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80 Articles

As I write, SpaceX has just successfully launched its fourth Starlink mission, deploying another 60 global internet satellites for a total of 240 so far. This followed approval by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) at the beginning of the year for the company to operate specific frequencies in Australia, and is the first step for full entry into the Australian broadband market. If all goes to plan, Starlink will be selling internet services to the US market later this year, and Australia (and the rest of the world) in 2021. Performance is claimed to be in the order of (up to) 1Gbps and 10-20ms latency. That is roughly 20x what a typical NBN user experiences, and quick enough for gamers to no longer care what country a server…

exclusive software

ISSUE 479, APRIL 2020 Please note that these exclusive downloads will only be available for a limited time, from 23/03/2020 to 10/05/2020. STREAMLINE YOUR SECURITY NEVER FORGET A PASSWORD AGAIN WITH STICKYPASSWORD. FULL VERSION WORTH $30 No more forgotten, weak or reused passwords! Sticky Password is the award-winning password manager and form-filler that has been protecting millions of passwords around the world for more than 19 years. It remembers your passwords and enters them automatically wherever you need them – on your desktop, smartphone or tablet. You won’t have to worry about typos and entering data on all those sites. Sticky Password also generates new strong, unique passwords whenever you need them. DOWNLOAD LINK: www.stickypassword.com/apc SPRING CLEAN YOUR PC IMPROVE PERFORMANCE WITH ABELSSOFT PC FRESH. FULL VERSION WORTH $50 PC…

exclusive
software

APC is Australia’s oldest consumer technology magazine – having been consistently in print for over 35 years, since our first issue way back in May 1980 – and we take that heritage and responsibility very seriously. While our focus is obviously on the personal computer – it’s in our name, after all – the very definition of the PC has changed and shifted markedly since the early 1980s. As such, we touch on many other areas of tech, too, from smartphones and apps to peripherals, accessories, online services and beyond. We have two main goals: to track down the best of modern tech and also to help our readers make the most of it. We’re also an open church in terms of platforms. We know most people aren’t wed to…

Apple will put Arm-based CPUs in Macs within 18 months

Apple might be ready to ditch Intel’s CPUs by the first half of 2021, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. 9to5Mac reported that Kuo sent a note to clients predicting Apple’s switch to using its own chips in Mac products rather than continuing to purchase CPUs from Intel. That might allow the company to design its own chips for its entire product stack, from the iPhone and iPad to MacBook laptops and desktop Mac products, in the future.…

Apple will put Arm-based CPUs in Macs within 18 months

Apple settles slow iPhones lawsuit for US$500 million.

Apple will pay up to US$500 million in a class-action settlement, ending litigation that accused the Cupertino company of slowing down older iPhones when it releases new models every year. Customers argued their iPhone’s performance declined after installing annual Apple software updates, or new iOS editions. This made them feel their phones, some of which were less than three years old, required new batteries or replacements entirely.…

Announcing the 2020 Australian PC Awards

Each year the team at APC, along with our fellow techies on our sister titles TechLife, TechRadar and PC PowerPlay gather to acknowledge and reward the very best gear of the year. Thus, the 2020 Australian PC Awards are underway. Across a mammoth 33 categories we shall determine the very best of the best, covering PCs, laptops, and all of the important components and peripherals. This year we’re introducing the Excellence Award, which will go to ‘the person, product or technology that advanced the PC more than any other in 2019.’ Exciting stuff! Especially so because 2019 saw some big leaps ahead in many areas. We’re putting on a big and fancy awards night on April the 2nd, attended by as many of the tech industry as possible, that aren’t…

Announcing the 2020 Australian PC Awards

Honeywell reveals plans to launch world’s most powerful quantum computer

Honeywell has announced that it will release the world’s most powerful quantum computer by May, and customers will be able to connect directly to it via Honeywell or on Microsoft’s Azure Quantum platform. This machine will be more than twice as powerful as IBM’s Q System fleet, and Honeywell also announced that it is on track to increase the capabilities of its quantum computer by an order of magnitude each year for the next five years. CEO and chairman Darius Adamczyk explained how quantum computing has the potential to transform how things are done across a number of industries, saying: “Quantum computing will enable us to tackle complex scientific and business challenges, driving step-change improvements in computational power, operating costs and speed. Materials companies will explore new molecular structures. Transportation…

Windows 10 is still broken thanks to a recent update from Microsoft

In a depressingly familiar turn of events, a recent Windows 10 update (KB4535996) has ended up causing serious issues for the people who installed it. People have been encountering random freezes, installation problems, and even the dreaded Blue Screen of Death. Thankfully, this update is listed as ‘optional’ by Microsoft, which means your PC won’t automatically install it – in fact, you need to go into the Windows Update section of the Settings app to find and install it manually. That should mean that the number of people affected by this faulty update should remain relatively low. However, if you have installed the update and are experiencing problems, then the way to fix them is to uninstall the update. To do that, open up the Settings app (the cog icon…

Xbox Series X: will it be worth the upgrade?

More details are emerging from Microsoft on the next Xbox, the Xbox Series X. Both Sony and Microsoft are being coy on price, and for good reason. The Xbox Series X price and the PS5 price came out on top in a Twitter poll of the most important factors for those looking to pick up a next-gen console. Neither company intends to repeat the mistakes of the $829 PS3 in 2006, or that of the original $599 Xbox One. Some rumours have suggested the next Xbox will be around $749, but that’s just speculation. Xbox Series X specs details are hotting up, and they paint an exciting picture for next-gen gaming. Here’s what we know so far: CPU: Custom-designed AMD Navi/Zen 2, GPU: 12 teraflops, Frame rate: 120 fps, RAM:…

Xbox Series X: will it be worth the upgrade?

The coronavirus effect

TrendForce said that it expects the Coronavirus outbreak to cause lower-than-expected shipments of notebooks, monitors and other products in the first quarter of 2020 as manufacturers struggle to resume normal operations. The research firm predicted that numerous product categories, from smartphones and smart watches to notebooks and monitors, will ship fewer units than originally anticipated. The actual change in its forecast varied from category to category. Smart watches are expected to have it worst, for example, with a revised forecast of 12.1 million units shipped instead of 14.4 million. TVs are expected to have it better: TrendForce predicted a 4.5% drop from 48.8 million to 46.6 million units. Other categories landed somewhere between those extremes. Of particular note are the declines for notebooks (12.3%), game consoles (10.1%) and monitors (5.2%).…

The coronavirus effect

VIVE COSMOS A new universe of VR headsets from Vive. FROM $1,299 | VIVE.COM/AU The Oculus Quest has consumed a lot of the air in the VR space recently so it’s good to see that HTC is hitting back with some creative VR updates. In addition to offering a solid bump in combined resolution the headsets also come in three variations: the Cosmos Elite, the Cosmos XR and the Cosmos Play. The first is the more traditional headset that includes two external trackers and a different faceplate for superior motion tracking. The Cosmos XR comes with a wide angle camera faceplate that allows a superior 100-degree field of view for stand-alone AR experiences. Finally the Vive Cosmos Play offers a four-camera inside-out tracking faceplate that makes a great standalone VR…

What does the Coronavirus mean for the tech world?

