If you’re hoping the LG G8 will be the phone that packs in every single bit of top-end technology, chances are you’ll be disappointed this year. Where some brands are said to be joining the 5G train early, LG looks set to miss that feature for its upcoming flagship.
However, in a perhaps smarter move, it’s going to launch a phone with the high-speed connectivity later in the year.
The news comes from Korean site ET News (translated), which quotes an unnamed senior official as saying that LG will launch two smartphones this year to separately service the current 4G needs and the next-gen 5G speeds.
An official statement provided to the outlet by an LG spokesperson didn’t confirm the news, but did say that the brand was committed to ‘pre-empting’ the 5G rollout.
Bringing a phone that doesn’t come with 5G but still offers top-end features could be the more intelligent strategy for 2019, as adding in the next-gen speeds will add quite a cost to smartphones (as confirmed by OnePlus’ CEO to TechRadar) so if LG wants to be competitive with the G8, missing 5G could be a good move.
The same report also says that the new LG G8 will pack a teardrop small notch at the top to allow for the front-facing camera (no punch-hole option here) and the camera will have 3D capabilities.
ET News is also reporting that LG will be launching the LG Q9 at CES 2019 or MWC 2019, which will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 chipset, 4GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and a 3,000mAh battery.
On top of that a flexible phone will appear in the second half of the year – and a (World Intellectual Property Office) WIPO patent spotted by LetsGoDigital might have uncovered the form factor.
The patent outlines a phone that has multiple cameras on the rear, but a form factor that scrolls out sideways to turn a small phone into a tablet.
How the new LG rollable phone might look. Credit: LetsGoDigital
We’ve no idea if this phone is going to be the final form factor, but this is the kind of space-age thing that we’re hoping starts to appear soon to take us away from the million of faceless black rectangles we’re seeing these days – so we’re keeping our fingers crossed.
Just in time for New Year – and your annual promise to yourself that you’re really, really going to get fit and healthy over the course of the next 12 months – Google has rolled out a new monthly exercise challenge inside its Google Fit suite of apps.
The idea is to challenge yourself to set new goals every 30 days, picking up more Move Minutes and Heart Points along the way.
The first goal for January is to boost Heart Points to the levels recommended by the experts – the more you exercise and the more intense those exercises, the more points you get.
You’ll get reminders and motivational advice along the course of the month, and Google has signed up some Instagram and YouTube celebrities to come along for the ride as well via the #GetFitwithGoogle hashtag.
Google Fit improvements
The first 30-day challenge doesn’t start until January 1, but you can sign up to get involved now from inside the Google Fit app – the app is available on the web and Android, though not iOS (you can use a Wear OS watch with iOS, however).
“Hit 150 Heart Points per week to meet the American Heart Association (AHA) and the World Health Organization (WHO)’s physical activity recommendations shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve sleep and increase overall mental well-being,” says Google in its blog post announcing the new feature.
The festivities of the Christmas period may have only just come to an end but we’re already launching straight on into the January sales, and Mobiles.co.uk is celebrating with a Samsung Galaxy S9 deal worth getting excited about.
This offer gets you the Samsung S9 for the low monthly price of £23 a month with 3GB of data. Sounds good? Well, it gets better, if you use our exclusive TechRadar discount code TECH25OFF the upfront cost drops down to £50, making it one of the cheapest S9 deals on the market right now.
The Samsung Galaxy S9 was a decent phone for 2018, packing a top camera with a smaller form factor over the plus model, and the current price drops are making it a much more attractive proposition – don’t forget, we’re still a few months out from the forthcoming Galaxy S10, so the S9 still represents one of the very best phones we’ve seen around at the moment.
If this sounds like the deal for you then you can find all of the details down below – but you do need to hurry as this deal ends on December 31.
If this wasn’t quite the deal you were hoping for then don’t worry we have gathered all of the best deals for the flagship device on our Samsung Galaxy S9 deals page.
The new Kia Ceed shakes off any negative preconceptions you may have about the brand almost instantly.
Kia is no longer a ‘cheap import’ brand producing solid but uninspiring models – it can now mix it with the established names, with its cars offering a competent, complete experience on the road.
