IT giant Tech Data has plugged a data leak which exposed 264GB of customer data to the public after being informed of the leak by security researchers.
Security researchers Noam Rotem and Ran Locar of vpnMentor first discovered that a log management server was leaking system-wide information while working on their own web mapping project. They then took a sample of the leaked information and determined that the leak was serious.
vpnMentor provided further details on their discovery in a blog post, saying:
“With a simple search of the exposed database, our researchers were able to find the payment information, PII, and full company and account details for end-users and managed service providers (MSPs) – including for a criminal defense attorney, a utilities service provider, and more. There were enough details in this leak wherein a nefarious party could easily access users’ accounts – and possibly gain access to the associated permissions for said accounts.”
Leaked data
Due to the large size of the database, the researchers only took a small sample but they were still able to discover that private API keys, bank and payment information, usernames and unencrypted passwords as well as process information relating to Tech Data clients’ internal systems and SAP builds were exposed.
Additionally, information on the company’s employees was also available including their full names, job titles, email addresses, physical addresses and telephone numbers. Reseller contact and invoice data, payment and credit card information and internal security logs were also exposed on the database.
vpnMentor discovered the exposed database at the beginning of June and the company informed Tech Data on the same day. TechData responded to the researchers’ requests a few days later at which time the leak was plugged.
Fortunately for its customers, TechData has reported that there has been no evidence yet that the data stored in the affected server has been misused by cybercriminals.
For a select group of people it’s an EE phone deal or nothing when it comes to switching devices. Considering EE’s position as the UK’s fastest 4G network, this is an idea we completely understand. But the one downside of this loyalty is that EE can often be one of the pricier networks for mobile phone deals.
Luckily we’ve tracked down two iPhone XR deals that change that – you can see them in all their glory below. There are three reasons to love these two offers – they’re free upfront, they have tonnes of data and most importantly, they’re packed with the benefits of being on EE.
Much like contracts on EE, iPhone deals tend to fall on the more costly end of the mobile phone deals spectrum, making these two affordable offers especially tempting.
See what all the fuss is about – read TechRadar’s iPhone XR review
These EE iPhone XR deals in full
EE mobile deals – why get one?
Beyond those speedy 4G connections, there are a lot of benefits that make EE the network to go for.
EE offers a data gifting scheme, that means you can send any leftover data you have to someone else that needs it. A feature that will make you very popular with friends and family.
You also get access to Wi-Fi calling. That means if you’re in a bit of a signal dead-zone but you’ve got Wi-Fi, you’re all good to send as many texts and calls as you want.
Another major benefit of EE is its entertainment scheme. With this you can take out six month subscriptions with Amazon Prime Video, MTV Stars and Apple Music. On top of that you can get free access to BT Sport for three months – that’s a total of 21 free months of subscriptions with EE.
Senior VP of Marketing, HR and Investor Relations Ruth Cotter spoke during the conference, saying that she’s “not going to steal Lisa’s thunder on the live cast on Monday”, referring to the E3 2019 keynote where more Navi information will be shared by AMD CEO Lisa Su.
At E3, AMD is going to go into more detail about AMD Navi, and the RDNA architecture powering it, rather than diving into ray tracing as Nvidia has with its Turing architecture. This all but confirms that ray tracing won’t be an active feature of AMD Navi, but we’ve heard speculation that it will be included in the Navi 20 GPUs rumored for 2020.
So what?
At the time of writing, despite all of the hype around Nvidia’s RTX technology, only three titles actually use it: Metro Exodus, Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Battlefield V, with Quake II RTX serving as sort of a tech demo. Nvidia clearly has the upper hand when it comes to ray tracing tech, but is it really necessary for AMD to jump on the train right now?
Well, RTX adoption is slowing down, with Nvidia’s non-RTX GTX 1660 Ti making the fastest gains in its Turing portfolio. With Navi, it looks like AMD is trying to compete with the likes of the RTX 2070 when it comes to compute power, but without the ray tracing.
And, now that we’ve seen rumors that AMD is getting ready to introduce five AMD Navi graphics cards, we could see AMD put out an entire lineup of graphics cards, appealing to folks that see ray tracing as a gimmick.
We don’t know exactly what AMD Navi is going to be capable of, or what it will cost. But, if AMD is able to offer better or equivalent performance in games at a lower cost, we could start seeing Team Red take the GPU market by storm like it did with desktop CPUs earlier this year.
Then again, Nvidia has teased something “Super” for its GeForce graphics cards, rumored for an E3 2019 reveal, so we’ll just have to wait until the giant gaming event next week to see what will happen in the graphics card scene.
E3 is still a week away, and yet we’ve already seen some of its biggest games: In the last two weeks, we’ve heard rumors about a half-dozen games with one game – Watch Dogs 3: Legion – getting leaked to the public.
