2018 ~ JITU222 - Technology | SEO | Blogging | Hosting

9:34 PM

New York police will use a drone to monitor tonight's New Year's Eve celebrations

There'll be something new soaring among the fireworks over Times Square during tonight's New Year's Eve celebrations: a police drone.

According to The Associated Press, cops plan to use a quadcopter to keep an eye on partygoers and help them respond to any trouble before it gets out of hand. It's the first time a drone has been used this way during the festivities.

Three, two, one...

Tens of thousands of people are expected to descend on Times Square to ring in 2019. Law enforcement officers aren't expecting any particular trouble, but the drone will give them an extra view of the action should anything untoward take place.

“That’s going to give us a visual aid and the flexibility of being able to move a camera to a certain spot with great rapidity through a tremendous crowd,” said John Miller, deputy commissioner of intelligence and counterterrorism.

A drone roaming freely in the dark could be dangerous, so the New York Police Department's craft will be tethered safely to a building and will never fly directly over the crowd.

“Once it’s up in the air, it will probably be hard to see,” said the NYPD's chief of department Terence Monahan.

The best drones you can buy today

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9:34 PM

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9:33 PM

The best Samsung Galaxy Note 8 deals in the January sales 2019

So the Galaxy Note 9 has been out for a little while, making the Note 8 old news. Right? Well that's what you would think. But the 2017 model is so incredible that it still performs just like a new model and not to mention it is so much cheaper than its successor. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 deals are definitely still well worth a look. And it's still getting cheaper!

When the Note 8 first came out, EE had deals locked down tight but now there is a pretty good spread across providers, Although EE still does have some of the very best deals on this device - what else would you expect from the UK's fastest network. Samsung Note 8 deals are now under the £900-mark in total over the two-year contract and can go as low as £750, and our clear Editor's Pick now offers 30GB of data a month instead of 20GB.

The Note 8 is not by any means a budget device, however. It's a absolutely massive smartphone, not just in size but also in raw power. It's got the screen size and specification smarts to be a competitor to the highly praised iPhone X or iPhone's new massive iPhone XS Max and neither of those come cheap. But there are now some excellent Note 8 deals floating around. Check out our comparison chart and handpicked favourite Note 8 deals below.

Now we know some of you may have fiery memories of the Galaxy Note 7 in your head when looking at this device but leave those worries behind. Both the Note 8 and 9 have massively improved their batteries and you won't be facing overheating problems anymore. The Note 8 truly is miles ahead of the 7 in every way.

Check out today's best Samsung Galaxy Note 9 deals to order
These are the best mobile phone deals in the UK right now

Our top 5 best Galaxy Note 8 deals in the UK today:

Should I get the Galaxy Note 8 SIM free?

Are you determined to get the very best price? Always looking to see how you can trim a few pounds off your new favourite gadget? As you probably know, you can now pick up cheap SIM only deals for as little as £4 a month, which could make it worth buying a SIM and handset separately or if you're willing to pay a bit more, how about Three's unlimited SIM deal for £20

The Galaxy Note 8's RRP has dropped massively recently to £649. That is much cheaper than it used to be but you will still be putting up a big chunk of money upfront. Even if you get the cheapest SIM card (usually around £4 a month for 500MB data), that would still cost near to £800 over the two years. You're probably better cranking up the upfront cost in our price comparison chart above, imposing a low maximum for monthlies and finding a cheaper deal in the long run.

To get the best price on your new SIM free Galaxy, you can head to our cheapest unlocked Note 8 deals page.

Wondering what all the fuss is about? Well the fervour for the Note 8 is probably doubled due to the fact that the Note 7 was pulled from shelves soon after release. But it doesn't take more than one look at the Note 8 to see that it justifies the hype.

The huge 6.3-inch ‘Infinity Display,’ is gorgeous to look at, the 6GB RAM innards go like a train and there are two best-in-class rear cameras. It's expensive, but we think the Note 8 is worth it.

Read TechRadar's full Samsung Galaxy Note 8 review

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8:48 PM

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8:48 PM

A new Digital Cockpit in the 2019 VW Jetta is a sign of things to come

Photo credit: Josiah Bondy

One of the key tech trends with cars is that the ‘elite’ features usually found in luxury vehicles has trickled down to everyday passenger cars that are more affordable. Lane-keeping tech, adaptive cruise, and even blind spot monitoring were reserved for the upper echelon only, those who could afford a Mercedes-Benz, a BMW, or an Audi.

Ford started the break the mold when it introduced automated parking to the Focus, and even the 2019 Ford Fiesta – at a price of only $14,260 (about £11,000, AU$20,000) – now has lane-keeping tech.

Customization for all

The best recent example of that is the 2019 VW Jetta, a mid-sized sedan that costs $18,545 (about £14,000, AU$26,000) and went through a redesign recently.

A new Digital Cockpit borrows heavily from the Audi brand (which is part of VW). It’s a 10-inch display above the steering wheel, showing your speed, trip info, and other info typically found in this location, but allows you to customize what you can see using the View button on the steering wheel, switching to a digital readout for RPMs and speed, or showing a massive navigation map to help you find your destination.

Photo credit: Josiah Bondy

Audi goes a major step further with a similar display. In the A4, for example, you can see a Google Earth map that shows the terrain around you as you drive, helping you spot a lake off in the distance or track the edges of a mountain range.

Nothing quite like that here, but the Digital Cockpit is a safety feature as much as a digital age perk. You can focus on the road ahead of you instead of glancing over at the center display, which can be distracting.

Photo credit: Josiah Bondy

What’s most interesting to me about the Digital Cockpit is that these customizations are going to become more and more common, and we’re going to see more and more extra displays in cars.

In reviewing the 2019 Subaru Ascent recently, that was my first discovery: that there are four different screens in the car available to the driver, including the digital rear-view.

Total control

In the Jetta, the extra screen is handy because you can customize the settings. I preferred the view that showed me my speed in the lower right corner and my current music selection. (I tend to avoid using navigation in areas where I already know the route.)

