One for Breath of the Wild fans.
Following on from its recent reveal of the Luigi’s Mansion 3 statue, First 4 Figures has now announced its first exclusive PVC statue based on The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As you can see above it’s the princess herself.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
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Will it be worth the wait?
This week, Obsidian Entertainment’s anticipated action RPG The Outer Worlds launched on every modern platform but the Switch. So, what’s happened to the Nintendo release?
According to a new press release from the game’s publisher Private Division, the hybrid version of the game will be arriving in 2020. Yep, so next year…
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
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But you’ll have to wait for it.
WWE 2K20 frankly should have been cancelled; the game is an absolute embarrassment on every single level, from its ancient visuals to its shameful bugs. This isn’t just slightly broken – it’s a mess, and 2K Sports should feel ashamed taking money from fans after releasing such an abomination. Sure, we can all giggle at the glitches, but let’s not forget there are people who have paid $60 for this product.
Naturally a patch is in the works, but it’s going to take a couple of weeks to materialise. Writing on Twitter, the publisher said that it’s “listening closely to the feedback” being shared online and is “working hard to investigate these concerns and address them as necessary”. While there’s not much more the company can say, we don’t like the way it’s pretending to be surprised by the problems; it knew the state of this title when it shipped it.
Read the full article on pushsquare.com
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When will November 2019’s PS Plus lineup be revealed?
What’s the November 2019 PlayStation Plus lineup? And when will the November 2019 PS Plus lineup be announced? October 2019 was an admittedly killer month for Sony’s subscription service, as it dropped two first-party titles in the form of The Last of Us: Remastered and MLB The Show 19. While the latter may have bemused members across Europe, it’s one of the best sports games ever made, so it’s certainly got that on its side. In this article, we’re going to share all of the latest rumours and speculation regarding November 2019’s PS+ lineup within.
For a recap, check out our full list of all free PS Plus games in 2019.
Read the full article on pushsquare.com
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We’re almost at the big one – only one match separates four teams from the 2019 Rugby World Cup final. Rugby’s quartet of top ranked nations have made it to the final four and so far the tournament has certainly lived up to the hype. You can watch all the action from the semi-final crunch matches – no matter where you are – by following our Rugby World Cup live stream guide below.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of pundits (and bookies) still have New Zealand as favourites, with South Africa and England behind. But we’ve already witnessed more than our fair share of memorable moments. The brilliant hosts Japan shocking Ireland and Scotland, Wales overpowering Australia and that intense match up between New Zealand and South Africa being just some of the awesome highlights.
The balance of power in the rugby world has shifted at least a little towards the northern hemisphere in recent years, with Wales and England both having been in and around the world number one ranking position. Can one of them take the Web Ellis Cup in 2019 for the first time in 16 years? There’s even a chance we may have our first ever all-European final.
New Zealand or England? Wales or South Africa? It all feels too close to call!
If you want to know where you’ll be able to watch every single match, we’ll tell you exactly where you can catch it online with a Rugby World Cup live stream and the broadcasters that are showing it absolutely FREE. No matter where on Earth you are, we’ll make sure you know where to catch the coverage.
You don’t have to miss a single minute of the 2019 Rugby World Cup – even if you’re abroad and discover that your home broadcaster’s online coverage is geo-blocked (we hate it when that happens).
If that happens to you and you’re desperate to watch your domestic coverage – whether that be in the UK or Australia (where it’s free), New Zealand or the US (where it isn’t) or anywhere else in the world – there’s still a way to get it that doesn’t involve putting your security at risk with some dodgy, illegal stream from Reddit. You can simply use a VPN to login back to your country that is broadcasting the actions, and it’s really easy to do:
All times in local Japan time and BST
Saturday, October 26 – Semi-finals
England vs New Zealand at International Stadium Yokohama – 5pm JST, 9am BST
Sunday, October 27 – Semi-finals
Wales vs South Africa at International Stadium Yokohama – 6pm JST, 9am GMT
Saturday, October 26 – Bronze final
TBC vs TBC at Oita Stadium – 6pm JST, 9am GMT
Sunday, October 27 – FINAL
TBC vs TBC at International Stadium Yokohama – 6pm JST, 9am GMT
The Rugby World Cup is a twenty-team tournament. Each country begins in one of four pools that each contain five teams. Each team plays one match against each of the other teams in the same pool.