While leaks spoil a bit of the fun, we’ll still see plenty of new titles this time next week. There’s rumors of a new Fable game, the first details of Square Enix’s ambitious Avengers title and, if we’re lucky, we’ll get our first look at Microsoft’s next-gen console. By the time the Nintendo Direct hits on Tuesday morning, we could be up to our eyes in new games coming later this year.
That’s because, no matter how it changes over the years, E3 is still the biggest event in gaming. Whether it’s held at a hotel, a convention center or somewhere out in Hollywood, it is the definitive industry event of the year, where gamers from around the world get together to see what comes next for consoles, handhelds, PCs, mobile phones and everything in between.
Update: Sony PlayStation may not be a part of next week’s E3 2019, but that won’t stop the company from making waves. In a recent interview, PlayStation’s new CEO Jim Ryan gave even more details about the company’s next home console, the PS5. In an interview with CNET, Ryan spoke about a number of new features Sony has planned for the PS5, which include the use of a custom-designed solid-state drive (SSD) as the default storage option, native 4K 120Hz gameplay with the possibility of playing games in 8K, plus backwards-compatibility with games released on the PS4.
While we can’t spoil all the surprises ahead of time, we can hopefully provide some insight – and some predictions – as to the games we’ll get to see at this year’s show.
Officially, the 2019 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 2019) will begin on Tuesday, June 11 and end on Thursday, June 13. Those dates, however, are just for the portion of the show held inside the Los Angeles Convention Center.
In reality, the first big event of E3 2019 is the EA Play kick-off event that’s slated for Friday, June 7 at the Hollywood Palladium. While EA has told us not to expect a keynote speech, that Friday afternoon is the first time we’ll be able to play the publisher’s upcoming titles, as well as get some info about games coming out in the next year or two.
Between EA Play on Friday and the opening of the show floor on Tuesday morning you can also expect a press event for Microsoft sometime on Sunday afternoon with a chance of Bethesda, Square Enix, Ubisoft and Nintendo announcing a keynote later.
We expect to be in Los Angeles from Friday until Thursday, and gamers with an entry pass should try to do the same.
FIFA 19 (Image Credit: EA)
Keynote time: The EA Play livestream event kicks off at 9:15am PST, and ticketed fans are welcome to join EA Play at the Hollywood Palladium on Saturday, June 8.
EA has an early lead going into 2019 with its plans already detailed on the publisher’s website. To that end, EA says it will be hosting its annual EA Play event on June 8 with free tickets to be distributed shortly.
What can we expect at EA’s livestream event? Well, instead of a traditional keynote, EA is doing individual breakout sessions for each of its main franchises. Here’s a complete breakdown of the event sent to TechRadar:
9:15am: Countdown to EA PLAY
9:30am: Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (Hosted by Greg Miller and Andrea Rene)
10:00am: Apex Legends (Hosted by Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez)
10:30am: Battlefield™V (Hosted by Julia Hardy and Adam Freeman (EA))
11:00am: FIFA 20 (Hosted by Alex “Goldenboy” Mendez)
11:30am: Madden NFL 20 (Hosted by Adam Rank)
12:00pm: The Sims4 (Hosted by Andrea Rene)
So what’s going to be at the event downtown? According to a press release from EA on which games it’s bringing to E3 2019, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order from Respawn Entertainment will definitely be there. It’s more than likely we’ll hear about some addition to the Titanfall universe – either a second spin-off title or Titanfall 3 – as well as its plans to expand its successful battle royale shooter, Apex Legends.
Elsewhere inside EA’s event we’ll see announcements for the next version of the Madden, FIFA, NHL and NBA Live franchises and, very likely, another expansion for The Sims 4 that might continue StrangeVille’s story-first approach.
Less likely but still possible are new games from EA’s DICE studio, the developers behind the Battlefield and Star Wars Battlefront games who have yet to announce a project for 2019, as well as projects from PopCap (famous for Plants vs Zombies) and Ghost Games, the new stakeholders of the Need for Speed franchise.
Last but not least, BioWare debuted a teaser trailer for Dragon Age 4 at last year’s The Game Awards, and while it’s a longshot it’d be nice to hear something – anything – about its development at EA’s event.
Final Fantasy VII (Image Credit: Square Enix)
Keynote time: Monday, June 10, at 6 PM PT / 9 PM ET
After the long-awaited release of Kingdom Hearts 3 in early January, Square Enix has been fairly quiet. But that looks like that’s going to change at E3.
Thanks to a tweet posted to the Marvel’s Avengers twitter in late May, we know we’re going to see Crystal Dynamic’s game at the show, as well as Final Fantasy VII Remake which recently had a key spot during Sony’s last State of Play event.
We also know that Square Enix is currently working on Dragon Quest Builders 2 on Nintendo Switch, as it was announced during a Nintendo Direct earlier this year, as well as Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition.