The Jetta lets you customize the interior color, picking from 10 hues. You can also set the driver preferences for seat position and even climate control, save them under your own username and reactivate the settings in one click when you first jump in.

Photo credit: Josiah Bondy

In the near future, we might personalize things much further. Once we have multiple screens, we might decide to always show a camera view behind us, or choose one display that always shows your current music selection (along with a picture of the artist).

I could even see using a dedicated screen for showing a real-time camera pointing toward the back to keep an eye on the kids. And, for a vehicle that can pull cargo, a view of the trailer you’re towing.

Photo credit: Josiah Bondy

The driver is king or queen, and in the future, we’ll be able to customize every display to our own preferences – or disable them and just focus on the road ahead.

On The Road is TechRadar's regular look at the futuristic tech in today's hottest cars. John Brandon, a journalist who's been writing about cars for 12 years, puts a new car and its cutting-edge tech through the paces every week. One goal: To find out which new technologies will lead us to fully driverless cars.

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8:33 PM

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8:13 PM

The best iPhone SE deals in the January sales 2019

The iPhone SE may have been officially removed from the Apple Store, but the budget Apple smartphone continues to sell at some seriously rapid speeds. That's largely because the cheapest iPhone on the market recently had yet another price drop - and on this page you'll find the best iPhone SE deals in the UK.

Following Apple's product launch back in September, it feels like the iPhone SE 2 is still no closer to being released. But that hasn't stopped tariffs falling and you can now get iPhone SE deals on contract for a mere £15 per month - that means around £400 over the course of the contract!

The tech world rejoiced when the iPhone SE was released. Finally, a new Apple phone that doesn't require you to remortgage your house - unlike the iPhone XS Max! It looks and feels exactly the same as the iPhone 5S. But instead of sporting two-year-old hardware it's fully up to date, with a super-fast CPU and graphics, and the 12MP iSight camera straight out of the iPhone 6S.

If cheap iPhone SE deals are what you seek, then you've definitely come to the right place. Use TechRadar's comparison chart to easily find the ideal plan, or scroll down further to find our pick of the best SE deals on the market.

Best iPhone SE deals across all UK networks:

Lower down the page you'll be able to read about all of the best iPhone SE deals on a model-by-model and network-by-network basis. But first of all here are the best deals so you can instantly see what the best offers are from EE, O2, Three and Vodafone.

Launched back in March 2016, the 'Special Edition' iPhone SE was a rare example of Apple dropping its entry-level price to allow bargain-hunters a piece of the iPhone pie. It reduced the screen size from the iPhone 6, but kitted it out with the same camera as the iPhone 6S. In short, it's a premium smartphone with a lower price tag – and we like that!

Read TechRadar's full iPhone SE review

Now let's break down the best iPhone SE deals by network...

Best iPhone SE deals on EE

Best iPhone SE deals on O2

Best iPhone SE deals on Vodafone

Best iPhone SE deals on Three

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7:53 PM

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7:33 PM

The best iPhone 7 deals in the January sales 2019

5:28 PM

Do your kids need an early night? Netflix has your back this New Year's Eve

Instead of partying until the early hours, many of us will be spending New Year's Eve curled up in front of the TV this year, and this is especially true if you have young children at home.

If you're spending the evening with the kids, you might be worried about letting them stay up until midnight in case they are overtired the next day – or maybe you just want some time to yourself.

Well, thanks to Netflix, you could get them to bed early after all. The streaming giant has released a number of kid-friendly New Year's Eve countdowns, which can be played at any time you want, fooling your children into thinking it's midnight.

Netflix and chill (literally)

With 12 titles to choose from, you should be able to find a countdown that your kids will love this year. These include The Boss Baby: Back in Business, All Hail King Julien, Tales of Arcadia, Spirit Riding Free, Fuller House, Beat Bugs, Pinky Malinky, Super Monsters, Motown Magic, True and the Rainbow Kingdom, Larva Island, Skylanders Academy, Prince of Peoria, and Alexa & Katie.

Netflix released its first fake countdown for kids way back in 2014, with Madagascar's King Julien leading the festivities. Since then, they have taken off in popularity, with around five million members tuning in each year, according to the streaming platform.

So, if you're hoping for a tranquil end to the year, Netflix may just be exactly you need to see in the New Year with well-rested kids (and a bit of peace and quiet.)

Check out our roundup of the best free games for kids

Via BGR

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4:53 PM

13 weird and wonderful niche Linux distros of 2018

Note: Our weird and wonderful niche Linux distros roundup has been fully updated. This feature was first published in December 2011.

Fed up with the bog-standard Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and so on? Looking for a distro that reflects your individuality? In this roundup we've discovered no less than 13 of the quirkiest and most useful distributions that Linux has to offer.

They include one distro which is the official, sanctioned OS of North Korea, no less, and an OS which is so light it will run on a PC from the mid-80s.

Read on to find out more about each of these interesting distros. Before we begin, however, do note that not all of these operating systems are suitable for everyday use without extensive modification – so consider running them from a Live CD/USB or within a virtual machine, rather than installing them on a computer.

Linux Format is the number one magazine to boost your knowledge on Linux, open source developments, distro releases and much more. Subscribe to the print or digital version of Linux Format here

Image credit: DistroWatch

The ‘hermit kingdom’ that is the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is one of the most isolated countries in the world. The internet is strictly censored (indeed, most North Koreans have never even heard of it) and access to computers is patchy.

Unwilling to rely solely on operating systems developed by the imperialist US, supreme leader Kim Jong-Il sanctioned the development of an official OS of North Korea named Red Star, which is based on Linux and uses North Korean terminology and spelling.

Red Star fully lives up to the Orwellian reputation of the DPRK. It is closed source and has a feature which watermarks any media files copied to external drives with the hard drive’s serial number. This is most likely because North Korean dissidents often swap banned films using a 'sneakernet' of USB sticks. Red Star also has a supposed 'virus scanner' which can automatically delete censored files. The root user is disabled by default, meaning you don't have full control over your system.