The COVID-19 Coronavirus is dominating world news. I’ll try to steer clear of larger implications of its global spread and leave that to medical experts. Instead I’ll try to focus on what it means for the technology industry which at the time of writing, is already seeing significant impacts. Several major companies including Microsoft and Apple have issued revenue warnings, with many more likely to follow. The spread of the Coronavirus has resulted in large scale quarantining, travel bans, disruption of global supply chains, a stock market meltdown and a general increase in negative economic sentiment amongst many other effects. All of this is having a direct impact upon the global technology industry, the effects of which have yet to be understood. Consider the disruption to global supply chains. A…

What does the Coronavirus mean for the tech world?

Game streaming services are having some teething problems

“ On February 14, Nvidia announced that all Activision Blizzard games – ranging the aforementioned Modern Warfare through to Overwatch and Diablo 3 – would be suddenly removed from the service. ” It was so promising. When Nvidia unleashed its GeForce Now game streaming service into free beta in February, it did so at a time of widespread anguish regarding Google’s Stadia service. Stadia had been (and still is) harried by a number of problems, chiefly a lack of new games and updates, as well as sporadic controversies concerning the visual quality of its library. The GeForce Now proposition was, on paper, much better: you didn’t buy games from Nvidia per se. Instead, you were able to stream games anywhere based on whether you already owned them on Steam. In…

Game streaming services are having some teething problems

Trump megadonor tries to out Twitter co-founder

If you’ve ever listened to a Trump rant, you’ll be aware of his tendency to blame things on his opponents, no matter how ridiculous or implausible, so it’s perhaps not so surprising that he blames any loss of Twitter followers on platform bias against conservatives. While it’s one thing to say this without any foundation, it now seems like some of the conservative movers and shakers are planning to take action to make sure their side of the story is heard, much louder and much clearer than any others, even if that was already the case. In February Bloomberg broke the news that activist investment group Elliott Management Corp. bought a big chunk of Twitter’s stock in a move that looks a lot like a hostile takeover. Elliot Management’s stake…

Trump megadonor tries to out Twitter co-founder

54.62% The proportion of PCs running Windows 10 in December 2019, according to figures from NetMarketShare. Windows 7 came in at 26.64%, with Windows 8.1 on 3.63%, and Windows 8 on 0.66%. 270 MILLION The number of times the WhatsApp messaging app was downloaded in the last quarter of 2019, according to figures from app analysis firm Sensor Tower. 30 million came from Apple’s App Store, with Google Play making up the rest. 9.1% The growth in phone app downloads in 2019, from the Sensor Tower analysis. 0.6% The year-on-year growth in the Windows PC market for 2019, from Gartner analysis. It was the first year since 2011 to see all-quarter growth. 333 MILLION Is the number of smartphones shipped in just one quarter of 2019 according to figures from…

The Mac is back and more Pro than ever, throwing away the “trash can” design in favor of something that resembles a computer. Its appearance may hark back to 2006’s original, but can it compare in the repairability department? MAJOR TECH SPECS ■ Eight-core Intel Xeon with 24.5MB of L3 cache and a 4.0GHz max turbo frequency ■ 32GB (four 8 GB modules) of 2,666MHz DDR4 ECC memory ■ AMD Radeon Pro 580X with 8GB of GDDR5 VRAM ■ 256GB PCIe-based flash storage module ■ 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.0 KEY FINDINGS ■ We brought plenty of tools, but so far all we need is our fingers. Informative dots tell us the handle rotates, and with ease. The housing slides off with little effort. Inside, we get a peek at…

Oculus Rift S vs. HTC Vive Cosmos vs. Valve Index

VR has come a long way. Some would argue it’s not quite there yet (some members of the APC team, in particular), but it’s hard to deny that the platform has made leaps and bounds in the past few years. Since Palmer Luckey broke the mold with the original Oculus Rift, several competitors have emerged, most prominently HTC’s Vive and the more recent Valve Index. Oculus hasn’t been resting on its laurels, though, and tethered VR clearly isn’t dead – but which model out right now is the best for you? Let’s break it down…. 1 Value Despite its ludicrous $2,000 price (which is higher for Aussies than in other countries because Valve doesn’t officially ship the Index here, so a go-between service like Auspost Shopmate is needed) the Index…

Oculus Rift S vs. HTC Vive Cosmos vs. Valve Index

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X

AMD has been going from strength to strength with successive iterations of its Zen architecture, most recently culminating in the ultra-high end Threadripper 3-series. The entry level 24-core 3960X we reviewed last month decimated Intel’s entire HEDT lineup, and by some margin. The 3970X 32 model is equally impressive. But, the best was yet to come. Hidden away inside a press deck was a tease of the 3990X, a 64-core flagship behemoth that teased unprecedented levels of parallel computational power. It introduces a completely new paradigm to the consumer marketplace. So powerful is the 3990X, it may be too much processor for consumer level software to handle. Or is it? Let’s see what this monstrous CPU can do. FITTING THEM ALL IN The basic topology of the 3990X is carried…

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3990X

Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha

Just a generation ago $1,000+ motherboards were seen as lunacy, but with the utter dominance AMD currently has over the very high end market, suddenly a board like the Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha isn’t so ridiculous anymore. If you’re going to go down the 64-core Threadripper route then you need a serious board that’s top shelf in every way. The Alpha lives up to its extreme name. It’s pretty much got the best of everything. We think you’ll be hard pressed to find a more capable motherboard, whether it’s for an ultra-enthusiast monster system, a machine learning computational powerhouse or a multi GPU rendering mega workstation. This is a board that can do it all. The ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha (we’ll call it the Alpha) is an…

Asus ROG Zenith II Extreme Alpha

Nzxt Kraken X73 AIO Liquid Cooler

Over the years, Nzxt has earned a reputation for its high quality range of AIO cooling products. The Kraken X73 we’re reviewing here is an updated version of the popular X72. New features include an improved pump and fans. The X73 is a 360mm design, however it’s also available in 240mm and 280mm versions. There’s also a higher end version called the Z73, which features a customisable LCD screen atop the pump. As you’d expect, the X73 is compatible with all the current (and many older) platforms, including Threadripper CPUs that ship with an included adapter that’s compatible with the X73. The X73 utilises popular Asetek components, though Nzxt added its own aesthetic and functionality touches. The tubing is 400mm long, which is a clear advantage for users with large…