Outside of those games, it’s likely we’ll hear more about the next episode in Life is Strange 2, as well as DLC for Kingdom Hearts III. Square Enix might also use the time during its press event to talk about Just Cause 4 and Oninaki.
‘But is it too early to hear something about Final Fantasy 16?’ Yes. Yes, it is.
Halo Infinite (Image Credit: 343 Industries)
Keynote time: Sunday, June 9 at 1 pm PST, 4 pm EST and 9 pm BST
As of right now, Microsoft is the only one of the big three console makers that’s definitely going to E3 2019. That gives Microsoft a bit of an advantage if it decides to debut its next-gen Xbox codenamed Project Scarlett, and it might be the reason why Sony is avoiding the show altogether.
While we’re still not sure exactly what Microsoft is going to show us in terms of hardware, we’re likely to hear more about XCloud, Microsoft’s new game streaming service and new updates to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service which has grown immensely in the last 12 months.
Less likely, Microsoft could have demos of the HoloLens 2 in a similar setup to a few years ago when it paired the hardware with a demo of Halo 5: Guardians, but that’s on the far fringes of what’s likely to happen.
In terms of games, we’re predicting that Microsoft’s first-party studios should be there in full force with new footage of Gears 5, Halo Infinite and, as always, a new Forza title.
Last year Microsoft announced the acquisition of several new studios including The Initiative, Undead Labs, Playground Games, Ninja Theory and Compulsion Games, so hopefully we’ll start to see some of the projects these companies have been working on.
Elder Scrolls VI (Image Credit: Bethesda)
Keynote time: Sunday, June 9, 2019 at 5:30pm PT
Regardless of Sony’s plans, we now know that Bethesda will be holding a showcase event at E3 2019, close in time to last year’s event. To that end, you can expect to hear more about the developer/publisher’s titles starting on Sunday, June 9, 2019 at 5:30pm PT.
So what can we expect to see? It’s almost a given that we’ll hear updates for legacy titles like The Elder Scrolls Online and Fallout 76, two of the developer’s largest MMOs to date, as well as the previously Doom Eternal from partner iD Software.
In between bombshell announcements, we’re also likely to hear more about Bethesda’s free-to-play and mobile offerings like Elder Scrolls Blades, which is due out later this year, and The Elder Scrolls: Legends, a free-to-play card game that’s in the same vein as Hearthstone.
Unfortunately, those of us expecting to see new trailers for the next hotly anticipated entry in the Elder Scrolls franchise, Elder Scrolls VI, and Bethesda’s ambitious sci-fi project, Starfield, are going to be disappointed. Bethesda Game Studios executive producer Todd Howard told a roomful of attendees at PAX East that it’s still too early to talk about the games and asked everyone to “please be patient”.
Interested in attending in-person? Bethesda is giving out tickets via an online contest that will give out two tickets to you and a friend!
Keynote time: N/A
Sorry guys, unfortunately Sony is skipping the E3 festivities this year and has said that it will instead find another venue to showcase the games and hardware coming down the pipeline. That said, we won’t rule out another State of Play event, like the one Sony held back in March.
Keynote time: Monday, June 10, 2019 at 1pm PT (4pm ET, 9pm UK)
Ubisoft will definitely be back at this year’s E3. The developer-slash-publishing house has a lot on its plate for early 2019 including Tom Clancy’s The Division 2 as well as Trials Rising, both of which came out in the February-March window, but hasn’t said what’s coming later this year.
The game we know the most about from Ubisoft that would likely be at this year’s show is Skull and Bones, the ship-focused combat game that looks to carry the torch from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Ubisoft has yet to give us a solid release date for the game, but it’s likely that’s the sort of thing it’s saving for an E3 2019 keynote.
It’s also likely we’ll hear more about Beyond Good and Evil 2 and potentially get our first look at the gameplay at Ubisoft’s keynote… but that could just be wishful thinking on our part.
Beyond those two games, we’ve heard rumors that Ubisoft will announce three to four new AAA titles in between March 2019 and March 2020, but we can only speculate what’s to come. The only franchise that’s definitely not going to be there is a mainline Assassin’s Creed game as Ubisoft has said that it will be skipping a release in 2019.
PC Gaming Show (Image Credit: PC Gamer)
Keynote time: Monday, June 10, 2019 at 10am PT (1pm ET, 5pm UK)
If you’re a PC gamer, you won’t want to miss the PC Gaming Show, which will make its fifth consecutive return to the convention.
We’re not sure what to expect from the two-hour event, but if it’s anything like previous years it will feature a number of indie games that wouldn’t usually get time up on the big stage alongside hardware announcements.
For folks at home, the event will be available to stream on twitch.tv/pcgamer, or on Facebook or YouTube or, if you’re in town, it’s open to the public with an RSVP at The Mayan Theater.
At last year’s event we got the chance to see a number of new indie games like Neo Cab and Maneater, as well as some heavy-hitting titles like Stormlands from Insomniac and Warframe: The Sacrifice from Digital Extremes. We’re expecting some similar big announcements from this year’s show.