For this reason, you should only run Red Star inside a virtual machine. See our guide on how to do this here.

Development of Red Star has continued under the auspices of supreme commander Kim Jong Un. Version 3.0 was released back in 2014 and uses the KDE desktop environment, bearing a strong resemblance to macOS. It works quite well but is preconfigured to only use North Korea's intranet by default, so can't access the web at large, except for a few pages on the Mozilla website.

As the OS is based on Linux, skilled users can tinker with the language and DNS settings to use it in English with internet access. There's also a server-only version (4.0) used by the DPRK's official airline Air Koryo which can connect directly to the internet, but it's not available for general download.

The default web browser Naenara (meaning ‘My Country’) is a modified version of Firefox 3.5. We searched for 'democracy' in the default search engine, but nothing came up.

As a final reminder: if you want to give this a whirl, don’t install the OS on actual hardware, but rather inside a virtual machine.

Download Red Star OS here

The classically educated reader might be able to guess that MuLinux is a small distro – the Greek letter 'mu' is the SI designation for one millionth.

Mu was designed to be a minimal distro along the lines of Puppy or Damn Small Linux, but it's considerably more miniscule. The OS was developed to run from floppy disks, so only requires 20MB of hard disk space and 4MB of RAM. It will run on any machine with an Intel 80386 processor or later. This particular processor was released in 1985 so it’s safe to say that MuLinux can breathe life into ancient hardware.

Development of MuLinux was frozen in 2004. As mentioned, it was originally designed in such a way to allow the user to install and run a basic Unix-like shell from a single floppy disk, then install additional packages such as server tools from separate disks.

Download the base floppy disk and packages for MuLinux here

CAINE (which stands for Computer Aided INvestigative Environment) is aimed at users with an interest in crime scene investigation. It's an Italian flavor of Linux designed for forensic analysis and other types of police work.

CAINE includes a variety of CSI tools such as the Autopsy Forensic Browser, stenography tools and The Sleuth Kit. UFO (Ultimate Forensic Outflow) supports full, detailed recovery analysis such as browser history, password recovery, malware, log viewers and network analysis tools.

CAINE Linux is built around four objectives which include an interoperable environment that supports digital investigation, a user-friendly interface, and a semi-automated compilation of the final report. The ISO file weighs in at 3.6GB.

Download CAINE Linux here

This is one that will appeal to the techies out there – the thing that marks GoboLinux out from the rest is its filesystem layout. Most Linux distributions use an archaic non-arrangement wherein an application's files are scattered around your hard drive in several different folders.

GoboLinux adopts a macOS-like approach (which Apple in turn took from RISC OS), and stores all files associated with an application in a single folder in '/Programs'. For instance, if you have a program named 'foo' all files pertaining to it would be stored in '/Programs/foo'. You can still install multiple versions of the same application if you wish, for example, for separate users on the system. This is managed by GoboLinux's file virtualization tool Runner.

The most current version of GoboLinux is 016.01, released in April 2017, but the project's Github page shows Gobo is in active development. The latest version includes a copy of one of the very first web browsers, NCSA Mosaic, for a bit of old-school net surfing. GoboLinux also now includes GoboNet, a lightweight and daemon-free network manager.

Download GoboLinux here

If you like software freedom, you'll love GNewSense. The OS has had all non-free software removed, including binary 'blob' files in the kernel, so-named as they use proprietary code. Unfortunately, many of these blobs are drivers for wireless networking cards, so GNewSense may not work well with laptops.

On the plus side, it has removed or renamed software that doesn't fit the Free Software Foundation's definition of freedom. The OS uses a modified version of Debian's IceWeasel browser, for instance, to avoid using the Firefox trademark. GNewSense doesn’t provide any links to non-free repositories, making it even more free than Debian.

After a three year hiatus, the latest version of GNewSense, codenamed Ucclia, was released in May 2016 and is based on Debian 7. It can be booted as a Live CD to help you check whether it supports your hardware.

Download GNewSense here

Do you love Linux? Do you really love it? Because you're going to need to if you want to follow the Linux from Scratch program. Not (technically) a formal distro, LFS is more a set of tutorials and packages designed to help you set up your own completely bespoke Linux system. From scratch.

That means first creating a temporary system with which to compile the real thing, building your own partitions and file system, and installing every element of a functioning Linux system painstakingly by hand. Oh, and figuring out exactly why it isn't working.

The documentation comes in freely downloadable volumes, charmingly entitled 'Stable' for the latest release and 'Development' if you want to check out the version that creator Gerard Beekmans and his team are working on at this very moment. There's also a systemd version, which uses the latest in system initialisation techniques.

One of the easiest ways to get started is to read the freely downloadable LFS Book, which takes you through all the steps for constructing your own system. As of LFS version 8.0, the book has undergone a major rewrite with hundreds of new packages now available.

Download Linux from Scratch here

NixOS has grown from a simple research project in 2014 to a fully-fledged independent operating system, optimised for cutting-edge system configuration management. It qualifies as weird and wonderful due to the fact that the OS, kernel, and other system files are created using the integrated Nix package manager.

While Linux traditionally lumps packages together in various system folders such as /bin, Nix stores them in a single location (/nix/store).

The advantage of this is that all upgrades are 'atomic'. With traditional Linux distros, upgrading one package can cause others to break if they have shared dependency. Nix's crafty package segregation means that all updates and upgrades can be reversed. This makes for a very stable system.

Download NixOS here

Moebuntu is an upgrade for existing Ubuntu installations designed especially for fans of Manga and Anime, and it shows how the OS can be tweaked or fine-tuned to the extreme. There’s an automated setup tool which will apply the colourful desktop and icon themes – prepare yourself for some alarming hues of pink if you do so. There's also a suitably rosy dash icon as well as an array of wallpapers and Manga-style fonts.

