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Doogee S96 Pro - $239.99 pre-order at Aliexpress
(£191.06/AU$431.93)
The latest rugged smartphone from Doogee is now available to pre-order. Its main selling point is a 20-megapixel night vision camera and it also comes with an 18-month warranty and massive 6,350mAh battery. The only issue is its mediocre HD display.View Deal
While the rest of the world has to contend with Black Friday, the Chinese have their own version, known as Singles Day (a.k.a 11.11).
Some vendors use the occasion as the perfect excuse to pre-launch new products and slash prices ahead of the expected tsunami of orders.
Doogee, for example, has announced that the S96 Pro - billed as the first infrared night vision rugged smartphone that runs Android 10 - is now available. The device is priced at $299.99, but you can grab it for $239.99 instead if you pre-order at the Singles day price and don't mind waiting.
The S96 Pro’s unique selling point is a night vision camera based on the Sony IMX350 sensor chip, with four infrared lights and four LED lights. Doogee claims you will be able to clearly photograph any object, even in total darkness.
Note, this is different to the heat-seeking FLIR technology found in devices like the Blackview BV9900 Pro.
The rest of the spec sheet includes three rear cameras (including a 48-megapixel Samsung model), a 16-megapixel selfie camera, a Mediatek G90 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB storage (that uses Samsung’s faster UFS technology).
The only real weakness is its 6.22-inch, 1520 x 720px display; that's not even full HD resolution.
Chuwi AeroBook Plus 4K laptop - $559.99 at Banggood
This laptop from little-known manufacturer Chuwi is the most affordable 4K machine on the market. It certainly looks the part and its specs are decent, but shame about the outdated Intel Core i5-6287U processor. Still, this could be a great option if a super sharp display is your top priority.View Deal
Since its appearance last July, the Chuwi AeroBook Plus is still by far the cheapest 4K laptop on the market, costing hundreds of dollars less than rivals.
You can pick up this new Chuwi machine for just under $560, excluding region-specific coupons and delivery. Banggood, the marketplace where Chuwi sells its gears, ships globally (including the US, UK and Australia).
On paper, the Chuwi Aerobook Plus looks a fantastic piece of kit, especially if you're after a screen with one of the highest pixel densities on the market (making it super sharp), spread over 15.6 inches.
With a full-metal chassis, the Aerobook Plus doesn't look like a cheap device, but corners have been cut in order to reach this exceptionally low price point.
It runs on an Intel Core i5-6287U processor - a dual-core processor that was launched five years ago. It's still quite competitive thanks to a very high base clock speed and the onboard Intel Iris Graphics 550 graphics, but we can't see why Chuwi didn't opt for a more recent model (other than the usual stock issues).
The rest of the specification is decent; 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB SATA SSD, Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a 55WHr battery that can power the laptop for an estimated eight hours, a plethora of ports and a weight starting at 1.7kg.
To avoid falling victim to a malware infection, users first need to be aware of which malware strains are actively being used by cybercriminals in their attacks which is why Webroot releases a list of the nastiest malware each year.
In its third annual nastiest malware list, the cybersecurity firm examined this year's biggest cyber threats and ranked them based on their severity.
According to Webroot, phishing and remote desktop protocol-related breaches remain the top methods its has observed cybercriminals using to launch their attacks. However, new malware strains and tactics are being deployed each day while others have received upgrades that made them more powerful.
This year the main trend the firm observed is modularity as cybercriminals have adopted a more modular malware methodology in which they combine attack methods and mix-and-match tactics to ensure their attacks reach their intended targets.
Emotet has once again taken the top spot on Webroot's list of the nastiest malware for the third year in a row. The malware is deployed by cybercriminals in a botnet that is used to spread ransomware and it often appears alongside TrickBot, Dridex, QakBot, Ryuk, BitPaymer and REvil.
Next up on the list is the Gozi trojan, IcedID trojan and Maze ransomware which are often deployed together. In a potential attack scenario, Gozi could end up on a machine through a malicious email, botnet or even TrickBot and then drop the IcedID trojan to help improve an attacker's chances of obtaining the credentials or information they want.
Just like TrickBot, Dridex is another popular banking/info-stealing Trojan that made Webroots's list this year. It has been around for years and is dropped via Emotet or through malicious spam campaigns. Also in a similar manner to TrickBot, Dridex spreads laterally and typically deploys ransomware such as BitPaymer/DoppelPaymer.
While these malware strains were the nastiest this year, they aren't the only ones to make the list. Other notable contenders for the nastiest malware of 2020 including the REvil and Dharma ransomware, the multi-functional malware distribution tool Valak and the info-stealing trojan QakBot.