The gaming world might be gearing up for a possible reveal of the next-gen PS5 and Xbox Two at E3 2019, but there’s a lot in store for desktop gamers, too.
Animal Crossing (Image Credit: Nintendo)
Keynote time: Tuesday, June 11, 2019 at 9am PT (12pm ET)
While Sony won’t be at this year’s event, Nintendo most certainly will – first digitally in a Nintendo Direct that usually airs Tuesday morning and then physically when its massive booth takes over West Hall.
We’re hoping we’ll also hear more about Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch, which was announced in 2018 and given a 2019 launch window, but there’s no guarantee from Nintendo that we’ll catch Tom Nook at this year’s show.
Beyond those core games, we know Nintendo is developing Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Fire Emblem Three Houses, the latter of which should be available in August unless it’s delayed. Nintendo could also use the time to show off its next Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC character pack.
Either way, we’ll find out more on June 11 at 9am PT.
Last but certainly not least, we couldn’t leave out Devolver Digital, who has confirmed via Twitter that it would be posting another off-the-wall pre-recorded keynote which may or may not involve fictional CEO Nina Struthers.
Expect it to be just as weird as year’s.
Keynote time: Technically not a keynote, but the first Stadia Connect aired on June 6 at 9 am PDT
While it’s not technically part of E3 as it doesn’t have a partnership with the ESA, Google has shown that it wants to be part of the big show by leading the week’s events with a Google Stadia announcement.
In a 25-minute presentation held on June 6, Google Stadia boss (and former Microsoft VP) Phil Harrison gave us our first tangible details about the new streaming service coming later this year. The TL;DW? Stadia will cost $9.99 per month and will allow you unlimited game-streaming in 4K HDR at 60fps. You can play on your TV with a Chromecast Ultra, or your laptop or desktop in a Chrome browser. You’ll also be able to game on your smartphone… as long as you own a Google Pixel device.
Want to know more about Google’s ambitious venture into videogames? We’ve got all the details in our complete Google Stadia guide.
If you’re in the market for a large-screen curved TV, then you’ve come to the right place. Walmart has the Samsung curved 65-inch 4K smart TV on sale for $699.99. That’s a whopping $700 discount and the lowest price we’ve found for the UHD TV.
The Samsung NU7300 TV features a 65-inch curved panel that results in an immersive viewing experience with an enhanced sense of depth. You’ll also get a premium life-like picture with bright, bold colors thanks to the PurColor technology and 4K UHD resolution. The ultra-thin TV offers a clean cable solution, so your cords are hidden for a clean, crisp look from every angle.
The smart TV features a universal guide so you can stream content and browse live shows from the home screen of your TV. The Samsung television also works with the SmartThings app so you can control your TV and other connected devices with your smartphone from one single screen.
You can also learn more about our top-rated TVs with our guide on the best TVs of 2019: the big-screen TVs worth buying this year. Learn more about Prime Day with our guide on Amazon Prime Day: everything you need to know for the July deals event.
Mark the date – June 6 2019. When the history books recount the rise of Women’s soccer, the start of the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup may be seen as a sea change moment. First, there’s the spectacle of an opening ceremony to enjoy, and then we move on to the tournament’s first match – and you’re in the right place to discover how to live stream France vs South Korea and the rest of the festivities, no matter where in the world you are.
France will be looking to take inspiration from their male counterparts’ World Cup victory in Russia last year, and they enter their own tournament with high expectations. They’re already ranked number 4 in the world (following a brilliant 3-1 win over the US in January), and that home-crowd advantage can surely only help. They are overwhelming favorites to open their account successfully in Paris, and a lot of eyes will be on exciting midfielder Kadidiatou Diani to turn on the style early doors.
While they’ll be cheered enthusiastically from faraway supporters back at home, nobody is giving Korea much of a chance of making an impact at the 2019 World Cup. If you follow the Women’s Super League in the UK, then you may recognise Chelsea midfielder Ji So-Yun. She’ll need to put in an awesome performance to get the best from her teammates in Paris today.
Whether you’re watching Women’s soccer for the first time or you’ve been a fan for years, you’ve come to the right place to find out how to live stream France vs South Korea at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup – no matter where on Earth you are.
Watch a FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019 live stream from outside your country
For devotees to Women’s soccer, you won’t want to miss a minute of the 2019 FIFA World Cup. For broadcaster details in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand keep on scrolling down this page.
But if you try to access those streams (or any other domestic coverage) from overseas, you’ll soon be tackled by a geo-restriction. Meaning you won’t be able to watch. At least not without either compromising your security with a dodgy, illegal stream or by installing a VPN and relocating your laptop or mobile IP address back to one in your home country.