Nzxt Kraken X73 AIO Liquid Cooler

Aorus is Gigabyte’s premium gaming brand and the Aorus 17 is the biggest and most powerful gaming laptop the company makes. This weapon can be fitted with an Intel Core i9-9980HK CPU, 32GB of RAM and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 2080 GPU if you go all out. But even the entry level Aorus 17 XA comes with an Intel Core i7-9750H CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a GTX 2070 GPU, which is more than enough for some fast paced Full HD gaming. High refresh rate, low latency screens are starting to become more accessible, and the advantages for competitive gamers is becoming more apparent. So it is an excellent time for Aorus to have introduced a 240Hz panel to its most premium device. The 17.3-inch FHD panel from AUO is…

HP Elite Dragonfly

HP has designed plenty of premium work laptops, but the Elite Dragonfly is a little more professional than most. Anyone who has to work on-the-go will appreciate this device’s sub-1kg overall weight and the fact that it comes with a sim-card slot for uninterrupted 4G LTE internet. It’s also got all the security trimmings of a solid professional ultrabook with physical shutter camera, fingerprint sign-in sensor and a privacy screen that can’t be viewed from side angles. However, the Elite Dragonfly introduces some novel perks including Tile integration that allows you to locate your unit (even when it’s off), AI-based malware detection software that’ll flag suspicious activity from unidentified PC viruses, and an in-built OS recovery software that’ll safeguard you from ransomware attacks. The honed metal chassis is built from…

HP Elite Dragonfly

Samsung Galaxy Book S

On paper, Samsung’s Galaxy Book S comes across as a very attractive proposition – it’s both impressively-thin (11.8mm) and ultra-lightweight (961g) for a clamshell notebook that runs Windows 10, making it seem like an ideal option for those who often take their work on the road. That said, the fact that it’s powered by an ARM-based processor will undoubtedly present a number of performance and compatibility issues for those who want to do more on their machine than run productivity apps and browse the web. From a design standpoint, there’s no denying that the Galaxy Book S is gorgeous. Minimalism is the word of the day here, with the notebook’s lid curving towards the hinge and sporting an anodised aluminium finish that’s complemented by a small and shiny embossed Samsung…

Samsung Galaxy Book S

Fritz! Repeater 3000

“ It offers AC3000 levels of bandwidth spread across three bands (two 5GHz and one 2.4GHz) to potentially provide 3,000Mbps of throughput. ” Fritz! is, not surprisingly, a German networking brand. It’s notable for cramming as many features as possible into dated-looking devices that have unconventional design flourishes. While Asus’ top routers might rival them for number of features, Fritz!’s features actually all work (usually). Their foot-in-the-past outlook also means that the company looks after its legacy products and customers and this has helped build a large, loyal, expert community that hold the brand in reverence. A stereotypical Fritz user wouldn’t dream of using auto-connect wizards, preferring to get their hands dirty under the hood. However, the Repeater 3000 may disappoint in this regard because it has one button which…

Fritz! Repeater 3000

Tenda MW5s Mesh Wi-Fi

Into the saturated mesh Wi-Fi market, Tenda has launched a new AC1200 system. Two questions immediately spring to mind: why should we care and who the heck is Tenda? We’ll answer the second question first because, despite reviewing Wi-Fi products since the beginning of Wi-Fi products, we had to look up who Tenda was. The Shenzhen-based company states on its website, “Founded in 1999, Tenda technology is the recognised leading supplier of networking devices and equipment. Tenda has committed to delivering easy-to-install and affordable networking solutions, offering innovative, cutting-edge products to realise people’s intelligent life.” A partnership with Broadcom adds credibility to its anonymity outside of China, but what makes this kit interesting is that it’s ranged by OfficeWorks. Enthusiast consumers might roll their eyes, but many workers will know…

Tenda MW5s Mesh Wi-Fi

BenQ DesignVue PD3220U

Shop carefully and you can pick up a 4K monitor for under $400; $600 will bag you a 32-inch 4K monitor with a decent VA panel. Which begs the question: Why would you unload nearly $1,200 on this? It has a 31.5-inch panel, 4K resolution, and tops out at 60Hz. However, the DesignVue PD3220U ups the ante with IPS rather than VA panel tech. That implies better color accuracy, viewing angles, and response, but inferior contrast compared to a VA. Problem is, $1,200 will buy you a 4K 32-incher with an IPS panel. As it happens, BenQ itself will sell you such a screen. So, what justifies the price premium? It’s not high refresh, that’s for sure, what with the PD3220U pegged at 60Hz. Nor is gaming generally the remit…

BenQ DesignVue PD3220U

Creative Sound Blaster X3

Chances are, your Windows PC or Mac speakers come with middling, if not terrible audio quality. Or maybe they’re decent, but not quite good enough to truly enjoy what the music or games you spend time listening to. Cue the Creative Sound Blaster X3, a USB DAC (digital-to-analog converter) with a headphone amplifier that can produce virtual 7.1 surround sound, and offers a variety of ways to enhance the audio coming out of your computer or game console. It’s like an external sound card that’s compatible with PS4, PC and Mac and has the added bonus of harbouring SXFI, Creative’s audio technology that simulates 3D sound in a pair of stereo headphones. Creative found a way to keep things simple, yet provide different avenues to pursue all at once. The…

Creative Sound Blaster X3

Asus Theta Electret

It’s exceedingly rare that any company actually innovates and delivers a gaming headset that is genuinely interesting. Audeze shook things up a year ago with its planar-powered Mobius, which HyperX then cloned under license as the Cloud Obit. Adata innovated just recently with its hybrid electrostatic plus traditional speaker XPG Precogs. And Asus has just become the third company to ever release gaming headphones that actually advance things, with its new and very premium Theta Electret. Electret drivers are somewhat similar to planar and are closely related to electrostatic drivers – in that the sound is generated by a single electrically-charged sheet of material. Unlike electrostatic, electret do not require an external power source. But you will need a good audio source/ DAC to power these effectively. While the impedance…

Asus Theta Electret

Windows SOFTWARE

Balabolka The best of the free apps. FREE | WWW.CROSS-PLUS-A.COM/BALABOLKA There are a couple of ways to use Balabolka’s free text to speech software: you can either copy and paste text into the program, or you can open a number of supported file formats (including DOC, PDF, and HTML) in the program directly. In terms of output, you can use SAPI 4 complete with eight voices to choose from, SAPI 5 with two, or the Microsoft Speech Platform. This free text to speech software can also save narrations as audio files in a range of formats including MP3 and WAV. For lengthy documents, you can create bookmarks to make it easy to jump back to a specific location and there are excellent tools on hand to help you to customise…