The teams finishing in the top two of each pool advance to the quarter-finals from where the tournament goes into a familiar knockout format.
While Ireland go into the tournament as the world’s no.1 ranked team, three-time World Cup winners New Zealand are the clear favourites with Betfair.com to once again lift the Webb Ellis Cup in Japan.
The All Blacks won their second World Cup on the spin back in 2015 in emphatic style with a 34-17 victory over Australia at Twickenham.
Argentina
Mario Ledesma’s side have a decent record to uphold, having advanced to the Rugby World Cup knockout stage four times and finished fourth in 2015. They come into the tournament however on a a losing streak of four defeats on the trot, but those did come at the hands of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
Australia
The second-most successful nation in World Cup history alongside South Africa. All the morale of their emphatic 47-26 win against New Zealand in Perth last month has dissipated somewhat after they were crushed 36-0 by the All Blacks in the return fixture in Auckland the following week.
Canada
An ever-present nation at the World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 1987, they’ve only ever progressed beyond the opening round on one occasion. Currently ranked 22 in the world, the Canucks will be targeting a win as minimum against minnows Namibia in Pool B and build from there.
England
While they may be one of the favourites, England coach Eddie Jones will be anxious to see his side start their campaign on the front foot and quickly eradicate the ghosts of the last World Cup which saw them make an embarrassing pool stage exit while tournament hosts. They come into this year’s World Cup on a high following a 57-15 victory over Ireland at Twickenham in the run-up, but question marks persist over the squad’s apparent lack of experience.
Fiji
Traditionally one of the more entertaining teams at the World Cup, despite their much heralded flair, the Flying Fijians have failed to make it out of the pool stage in the preceding last two tournaments. Drawn alongside Australia and Wales this time out, the odds of it being third time lucky for coach John McKee’s side this time out aren’t high.
France
Three-time runners-up France head to Japan ranked 8th in the world. The emergence of young stars like Antoine Dupont and Demba Bambawill will provide plenty of optimism, but Pool C is arguably the toughest group of the tournament and Les Bleus will do well to make it through to the next phase.
Georgia
Having reached the last four successive World Cups, the Lelos have steadily improved over the years and will fancy their chances of making their chances of making their way out of the pool phase for the first time. The return of all-time leading try-scorer Mamuka Gorgodze to the fold will come as a welcome boost to morale.
Ireland
The Irish started the year as strong favourites to win their first World Cup following their Grand Slam winning 2018 Six Nations campaign and an impressive win over the All Blacks. Hopes for Japan, however, have since been tempered, with their humbling against England at Twickenham last month setting alarm bells ringing. Two warm-up wins since against fancied Wales will have regalvanised Joe Schmidt’s side, and the starting line-up should be further boosted by the return from injury of Johnny Sexton.
Italy
The Azzurri are putting their faith in youth, with 23 members of their squad having never appeared before at rugby’s main event. One of the few old-head’s is skipper Sergio Parisse, who will be appearing in a record-equaling fifth World Cup.
Japan
The hosts came agonisingly close to making it past the group stage for the first time back in 2015, missing out despite winning five times. Progressing to the last-eight will be a prerequisite this time out for the team playing on home turf.
Namibia
The rank outsiders have consistently qualified for the World Cup since 1999, but have never have never won a single match once at the tournament, racking up an unwanted 0-19 win-loss record in the process. Their recent 20-0 loss to Russia indicates that getting off the mark in Japan looks unlikely.
New Zealand
Despite having lost their seemingly perpetual place as the world’s no.1 team recently (a spot they had held for a decade), New Zealand haven’t lost their standing as the most fancied team to win the 2019 World Cup. A mixed showing during the recent Rugby Championship won’t have a put off pundits from backing Steve Hansen’s men to lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the third time in a row.