How to watch France vs South Korea: US live stream
The latest trailer for the Final Fantasy 7 Remake landed in May. What we saw was a veritable feast for the eyes; the result of four years of bite-sized nuggets of information, ominous news of third-party companies being dropped and rumors that production had been halted (or even restarted entirely). All of this not long after the game was first teased at E3 in 2015.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that the remake was going to nestle nicely into the ninth circle of development hell and become fast friends with Final Fantasy Versus XIII. In other words, things seemed to be slowly unravelling into another one of Professor Hojo’s experiments gone awry.
A collective sigh of relief could be felt following the release of the most recent trailer, during PlayStation’s State of Play. It served as a sweet anodyne to the silence and, with E3 2019 just around the corner, we were ecstatic to finally see some signs of life.
Combat redesign
Cloud is back in black. (Image credit: Square Enix)
We knew from the start that Final Fantasy 7’s combat had been changed from turn-based to live action. In December 2015, a second trailer showed us how this live action combat would look. Jutting out from the left of the screen was a typical ‘Attack’, ‘Summon’ and ‘Item’ commands menu befitting such an approach, much like in Kingdom Hearts.
We also seen a basic display of character names, the unmistakable Limit Break bars, HP and MP pool numbers and, interestingly, what could’ve been a rough draft for an Active Time Battle gauge (ATB).
These early designs have since been overhauled. The stylish new look aside, you’ll notice menu actions are now linked to button inputs. Seemingly moved are the options of ‘Magic’, ‘Summon’ and ‘Defend’.
Cloud and Barret fight Shinra troops in a plaza. The original menu design shows basic ‘Attack’, ‘Summon’, ‘Item’ and ‘Defend’ options. (Image credit: Square Enix)
Before the redesign, Square Enix teased an early draft in 2017 of an ATB gauge linked to the PlayStation’s Triangle button, while also having three separate bars for a Limit Break. Not only that, but the minimalist Battle HUD on the left was still in the same format as from 2015, but we have seen a ‘Materia’ option replacing ‘Summon’.
The latest system shows names of an entirely overhauled combat system. Brand new abilities are married to a simple button layout. One such ability is ‘Punisher’, activated by pushing Triangle. Square is attack and Circle opens a Command Menu which sports two small bars underneath; perhaps letting you expend the mysterious blue gauges under your HP to use even more abilities.
Overall, the combat looks remarkable different to what we were first shown. We’re especially thankful that Square Enix has toned down the exaggerated special effects and heavy blue streaks seen in earlier stages of development, opting instead for a more visually pleasing style; making attack impact animations wonderfully reminiscent of the original game.
No holds Barred
The new in-battle menu shows the shortcut function, allowing easy use of items and abilities in combat. On the right we see the limit break bar and other gauges. (Image credit: Square Enix)
Earlier depictions of Final Fantasy 7 Remake showed a system which appears to fill up a bar the more hits connect to foes, which now seems to be scrapped; perhaps it was an even earlier ATB idea which was tied to unleashing more powerful attacks. In its place, two blue bars can be seen under each character’s name plate.
Whether this is now linked to being able to use party member’s special attacks, like Cloud’s ‘Punisher’ or Barret’s ‘Backblast’ shown in May, is still unknown. What we can see is that the Square button is your basic attack and you must press it repeatedly to combo, unlike the boring action of holding it down from Final Fantasy XV.
A further change is the inclusion of a ‘Shortcuts’ menu. Activated by L1, you now have easy access to more commands. It draws heavy influences from the exact same function seen in Kingdom Hearts and they are truly a welcome sight to the overall systems. Shortcuts we see are for ‘Braver’ and potions, so items and abilities alike can be placed there.
Also located in the shortcuts is the option to use L2 and R2 to switch between party members. While we don’t see it used, this confirms not only speculation from the 2015 PSX trailer, but also reports from 2017 that the game would allow you to change which character you control. This means you won’t always have to play as Cloud, but whether this is exclusive to battles and not the overworld, remains unknown.
Overall design
The first look at the new design of Aeris Gainsborogh as she offers a flower to Cloud, recreating the iconic scene from the start. (Image credit: Square Enix)
The E3 2015 reveal didn’t show any actual gameplay, but the cutscene was enough to drive fans into a limit-breaking frenzy with a mere glimpse of Cloud and Midgar. It wasn’t until December that year that we got to see Final Fantasy 7 Remake in all its newly rendered HD majesty.
At first blush, Midgar retains its bleak aesthetic from early development. But, it also looks more vibrant than ever before as small environmental details ebulliently litter the already nostalgic areas. Be they machines, like the guard scorpion, or generic Shinra soldiers; there’s a wondrous amount of variation giving the impression of grand faithfulness to the source material.
Once again we’re greeted by our beloved eco-terrorists. Biggs looks obscenely cool. Wedge is charmingly rotund, while everyone’s favorite gun-armed badass Barret is sporting some shades. The AVALANCHE squad appear wonderfully re-imagined from their nightmarishly appealing pixel forms of the original game. Barret’s chest hair, anyone?