As gaudy as this may appear, the advantage of Moebuntu is that it has kept pace with the times. The latest release supports Ubuntu 17.04 so unlike some of the other distros we've highlighted, you can enjoy a taste of the weird and wonderful while having an up-to-date OS.

You can install the Moebuntu desktop theme, icon packs, wallpaper and Dash icon by following the steps on the Moebuntu website

Having given the devil his due with Ubuntu Satanic Edition earlier in this article, it’s only fair that we let Christians rejoice about the version of Linux crafted just for them.

Ubuntu CE offers a non-denominational version of Linux for Christians, based on the standard Ubuntu builds. The latest version is built on Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (long term support).

The stated aim of the project is to try to encourage more people within the Christian community to realise the power of Linux and switch to Ubuntu.

The latest release incorporates Xiphos, a bible study tool, as well as worship presentation software OpenLP and Quelea, which can be used to project bible verses, hymns and so on.

Ubuntu CE also includes the powerful 'Dansguardian' content filter providing advanced parental controls. The wallpaper has been thoughtfully chosen with Biblical quotes.

Download Ubuntu Christian Edition here

There still exists among our Windows-using cousins the risible idea that Linux isn't good enough to take over on the desktop – that the continued dominance of Microsoft on the desktop is inevitable, because Linux is not up to the job technically.

This can easily be refuted. All of the top 500 supercomputers in the world now run Linux. Also, the cleverest people on the planet – scientists searching for clues about the beginning of the universe – also use Scientific Linux at the CERN laboratories.

This distro is a rebuild of Red Hat Enterprise Linux and is actively developed by people within CERN, Fermilab and ETHZ. Anyone can download and install it on their machine – you don't even need a PhD in theoretical physics.

Download Scientific Linux here

Parted Magic is a Live distro that comes with all the tools you need to fix broken partitions. If something won't boot, this is what you use to fix it, and that goes for both Linux and Windows machines. It is most often used as a tool, although technically it is a Linux distribution in its own right.

Parted Magic also allows for secure disk erasing (making sure that data is really nuked), benchmarking, and disk cloning among other features. As a troubleshooting aid, it's indispensable, but it will cost you $11 (around £8.70, AU$15.60) to download direct from the author's site. For an additional fee you can order it preinstalled on USB or DVD.

Download Parted Magic here

This distro is drastically out-of-date and about as niche as they come, but HML – or Hannah Montana Linux – is the perfect desktop for fans of Miley Cyrus’ heady Nickelodeon days. Enjoy a pink Hannah Montana-themed KDE desktop, featuring Tux with the double-life teenage singer's logo emblazoned on his belly.

It also includes a custom Hannah Montana boot screen, theme, icon set and wallpapers. The website helpfully adds that it is not vulnerable to Windows viruses.

There's no reason to use HML unless you're a diehard Hannah fan, but since it's based on Kubuntu using KDE 4.2, there are plenty of packages to install. You could even upgrade it to the latest version of Kubuntu by running the command 'sudo apt-get dist-upgrade' from the Linux Terminal. Alternatively, diehard Montana-fans can download the icons and/or theme pack and install it on top of their existing KDE install.

Download HML here

Zeroshell comes from Italy, and it’s a small Linux distro designed to run as a Live CD for servers or embedded devices such as routers. You can even install it onto a Raspberry Pi.

It has no GUI but you can access and configure it from your web browser. Zeroshell is a lot more powerful than the average router's web interface allowing you to perform activities such as assigning IP addresses, DHCP provision and changing DNS settings. It can function as a proxy, VPN access point or a firewall, and can interface with any network appliance.

Zeroshell is in active development: the latest version (3.8.2) was released in December 2017.

Download Zeroshell Linux here

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4:53 PM

Samsung reportedly working on Galaxy A50 and Galaxy M20 smartphones

Although the Samsung Galaxy A8s has yet to hit Indian markets, we can safely expect it to do so soon, given that the company brings all its offerings to the country, and moreover, its closest competitor, the Honor View20, is set to come to India in a short while. Meanwhile, the South Korean company is busy working on the launch of its upcoming flagship phones, the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S10+, which are expected to launch at or around the Mobile World Congress on Feb 25, 2019. And it appears that the company is also working on two other mid-tier phones, the Galaxy M20 and Galaxy A50.

The M20 is expected to launch before the S10, but it seems that the A50 will only go official after the Mobile World Congress 2019. Previous rumours that the A50 would pack a 5000mAh battery have now been denied; it seems it will pack a 4000mAh one instead.

Additionally, the Samsung Galaxy A50 will support more than one rear camera, and the primary one will have a 24MP sensor. The device will be powered by Samsung’s Exynos 7 9610 chipset, an octa-core processor with four Cortex-A73 cores and four A53s. There will reportedly be two storage variants of the A50- a 4GB/64GB version, and 4GB/128GB.

The A50 is expected to run Android 9 Pie out of the box, based on its own One UI. Judging by this information, the A50 will probably launch after the Galaxy S10 and S10+, since the yearly flagship phones are usually the first to launch with the latest software, and the Galaxy S10 series is said to run Android 9 Pie out of the box as well.

Further reports place an in-display fingerprint sensor on the A50, but it is said to be an optical sensor rather than the ultrasonic in-display fingerprint sensor expected in the S10.

Honor View 20 to be sold exclusively on Amazon India

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4:53 PM

You can play a game from Black Mirror's Bandersnatch episode on your laptop

3:23 PM

10 smartphones launches to look out for in 2019

3:23 PM

The best Netflix series in the UK (December 2018): fantastic Netflix shows

3:08 PM

Secure and easy authentication will become a business advantage in 2019

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At RSA’s 2004 security conference, Bill Gates predicted, “There is no doubt that over time, people are going to rely less and less on passwords,” adding that passwords “just don’t meet the challenge for anything you really want to secure.”