Russia
While they may have made it to the Japan thanks to the disqualification of Spain and Belgium for fielding ineligible players, Russia won’t be going in to the tournament to make up the numbers. They face the hosts in the 2019 World Cup’s opening match and came close to beating Japan back in November last year.
Samoa
Consistent qualifiers for the World Cup, Somoa will be looking to go beyond the quarter-finals for the first time. To pull off that feat they’ll need to improve on their recent form which has seen them lose to both the USA and Tonga during last month’s Pacific Nations Cup.
Scotland
With the likes of flyhalf Finn Russell and fullback Stuart HoggIn in their roster, the Scots aren’t lacking top drawer talent. What they do a have a deficit in is consistency – as exemplified by their two contradictory performances against France last month.
South Africa
Versatility could be the key attribute for two-time champions South Africa this time out. Packed with explosive pace from the likes of Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi, the Springboks also have a kicking game that is the envy of most rivals. In Rassie Erasmus they also have the best named coach in the tournament.
Tonga
With a squad littered with talented players plying their trade in New Zealand, Australia, England and France, coach Toutai Kefu will be out to finally get his side into the knockout stages for the first time. Having notched up creditable eight wins in their last 21 Test matches, its a goal that looks eminently achievable.
Uruguay
A kind draw with winnable opening matches against Fiji and Georgia gives the South American side a fighting chance of making through to the last eight for the first time.
USA
Ranked 13th in the world, there were mixed fortunes for the USA in the recent Pacific Nations Cup which saw them stutter to a win against Samoa, thrash Canada, but get thumped against Japan. They’ve never won more than one game at a World Cup, but will likely rectify that during this year’s competition.
Wales
The loss to injury of Gareth Anscombe and Taulupe Faletau would be huge blow for most teams, but luckily for coach Warren Gatland, Wales has plenty of strength in depth among the ranks. More concerning will be a dip in form in the run up to Japan which has seen them lose to England and Ireland, a contrast to the 14-game winning streak Wales enjoyed at the start of the year.
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Der har efterhånden gået rygter om Apple AirPods 3 i et års tid, og indtil for nylig så det ud til, at vi ikke ville få dem at se før 2020.
En række lækager over de sidste par måneder peger dog nu på, at 2019 nu alligevel er en mulighed, og nu er designet af de såkaldte AirPods Pro måske blevet lækket af tilbehørsproducenten ESR.
Billederne, som skulle vise et ‘AirPods Pro Cover’ blev opdaget af MacRumors. Etuiet er bredere end det vi har set til tidligere AirPod-modeller. Men om ESR så vitterligt kan afsløre det nye batterietui til AirPods Pro, eller om der blot er tale om et marketingstung, er på nuværende tidspunkt uvist.
The Apple AirPods (2019)
En nylig rapport fra China Economic Daily påstår, at en opgraderet AirPods-model, kaldet AirPods Pro, i samme stil som iPhone 11 Pro, kan være på vej til at blive lanceret.
China Economic Daily påstår, at AirPods Pro vil have indbygget støjdæmpning, hvilket understøttes af en lydindstilling i koden til iOS 13.2 beta med ordlyden ”med eller uden støjdæmpning”.
Eftersigende vil de komme til at koste 260 dollars (ca. 1.800 kroner før moms).
iOS 13.2 beta afslører samtidig et ikon, som kan vise en designfunktion fra Apples kommende trådløse propper. Ikonet blev opdaget af 9to5Mac og viser, at AirPods 3 har gummi eller silikone-ørepropper– en ting vi gerne havde set i de for nyligt lancerede Apple AirPods (2019).
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The hot new topic in terms of smartphone and computer software right now is Dark Mode, an optional system look that flips the colors of an app or operating system to make it, well, dark. Instagram has a dark mode, as does Chrome, WhatsApp, Gmail, and iOS 13, and it seems apps and developers are tripping over themselves to create a new dark mode for their software.