Cloud and Barret (Image credit: Square Enix)
Dubiously missing from everything we’ve seen so far is Tifa Lockheart. Appearing for the first time (in name only) in the 2019 teaser, she’s expected to be revealed at E3 2019. There have been worries that her original, over exaggerated design will be changed for the remake, but we can only wait with bated breath to see how she’s going to appear.
The lack of Tifa doesn’t matter to us. Because in the most recent trailer, released in May, we’re finally graced with the true best girl: Aeris Gainsborough. Not to overstate this, but she looks angelic. Subtle changes to her clothing hearken back to her appearance from the film Advent Children, and her whole design and outfit look absolutely magnificent. We’re certainly ready for Final Fantasy 7 to break our hearts all over again.
Looking to E3 2019
The brand new battle menu features button-linked abilities, streamlining the interface for a more action-based combat system. (Image credit: Square Enix)
Rumors swirl and dance about the Final Fantasy 7 remake like water in a weir. People are convinced the game will be playable at the event and, if that’s the case, we feel there’s a strong case for a release date being around Christmas time this year. The first episode, at the very least.
It will be fascinating to see if there have been any changes to the user interface and battle menus just one month since their last reveal, but we are expecting a lot of details to come, especially regarding the episodic release. Alongside this, we can most likely expect to get our first proper look at Sephiroth, who has only been briefly glimpsed from behind as of yet.
Nomura-san and Kitase-san, if you’re reading this then please listen to our story; this may be our last chance. We are fully anticipating the combat to be fun but not much else, we even expect some story elements to be changed for any number of reasons. But for the love of the Lifestream, if you make the entire world of Gaia; Midgar and Wutai especially, fully and completely explorable, then that will be a job well done from us. We await your reply at E3…
The best noise-cancelling headphones buying guide: Hello headphones fans, and welcome to TechRadar’s round-up of the best noise-cancelling headphones to buy in 2019.
It’s a universal truth that, on the whole, commutes are terrible. Luckily for us, noise-cancelling headphones exist to bring a little more balance into the world and make your morning and evening journey in and out of work a little more bearable.
There’s also a lot of choice for your anti-sound arsenal, including high-end options from some of the best audio manufacturers in the business, including Bose, Sony and Sennheiser. (Sorry AirPods fans, those as well as most true wireless earbuds just don’t cut it.)
Take a look at our list of the best noise-cancelling headphones on the market and pick up a pair to say goodbye to commuting, or traveling more generally, to a soundtrack of crying babies, honking traffic and noisy conversations. That’s right, audio nirvana is just one step away.
These true wonders of the modern era totally tune out any unwanted sounds, while simultaneously making your music sound even better than any old pair of in-ear earbuds.
We believe that noise-cancelling headphones are just as vital as your laptop, TV or mobile phone when it comes to tech that’ll change how you live, work and play. That means that choosing the right pair for you is important.
Luckily, to help you pick out a pair of headphones that deliver all of the above in spades, we’ve put together a list of our favorite noise-cancelling headphones, listed below and ranked by their price-to-performance ratio.
Can’t decide which headphones to buy? Check out our guide video below:
What are the best noise-cancelling headphones?
Image credit: Sony
The Sony WH-1000XM3 are the best noise-cancelling headphones in the world two years running. Sure, they might be a small refinement of last year’s excellent WH-1000XM2, but subtle tweaks like using USB-C instead of microUSB and adding padding along the bridge help make Sony’s award-winning cans even better.
So why does everyone love these Sony headphones so much? Well, it’s exceptionally good at cancelling outside noise. Put a pair on while vacuuming and you’ll barely hear the motor running. For music lovers, the Sony WH-1000XM3 features aptX HD and Sony LDAC, two of the best ways to listen to Hi-Res music from your phone without a wire. Finally, all of Sony’s flagship headphones offer both Google Assistant and, starting in 2019, Alexa support, making them not only the best noise-cancelling cans on the market but some of the smartest, too.
If you can find a pair, the Sony WH-1000XM2 are still some of the best noise-cancelling headphones around: They sound great, deftly wield noise cancellation technology and cost just as much as a pair of Bose QC35s. They might have a slightly shorter battery life than Bose’s flagship over-ear headphones, but Sony’s WH-1000XM2 outclass the QC35 in terms of performance and feature-set.
You’d want to pick these Sony headphones over the Bose because not only do they provide the same level of awesome noise-cancellation, but they have three neat tricks that Bose just doesn’t have on its headphones: One is an ambient noise mode that only lets in mid-to-high frequency tones (announcements over a loudspeaker, for instance) and another being Quick Attention mode that allows you to let in all outside noise without taking off the headphones. (The latter is perfect when giving a drink order on a plane or speaking to a coworker for a brief moment before diving back into your work.) The last trick Sony has up its sleeve is the LDAC codec. Alongside the widely adopted aptX HD standard, LDAC enables Hi-Res Audio playback using the 1000XM2.