Windows SOFTWARE

Photoshop Elements 2020

$145.19 | ADOBE.COM/AU | NEEDS MACOS 10.13 OR LATER Although Photoshop Elements is considered a cut-down version of Photoshop CC, it is perfect for your creative photo-editing needs. With the release of Photoshop Elements 2020, Adobe continues to cater for our need to edit and share shots quickly and with the minimum of effort. For example, the home screen’s new Auto Creations feature applies a range of creative effects to a selection of shots. Some of the Auto Creation effects are fairly cheesy, like a background filled with star shapes. A more useful and attractive auto effect is a background blur which simulates the shallow depth of field effect produced by DSLR cameras. This post-production blur is similar to that produced by the Portrait mode in high end iPhone models. You…

Photoshop Elements 2020

Adobe Photoshop on iPad

$29.99 PER MONTH | ADOBE.COM | NEEDS IPADOS The wait is over – Photoshop on iPad is finally here – at least in name. Even by Adobe’s own admission, this app has been released with limited capabilities, with the intention of adding more features. So does Photoshop on iPad come close to its desktop counterpart? The opening screen of Photoshop on iPad is encouragingly similar to the desktop app, but there are notable omissions in the New Document window – no CMYK option, no link to Adobe Stock, no Artboards, no saved presets and no Advanced options. Despite the tab for ‘Film and Video’ documents, there is no actual video or GIF capability at this time. Photos can be imported from your Camera Roll or directly from the Camera, while PSD…

Adobe Photoshop on iPad

Endless OS 3.7.4

FREE | WWW.ENDLESSOS.COM The first thing that strikes you about Endless OS (besides the humongous size of its ISO) is that it doesn’t resemble any desktop environment. To call it a customised Gnome desktop is doing a disservice to the Endless developers. It’s not like some other desktops that use an extension or two. Dubbed the EOS Shell, Endless’s desktop is a complete departure from the typical Gnome 3 interface. For starter’s there’s no application launcher menu; you get application icons and groups on the desktop. There’s also a global search bar at the top that you can use to hunt applications or search for the entered text on the web. At the bottom you get the traditional panel that’s got a few system icons for the sound, network and…

Endless OS 3.7.4

Google Play » ANDROID

Air Matters For your health. FREE | AIR-MATTERS.COM If you live in Australia in 2020, it’s suddenly become very important to have an app that lets you know how breathable the air outside is. I know, right? Technology has, of course, contributed to the world we’re now all living in, for both better and worse, but at least with an app like Airmatters we can keep on top of what we need to do to protect ourselves, especially as there have been several days in major cities lately where leaving the house without a mask has not been advised. I tested out a few different apps, and Air Matters was the one that most clearly communicated exactly what I needed to know. It gives you the numbers and figures you’d…

Google Play » ANDROID

Screens today offer more innovation, wider choice, and better value than ever. But, by some metrics, PC displays are disappointing. By other measures, though, marketing madness is starting to take hold. How so? On the one hand, you can now choose from a huge array of form factors, sizes, and aspect ratios, many of which are more affordable than ever. Innovations such as high refresh rates and adaptive sync have entered the mainstream. Support for HDR or high dynamic range content is becoming widespread, too. Connectivity solutions such as USB Type-C make it simpler than ever to hook up displays to PCs of all kinds. And panel tech is improving, with better contrast, lower response times, and technologies such as local dimming contributing to dramatic improvements in image quality. On…

IN SEARCH OF HDR

HDR, or high dynamic range, has always been a tricky concept, but in the recent context of PC displays, it’s been more problematic than ever. What with numerous competing standards and no unifying definition of what it takes to be an HDR display, it’s a minefield for buyers. Arguably, the problem is even more fundamental than that. The ability to support or decode HDR content is one thing, the ability to render an HDR image is another. To the discredit of many monitor companies, they’ve conflated the two. But not all manufacturers are guilty. By way of example, in a review of the new BenQ DesignVue PD3220U, we noted that BenQ says the display “supports HDR10 content.” Arguably, BenQ could be even more explicit, but it’s welcome that the company…

IN SEARCH OF HDR

GET CONNECTED IN 2020

Oft overlooked but ever important, the humble display interface is due an overhaul in 2020. One major development will be the roll-out of DisplayPort 2.0. It’s a major upgrade versus the most recent prevailing DisplayPort standard, namely 1.4a. DisplayPort 2.0 delivers a 3x jump in raw bandwidth compared to DisplayPort 1.4a. Want hard figures? 1.4a serves up 25.92Gb/s of usable bandwidth for transporting display images; DisplayPort 2.0 ups that to 77.37Gb/s. As for the implications of the bandwidth bump, they’re numerous. The more bandwidth, the higher the resolution you can display at greater refresh, and with more dynamic range and color fidelity. For example, with DisplayPort 2.0, you’ll be able to drive dual 8K monitors at 120Hz and 10 bits of color per channel over a single interface. In terms…

A COLORFUL YEAR AHEAD

When it comes to HDR PC monitors, not all implementations are equal. But it’s not all bad news. Even mediocre HDR brings improved color performance. Strictly speaking, high dynamic range doesn’t automatically imply greater color fidelity. Instead, it’s about the contrast between the brightest and darkest elements of an image. However, in practice, HDR standards typically make requirements of a display in terms of color space coverage and color fidelity. Take VESA’s DisplayHDR standard. Even lowly DisplayHDR 400 demands 95 percent coverage of the Rec.709 color space (the standard used for HDTVs), 10-bit per channel signal processing, and native 8-bit color rendering. Step up to DisplayHDR 600, and 99 percent of Rec.709 is required, plus 90 percent of the more demanding DCI-P3 color space, the standard for professional digital cinema.…

A COLORFUL YEAR AHEAD

WI-FI PROBLEMS SOLVED!

In a world of endless wireless connectivity, it’s amazing how often things don’t pan out the way we expect them to. Dropped connections, weak signals and outright internet failure are just some of the problems plaguing people up and down the country (never mind all over the world). In this feature we’re going to focus on arming you with all the know-how you need to troubleshoot network and internet connections – primarily wireless, but also wired – plus examine ways in which you can improve performance and make your connection perform reliably. We’ll open with a look at local connection issues – those networking problems affecting just your PC, complete with full walk-through of key troubleshooting steps to follow. “ In this feature we’re going to focus on arming you…

WI-FI PROBLEMS
SOLVED!

