if and when regulators ever allow full self-driving capability.

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NASA's Apollo 11 astronauts honored in... a butter sculpture - CNET

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins look just as legendary carved in butter at the Ohio State Fair.

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Grasshopper swarms have Las Vegas feeling antsy - CNET

A huge migration of grasshoppers in Sin City is freaking people out.

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I filmed an entire short film on a Sony Xperia 1, just to see if I could

The 2019 Honda Passport is the best mid-size SUV

With bones from its bigger brother, it's more spacious, smarter and a better value than its competition.

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An early look at how Microsoft is sprucing up its 500-acre campus to recruit tech talent

As Microsoft refines its 500-acre campus outside Seattle, it's bearing in mind four values: accessible, connected, secure and sustainable.

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How tech-infused primary care centers turned One Medical into a $2 billion business

One Medical is adding new clinics, pitching large and self-insured employers, and moving into new specialty areas like mental health.

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New images of the upcoming Galaxy Watch Active 2 leak out

The Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 is expected to be launched within the next couple of weeks – perhaps just ahead of the Galaxy Note 10 – and thanks to documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), we've got an early look at it.

As spotted by Droid Life, the FCC filing is unusual in actually including pictures of the device being registered, something that doesn't usually happen.

The pictures don't actually reveal too many surprises about the wearable, with a design largely unchanged from last time. The rumor is that Samsung has added a rotating touch bezel to the watch, but it's hard to tell from these snaps.

• Get ready for some new iPads
• Fitness trackers and eating disorders
• It's a September launch for the Galaxy Fold

Based on earlier tips, the Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2 could make its appearance on Monday August 5, so all will be revealed soon. That would be two days before Samsung's scheduled August 7 event for the Note 10.

The story so far

If the leaks so far are to be believed, the watch is going to turn up in a choice of 44mm and 40mm sizes, carrying a 1.4-inch and a 1.2-inch display respectively. Both sizes will offer a 360 x 360 pixel resolution and a Super AMOLED screen.

As well as that touch bezel, the Galaxy Active Watch 2 is expected to come with an Exynos 9110 chip inside (the same as in the original Active Watch) plus 4GB of storage.

The Bluetooth model of the Galaxy Active Watch 2 is going to come carrying 768MB of RAM, according to reports, while the brand new LTE version introduced this time – for standalone calls and data access without Wi-Fi – will turn up with 1.5GB of RAM on board.

Black and silver are said to be the colors you've got to choose between, while stainless steel and aluminum finishes are apparently on the cards as well. In a little over a week we should get all the details confirmed.

• Samsung Galaxy Watch Active update will make it easier to use

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How to recover from a tough workout - CNET

Forget spending hours in the gym. Your time may actually be better spent recovering.

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How Cargo drones could transform the freight industry

The modern supply chain has been around with limited structural changes for more than 50 years. Heavy-lifting cargo drones could shake things up.

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Apple's Q3 earnings are all about the iPhone 11 hints - CNET

After iPhone sales have stalled over the last few quarters, Apple's looking to regain some momentum.

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The world's largest military airshow is 245 planes worth of power - CNET

The incredible Royal International Air Tattoo takes place in the UK every July. I spent two days exploring.

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Galaxy Fold relaunches in September, but it's not the only foldable phone coming - CNET

As Samsung prepares for the Fold, these other companies have big plans too.

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Meet the mighty aircraft of the 2019 Royal International Air Tattoo - CNET

Massive cargo aircraft, fighter jets of the future, incredible aerial acrobatics and more at the largest military air show in the world.

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Rope-less elevator technology to offer new architectural and design capabilities

The heights of future buildings are poised to grow higher as more people are expected to live in cities due to the shortage of space and urbanisation.

Current high-rise buildings have an average height of 300 metres but the Burj Khalifa in Dubai has a height of 828 metres while Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower will have a height of 1,001m when completed in 2020.

“The higher the building gets in the future, the more the technology is needed. The actual technology the roped elevator can go has reached the maximum and new technology is needed to attain further heights,” Prof. Michael Cesarz Miguel, CEO for Multi elevator system at ThyssenKrupp Elevator, told TechRadar Middle East.