Great-sounding, feature-packed and just as affordable as the competition? The Sony WH-1000XM2 are a solid all-around pick for noise-cancelling cans.
Coming in at the number two spot is the Bose QuietComfort 35 II – a nearly identical product to the already-excellent Bose QuietComfort 35 but updated for 2018 with Google Assistant. This means you still get the class-leading noise cancellation Bose is known for, good sound quality and incredible comfort, plus a convenient assistant to answer any inquiries you might have while traveling.
Taken as a whole, the Bose QC35 II NC is an excellent headphone for travelers and commuters. Bose has found a good balance of features that will satisfy most mainstream listeners. While we don’t love them as much as the better-sounding Sony WH-1000XM2, they’re still top of the class for noise cancellation.
The PXC 550’s greatest strength is their sound. Other wireless noise-cancelling headphones might offer a better user interface or better noise-cancellation technology, but ultimately none of the above match up to the sound quality of these Sennheisers.
However, that said, there are a couple of irritations that prevent us from being able to fully and unreservedly recommend them, such as unresponsive touch controls. These annoyances aren’t quite deal-breakers, but there are definitely other noise-cancelling headphones out there that don’t suffer from the same issues.
Philips presents a more elegant noise-cancelling solution with its NC1. These on-ear headphones aren’t wireless like our top pick, but that’s hardly a reason to knock them. Coming in at $299/£195, the NC1 are a compact set that’s high on comfort and battery life.
You get a lot for the money here. In the box comes the headphones, a hard case for storage and the headphones rock a rechargeable battery that provides noise cancellation for close to 30 hours. But best of all, the sound performance is extremely well balanced and warm.
(A quite note for our Australian readers: Philips sadly no longer sells the NC1’s down under, so you’ll need to import a pair if you’re keen.)
A few years ago, the Bose QuietComfort 25 are the best noise-cancelling headphones we’ve ever used. The lows, mids and highs came through clear as day, never stepping over each other. Music of all sorts sounded predictably incredible. With the noise-cancellation turned on, we never felt further immersed and concentrated than when we let the QC25 engulf our ears.
But that was a few years ago and time has moved on since. Bose has released not just one sequel to these headphones, but two: the QC35 and QC35 II with Google Assistant built in, both of which we’d recommend above the QC25.
But, it’s not all bad. If you don’t mind using the older, wired headphones, the QC25s are a finely-tuned set of cans that provide over 35 hours of very good noise-cancelling performance with one AAA battery.
[Update: These headphones also come in a wireless version – check out our review of of the Bose QuietComfort 35.
Image credit: TechRadar
Bowers and Wilkins are a little late to the noise-cancellation game, but their first foray impresses.
The PX Wireless aren’t just a great sounding pair of headphones, they’ve also got a number of other interesting tricks up their sleeve. They’ll turn on and off automatically depending on whether you’re wearing them or not, and they also feature the future-proof USB-C charging standard.
In our opinion their only downside is the sound quality, which we felt lacks the depth of the flagship headphones from Bose and Sony.
That said, if you’ve been a fan of the look of B&W’s headphones in the past then the PX Wireless are certainly worth a listen.
With noise-cancelling tech just as effective as that in headphones from rival Bose, and with a more musical sonic ability, the Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC are a definite contender for the noise-cancelling crown. More affordable and easy to travel with, these lightweight headphones are a great value all-rounder, whether for flights, commuter trains or busy offices.
Design-wise, the Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNCs seem a more slimmed-down, lighter and more focused effort than the bulky and expensive alternatives from Bose and Sony; and crucially, the HD 4.50 BTNCs are just as good with audio, and almost as good on noise-canceling. Whether you’re after noise canceling for long-haul ravel, for the commute, or just to stay more productive in a noisy office, the Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNCs are worth considering.
For the money, the JBL Live 650BTNC punch above its weight in terms of sound quality, build, and features. They offer your choice of either Google Assistant or Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, and can have their EQ customized by the JBL Headphones app. Battery life is rated at 20 hours with ANC and wireless enabled and if you use the JBL Live 650BTNC with a wire with ANC enabled, you can get upwards 30 hours on a single charge.
If you don’t want to splurge on the Bose QC35 II or Sony WH-1000XM3, you’ll be satisfied with the JBL Live 650BTNC knowing that you’re getting 80% of the performance at 50% of the price tag.
While they’re not quite up to par with the flagship noise-cancelling cans from Sony and Bose, Microsoft’s Surface headphones are surprisingly good, with a stunningly warm sound, and generous bass frequencies.
Problematically, the active noise cancelling works pretty well, although it won’t block out all ambient noise in your environment, especially if you’re somewhere noisy. That being said, if you have the noise cancelling turned on while listening to music, you can pretty much get lost in the experience without being disturbed by your noisy shared office of the rumbling of the train on your commute.