Fix local connection issues

If your wider network appears to be functioning well, but the problem is isolated to a specific PC, then this section will hopefully help you track down a solution. Your first step of course is to check the physical connection itself: if you’re connected via an ethernet cable, check it’s securely plugged in at both ends. If you connect through a HomePlug network check the lights on the HomePlug itself – try resetting or switching the device off and on to see if it can reconnect. You may also have to do the same with the HomePlug plugged into your router, but only if the issues affect other HomePlugs and their connected devices on your network. When it comes to Wi-Fi, check any USB adapter is firmly plugged in, and…

Fix local connection issues

Fix wider network faults

At the heart of your network lies your modem router, which provides a conduit to the internet (as well as other shared network resources) for all your wired and wireless devices. If you run into connection problems on all your devices at the same time, the cause can usually be traced to a problem with your router. The adage “have you turned it off and on again?” is never more aptly applied than to your router. It’s usually on 24/7, and many problems can often be fixed simply by switching the router off via its power button or the plug, waiting 30 seconds for its memory to clear, then switching it on again. Wait a couple of minutes for things to get up and running, then retry your connections. NETWORK…

Fix wider network faults

Resolve speed issues

To determine what speed you’re actually getting (as opposed to what your broadband provider claims), start by visiting your router configuration utility and look for the current and maximum rates (remember to divide kbps by 1,000 to get the equivalent figure in Mbps). These should be considered your benchmark rates. In reality you won’t get anywhere near these rates, but get in the habit of performing regular tests using a tool such as www.speedtest.net. You’ll find speeds vary according to time of day based on how many users are sharing your connection – you may also find speeds capped during peak rates if you’re a heavy user. Check your ISP’s pages for details of its fair-use policy. Remember your connection is shared between all the devices on your network, so…

Resolve speed issues

Set up a guest network

1 LOG INTO ROUTER Ask your neighbour to log into their router’s configuration page via their web browser – look on the router for login information if required. Look for the section on Guest Networks – it may be buried inside the Advanced or Wireless section if it’s not immediately visible. 2 CONFIGURE You should only need the 2.4GHz guest network – the 5GHz one is unlikely to reach into your home. Make sure your neighbour sets a strong password (shared with you) and that they leave all options for seeing or sharing other guests or the main network disabled. 3 CONNECT TO NETWORK Return home and you should see the guest network in your list next to your neighbour’s main network. Click Connect, enter the network key and click…

Set up a guest network

Fix niggling Wi-Fi problems

One major bottleneck in getting good transfer speeds is your wireless connection. Despite the eye-catching speeds advertised, the reality is much less appealing. Performance drops off the further you are away from the router – particularly on the newer 5GHz network bands. There are also problems caused by interference – both through local network congestion from too many competing devices within your own network, plus neighbours’ Wi-Fi signals swamping your own. FIX WIRELESS INTERFERENCE Before looking at improving overall signal strength, look to tackle interference from overlapping networks as well as competing demands from the ever-growing number of connected devices in your own home. Start by focusing on network interference by installing Matt Hafner’s free WiFi Analyzer app from the Microsoft Store. Launch the app, choosing Europe when prompted. Click…

Fix niggling Wi-Fi problems

It’s not just interference from neighbouring networks you need to consider when troubleshooting your 2.4GHz connection: internal network congestion is also an issue, particularly if you have numerous wireless devices all competing for bandwidth. To reduce overcrowding on the 2.4GHz band, now is the time to consider switching compatible devices to the 5GHz band. It’s a no-brainer if your wireless device is in direct line of sight to the router itself – the 5GHz band is much quicker than 2.4GHz, so you should see speed improvements straight away. Sadly, however, the range at this frequency is far less than the 2.4GHz band, so be prepared for performance to drop off more sharply the further away you are from the router. Nevertheless, you should still be able to shift even a…

Troubleshoot extender issues

If you’ve purchased a Wi-Fi extender to boost your network’s range to a specific part of the house, placing it in the sweet spot between the router and the room you want to extend to is a tricky business. Place it too far from the router and it’ll relay at best a weak signal, but if you place it too close to the router than its own signal will compete in terms of signal strength with the router itself. Result? Devices may periodically lose their connection as they struggle to determine which network signal is the best one to latch on to. If you have a HomePlug network already in place, consider replacing the extender with a HomePlug device that has built-in Wi-Fi. This carries the network signal to your…

Troubleshoot extender issues

Solve sharing problems

One of your network’s principal functions is to share resources between machines, and it’s this interaction that can often lead to problems, particularly when it comes to sharing between different platforms, such as PC to Mac, or Windows to Linux. Sometimes glitches can occur even when attempting to share files between PCs running Windows. If one PC doesn’t appear on the network, the step-by-step guide reveals the key steps you can follow to make things work once again. ACCESS OTHER PLATFORMS If you want to share files with Linux or Macs, then there are a few tweaks to ensure everything runs smoothly. The simplest thing to do is get everyone else talking the same networking language as your Windows PCs: on the Mac, navigate to System Preferences > Sharing and…

Solve sharing problems

Having to manually reconnect to a frequently accessed shared drive each time you start Windows is a pain. Thankfully you can make network folders more accessible by assigning a drive letter to them: browse to the shared folder in question, right-click it and choose ‘Map Network Drive’. Select your chosen drive letter, leave ‘Reconnect at sign-in’ ticked, and click Finish. Your new drive will appear under File Explorer in the ‘Network locations’ section of This PC. Just click it for instant access going forward (assuming the folder is available) – if necessary, entering your username and password when prompted.…

At CES in January, AMD announced the next product in the RX 5000 series – the RX 5600 XT. Targeted to beat the GTX 1660 Ti, AMD hit its mark well, showing better performance at the same price point. Unfortunately for AMD, Nvidia was watching and with a few weeks to go before the 5600 XT actually hit shelves, Nvidia pulled a price shuffle while AMD wasn’t looking, resulting in the GTX 1660 Ti reducing a fraction in price but also substantially reducing the RTX 2060’s price, bringing it into price competition with the just-announced 5600 XT. This put AMD in a tough place; it made the 5600 XT look pricey for its performance relative to the GTX 1660Ti and nowhere near as good as the only slightly more expensive…

Richard, Aftershock PC: “The 5600XT has not had much of a take-up in our custom builds in their respective price category and has not noticeably increased the number of AMD cards we have sold. The 1650 Super, 1660 Super and RTX 2060 are still by far the more popular options. At an estimate, only about 5% of our builds currently have AMD GPU’s installed. This is in stark contrast to the CPUs of which AMD has taken a huge share from Intel and is still gaining popularity. We have been flashing the BIOS for all of the 5600XTs we have sent out, so apart from a bit of extra time, this has not really caused us any issue. As we don’t sell parts on their own, just fully built PCs,…

Market Snapshot

Aftershock Hypergate $2,899 – TINYURL.COM/APC479AFT Aftershock’s recommended Hypergate configuration is quite a beast, designed for high refresh-rate gaming. The GPU is the second-best available, saving a large chunk of money while serving up top tier performance, and the same goes for the CPU. However, Aftershock is by default installing the F variant of the 9700, meaning not only does it have no IGPU, but it also has no overclocking abilities – which for this grade of system is a letdown for enthusiast buyers. The $100 difference for the KF version at checkout is pricey, but could be worth it for those wanting to overclock, but as it is, it makes the AIO somewhat overkill, though it certainly adds to the aesthetics and will keep the system quiet. KEY SPECS: CPU:…