There’s just one problem which none of these hard-working people seem to have considered that makes their work redundant, and the attention they’ve taken from other projects will be in vain: all in all, dark mode looks totally awful.
That’s not a dig at any dark mode in particular, and no developers have implemented it particularly poorly (well, apart from Android 10). But in the rush for developers to see if they could implement dark mode on their apps, no-one asked if they should – and taken stock of how it might be reworked better rather than just following the trend.
Beyond that, there are legitimate reasons why developers shouldn’t be focusing on Dark Mode. Here’s why the Dark Mode craze is just crazy.
Have you ever gone onto a website, typically an older forum page from back when web design really kicked off, and seen a black background with white text (usually in comic sans) and found it totally hard to read?
Pure black backgrounds with white font can be really hard to read, and it causes halation or visual distortion for many people. Having to look at this for long periods of time can cause serious eye strain, which means it’s no wonder modern society uses white backgrounds with black or gray font for… well, everything.
Dark Mode is dark with white text, and it can cause the aforementioned eye problems. More than that, it just looks ugly, and when smartphones are trying harder and harder to look beautiful in terms of design and software, it makes no sense to create a horrible-looking dark filter.
Sure, ugliness is an opinion – but this is an opinion article, so that’s to be expected.
One of the main reasons behind Dark Mode (or excuses for its existence, if you’re not feeling charitable) is that it’s better for low-light settings, so you can use it in bed without blinding yourself or someone else. And there’s merit behind that reasoning: the blue lights in phone screens have been known to stop people sleeping, as the brain misinterprets the blue light as daylight.
There’s merit behind the reasoning, but not behind the execution, as Dark Mode would only be a useful way of cutting out blue light if functions to this end didn’t already exist. But they do.
Many phones have blue light filters, which you can schedule to kick in at a certain time to reduce the blue light from your phone screens – typically this means between 10PM and 7AM, your phone display has a slight red hue. Some smartphones, like Sony phones, have more permanent options that let you customize the RGB makeup of your display to suit your vision.
Then there’s the issue of bright lights in bed waking up your significant other (although if you’re frequently using your phone in bed, that’s a whole different issue). For years now, phones have had adaptive brightness, and before that you could manually change the brightness of your phone. In short, if your handset is too bright, dial down the brightness!
Dark Mode is a solution to a problem that already has a solution – and this second solution is just wasting time that developers could be spending on other projects.
There are some minor perks to a dark mode, such as its battery saving potential. But since Dark Mode is surprisingly hard to develop (as Chrome for desktop shows), it would be more efficient for developers to work on battery optimization tricks.
Of course, the obvious response to ‘dark mode is bad’ is simply ‘just turn it off then’, and I certainly will, but there’s more to the issue than that.
With every developer around being tasked to create a hasty dark mode, seemingly just because everyone else is, that means manpower is going to be turned away from other tasks that are arguably more important for the longevity of operating systems and apps.
Operating system developers are in the midst of their own battles right now: Apple’s MacOS Catalina is murdering nearly every computer it touches, and Microsoft’s Windows 10 is tripping over basically every hurdle it gets near.
Similarly, apps and social media platforms have bigger issues that need addressing in terms of usability: YouTube needs to sort out the algorithm that its top content creators keep getting shafted by; Twitter needs editable tweets; Instagram needs to fix its auto-ban algorithm that many have ridiculed as overzealous.
In short, developers all have problems they need to face and address, but if they spend their time creating pithy dark modes instead of fixing problems, they’re letting their platforms sink further down into the plughole that the internet is becoming.
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Bang & Olufsen is well known for combining audio fidelity with luxe, fashion-forward design, and it’s latest headphones, the Beoplay H4, are no exception.
Now upgraded to include support for voice assistance as well as a more refined look, these wireless headphones contain some truly smart tech beneath their glossy exterior.
When they were originally launched a couple of years ago, the BeoPlay H4 headphones were the brand’s cheapest over-ear model and, and offered a solid sonic performance (except for some issues with overpowering bass frequencies).
Bang & Olufsen don’t seem to have made any changes to the sound with the newly upgraded H4s, instead focussing on design and the convenience of built-in support for voice assistants.