Vertical and horizontal movements

Multi makes use of the linear motor technology developed for the Transrapid train or Japan’s maglev train and allows multiple cars in a single shaft, both vertically and horizontally.

Moreover, Miguel said the rope-less elevator technology has the potential and a much-needed solution for sky bridges.

Economically and technically, he said the ropes can go up to between 300 and 400 metres and up to 500 metres with stress, which means the efficiency of a traditional elevator suffers.

With Multi, he said it can go up to 5,000 metres but “we have regulations as nobody thought of buildings with those heights some years back. In our portfolio, it can go up to 1,600 metres.”

“Multi is an ideal solution for the UAE as the country is an early adopter of innovative technologies and is at the forefront of the real estate development,” he said.

Less sensitive to earthquakes

The world’s tallest buildings need to support increasingly heavy cables required to lift elevator cars but the swaying of buildings due to heavy winds puts a lot of stress on conventional cabins and the elevators may not be used for safety reasons.

Since Multi is not electrified, Miguel said that linear motors are powered by electromagnetic coils embedded in the rear wall of the shaft.

As multiple cars can share the same shaft space, he said the amount of real estate lost to elevator infrastructure is less than the conventional system and it is less sensitive to earthquakes.

“It is not a mass product and more expensive than a conventional elevator but needs fewer shafts. So, the real estate developer can rent out more space,” he said.

Furthermore, he said that the initial investment for installing a Multi will be higher but the cost can be offset by the reduction in the number of elevator shafts.

Working on 20 projects globally

The company is working with OVG Real Estate’s new East Side Tower in Berlin to install Multi and expect to be operational by 2025.

“We will be showcasing our technology at Dubai Expo 2020. We are working on 20 projects globally, three projects in the Gulf. Without smart buildings, you cannot have a smart city. We will use less ropes in the future and more linear motors, but that will take time,” he said.

Miguel, who is an architect himself, has worked on both the technological and architectural aspects of buildings across several real estate asset classes, including Dubai’s Majid Al Futtaim Shopping Mall, said that the rope-less technology offers new architectural and design possibilities.

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Windows 10 preview ushers in new Cortana app with chat-based interface

Windows 10 has witnessed the release of another preview build for the update due to land in the first half of 2020, and the big change here is what Microsoft’s describing as a new experience with Cortana.

Build 18945 has been released to testers in the fast ring, and sees the digital assistant being turned into a separate app within Windows 10 (you may recall that the beta version of the application was spotted in the Microsoft Store in June). And as was previously indicated, Cortana features a new chat-based interface that facilitates natural language queries. At the moment, though, this is only for testers in the US.

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Most of the features Cortana could previously handle are still here, but some important new functionality has been added. Microsoft notes: “We have updated Cortana with new speech and language models, and significantly improved performance – making it faster and more reliable than ever before.”

The ‘Hey Cortana’ screen has been made more subtle and streamlined, so it represents less of an intrusion on what you’re currently doing on the desktop, and Cortana now supports both light and dark themes in Windows 10.

In the blog post introducing the preview, Microsoft stresses that this Cortana app is still in beta, so you may well see glitches (as ever), and not all functions that used to be accessible from Cortana are here – but more will be added over time, naturally.

All the key core features are here, though, such as using Cortana to open apps, manage lists, set timers or reminders, along with Assistant conversations, Bing answers, and so forth.

Slow rollout

As mentioned, this new Cortana beta is only available to Windows Insiders in the US, and even then, there’s a phased rollout, so you may not see it just yet. As time goes on it will be deployed more widely, and outside the States.

Microsoft has described the pace of the rollout as slow, but hopefully it won’t be too sluggish, and other territories won’t have to wait too long to get their teeth into this major change.

Build 18945 also introduces some accessibility improvements including Narrator delivering a better experience when reading out messages in Outlook or Windows Mail.

Windows Subsystem for Linux has also been tweaked with some useful bits and pieces such as the addition of global configuration options.

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Apple registers two more iPad models ready to launch later this year

We could be in line for quite a major iPad refresh later this year, as Apple has registered another two tablet models with the Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) regulator – models that don't match anything in the current line-up.

As spotted by MySmartPrice, the new additions take the total number of mystery iPad devices in the EEC database to seven. It's likely that some of these are just slight variations in storage rather than distinct iPads.