A pertinent truth that is often forgotten when discussing the importance of authentication is that passwords should have been removed from the equation a long time ago. However, many companies do not see why they should protect their users by moving away from passwords; they do not see customer security as a sales point nor a part of their business practice. Meanwhile, regulators see strong authentication as a business to business practice and not as a ‘must have’ in the consumer market.

As a result of a shift in awareness, regulations, and motivation in 2018 alone, we have more evidence than ever to believe this change will finally be implemented in the coming year, with many companies standing to benefit from its advantages.

Shift in awareness

There was an endless cycle of credential related breaches in 2018, from HSBC to Twitter and most notably Facebook, which resulted in an increase in both business and consumer awareness for weak single factor authentication.

Shift in regulations

With regulatory officials like HIPPA and PCI-DSS supporting multi-factor authentication and its three factor types: something you know, something you have and something you are, this mode of verification is here to stay.

Shift in liability

With the implementation of The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) this year, the liability has shifted from the end user to the data handler and data processor, leaving the company legally liable for any breach of customer privacy and information. This change in liability hits organizations where it hurts – profits – giving them an incentive to provide better authentication processes to employees and customers alike.

These shifts have been predicted, however in the last few months we have seen an interesting shift in the least expected place: the US government. Sen. Richard Blumenthal tweeted that “we must set clear customer data protection standards for all companies — whether they’re hotel chains, online retailers, or big tech — and severe penalties for those who fall short.”

The public, regulators, and government are each aware of the dangers of passwords. In 2019 we will start to see companies which already utilize multi-factor authentication, present it as a unique sales value. Companies that don’t already use it will begin to support multi-factor authentication and use their newfound security to attract customers.

User experience and cost are two other components we believe will also soon adapt. An attractive business model is to offer a less expensive option for identity security that is both easier and more secure. According to Gartner’s 2018 Market Guide for User Authentication:

“By 2022, 60% of large and global enterprises, and 90% of midsize enterprises (MSEs), will implement passwordless methods in more than 50% of use cases, which is an increase from fewer than 5% today.”

Passwordless authentication is more secure, requires less maintenance (password resets, employee downtime) and the overall experience is simpler and easier, creating a superior user experience and a higher conversion of sales. Although over a decade too early, Bill Gates got it right in 2004 as we will see the masses move away from passwords in 2019.

Raz Rafaeli, CEO and Co-founder of Secret Double Octopus

We've also highlighted the best free password managers

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3:03 PM

Games of the year 2018: TechRadar’s favorite Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and PC titles

It’s been a heck of a year for videogames. We’ve navigated the ruins of Greece, trekked through ancient Midgard, ran down trains in the wild west and even raced through the cobbled streets of Britain. But which games have really stood out to us this year?

It’s been a hard task, but the TechRadar team has put their heads together and thrashed out which games we believe were the best this year. At times it got vicious and downright dirty, but we did it for you. So without further ado, here are TechRadar’s games of the year.

Best Virtual Reality Game

Tetris Effect

Think you know Tetris? Think again. It’s been re-invented many times over the years, but by bringing the game into the realm of virtual reality, Tetris Effect is revelatory.

Taking its cues from the VR port of Rez, Tetris Effect magically pulls together astonishing visual effects and an incredible soundtrack to make Tetris a multi-sensory experience more closely akin to a rhythm action game. It’s a joyous addition to the PSVR’s growing library.

Honorable mention: Astro Bot: Rescue Mission.

Best Mobile Game

Pokémon Go

We know Pokémon Go didn’t release this year, but the mobile game showed no sign of slowing down in 2018 - if anything it’s getting even bigger.

With the release of Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee/Pikachu, players now have even more versatile ways to play Go. Not to mention the continually popular community events, the release of the Trainer Battles feature and the unveiling of the mysterious Meltan. We will be trying to catch them all for a while yet it seems.

Honorable mentions: New Star Soccer Manager and Florence.

Best Action Game

Hitman 2

There wasn’t a huge amount of hype about Hitman 2 before its release but, much like Agent 47 himself, the game sneaked up on us.

Although Hitman 2 doesn’t do much to drastically change the series’ formula (except for the introduction of multiplayer Ghost mode), we found that that’s precisely what we love about it - plus, assassinating drug lords in Colombia with poison is always a recipe for a good time.

Honorable mention: Far Cry 5.

Best Action/Adventure Game

Marvel’s Spider-Man

If Batman Arkham Asylum proved that superhero games could not only be good, but be great, Marvel’s Spider-Man showed that they could rival the big-screen adaptations of our comic book heroes too.

Dazzlingly pretty, wonderfully fun and full to the brim with jaw-dropping moments that would make the late Stan Lee proud, ol’ webhead had a truly great adventure this year.

Honorable mention: Red Dead Redemption 2.

Best RPG Game

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey

We’ve come to expect a certain calibre of game when it comes to the Assassin’s Creed series: history, assassinations and a stunning open-world to explore. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey does not disappoint on any of these fronts, providing a vast environment and tantalizing story that truly captures the essence of Ancient Greece.

Also, you can finally play as a female lead character in a game that will keep you busy for at least 100 hours. Talk about value for money.

Honorable mention: Octopath Traveler.

Best Online Multiplayer Game

Fortnite

So, here’s the thing – Fortnite actually released back in 2017, and got off to a shaky start as it focused on its base-building, AI-wave battling campaign mode. No-one really cared all that much, but developer soon started turning its attention to the free Battle Royale mode of the game it was offering all players. And, over the course of 2018, it became a phenomenon.

It’s improved dramatically over the past year, and has grown to become one of the most popular games, well, ever. Find us a kid that isn’t playing Fortnite, and we’ll show you a kid that doesn’t like playing online games with their pals. And so, it would be impossible to crown any other title king of the online multiplayer hill this year.

Honorable mention: Sea of Thieves.

Best Sport/Racing Game

Forza Horizon 4

Forza Horizon 4 is undeniably stunning, letting you race through the winding countryside and cobbled cities of Great Britain. However it’s not just the graphics that made Forza Horizon 4 our favourite sports game of the year.