For starters, there’s a dedicated button that you press and hold to summon your device’s voice assistant, whether you use Alexa or Google Assistant. This allows you to ask for your favorite song, get news updates, skip tracks, and more – all through your voice alone. There’s also a slider button to turn the headphones on and off.
Making calls should be easier with the new Beoplay H4s, thanks to an additional microphone that’s designed to improve voice quality. You should also find that watching videos is more seamless, with support for aptX low latency technology for better synchronization between picture and audio.
Bang & Olufsen has made some aesthetic changes as well, including a sleeker braided cable and a new anodized aluminum disc on the outer housings of the headphones, which contrasts beautifully with the other materials.
A word of warning on the materials; these headphones are not suitable for anyone who avoids using animal products, as the ear cushions and headband are made from lambskin. We’re sure it’s very soft, but it’s by no means vegan-friendly.
Being made from premium materials, these Bang & Olufsen headphones aren’t exactly cheap, despite being an entry-point to the luxurious brand’s range. They’re available to buy for £250 / $300, which works out at around AU$440, the same price as their predecessors.
The launch of an upgraded model means that we’re likely to see Bang & Olufsen headphone deals over Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In fact, the original H4s are already discounted in some stores – check out the deals below for more information.
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Disney Plus will no doubt be the talk of the town when it launches in November, with a host of films and franchises from across Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and even 21st Century Fox. But it seems that Disney’s acquisition of Fox – welcomed by many for the hit series and IP it brought to Disney’s streaming service – may have some unfavorable consequences for viewers.
Vulture has reported on various cinema owners and film festival programmers who are being refused the rights to show certain Fox movies, now under new ownership at Disney.
Titles such as The Omen, The Fly, Moulin Rouge, and various Alien films are now increasingly difficult to show, with Disney reportedly denying requests by establishments that had previously shown the films without trouble.
While Disney has yet to make a public declaration of its intention here, Vulture quotes a film distributor who says the restrictions won’t apply to not-for-profit businesses or public art institutions.
What’s even more worrying is that the new law for Fox movies doesn’t seem to be enforced consistently, with different distributors finding they had rights to show certain films revoked for different reasons, without explanation, or even if they fit Disney’s criteria.
With Disney Plus set to launch in mid-November in its first few territories, a world of Disney is about to get opened wide – but at the same time, it looks like that world is getting a lot smaller.
Restricting access to a property to drum up demand – in this case, for the Disney Plus catalogue – makes business sense, and is certainly characteristic of Disney. The House of Mickey has long uses something called the ‘Disney Vault’ model, which saw classic Disney movies become near impossible to buy on disc or stream until a limited re-release.
But it’s a worrying move for cinema goers who can’t see some of their favorite classic films in the setting they were originally shown, and is likely to have a substantial impact on the profitability of various movie theaters – already struggling in the streaming age – as iconic properties are yanked away from them.
As much as the acquisition of Fox was good news for some fans, in that it brought The Simpsons to Disney Plus, and has paved the way for favorite X-Men characters to enter the MCU in some capacity, it’s clear that many other viewers – and the people used to serving their movie needs – are being left behind.
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Every great website needs a snappy, memorable domain name. Coming up with something new is a serious challenge, but once inspiration strikes, you’ll need to register that name with a domain name registrar before you can use it online.
Registration isn’t difficult, but first you must choose from the hundreds of companies competing for your business, and there are several things for you to consider before signing the virtual dotted line.
With a name like Domain.com, the EIG-owned brand, means business, focusing primarily on small and medium businesses. It offers most popular top level domains and over 25 country code top level domains and also sells premium domains as a broker.
With nearly two decades of online presence, the company – which is one of the world’s biggest domain name registrars – expanded in web hosting and now ranges a number of products including a website builder, a full design service and web hosting.
Domain.com prices tend to be average but we have managed to blag a 25% discount off almost everything in your cart*. Non-premium TLD (.Club, .Men, .Win etc) start from $2.99 for the first year ($2.24 with our code). In line with the rest of the industry, they rise significantly after the second year).