What the filings don't tell us is all that much about the devices themselves: all we know is that they're listed as running iPadOS, due out this September. It's possible that Apple is planning an October iPad event, something it has done in previous years.

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Filling in the gaps, we could be in line for some new iPad Pros, which will be a year old this October. It might also be time to refresh the entry-level 9.7-inch iPad, originally introduced into the world in March 2018.

Changes are coming

We haven't heard much in the way of rumors or leaks about the new iPads – except that some of them might include improved cellular reception – so it's possible that we're looking at smaller upgrades rather than major refreshes.

What we do know is that Apple unveiled a 10.5-inch iPad Air and 7.9-inch iPad Mini back in March 2019, so those two particular lines won't be getting a revamp this time around.

It's possible that Apple wants to eventually get all its iPads looking like the iPad Pros, with thin bezels and no Home button, but considering the main selling point of the 9.7-inch iPad is its affordability, it might retain the classic design.

If new iPad Pros are indeed on the way, the main changes are likely to be internal ones, with extra speed bumps on the cards. The new, modern design is not yet a year old, so will probably be retained for another 12 months.

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Do fitness trackers have an impact on eating disorders?

Content warning: There are details and personal anecdotes about eating disorders in this article. 

Tracking workouts, steps and calories with wearable devices and apps has become the new normal. Take a look around next time you’re at the gym or go for a jog around the park – most people working out have a wearable strapped to their wrist or a phone strapped to their arm. 

The number of connected wearable devices worldwide will push 74 million this year and is expected to rise to more than 1 billion by 2022 – health-focused wearables will make up a large part of that number. 

Right now, there are fitness wearables aimed at casual users, like the Fitbit Inspire HR, through to those more serious about running, like Garmin’s Forerunner range. 

Even devices that aren’t marketed solely for their health-focused features, like the Apple Watch, tend to have step counting, calorie burn and exercise tracking built-in as a standard. This means even if you haven’t bought a wearable or smartwatch to track your activity, data about your body is often only a few swipes away. 

However, there’s mounting evidence to suggest that wearable devices may not help everyone to become healthier or fitter. Instead, some research suggests they could take the fun out of fitness, turn out to be useless after six months or hinder long-term weight loss.

What’s more, a handful of newer studies also propose that having instant access to data about your health at your fingertips could lead to anxiety and trigger or exacerbate disordered eating and exercise in some people.

Given the continued rise in wearable technology, and the fact that health-focused devices are being introduced in gyms, corporate ‘wellness’ programmes, and marketed at children and young people, it’s important that we better understand how activity, food and weight tracking could do more harm than good.

The link between fitness tracking and disordered eating

We spoke to Dr Carolyn Plateau, a lecturer in psychology at Loughborough University, who has been studying the effect that fitness trackers, as well as health-focused apps, have on regular users. 

Her most recent study aimed to explore the differences in disordered eating, disordered exercise and mental wellbeing between people who use fitness trackers and apps to record food intake and those who don’t. 

“Our findings were interesting as they indicated that those who did track their activity or food intake showed higher levels of both disordered eating and exercise than those who did not,” Dr Plateau tells TechRadar. “In particular, higher levels of purging behavior (e.g. excessive or driven exercise to control or modify weight or shape) was found among the tracking group.” 

We asked Amanda Perl, a psychotherapist and Counselling Directory member who specializes in working with patients with eating disorders, about this link. “Calorie counting, strict dieting and excessive exercising are all symptoms of disordered eating,” Perl tells us. “Tracking devices can exacerbate these symptoms as they’re fixated on all those things.” 

This preoccupation with health-focused metrics and goal setting also leaves little room for balance, Perl explains, “trackers can increase feelings of failure, self-loathing and feeling out of control.” 

Even those who may not exhibit disordered eating behavior could be at risk of setting impossibly high standards for themselves. “Apps and devices can take over and promote perfectionism,” she tells us, “an unattainable illusion that promotes feelings of vulnerability through to depression.” 

Although participants of Plateau’s study who tracked their activity and food intake showed higher levels of disordered eating, she explains we can’t infer cause and effect and say for certain that trackers cause disordered eating – more research would need to be carried out over a longer period of time. 

