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Showing posts from October, 2017

Bose QuietComfort 35 II

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 We’re often asked what noise cancelling headphones to buy for commuters or travelers and Bose always tops our list of recommendations thanks to their excellent noise isolation and good sound (see: Bose QuietComfort 35 ).  The newly updated Bose QC35 II NC - the sequel to the original QC35 - offers both qualities in spades and adds something new - Google Assistant. The Bose QC35 II NC gives the company bragging rights for being the first headphone in the world to integrate Google Assistant but rest assured, more smart headphones are on the way. With Google Assistant onboard, you can simply press and hold a button to interact with Google without yelling, “OK Google.” The headphones will also read back notifications to you so you don’t have to dig in your pocket or bag for your smartphone.  The addition of the Google Assistant is appreciated - it is - but it comes at the expense of other, more useful features like auto play/pause or instant mute. While the QC35 II NC remain a solid r

Aaxa M5 Mini Projector

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Projector designs often fall neatly into one of two camps: those that are offering portability, and others that can project enough light to be seen easily. Not that the boundary between those distinctions isn’t a bit flexible, and the Aaxa M5 is an example of a product that attempts to straddle both requirements in a single solution. But is it light enough to carry, and yet bright enough to be worth bringing along? Design According to the specifications, a 48-inch projection requires a 50-inch throw, which is a 1.04 ratio using our calculator. The M5 retails at around £680 – $470 over in the US – and it comes in a fabric carry case that’s been stiffened with plastic to offer greater protection. Inside the case is the (roughly) Apple Mac mini-sized M5, the power supply, a small tripod, tiny remote control and a few potentially useful cables. The unit is just 150mm square and 45mm deep, making it larger than some of the Pico projectors we’ve seen, but obviously small in comparison

Ring Video Doorbell 2

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There are a few smart doorbells on the market, and they all seem to be a little different from each other: While the SkyBell HD is largely considered to be one of the best smart doorbells, it has to be hard-wired to work properly.  Ring, however, is here to offer a smart doorbell that doesn’t require hard-wiring with its all-new Ring Video Doorbell 2 ($199/£179/AU$329). So, does the Ring Video Doorbell 2 perform well enough to outdo similarly-priced devices like the SkyBell HD? We put it to the test to find out.  Design and setup  The first thing you’ll notice about the Ring Video Doorbell 2 is its design: it’s a good looking device. In the box we were treated to two face plates – a silver one and a dark gray one, and we ended up going with the dark gray one.  The doorbell itself is somewhat large, and that may be a problem for those that want to install it in a small space or doorframe. It’s certainly too big for a doorframe, coming in at 5.05-inches tall, 2.50-inches wide, and 1

Samsung CHG90 QLED Gaming Monitor

Sticky Password

Despite the name, Sticky Password is about more than just remembering and entering your passwords. It can take care of just about any data you are expected to enter online, such as your address, date of birth and phone numbers. Data is secured with AES 256-bit encryption, and there are versions of the program available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. There's also a password generator for generating more secure logins, and a secure memo option for saving notes that you'd like to keep private. While Sticky Password is primarily concerned with helping you store and enter online passwords, it can also be used as a vault for the passwords you use to access apps, and it will even attempt to enter program passwords for you when you need to log in. It's worth noting that there is also a premium version of Sticky Password available for US$29.99/£19.99 (about AU$40) for a year or US$149.99/£96.99 (about AU$200) for a lifetime license. This edition of Sticky Password gives

KeePass Password Safe

KeePass Password Safe is one of the best known password managers thanks, at least in part, to the fact that there are versions available for just about every operating system, including unofficial mobile ports. It's a password database that can be used to store passwords for websites and applications, as well as notes. The database is encrypted and either protected with either a password or a security file to keep your details from prying eyes. When it comes to entering your stored passwords, you have a couple of options. You can simply copy and paste from KeePass Password Safe (there's no browser integration, sadly) or use hotkeys to trigger them. Sadly, there's no form-filling feature, and you will also have to spend time manually compiling your database as there's no way to pull in data from your browser or other programs. There's a massive range of extensions available for KeePass Password Safe. The program is incredibly powerful in its raw form, but there a

Snagit 2018

When taking a screengrab requires nothing more than hitting the Print Screen key, and when Windows 10 even has its own built in screen capture tool, you may well wonder why on Earth you would want to spend money on software for taking screenshots. Snagit 2018 is the answer. Snagit will not only grab everything that you can see on your screen, not only individual windows, not only videos of on-screen activity, but much more – including grabbing scrolling screenshots of long web pages, and grabbing text from screenshots to boot. The inclusion of an image editing component is nothing new for Snagit, but the latest edition of the program also includes tools that makes it possible for you to rearrange the components of the images you grab. At its most basic, Snagit is a screen capture tool that lets you use a custom keyboard shortcut to grab everything you can currently see. Alternatively, you can use the horizontal and vertical grabbing to capture the full contents of a scrolling windo

UsenetServer

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UsenetServer is a popular Usenet provider owned by UNS Holdings, the company behind Newshosting , Easynews and many other services. The UsenetServer website highlights some appealing features: 3,363 days retention, over 100,000 newsgroups and 99% completion. You only get a maximum of 20 connections, while others often give you 30, 40 or more. Still, there's free SSL to keep your connection private, a VPN if you need it, and no transfer limits, speed caps or other irritating restrictions. You can sign up for UsenetServer here While this sounds good, there's a distinct shortage of detail. UsenetServer has an "award winning search", the website claims, which is "new and improved." Which award did it win, and what has changed? The company doesn't want to tell us. This overly vague approach applies almost everywhere, with the website not even displaying any prices until you hit the Get Started button. Skeptical types might think UsenetServer is tryin

Virgin TV V6 TiVo box

Google Apps for Work (G Suite) 2016 review

Microsoft Office 365

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[ Editor's Note: What immediately follows is a rundown of the latest developments and features Microsoft has added to Office 365 since this review was last updated .] October 2017 Microsoft brought premium Outlook.com features to Office 365 Home and Personal subscribers, including an inbox storage capacity of 50GB, and no more adverts. Microsoft announced that Office 365 now has 28 million consumer subscribers (up from 24 million this time last year), and 120 million commercial users (up from 85 million). Microsoft To-Do, the company’s task management app, began rolling out across the Office 365 user base. Outlook for iOS and Android got some smart new features including the ability to sync shared calendars to your phone, and added capabilities for managing events. Microsoft ended support for Office 2007 and Outlook 2007, meaning no more security patches, with the company pushing for users to upgrade to either to Office 365 or 2016. September 2017 Microsoft revealed th