Market Snapshot

Budget We’re making quite a few changes this month. First (forgive us for not going down the list in order) we tweaked the RAM by a small amount, swapping from Patriot’s Viper Elite memory to the Viper 4 Blackout to kick the frequency up to 3,000MHz from 2,666MHz in the old build. Bigger changes came in the form of a new PSU, Thermaltake’s Smart 450W model, and a manufacturer change for the motherboard, sticking with the B450M format, but swapping to Gigabyte’s budget model. Everything else stuck around in terms of price; the Ryzen 5 2600 still comes with three free months of Xbox Game Pass, so snap that up. Mid-range Rejoice! The Asrock X570 Phantom Gaming 4 is finally no longer on sale, and a new contender has risen…

UPGRADE OF THE MONTH

MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Super Ventus 8GB $1,099, MSI.COM It’s almost ridiculous how good value this model of Nvidia’s excellent RTX 2080 Super is. This is the card that makes 4K gaming more viable; or 1440p ultra, with ray tracing on. Don’t get us wrong, it’s still a lot of money for a GPU, but right now it’s hard to recommend anything else for powerful gaming systems. With 8GB of VRAM at 15.5Gb/s and a tasty 1,830MHz boost clock, this is a powerhouse card that is edging closer and closer to half the price of its big brother, the still-ludicrously-expensive RTX 2080 Ti. It’s great, and it’s never been better value.…

UPGRADE OF THE MONTH

GAMING POWERHOUSE

We started out with a budget for this. Our initial idea centered around an eight-core CPU and a Radeon RX 5700 XT, but this was soon scuppered by the arrival of a beautiful, mirror-fronted RTX 2070 Super FE at the APC office. The price rose, and our CPU/GPU cost ratio skewed, so up we went from a Ryzen 7 3700X to the 3800X – sticking with our eight-core plan. Of course, a gaming PC needs more than just a good CPU and powerful graphics. We needed an X570 motherboard to support that chip, and those don’t come cheap. The addition of memory and a non-stock cooler drove us over our original budget. And so, this build shifted; no longer a sensibly priced machine, but a gaming powerhouse. Treasure this rare…

GAMING POWERHOUSE

PWERHOUSE INGREDIENTS

CPU AMD RYZEN 7 3800X $549 A recent price drop makes the 3800X even more attractive. Yes, in a powerful build, there’s potential to use the 12-core Ryzen 9 3900X, but that would result in a significant price increase for only marginally better gaming performance. The 3800X is now less than $70 more expensive than the 3700X, but brings a significant increase to standard operating frequency while packing the same eight-core architecture. Fully unlocked for overclocking, PCIe 4.0 support for superfast SSD transfers, and a low 105W TDP all serve to sweeten the deal. CPU COOLER COOLER MASTER MA610P $65 Surprise! We’re using air cooling for this build. There’s no stock coolers to be seen here, though; the Cooler Master MA610P is a stylish air cooler, with a tall heatsink…

PWERHOUSE INGREDIENTS

BEGIN THE BUILD

Big, Blue, and Beautiful Looking at the numbers, we’re pleased with how this turned out. Roughly 20 percent performance improvement over our zero-point 1440p system is in line with the theoretical improvement of the 2070 Super over the GTX 1080 that system uses, and broader graphical performance in Fire Strike Extreme is great, too. The eight cores of the Ryzen 7 3800X work hard, hitting a good score in Cinebench R15 with no overclocking. There’s room for overclocking in both the CPU and GPU. The 3800X can hit as high as 4.5GHz with a manual overclock, potentially higher on individual cores with Ryzen Master’s auto-overclocking mode – although you’re constrained by the silicon lottery to a degree; the highest manual clock we reached was 4.3GHz. Cooling is well handled by…

BEGIN
THE BUILD

Workstation upgrade

We’re doing things a little differently from normal this month. Instead of building a system from scratch, we’re upgrading one of the office machines to better handle the multithreaded world in which we increasingly find ourselves. The machine in question is the test system I use on a daily basis, and while it has served me well for a couple of years, it is starting to show its age, and as we’re surrounded by so much hardware, it feels like a good time to upgrade to something a bit more current. A bit more future-proof. The starting point isn’t a bad machine by any means: It features an Intel Core i7-7700K at its heart, along with 16GB of RAM, and a GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. If there is a…

Workstation upgrade

Experts solve your computing problems

HARDWARE CAN MY PC SUPPORT 4K? I’m wondering if my Intel Core i3-6100 with onboard graphics is capable of running an Ultra HD monitor? Dafydd Lewis Most Intel Core processors from 2010 on support 4K displays – for basic usage at least. The Core i3-6100 has onboard Intel HD Graphics 530, which can display 4K images and play certain video formats, but will perform poorly when it comes to games. We contacted Dafydd to find out which motherboard was powering his PC – this is critical because the HDMI output may not support 4K at the recommended refresh rate of 60 Hz. Sure enough, his Asus Z170-A only supported 4K output via HDMI at 24Hz. Its DisplayPort connector does, however, support 60Hz, which means he needs to source a 4K…

Experts solve your computing problems

Search better in Windows 10

Unless you are very organised, you have almost certainly mislaid the occasional file on your computer. Anyone who has spent time hunting through folders for a document will find things are a great deal easier if you turn to Windows’ search tool, which is highly configurable. Searching in Windows is actually very flexible, and you can save yourself a great deal of time and effort if you tailor the tool to suit your needs. You can even search the web with the very same tool. Here we take a look at the search options that are available to you, revealing the secrets that will help you to get the most from this handy feature of Windows 10. When we’re through, you’ll be able to perform advanced searches, and find what…

Search better in Windows 10

Create and restore a backup

Apple’s Time Machine is a good example of how the Mac is supposed to work. It takes a time-consuming tedious chore – performing regular backups of your important files – and just makes it work automatically, so that you can just plug in your backup drive and forget all about it. Time Machine does have some limitations, though. It automatically backs up files every hour during the day, and then saves daily and weekly backups going further back in time. But it doesn’t allow you to create your own schedule for backing up your files – such as a regular end-of-the-day backup for important work projects. And, while Time Machine can help to ‘restore’ your Mac if anything goes wrong, it doesn’t allow you to ‘boot’ your Mac from your…

Create and restore a backup

View movies and TV offline

There are thousands of movies and TV shows to enjoy in the Apple TV app on macOS, iOS and iPadOS. You can either buy or rent content from the iTunes Store, as you always have been able to do, access any previous purchases you’ve already made, and even enjoy the new shows available on Apple TV+, as long as you have bought an eligible device or subscribe to that service. If you have a fast internet connection, you can normally stream content straight to your device – and this is still the only way to enjoy Ultra HD content on devices such as the Apple TV 4K. However, you can also download TV shows and movies for offline viewing, enabling you to keep watching even when you’re away from home,…