“It could just be that participants with disordered eating and exercise tendencies may be more likely to want to track their food and fitness,” she tells us. 

The results do suggest, however, that tracking with health-focused wearables and apps could exacerbate or maintain disordered eating behavior. 

“It’s possible monitoring of activity and food intake could inadvertently encourage or validate some of the features of disordered eating and exercise amongst those who are vulnerable,” Plateau explains. “It is also possible that this could contribute towards the obsessive and highly self-critical perfectionistic tendencies that we see in individuals with eating related issues.” 

But Plateau stresses that there are many factors involved in determining someone’s vulnerability to disordered eating, as well as the likelihood that behavior could turn into a full-blown eating disorder.

The darker side of calorie-counting and nutrition apps 

Although health-focused wearables provide the automatic, real-time tracking that can lead to a preoccupation with exercise and health data, apps used on their own may also validate the same kind of behavior – but with more focus on food intake. 

A number of recent studies have shown apps with large databases of food that present detailed nutritional values, like MyFitnessPal, are widely used in the eating disorder community. 

Hayley Pearse, who is recovering from an eating disorder and documenting her recovery journey at Brunch Over Bones, tells us that she’s been tracking calories in a notebook since 2012, but the rise in tracking apps exacerbated her disordered eating. 

“As technology has progressed, so has the ease of tracking every macro, every calorie and even my body fat percentages,” Pearse tells TechRadar. 

She found she was in a cycle of using many apps, but was always on the lookout for better options that gave her more control over what she ate. “It started with an obsession with my body fat percentage and fitness performance that every meal was portioned to macros – that’s what the apps were telling me to do.” 

“The more I used apps, the more I started to critique them as they didn't quite have every food on there,” Pearse explains. “I found that my safe and fear foods list had also doubled in size and if a certain food was not in the app then it was not going in me either!” 

It’s the granular data available on the apps that Pearse believes fuelled her fixation on food. “Apps gave me the knowledge of nutrients in food and also the 'skill' to gauge by sight how many calories are on the plate in front of me,” she says. “It’s too easy to get your hands on this level of information.” 

“Although I no longer track my intake to the same extent, I still to this day have these apps downloaded on my phone as a comfort blanket,” she says. “But I am learning to listen to my body's needs rather than an app's need.” 

Perl tells us this is an important step in recovery. As part of the therapeutic process, she helps people to “respond naturally to physical cues around hunger and feeling satisfied” rather than relying on the metrics or notifications from a health-focused app or wearable.

Ask yourself: why do I need a fitness tracker in the first place?

For every person who finds health-focused tech can exacerbate disordered eating, another might use the exact same app or device to set and reach goals in a healthy way. 

“A lot of the behavior change literature tells us that self-monitoring is an effective way by which to achieve behavior change, and most people will find tracking devices helpful,” Dr Plateau explains. 

It’s difficult to predict what kind of experience someone will have with a tracking device, which is why Dr Plateau suggests everyone who has one should check in with themselves about how the goals they’ve set with their wearable or app make them feel. 

“If someone feels very anxious about the feedback a fitness tracker provides, or finds themselves constantly having to reach specific, escalating targets (e.g., step counts, calories burnt) then it possibly indicates that their relationship with the device isn’t as healthy as it could be, and it may be sensible to stop using the device, at least temporarily,” she explains. 

She also recommends considering the reasons for using a fitness device in the first place. Research has shown that using a health-focused device solely for weight or shape-related goals is linked to more concerning attitudes towards eating and food. 

Although, the reasons for using health-focused devices can easily shift. “Someone may start to use a fitness device to find out a bit more about their level of activity, perhaps to become a bit healthier and a bit fitter,” Dr Plateau says. “It may be that over time, their motivations change and weight-or-shape related goals become more prominent.” 

Regardless of your experience with health-focused tracking, Dr Plateau suggests everyone should take a break from the feedback and monitoring that an app or wearable provides: “I would suggest that we all consider going tech-free every now and again.”

For more information about disordered eating and eating disorders, as well as advice about how to get help for yourself or a loved one, please visit the charity Beat in the UK or NEDA in the US.

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