You need to pay for privacy protection, a reasonable $6.99, plus you can add email, web hosting, SSL certificates and malware protection, none of which is compulsory. You can stick with its basic website builder which is free with every domain: you get a drag and drop website builder, tons of mobile-friendly templates, up to six pages, SEO tools, Paypal integration and even access to stock image library.
Support is more than adequate with 24/7 chat, email and phone support. Domain.com may not have the cheapest prices but it provides with a very balanced offering.
*All renewals after the initial discounted period will be charged at the then current standard list price for the selected period. Coupon is not valid with sunrise registrations, landrush registrations, EAP registrations, pre-registrations, premium registrations, renewals, transfers, custom website design, other coupons, or special pricing.
Web giant GoDaddy is the world’s biggest domain registrar, currently managing more than 75 million domains for 17 million customers around the globe.
The company is well-known for its low headline prices, and it’s the same story here, for instance, .com. domain is available for $0.99 in year one. On the other hand .org is less impressive (though still apparently cheap) starting at $10.17. Beware, though: these aren’t the bargains they initially seem.
The first catch is that GoDaddy’s starting prices only apply if you pay for two years upfront, and the second year is significantly more expensive (.com rises to $18.17, .uk and .co.uk domains are $12, .org and .mobi are ridiculously high, $21.17 for .org and $25.99 for .mobi – at the moment, first year for .mobi is $6.99, due to an offer).
The second problem is that there are no bundled extras, so adding something like Whois privacy – a valuable service often included for free with other providers – costs $8 a month for year one, and $10 on renewal.
There’s clearly much better value to be had elsewhere, but GoDaddy may still appeal to web beginners looking for a bundled hosting and domain registration deal. The company has an array of products covering every possible requirement, with telephone support if you need it, and buying your domain and hosting from the same provider will make life a little easier.
Just keep in mind that other providers can also combine hosting and domain registration, and GoDaddy may not provide the best package for you. Check out our various hosting guides for possible alternatives.
Hover is a popular domain name registrar owned by Tucows, which also operates eNom and the domain reselling platform OpenSRS.
Hover’s website is clear and straightforward. A domain pricing page allows for checking registration costs before you start, or you can use the search box to immediately locate your preferred TLD (top-level domain).
By default the results page displays every domain you can register and their prices, giving you a lot to scroll through and read. But a handy sidebar allows filtering domains by categories including Personal, Businesses, Audio and Video, Food and Drink, and more. It’s a neat touch which could help you spot an appealing domain that you otherwise might have missed.
Prices are very reasonable, with .com domains costing $12.99 for year one, .co.uk priced at $10.99, .org costing $13.99 and .mobi reaching $15.99. Shop around and you’ll find slightly lower prices elsewhere, but Hover generally provides good value.
There’s a welcome bonus in Whois Privacy, which comes free for as long as the domain is managed by Hover.
The company keeps upselling to a minimum, even in the final shopping cart stage. You’re simply offered three email-related extras: email forwarding at $5 a year, a 10GB email account for $20, or you can opt for a 1TB inbox, file sharing, a calendar and more, for an annual $29.
If you have any questions, support is available via email and chat, although it’s not 24/7. Working hours are 8am to 8pm (Eastern Time) Monday to Friday, and 12pm to 5pm at the weekend.
Most domain name registrars offer a simple identikit service with little to separate them from the competition, but Dynadot is an interesting exception which has some unusual advantages.
This starts right at the beginning, with your initial search. You can use the website much like any other – type your preferred domain, press Enter, read the results – but you also get Bulk and IDN (Internationalized Domain Name) search tools, and advanced options allow defining which domain extensions to include in your searches, as well as setting those as defaults for all future searches.
These searches can optionally return results from domain auctions, Dynadot’s Marketplace (where other customers sell domains they no longer need) and other sources. There’s also a Backorder option to try and grab a domain that isn’t currently available, if it’s not renewed.