View movies and TV offline

Manage TV storage on Mac

One drawback of downloading Apple TV app content on Mac is that you can very quickly fill up the available space. To ensure that doesn’t happen, head to › > About This Mac and click the Storage tab, then Manage. In the window that appears you’ll see four options: Store in iCloud; Optimise Storage; Empty Bin Automatically; and Reduce Clutter. In the Optimise Storage section, click the Optimise button, then Optimise again in the pop-up window. Now any Apple TV downloads on your Mac will automatically be deleted once you’ve watched them.…

Manage TV storage on Mac

Streaming from the command line

Holidays are the time to get together with friends and family and share stories over some good food. It’s an undeniable fact that such get-togethers are even better when complimented with music – major brownie points if you’ve got a streaming system in place. But if you want geek creds, you’ve got to be able to do all that from the command line. Musikcube is a cross-platform music player. The native streaming ability sets Musikcube apart from other popular command-line music players such as Cmus. Although it isn’t available in the software repositories of many popular desktop distributions, the BSD-licensed project provides 64-bit binaries for the more-recent releases of Fedora and Ubuntu. Unlike most other command-line utilities, Musikcube does have quite a few dependencies, but thankfully most of these are…

Streaming from the command line

Streaming with Musikdroid

Apart from the command-line music player, the project also produces an Android app called Musikdroid. This can be used as a remote control to manage the Musikcube player, or to stream music. First, head over to the Settings view on Musikcube and select Server Setup. The default ports should suffice for most users. Select the Audio Streaming Enabled option using the arrow keys and then press Spacebar. You should now see an X adjacent to this option. You can optionally set up a password for remote access. This is all the configuration that is needed to stream music to your Android devices. Next, download the Musikdroid app from the project’s releases page and install it on your Android phone. Once installed, you still need to configure the app. Open its…

Vinyl and mix-tapes direct to your phone

Analog audio is back, people! Those sterile bland sounds of digital are out and glorious electro-mechanical tones of old-school analog tech are playing to a new generation. New-issue vinyl records are back in music stores and thanks to Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy movie franchise, even audio cassettes are making a comeback (of-sorts). Still, we’re willing to concede this new-fangled digital audio has some merit, particularly when you’re stuck on public transport. So whether you’re discovering ‘sounds that spin’ for the first time, or you’re long from the old-school, this month, we’re looking at how to copy that analog goodness straight to your Android phone – no PC or laptop required. PART 1 – VINYL TO ANDROID Rather than make this some sort of ‘vinyl buyers’ guide’, we’ll assume you’re…

Vinyl and mix-tapes direct to your phone

Receive and process global radio signals

This tutorial is designed to explore software-defined radio (SDR). We will cover some radio frequency (RF) theory in order to have a foundation for the article. The goal is to configure an SDR USB dongle, for this tutorial on a Pi, to receive a broadcasted FM radio signal. SDR is a radio frequency communications system built using software, rather than physical hardware circuits consisting of oscillators, filters, modulators/ demodulators and signal amplifiers, to transmit or receive a radio frequency broadcast signal. SDR devices receive analogue radio signals through an antenna, and then using an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC) they digitise the signal that can be further processed using digital signal processing. WHAT IS IN AN RF BROADCAST? An RF broadcast is a transmitted carrier signal travelling through the air. The signal…

Receive and process global radio signals

SDR originates from a discovery made about an inexpensive mass-produced DVB-T TV tuner dongle by Antti Palosaari, Eric Fry and Osmocom (in particular Steve Markgraf). DVB-T is an abbreviation for Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial, one standard for digital television broadcasting first published in 1997. The standard defines frequency in the VHF and UHF RF frequency bands and how data is carried on the RF signal. The pioneers of SDR discovered something unique about the Realtek RT2823U coded orthogonal frequency division multiplexing chipset. The raw I/Q data on the RTL2832U chipset could be accessed directly, making the DVB-T tuner a wideband software-defined radio. The custom driver software developed by Steve Markgraf was the keystone to SDR development. Osmocom is an open source mobile communication project that develops software and tools for mobile…

A tale of two apps

Under the receiver control tab there is a gain control (1) to adjust the amplification of the signal received. (2) is the audio gain control for the application. The small black screen is the audio signal frequency displayed in real time. This audio gain in the application is in addition to what your PC provides. Note: if your PC’s gain is set to maximum and the app’s gain control is at the minimum you won’t hear any audio. Under receiver options tab, (3) is the local broadcast frequency. (4) Mode is the type of modulation, in our example FM. Under the FFT settings tab, (5) divides the far-left screen between signal screen (black portion) and the waterfall screen (blue/yellow mix). On the main menu bar is a button to get…

A tale of two apps

Tale of two dongles

Two SDR dongles were used in the project. One was a plastic-cased dongle with a fixed-length antenna, purchased from www.banggood.com. The other was a metal-case device with two adjustable antennas purchased at www.rtl-sdr.com. Both units were used successfully. The former was CA$15, while the latter was $40. Both units can plug directly into a Pi USB port. The physical size of the SDR-RTL unit restricted access to the remaining USB ports. The banggood unit restricted access to the USB port directly below, but not the others. In order to plug into the unused ports the USB connector must be very thin or it won’t get by the dongle.The performance of the RTL_SDR unit exceeded the banggood unit. The signal strength unit was higher and had greater stability in not drifting…

Finding a new career in AI

Back in 2016, IBM came out with the statement that 90% of the world’s data was created in the last two years. If that’s kept up, and there’s no reason to suggest it hasn’t, it’s a simple insight into just how much data we all generate as we do daily life. But increasingly, researchers are finding golden nuggets of knowledge hidden in that data, whether its cures for diseases or untapped profits for business. What appears to be in short supply, however, are experts with skills in data to find these nuggets. As machine-learning continues its march into new areas, demand for AI professionals is ramping up. IS AUSTRALIA FALLING BEHIND? Right now, there’s a global AI arms race being run, but concerns are growing that Australia is falling behind.…

Finding a new career in AI

Coronavirus wreaks havoc on the games industry Conventions, supply chains and more are at risk. The spread of COVID-19 has dominated headlines for much of 2020, and no less so in the games media. Evidence that the virus would adversely affect the industry started last month as major companies including Facebook, Microsoft, Sony and Activision all pulled out of major US conventions and trade shows including the Game Developers Conference and PAX East. The former was cancelled at the last moment, while the latter soldiered on. As for E3 2020 in June, it’s moving ahead “full speed” at the time of writing. Meanwhile, industry analysts including the Asia-centric Niko Partners have predicted that COVID-19 could affect supply lines for both Sony and Microsoft’s forthcoming next-gen consoles. Other analysts aren’t quite…

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics

$29 | ENMASSE.COM | PC, MAC, PS4, XB1, SWITCH I love strategy games. I love The Dark Crystal. But heading into this adaptation of the Netflix TV series, I was pretty sceptical of the idea of squishing the two together. It’s a pleasure to report that while Age of Resistance: Tactics never fully justifies the combo, it’s a far richer and more substantial game than you might expect. For those unfamiliar, the show (itself spun out from a 1982 cult movie) takes place in a strange fantasy world, represented primarily through puppetry and animatronics, where the peaceful Gelflings are oppressed by the parasitic Skeksis. The game loosely retells this story, with a few new diversions, though in a way jumbled and fleeting enough that anyone who hasn’t watched the series will…