Playground Games’ series continues to push the limits of the racing genre - creating an open-world racing title like no other.

Honorable mentions: Madden NFL 19 and FIFA 19.

Best Fighting Game

Super Smash Bros Ultimate

It’s been quite a year for fighting games but there’s only one that we felt deserved the title of the best: Super Smash Bros Ultimate. We’ve been waiting for Ultimate since Nintendo announced it at E3 2018 and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

The Ultimate roster includes more characters, stages and modes than ever before, and finally introduces an online competitive mode. Nintendo have even promised more characters are on the way. It’s not hard to see why Super Smash bros Ultimate is our King of the Ring.

Honorable mentions: Dragon Ball Fighter Z and Soulcalibur VI.

Best Narrative Game

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 was arguably the biggest, and most eagerly anticipated, game of 2018. Sometimes boarding the hype train means that you’re greatly disappointed when the title releases and you need to disembark, but luckily this wasn’t the case with Red Dead Redemption 2.

Not only did Red Dead 2 look spectacular but its intertwining emotional storylines (and side quests) had us deeply invested in Arthur Morgan, the Van Der Linde gang and the changing west. We don’t want to spoil anything, but have some ice cream ready to fill the void Red Dead will leave when you finish.

Honorable mention: God of War.

Best Party Game

Overcooked cemented its place as a much-have party game when it released in 2016, so it’s no surprise Overcooked 2 followed suit. Introducing more characters, more madcap levels and new recipes, Overcooked 2 has built on what the chaotic game so much fun - absolute anarchy.

Overcooked 2 may have destroyed office friendships but we feel that it’s completely worth it.

Honorable mention: Super Smash Bros Ultimate.

Best Indie Game

Two-Point Hospital

A spiritual successor to Theme Hospital, Two-Point Hospital injected us with nostalgia and dosed us up with tongue-in-cheek humor. The hospital sim proved a hit among newbies and old hands, with its chaotic characters and illnesses such as Bloaty Head, Mock Star, and Jest Infection. It’s a modern twist on a classic and we can’t get enough.

Honorable mentions: Celeste and Into the Breach.

Game of the Year

God of War

It was a hard one to pin down, and Red Dead Redemption 2 almost had it, but we decided that God of War was our deserving winner of Game of the Year. Between the emotionally captivating relationship between Atreus and Kratos, powerful visuals, intriguing mythological world and action-packed combat; it’s hard to pin down what it is we value most about God of War.

Although God of War’s gameplay strays from its predecessors, we felt that the heart of the series’ newest addition made it truly spectacular.

Honorable mention: Red Dead Redemption 2.

Most Excited About

Cyberpunk 2077

We’ve been spoiled by ProjektRed’s Witcher RPGs over the past decade, but with Geralt’s story coming to an end, it’s time for something new. Cyberpunk 2077 looks set to take the free-roaming, narrative-heavy direction of the Witcher series, but thrust it into an all-new first person futuristic world.

Imagine a BladeRunner film that you can play, and you’re pretty much there. We’re incredibly excited about Cyberpunk 2077… but will we really see it in 2019? It seems so ambitious, we’re starting to think this one may be destined for the Xbox Two and PS5 of the future.

Honorable mentions: The Elder Scrolls 6 and Ghost of Tsushima.

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6:38 AM

Best gaming chair 2019: the best PC gaming chairs

When you’re trying to build one of the best gaming PCs, to take advantage of the best PC games, you shouldn’t forget about the best PC gaming chairs. You don’t want to walk away from your gaming session crouching over like Igor from Young Frankenstein. With the best PC gaming chairs, you can bring your gaming and sitting experience to a new level. Because, at the end of the day, if you’re immersed in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, saving the world from some cult, you should be comfortable while you do it.

That’s why, now that the year is coming to a close, we decided to make a list of the best gaming chairs of 2019. Some might end up looking like your dad’s office chair, with all-black ‘real leather’ designs – others fully embrace the gamer aesthetic with RGB lighting and loud, clashing colors, making you look like futuristic race car driver.

We will help you find the best PC gaming chairs on the market, so you can spend more time sitting down and less time shopping around. Because – let’s be honest – we do our own fair share of sitting, and we’re very familiar with the best PC gaming chairs.

It’s no exaggeration to call the Noblechairs Epic Real Leather the best gaming chair. From the cross-thatched embroidery to the real leather of its namesake, if you’re looking for a no-compromises gaming throne, this is it. Plus, it’s surprisingly quick and easy to set up. And, once the set-up is complete, the Epic Real Leather is a dream to sit on – and you can customize your position however you want. Just do us a favor, and read the instructions while you’re setting it up.

If you want to play games all day in comfort, but you don’t want a chair that looks like you’re playing games all day, the Autonomous ErgoChair 2 is for you. Marketed as an office chair, the ErgoChair 2 has a very modern and stylish aesthetic to it that will appeal to anyone that doesn’t use RGB as a personality trait. It’s not all style either, as the ErgoChair lets you adjust basically every part of the chair, so that no matter how your body is built, you’re guaranteed to be comfortable while gaming.

This product is only available in the US at the time of this writing. UK and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Respawn 115

Leather and fabric have their advantages, namely to comfort and texture, but sometimes a mesh office chair is best – especially if you live in a warmer climate, where breathability is of utmost importance. The Respawn-300 combines the racing-seat design and lumbar support and mesh material from some high-end office chairs. It really does take comfort to another level and is one of the best PC gaming chairs you can buy today.

This product is only available in the US at the time of this writing. UK and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Noblechairs Epic Real Leather.

Corsair is known for making popular and high-end PC components and gaming peripherals. It’s only fitting, then, that they dip their toes into the gaming chair game – and they may have made one of the best gaming chairs yet. Covered top to bottom in breathable PU leather with neck and lumbar pillows wrapped in microfiber, you’ll be able to game both in comfort and style. And with its rollerblade-style wheels, you’ll be able to move it around on any surface without having to worry about scratching up your floor.