We got behind the wheel of the top-of-the-range Ceed First Edition, priced at £25,750, which comes with all the tech bells and whistles you’d expect from a major brand.
In fact, Kia claims the new Ceed is the most high-tech vehicle in its class – and there’s certainly a lot to play with.
All-new looks
This is the third-generation Ceed (previously cee’d) since the range’s debut in Europe back in 2006, and Kia has redesigned the model the from the ground up.
It now has a more modern look, with the new Ceed arriving with a sportier stance that’s more attractive to look at. It’s not exactly a head-turner, but it slips nicely into place alongside its five-door hatchback rivals.
Inside you’re treated to a modern cabin which wouldn’t look out of place coming from some of the more premium brands. There’s still an abundance of plastic used, but it’s broken up by glass, screens, dials and metallic accents.
The seats are comfortable, with additional comforts including heated and air-cooled front seats and heated rear seats (not including the middle seat), along with climate control, to ensure a pleasant journey for all.
The Ceed can easily accommodate four adults, although those over six foot may find their hair slightly grazing the ceiling. Even with five adults, the Ceed didn’t fee overly cramped during short journeys.
There’s a sizable 395-litre boot too, which provides enough room for a buggy and shopping, so great for families.
You get considerable peace of mind for your money too, in the shape of Kia’s standard seven-year / 100,000-mile warranty.
Kia Ceed design gallery
Tech a-plenty
An 8-inch touchscreen display sits at the top of the new Ceed’s centre console, offering a responsive and fluid experience under finger.
Skipping between modes and scrolling through lists is easy to do, with navigation, Bluetooth connectivity and DAB radio all on board, and all working well.
The infotainment system supports both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, allowing you to connect your smartphone to the car’s display for access to core apps such as mapping and music streaming – at least, it’s supposed to.
Unfortunately, the Ceed we drove refused to play ball with both our Google Pixel 3 and OnePlus 6, with neither phone recognized when we plugged them into the USB port at the base of the centre console. The reason could be that the Pixel is too new, and thus support for it hasn’t been added, while the OnePlus may be a little too niche, but it seems unlikely – we’ve successfully used the OnePlus with Android Auto in other vehicles.
It was a shame, as the quality and responsiveness of the screen would have made using Android Auto an enjoyable experience, in conjunction with the handy steering wheel controls. If Kia can sort out the support we’re sure it’ll be a solid feature.
Kia’s own navigation system worked well, and the traffic updates (via TomTom’s system) were accurate. The one small niggle we had was that some more complex junctions in the centre of London weren’t displayed as clearly as on rival systems, but overall it’s one of the better manufacturer navs.
One feature we really enjoyed using was the wireless charging pad, which allowed us to top up our Pixel 3 without having to plug it in (two USB ports are provided below the pad if your phone doesn’t support wireless charging).
Getting the wireless charger to work wasn’t straightforward though. It has to be enabled, but the setting for this can’t be found on the main display – we had to dig out the physical manual from the glove box to learn that the option was hidden in a sub-menu of the 4.2-inch colour display in the instrument cluster.
Once we knew where to look, enabling the pad was easy, but Kia would be wise to make this option easier to find on future models.
Kia Ceed infotainment gallery
Cruising with ease
The infotainment setup is extensive, and very respectable for a car with a relatively modest price tag, but even more impressive are the driving aids that also come with the new Ceed.
Cruise control is easy to set, while parking sensors and a rear reversing camera make manoeuvring in tight spots simpler and safer.
There’s also lane guidance, which not only alerts you if you’re straying out of your lane, but will also gently tug at the wheel to get you back in the centre.
This level of assistance is common in premium vehicles, but less so in more affordable options, so it’s great to see it in play here, and working well.
The 4.2-inch cluster display also provides a wide variety of information, from navigation directs to fuel economy, trip details and speed limits – and it’s all easily accessed via the on-wheel buttons.
The Kia Ceed First Edition is a car that’s perfect for tech fans, providing plenty of controls and functionality to make your journey not only comfortable and enjoyable, but also safer and less taxing.