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics

Might & Magic: Chess Royale

FREE | PLAY.GOOGLE.COM | PC, IOS, ANDROID For the most part, Chess Royale lives pretty straightforwardly up to its title. Leaning heavily on the Might & Magic franchise to provide a little extra validity, it places a relatively unambitious autobattler into the vaguest-possible battle royale framework, encouraging 100 players to fight it out for top spot. It’s an amusing gimmick to add to a new genre, but it does little to change the way players interact with one another. When all your autobattler competitors are already last-man-standing affairs, bolting the word ‘royale’ to the end of your title isn’t exactly revolutionary. Nevertheless, adding more than 90 extra players to the usual formula does change things up a little. Rather than a traditional health bar, Chess Royale grants players three lives. The…

Might & Magic: Chess Royale

FREE | PC, LINUX, MAC | CHEESENESS.ITCH.IO/ HIVE-TIME You’re in control of a small hive that’s only just about ticking over. There are few workers buzzing about in search of nectar, while the queen sits on her throne twiddling her antennae. To succeed, you’ll need to gradually expand your borders, research new technology, and construct workshops and storerooms for all those lovely resources. Your ultimate aim is to make royal jelly, with which you can replace the serving queen when she eventually dies. But that’s a long way off yet: a persistent, growing threat lurking in the periphery. You’ll spend most of your time in Hive Time futzing about with population sliders, trying to make enough drones to staff your various bee departments. The early game can feel painfully slow,…

Madness of the Coastal Structure

FREE | PORPENTINE.ITCH.IO/ COASTAL-STRUCTURE | PC, LINUX. MAC Built using the Hypercard Framework, Madness is a text adventure that feels extremely early ’90s. The realm of Madness isn’t a cohesive one. Centaurs rub shoulders with enchanted pop bands, strange machines and other oddities. It’s a game crammed full of memorable sights, and with playful writing that makes the most of every encounter. After arriving in a jungle, you soon find yourself exploring an imposing tower that’s at once modern, futuristic and fantastical. You’ll roll dice and improve stats and come to a sticky end, probably lots of times. Yep, this is one of those adventures that wants you dead. This could be annoying, but it isn’t in the least. Madness has the good grace to smile as it shivs you…

Madness of the Coastal Structure

Deathtrap Dungeon

$13 | STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM | PC This is not, strictly speaking, a videogame adaptation of the book Deathtrap Dungeon. With a few tiny tweaks, it is the book Deathtrap Dungeon, albeit a version that allows you to pretend that you’re friends with the actor Eddie Marsan, who takes care of the reading and dice rolls for you. Every word is read to you by Marsan while he sits in a supremely comfy-looking chair. Although the setup initially feels rather weird, Marsan’s subdued yet nuanced delivery quickly places you squarely into a world of danger, death and avarice. He’s a very good storyteller. The dungeon of the title is like a cross between Saw and The Hunger Games, but in a D&D-style world. You’ll need to make your way through a constantly challenging…

Deathtrap Dungeon

Through the Darkest of Times

$25 | PAINTBUCKET.DE/EN/TTDOT | PC, MAC It’s incredibly difficult to truly comprehend the enormity of the atrocities of Nazi Germany. But this pigeonhole-defying game, while still fully failing to communicate the scale of events, opens your eyes somewhat wider in a very impressive way. The result is an incredibly affecting emotional journey through history. You and your small band of resistance members are German citizens. The story begins with Hitler becoming chancellor in 1933, and runs right through until the aftermath of the war in 1946. Each turn represents a week, and you need to decide which tasks to assign to each of your members. Success in each task is determined, in part, by the total value of the relevant attributes offered by the characters you assign. Things aren’t as…

Through the Darkest of Times

FREE | HAUNTEDGARAGE. ITCH.IOHAUNTED-GARAGE | PC, LINUX, MAC Haunted Garage gives you an endless white void in which you can stash a collection of fictional instruments. The absolute best part of this peculiar adventure game is playing with those devices, clicking on each to connect wires and flip switches and twist dials, to see what noises you can produce. They all play at the same tempo, and can be left alone once cajoled into life, creating an automated orchestra. You’re a scientist, a tinkerer. A kid in a toy shop, pushing all the buttons to see what happens. But that’s only half the story. Click on a door inside the void and you’ll be taken to the world outside, which is full of missing items, and people seeking them. So,…

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

The best way to judge the quality of any Star Wars fiction is to ask, “What’s left if you take out the lightsabers?”. Remove those iconic laser swords from the original Star Wars and you’re left with basically the same propulsive adventure, only Darth Vader and Obi Wan settle their score with a fistfight instead. Take them out of the Phantom Menace and you’re left with two hours of dead-eyed chat about trade negotiations while Jar-Jar pricks about in the background like a nerf herder. The same notion applies to Star Wars games. Take the lightsaber out of Jedi: Fallen Order and you’re left with a mediocre Uncharted clone. Take it out of Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, however, and you’re still left with a fantastic first-person shooter. Admittedly, it’s…

Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II

DUEL OF THE FATES

The Dark Jedi standing in Kyle Katarn’s way. YUN The youngest and least experienced of Jerec’s crew, Katarn cuts his teeth against Yun in one of the Dark Palace’s antechambers. MAW Half-man, all evil, the legless Maw uses a repulsorlift carriage to float around environments, battling Katarn on a spaceship landing platform in one of the game’s most dramatic duels. GORC & PIC Ensuring Jedi Knight reaches its muppet quota, the giant Gorc and diminutive Pic make for an intriguing battle. JEREC Katarn’s final Jedi confrontation with the eyeless Inquisitor Jered is a straightforward Sith v Jedi showdown. It’s truly epic stuff. BOC The mad Twi’lek Boc battles with two lightsabers and leaps about like an angry frog, resulting in the most unique of Jedi Knight’s battles. SARISS The only…

DUEL OF THE FATES

Programmers create AI to copyright every melodic composition possible Tool designed to help artists avoid future copyright suits. It’s not uncommon to hear a riff or melody and feel as though (or know) you’ve heard it before somewhere, but if you look at the sum total of possible melodic progressions available it’s no wonder there’s some overlap. Copyright attorney Damien Riehl and programmer Noah Rubin teamed up to create an AI that makes 30,000 melodies a second and saves them as songs on a hard drive. These MIDI files are then made available on Github with a Creative Commons Zero licence in the hope of using it as a defence for future copyright suits. Steve Wozniak Tweets that his wife may be coronavirus patient zero APPLE FOUNDER CLAIMS HE ALSO…

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