Although we were initially unconvinced by the high price (particularly when you can buy quality cans from heritage audio brands for less), most of the Surface Headphone’s features work so seamlessly that it feels justified.
If you haven’t found something quite to your liking so far, we have one last option for you to look at – the all-new Nura Nuraphone over-ear/in-ear hybrid. Their form factor means you’ve not only got an earbud sitting at the entrance of your ear canal, but also an over-ear cushion sitting over your entire ear. This effectively means you’ve got two physical barriers meaning that the noise from the outside world can’t get to your ears. While more traditional over-ear headphones do a better job offering useful features at a reasonable price, the Nuraphone will appeal to the more experimental audio crowd looking to be on the bleeding-edge of the next big thing.
As Computex 2019 draws to a close, we look back at the very best gaming laptops that were on display at the huge show in Taiwan.
The biggest names in gaming were out in force, and they brought along a range of powerful and innovative designs that really push the boundaries of what we’ve come to expect from gaming laptops.
As Computex 2019 demonstrates, gaming laptops aren’t just getting bigger and more powerful, but also thinner and lighter as well.
So, without further ado, here’s our pick of the best gaming laptops at Computex 2019.
Image credit: Asus
Asus ROG Strix Scar III G731
Asus laptops always have a strong showing at Computex, and at this year’s event, Asus showed off some of its upcoming gaming laptops that we can’t wait to have a play on.
The Asus ROG Strix Scar III G731 was one of the best gaming laptops on show at Computex 2019.
Designed for esports, it comes with an ultra-fast 240Hz screen and is powered by Nvidia RTX GPUs. It looks set to be ideal for people who play games where lightning-fast reflexes are of the upmost importance.
Image credit: TechRadar
Alienware m15 2019
Dell unveiled its mightily impressive Alienware m15 2019 gaming laptop at this year’s Computex show, packed with a 9th-generation, quad-core Intel Core i5 processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 (4GB GDDR5) GPU, along with 8GB of RAM. That’s a pretty decent spec, but it’s also packed into an impressively thin and light chassis.
The screen options of this gaming laptop are impressive as well, with the choice of a 240Hz FHD display paired with Tobii eye-tracking technology built into the webcam array or an OLED Ultra HD screen (3,840 x 2,160) with Tobii eye-tracking tech built in.
Image credit: TechRadar
MSI GT76 Titan
While thin and light gaming laptops are all the rage in 2019, we have to admit we’ve got a soft spot for the MSI GT76 Titan – which is an unapologetic beast of a gaming laptop with a size – and specs – that are worthy of its titanic moniker.
This gaming laptop is absolutely massive, weighing in at 8.8 pounds, and is packed front to back with RGB lighting and an aluminum build – and it also boasts a desktop-class processor that can be overclocked – something of a rarity in laptops.
It also comes with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics card and can fit up to a whopping 128GB of RAM. There’s nothing subtle about this gaming laptop – and that’s what we love about it.
Image credit: Gigabyte
Gigabyte Aorus 5
Gigabyte also showed off its latest gaming laptops, and it’s doing something interesting by making sure that every component in the new Aorus 5 is made by high-end manufacturers like Intel and Samsung.
This means that the Aorus 5 promises to deliver an exceptionally high-end gaming experience – and we can’t wait to properly test it out soon.
However, what really makes us excited about the potential of the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo as a gaming laptop is the fact that it was two 4K displays. The main display is 16:9 at 3,840 x 2,160 with the wide Screenpad Plus (which sits above the keyboard) coming in at 3,840 x 1,100 for a 32:9 aspect ratio.
That second screen can be used to display additional information for the game you’re playing, such as maps, and it can also be used for multitasking. So, if you like streaming your game on Twitch, you could use the second screen to interact with your audience.
Very cool and very exciting.
Check out all of TechRadar’s Computex 2019 coverage. We’re live in Taipei to bring you all the breaking computing news and launches, plus hands-on reviews of everything from fresh laptops and desktops to powerful new components and wild overclocking demonstrations.
While Usenet groups are no longer so commonly used as in the early days of the internet, they still retain a significant following of users, especially since the advent of NZB readers to make for easy access to specific discussions or topics.
However, while free Usenet groups still exist, these have been very much eclipsed by paid-for Usenet groups which aside from having a more reliable service can also provide a safer service with better anti-virus and spam filtering.
Therefore it’s likely that the modern Usenet user will be using a subscription service to access their favorite groups and content.
This doesn’t mean to say you can’t access Usenet groups for free – you can always get free Usenet trials and just use them one after the other to download Terabytes worth of data for more than four months.
We’ve picked out the safer options in this article: well-known brands that have been reviewed either by ourselves or our peers.
Want your company or services to be added to this buyer’s guide? Please email your request to desire.athow@futurenet.com with the URL of the buying guide in the subject line.