You don’t get quite the same array of tech on the cheaper Ceed models, but they still offer a decent level of features, and at prices that won’t break the bank.
John McCann is getting behind the wheel to give you an alternative look at the wealth of cars – and the tech inside them – available today. From super-fast sports cars to tech-packed hatchbacks, he’ll take you through a range of makes, models, power and price tags in his regular TR Drives column.
Apple is reportedly planning to start assembling its premium iPhone X-series in India. It is said that Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn will be manufacturing the latest iPhones in India starting 2019.
To recall, Apple assembles some of the older iPhone models like the iPhone SE and iPhone 6S in the country at its first unit in Bengaluru.
According to Reuters, sources familiar with the development revealed that Apple will soon start assembling iPhone X-series in the country with the help of Foxconn. The report further suggests that Foxconn may invest around $356 million to expand its plant in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. At the same plant, Foxconn manufactures smartphones for Chinese OEM Xiaomi.
The plant, named as Project Fruit has been under works for over a year, as per a person closely involved in the project. Moreover, the sources in the state suggest that the announcement might take place on January 24, during the second Global Investor Meet slated to be held in January.
Foxconn and Apple have neither confirmed nor denied the report as of now. If the reports are true, we might see a reduced cost of iPhone X variants in India and it may also help Apple to strengthen their position in the world’s fastest-growing smartphone market.
A Linux gaming distro, as the name suggests, is tailored for avid gamers. As such it usually comes bundled with games to play, as well as drivers for graphics cards, games controllers and so forth.
There aren’t many Linux distros specifically made for gaming. This isn’t because Linux users dislike games, but rather it’s due to the fact that most modern Linux distros support virtually every type of recent graphics card anyway. As such, any regular Linux distro can easily be turned into a ‘game station’.
Despite this, some distros continue to churn out special gaming editions which provide hundreds of games right off the bat, and the means to install even more with additional software such as PlayOnLinux, Wine and Steam.
In this guide you will discover five of the very best Linux gaming distros.
Game Drift Linux was first released in 2011. It created the first Linux ‘app store’, and more than 1,200 Windows games were made available via a deal with Codeweavers. This allowed the distro to include the Codeweaver CrossOver technology in its store.
The Games Store features both open source and commercial titles. Users can download and install popular games such as Savage 2, Second Life, and Amnesia, as well as older games like AssaultCube and Frets on Fire.
Game Drift Linux runs on most PCs. However, certain games may have additional system requirements. The distro recommends a minimum of a 1-2GHz processor, 1-2GB of system memory, 4GB of disk space and an AMD, Nvidia or Intel graphics solution suitable for gaming.
The 64-bit ISO download is 691MB and the 32-bit download is 612MB.
Bear in mind that there isn’t as much demand for a dedicated distro like Game Drift Linux due to the availability of PlayOnLinux and Stream, so the distro is no longer being maintained.
Lakka is a lightweight version of Linux which can turn your computer into a retro games console. It’s built on top of media centre software LibreELEC, and the most recent stable version 2.1 makes use of RetroArch 1.6.9 to emulate a huge number of consoles.
Lakka is available as a bootable USB image for PCs. There are also versions for ARM-based machines such as the Raspberry Pi.
This distro supports most keyboards as well as wireless PS3 and PS4 controllers, along with Xbox 360 controllers if you have the proprietary dongle. RetroArch boasts a very handy autoconfig feature which should mean that most controllers will work out of the box without you having to manually map keys. The Lakka documentation also has some excellent walkthroughs for more unusual setups.
For copyright reasons, the OS ships without any games preinstalled. You’ll need to obtain legal copies of either ISO images of game CDs you own or precompiled ROM files of arcade games. Check out the Internet Archive which contains some public domain ROMS.
Sparky Linux is a Debian-based distro. The latest SparkyLinux 5.5 GameOver edition is built on the testing version of Debian (Buster). It includes new features such as the awesome Lutris gaming platform and a custom tool for installing a web browser so you can play online games. The distro weighs in at an impressive 3.57GB.