Noblechairs is well known for crafting some of the best gaming chairs out there – and the Noblechairs Icon makes it clear why. While it’s more affordable than the flagship Epic Real Leather, it’s still extremely comfortable and one of the best PC gaming chairs out there. This is thanks to its nice lumbar pillow, which you can easily remove if you don’t like it.

The Edge GX1 is a gaming chair that actively avoids the popular racing style that is increasingly popular with modern gaming chairs. The company behind the Edge GX1 goes as far as to say that racing-style bucket chairs actually negatively affect gamer’s performance, with their designs limiting movement and comfort. It sort of makes sense, as those styles of chairs are based off designs for racing cars, where limiting movement for the driver is a priority. Instead, the Edge GX1 aims to give an ergonomic experience where comfort is key, while also offering a premium gaming chair. And when we say premium, we mean it, with the Edge GX1 costing £800, a huge amount for a gaming chair. It’s hand-crafted in the UK, and there’s some great touches, such as inflatable lumbar support. It’s a huge asking price, but we’ve been using it for a while now, and it is very comfortable. You need to adjust it a bit to suit your needs, but once you have it set up just how you like it, the ergonomic benefits of the chair really help justify the price. This ships worldwide from the UK, but be warned that shipping costs will add to the price if you’re in the US or Australia.

You can only buy this chair direct from Edge

There’s a certain subset of the PC gaming community that needs to have the absolute best of everything, at whatever the cost. These people are going to be absolutely enamored with the Vertagear Triigger 350 SE. It features over 350 individual components with a mix metal, mesh, leather and high-end plastics to create the ultimate PC gaming chair. If you have the money to spare, and you can’t stand to have anything less than the best, you might want to give this chair a look.

Another day, another Noblechairs gaming seat – and the Noblechairs Epic is the best gaming chair for the classier gamer. It features a faux-leather covering inspired by car seats, combining both comfort and a high-end design to make it one of the best gaming chairs you can buy today. And, if you’re the type that shies away from the ‘gamer aesthetic,’ the Epic’s subtle black design is far more elegant than some of the more brightly-colored seats on this list.

For the gamer looking for some extra room in their seat, the Vertagear Racing Series PL6000 is a must-have. Specially designed to provide both added width and height, this is the best gaming chair for anyone with a larger frame – no matter how tall you are, the adjustable headrest means you’ll never experience discomfort. However, this is a complicated chair to assemble, so use the buddy system to build this masterpiece.

The Nitro Concepts C80 is a gorgeous, comfortable gaming chair that could easily blend in in an office environment – it looks more expensive than it is. Nitro Concepts made one of the best gaming chairs by keeping the price down, while keeping compromises to a minimum – like using polyurethane instead of leather. And, no compromises were made in the build quality, either – this is an impressively sturdy gaming chair. Just make sure you get a friend to help you put it together – constructing this thing had us tearing our hair out.

This product is only available in the UK at the time of this writing. US and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Noblechairs Icon

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Best gaming mouse pads 2019: the best mouse mats for gamers

If we would have told someone a decade a go that the best gaming mouse pads in 2019 would feature wireless charging and RGB lighting, we would have been laughed out of the room. But, that’s just how much things have changed for the best gaming mouse pads in that time. They’ve evolved to include latest features gamers demand from all their peripherals.

We don’t need to tell you that the best mouse pads are important, but if you’re already playing the best PC games on the best gaming PC with one of the best gaming mice, why would you settle for anything less than the best gaming mouse pad?

Because there are hundreds of gaming mouse pads in 2019, we decided to list all the best gaming mouse pads you can buy today. Whether you want to light up your desk like a Christmas tree, or if you just want a slick pad for maximum accuracy and response times in your favorite ESports title, we found the best gaming mouse pads for you.

The Corsair MM600 isn’t interested in distracting you with brightly colored lights like the MM800. Instead, it offers a great deal more versatility than its higher priced sibling. This double sided mouse pad stays secure in place with rubber stoppers on each corner so that your mouse moves – not your mouse pad. The MM600 is also made of aluminum, and features a low-friction surface that will boost your response times in-game.

Existing solely as a budget mousepad, the SteelSeries QcK does exactly what you want out of a mousepad and nothing more. The QcK’s surface material has a high thread count for extremely precise mouse control and a smooth glide. At the same time, its rubber base helps prevent it from sliding around your desk while you’re gaming. It comes in a variety of shapes and sizes and there’s even a higher end version with RGB lighting – the SteelSeries QcK Prism.

There are plenty of times when we’re looking at gaming mouse pads that we love in theory, but just aren’t the right size for our desk. Luckily, the Cooler Master MP510 looks to get ahead of this, by offering 4 different sizes, from a small pad that’ll fit in any area to a giant mouse pad that’ll take up your entire desk. It’s made of a durable Cordura fabric that won’t fray, stain or even absorb liquid. So you won’t have to panic when you inevitably spill your drink – except for all your other peripherals, we guess.

This product is only available in the UK as of this writing. US and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the SteelSeries QcK.

Sure, everyone loves RGB lighting, but what if you’re looking for an unobtrusive, seamless desk surface? Well, the ultra thin – less than half a millimeter in height – Razer Sphex v2 is the mouse pad for you. Despite its thin profile, the polycarbonate surface is durable and optimised for laser or optical gaming mouse control. We picked the regular size, but if you have a smaller desk, there’s a Small size variant as well.

The top of the Hiro+ is covered in a vulcanized silicone surface with a 3D structure to help increase your gaming accuracy and speed. The base has a non-slip surface for steady mouse control, and the edges have been rounded for a smoother profile. Its surface is also coated to protect from water and grime, and makes for easy cleaning.

We bet you thought the best gaming mouse pads were just surfaces to move your mouse on top of didn’t you? Well, we don’t blame you – until the Corsair MM1000 Qi hit the market, that’s basically what they were. Not only is this thing one of the best gaming mouse pads, but it also features Qi charging. Launching alongside the Corsair Dark Core RGB SE, which itself features Qi compatibility. The MM1000 Qi isn’t just Corsair’s answer to the Logitech PowerPlay, it takes mouse pads to a new level by letting you charge your phone while playing.