Prices are on the low side, with Dynadot offering both special deals on some extensions and good value at renewal. .com sites are $5.99 initially and $8.99 on renewal. If you’re after a .co.uk domain, that’ll set you back $6.95, .org is $10.99, and .mobi domains are $3.99 initially, $13.99 on renewal.
That’s just the start: Dynadot also piles on the free extras. A Website Builder allows you to build and host a simple one-page responsive website. There’s free domain forwarding if you’d like to redirect visitors somewhere else. DNS support allows creating 50 subdomain records, 10 email addresses, and 5 each of MX and TXT records. There’s even a Grace Deletion list which allows returning a domain if you change your mind.
This requires a small fee and won’t always be allowed (the details on how it works are here), but it’s still a welcome extra you’ll rarely find with other registrars.
Dynadot’s support wasn’t always as impressive, with live chat being offline when we checked. But the website does have a publicly available forum, allowing anyone to browse common questions and see how happy (or otherwise) Dynadot’s customers might be.
Founded in 2000, Namecheap is a popular domain name registrar and web host which now manages more than five million domains.
Namecheap’s excellent website allows searching for individual domains, or in batches of up to 50.
If the domain is taken, you can view the Whois record or offer to buy the domain (via DomainAgents) from the current user.
If the domain is available, results are displayed across four tabs: Popular, New, Discounted and International. This is a neat approach which makes it easier to browse the list and find what you need.
Prices are generally very good at $8.88 (£6.8) for .com domains – $12.98 on renewal, $7.58(£5.8) for .co.uk – $9.58 on renewal, $12.98 (£10) for .org – $14.98 on renewal, and $16.88 (£13) for .mobi (at the moment, you can get .mobi for $2.88 for the first year). There are some special deals available, and Namecheap has an Agent 88 set of domains which are almost always available at $0.48 (£0.35) for the first year (these usually include the following: .site .website .space .pw .press .host .tech .online and .fun – but there may be others as well).
That would be good value all on its own, but Namecheap doesn’t stop there: you get WhoisGuard domain privacy thrown in for free.
Namecheap’s billing is straightforward and honest, with current and renewal prices clearly described in your Namecheap shopping cart, and Auto-Renew turned off. But if there’s something you don’t understand, helpful FAQ pages and live chat are just a click or two away.
Shopping around for a domain registrar can involve a lot of hassle as you research companies you’ve never heard of, try to separate genuine bargains from marketing tricks, and browse the small print looking for hidden catches. With potential savings only amounting to a few pounds or dollars a year, at best, you might prefer to simply sign up with a big-name provider that you know will give you a reasonable service, even if it does cost a fraction more.
Enter Google Domains, Google’s lightweight domain registration arm, a straightforward provider that puts speed and simplicity at the top of its priority list.
Google Domains doesn’t confuse you with endless sales, or ‘special’ deals that turn out to be not so special after all. Upselling is kept to a minimum. Instead, it’s all about making the purchase process as easy as any other online shopping site: search, click, and check out.
The difference is obvious from the moment you reach the site. There are no animated ads at the top of the page, no ‘Sale!’ banners, no low headline prices: just a search box where you enter a single domain.
The results page is equally straightforward, with prices listed for nine common top-level domains, and an All Endings tab listing every option in alphabetical order (domain.academy, domain.bargains, domain.camera).
One potential problem is that Google Domains doesn’t support all the domain extensions you’ll get elsewhere, and this includes some quite common examples (.mobi, .tv). If you think you might ever want to buy something beyond the most popular extensions, it’s a good idea to check that your likely choices are available before you buy.
Prices are standardized to whole numbers, so for example .com, .co.uk and .org domains are all priced at $12. That’s a little above average overall, but better than some, especially as Google Domains throws in free Whois privacy for as long as you’re registered. That’s a valuable extra which could cost $2.80 to $11.20 a year elsewhere.
If you do have any questions, a Help link displays articles on common problems. If that’s not enough, the Contact Us page enables talking to a support agent by email, live chat or telephone (Google calls you), the highest level of domain registrar support we’ve seen anywhere.
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