Besides Lutris, GameOver Edition also includes a number of tools such as APTus Gamer which can download a variety of game emulators so you can relive old console favourites, although you may need to download these elsewhere. The OS also contains a number of free and open source games like Wesnoth and Robots.
The gaming applications Wine, Play on Linux and Steam are also pre-installed. These are particularly useful for running old DOS and Windows games on Linux, such as Sim City 2000.
Ubuntu GamePack comes from Ukrainian developers UALinux. In addition to proprietary codecs and drivers, the distro provides two different systems for you to enjoy gaming on Linux – Steam and the Lutris Gaming Platform. With these you can access and install hundreds of games on your Ubuntu machine.
UALinux claims that its distro provides access to thousands of games and applications for Windows and DOS. The emulators DOSBox and DosEmu are preinstalled, as is the more fully-fledged Windows emulator Crossover.
Like Lakka, Ubuntu GamePack doesn’t come with any games, but as it includes both Wine and Play on Linux, you won’t have any trouble getting your existing games running. The distro also supports Adobe Flash and Java so you can play online games too.
The current version of Ubuntu GamePack (2018.06) is based on Ubuntu 16.04. There’s both a 32-bit and a 64-bit version; each are around 2.5GB in size.
This Debian-based distro (recently updated to the latest Debian 8 release) has been specifically designed to run Valve’s Steam platform, and comes pre-installed on the firm’s Steam Machine games console.
SteamOS is probably the closest Linux distro to an actual games console. Technically, you could install additional software using the Debian Jessie repositories, but this operating system’s main emphasis is on gaming.
The install-only distro is available for 64-bit machines and works best with at least 4GB of RAM. It also needs around 200GB of free space on your hard drive and an Nvidia, AMD (Radeon 8500 and later) or Intel GPU. If you’re handy with computers, consider building your own Steam Machine.
SteamOS can only be used to play Steam games. Users can’t benefit from Play on Linux or Wine when running SteamOS. However, the unique in-home streaming feature lets you connect the machine running SteamOS to another computer on the network, allowing you to stream a game to that PC. Unlike most Linux distros, not all of SteamOS is open source software.
Last time we got an update on the Kickstarter project Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, Producer Koji ‘Iga’ Igarashi revealed WayForward would be assisting with the development by stamping out some really tough bugs.
In the final Kickstarter update for the year, Igarashi said progress on the game has “reached its peak” – with the development team currently checking the performance of it on each platform while dealing with a number of “progression-blocking” bugs. WayForward has also been improving the title:
After being announced for the Switch in September, the critically-acclaimed mobile sensation Downwell will make its way to the Switch next year on 31st January. The publisher Devolver Digital reportedly confirmed the date over on its Discord channel.
The title is a roguelike, platforming, shmup mash-up and includes a TATE mode so you can enjoy the game vertically. You take control of an individual who dives down a never-ending well and must defeat enemies, visit shops and collect treasure along the way. The procedurally generated design ensures no two trips down the well are ever the same.
Next year, Nintendo is releasing downloadable content for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on the Switch. If you register the game before 31st January you’ll receive the Piranha Plant fighter. After this, you can look forward to the five Challenger Packs – with each one containing a new fighter, new stage and new music. If you opt with the Fighters Pass, you’ll also receive an exclusive Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Rex Mii Fighter costume.
Now, a recent discovery on Nintendo’s official support webpage suggests more Mii Fighter costumes could perhaps be on the way. The website mentions how “Mii Fighter Costume” DLC will be available in 2019, including one costume for $0.75. As no further information is provided, it’s hard to say what exactly it means at this point in time. This could be linked to the Rex costume – with plans to make it available outside of the Fighters Pass – or it could suggest Mii Fighter costume DLC is making a return on a much grander scale. Either way, it appears this DLC will be a separate transaction to the Fighters Pass.
This unreleased, Nintendo-developed version was one the NES holy grails of prototypes but not many people got their hands on the content of those two cartridges… until Frank Cifaldi quietly uploaded the complete findings within the ROM files to The Video Game History Foundation during Christmas afternoon.