If you’ve had your eye on a RGB mouse-pad to match all of your tricked out peripherals, and you didn’t want to settle for a rigid piece of plastic, you’re in luck. The Razer Goliathus takes Razer’s expert RGB implementation and throws into a soft gaming mouse pad that will let you score those headshots in comfort and style.

You simply can’t go out looking for the best mouse mat for gaming in 2019 without considering RGB. All the hottest gaming peripherals right now boast about how they can light your desk up like a Christmas tree, and the Corsair MM800 RGB Polaris is no different. On top of Corsair’s always-fantastic RGB implementation, the MM800 uses a low-friction finish that’ll allow for quick and precise tracking across its surface. And if the lighting wasn’t enough, the MM800 uses Corsair’s special CUE2 interface to sync its lighting with your other peripherals and even your PC through RGB share. It’s even available in two materials: cloth and a micro-texture surface.

The Asus ROG Scabbard is less mouse pad and more ‘everything pad’. It can hold your laptop or keyboard and mouse, and whatever other accessories you have lying around – it’s seriously huge. It has a non-slip ROG-red rubber base and low-friction Sheath woven surface for gaming control. Asus has even temperature tested the ROG scabbard down to -30°C – but why you’d game in sub-zero conditions is unimaginable, unless you really take overclocking that seriously.

Are other mouse pads just too soft for your gaming setup? Well, if so, you’re in luck – the MSI Thunderstorm gaming mouse pad is all metal. To be precise, this gaming mouse pad is made of an anodized, hairline-surfaced aluminum material with rubber stoppers. This textured surface is optimized for mouse control and speed, while its L shape allows it to be situated close to the keyboard. And, if that metal surface is just too real for you, you can flip it over for a micro-textured surface and the comfort of cloth.

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Best PC power supply 2019: top PSUs for your PC

If you’re setting out to build a PC better than one of the best PCs, the most important things you can do is pick up the best PSU you can muster. We know it doesn’t sound too exciting, but every component in your PC relies on the best power supplies for life. Even if it means you have less cash for one of the best graphics cards you don’t want to compromise.

You shouldn’t need to compromise, though – there’s a ton of power supplies out there in 2019. Even if you’re on a budget, you can find a bargain on some of the best PSUs. Don’t worry, you can still splurge power supplies bedecked with RGB lighting (of course) and enough wattage capacity to power the best gaming PCs with two NVLinked RTX 2080 Tis. No matter what you need, we’ll help you find the best PC power supplies for your build.

Having a PC power supply die is an awful experience and the many of the symptoms of a dying PSU can slip by unnoticed. , The worst silent killer could be as subtle as a power efficiency dip, leading to your PC to outright refuse to turn on one day. By the time you notice your PSU is beginning to fail, it may be too late. So, do yourself a favor and buy one of the best PC power supplies today, so it doesn’t fail tomorrow.

The Corsair RM750x scores the top spot on this list for one simple reason: it’s the most well-rounded power supply you can buy today. On top of a 10 year warranty and an 80 Gold Plus efficiency rating, the Corsair has a fully modular cable system. This means you only need to install the cables you need – you can say goodbye to the mess of cables and shoddy airflow that non-modular PSUs endure.

If you’re looking to save some cash on your PC build, you don’t have a ton of options for cheap power supplies that aren’t terrible. In situations like this, an economical option like the EVGA 500 B1 might be the best PC power supply for you. For less than the cost of a AAA game, you can expect 500 watts of power transmitted through several SATA cables and two PCIe cables – it covers the bare essentials, which is exactly what a budget power supply should do. The three-year warranty is just the cherry on top.

This product is only available in the US and UK at the time of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Corsair RM750x

Even the best PSUs seem to have extremely loud fans, and unlike case fans, it’s not exactly easy to replace them. Luckily, the Straight Power 10 line-up runs nice and quiet. Options range from 400w to 700w, and they’re SLI and Crossfire certified. They’re also modular, meaning you only need to use the cables that are necessary for your build.

The best PC power supplies unfortunately tend to be giant hunks of metal that don’t fit into smaller PC cases. However, the Silverstone SFX SST SX550 is a compact power supply that fits in plenty of cases. It’s half the size of most of the other PSUs on this list, allowing for more room for better airflow. This makes it an easy pick for anyone building a mini ITX or micro ATX build, and you can even slide it into a mid- or full-tower, if you feel like it. And, with small form-factor PCs being all the rage in 2018 – it’s easy to see why the Silverstone SFX is one of the best PC power supplies.

If you’re a serious builder that plans on building an absolute behemoth of a rig, with multiple graphics cards, cooling systems on top of some healthy overclocking, the Corsair AX1500i is the best PC power supply for you. It has the highest possible 80 Plus Titanium efficiency rating, and is fully modular, so you only need to add the cables your build actually requires.

If you’re really trying to maximise the visual appeal of your build, a modular power supply is almost essential – you can avoid all of those messy looking wires cluttering up your case. The NZXT E650 takes things a step further. Not only is it a fully modular power supply, meaning you only need to connect the wires you actually need, but it’s also extremely attractive itself, begging to be shown off in your case. This is all topped off with an 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating and a 10-year warranty – not only will it look good, but it’ll deliver power efficiently and last forever while it does it.

In 2018, if your PC isn’t strapped to the nines with RGB lighting, you’re not trying hard enough. Enter the Thermaltake Smart RGB 700W – not only does it have beautiful, addressable RGB lighting, but it also features a reliable 80 Plus efficiency rating and enough power to support even the best gaming PCs. Yeah, it’s not modular, but at less than a hundred bucks, we’re willing to look the other way – especially with that sick lighting.

Pick up the best processors while you're at it

Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey has also contributed to this article

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Best RAM 2019: the top memory for your PC