To prevent falling victim to malware, Webroot recommends organizations lock down RDP, educate their employees about phishing, install a reputable security suite, develop a disaster recovery plan and backup up their important data.
TikTok has won another battle in its fight against the Trump administration’s ban of its video-sharing app in the U.S. — or, more accurately in this case, the TikTok community won a battle. On Friday, a federal judge in Pennsylvania has issued an injunction that blocked the restrictions that would have otherwise blocked TikTok from operating in the U.S. on November 12.
This particular lawsuit was not led by TikTok itself, but rather a group of TikTok creators who use the app to engage with their million-plus followers.
According to the court documents, plaintiff Douglas Marland has 2.7 million followers on the app; Alec Chambers has 1.8 million followers; and Cosette Rinab has 2.3 million followers. The creators argued – successfully as it turns out — that they would lose access to their followers in the event of a ban, as well as the “professional opportunities afforded by TikTok.” In other words, they’d lose their brand sponsorships — meaning, their income.
This is not the first time that the U.S. courts have sided with TikTok to block the Trump administration’s proposed ban over the Chinese-owned video sharing app. Last month, a D.C. judge blocked the ban that would have removed the app from being listed in U.S. app stores run by Apple and Google.
That ruling had not, however, stopped the Nov. 12 ban that would have blocked companies from providing internet hosting services that would have allowed TikTok to continue to operate in the U.S.
The Trump administration had moved to block the TikTok app from operating in the U.S. due to its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, claiming it was a national security threat. The core argument from the judge in this ruling was the “Government’s own descriptions of the national security threat posed by the TikTok app are phrased in the hypothetical.”
That hypothetical risk was unable to be stated by the Government, the Judge argued, to be such a risk that it outweighed the public interest. The interest, in this case, was the over 100 million users of TikTok and the creators like Marland, Chambers and Rinab that utilized it to spread “informational materials,” which allowed the Judge to rule that the ban would shut down a platform for expressive activity.
“We are deeply moved by the outpouring of support from our creators, who have worked to protect their rights to expression, their careers, and to help small businesses, particularly during the pandemic,” said Vanessa Pappas, Interim Global Head of TikTok, in a statement. “We stand behind our community as they share their voices, and we are committed to continuing to provide a home for them to do so,” she added.
The TikTok community coming to the rescue on this one aspect of the overall TikTok picture just elevates this whole story. Though the company has been relatively quiet through this whole process, Pappas has thanked the community several times for its outpouring of support. Though there were some initial waves of ‘grief’ on the app with creators frantically recommending people follow them on other platforms, that has morphed over time into more of a ‘let’s band together’ vibe. This activity coalesced around a big swell in voting advocacy on the platform, where many creators are too young to actually participate but view voting messaging as their way to participate.
TikTok has remained active in the product department through the whole mess, shipping elections guides and trying to ban Qanon conspiracy spread. Even as Pakistan banned and then un-banned the app.
Asymptomatic spread of COVID-19 is a huge contributor to the pandemic, but of course if there are no symptoms, how can anyone tell they should isolate or get a test? MIT research has found that hidden in the sound of coughs is a pattern that subtly, but reliably, marks a person as likely to be in the early stages of infection. It could make for a much-needed early warning system for the virus.
The sound of one’s cough can be very revealing, as doctors have known for many years. AI models have been built to detect conditions like pneumonia, asthma and even neuromuscular diseases, all of which alter how a person coughs in different ways.
Before the pandemic, researcher Brian Subirana had shown that coughs may even help predict Alzheimer’s — mirroring results from IBM research published just a week ago. More recently, Subirana thought if the AI was capable of telling so much from so little, perhaps COVID-19 might be something it could suss out as well. In fact, he isn’t the first to think so.
NWU researchers develop a throat-worn wearable that could offer early warnings for COVID-19 patients
He and his team set up a site where people could contribute coughs, and ended up assembling “the largest research cough dataset that we know of.” Thousands of samples were used to train up the AI model, which they document in an open access IEEE journal.
The model seems to have detected subtle patterns in vocal strength, sentiment, lung and respiratory performance, and muscular degradation, to the point where it was able to identify 100% of coughs by asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers and 98.5% of symptomatic ones, with a specificity of 83% and 94% respectively, meaning it doesn’t have large numbers of false positives or negatives.
“We think this shows that the way you produce sound, changes when you have COVID, even if you’re asymptomatic,” said Subirana of the surprising finding. However, he cautioned that although the system was good at detecting non-healthy coughs, it should not be used as a diagnosis tool for people with symptoms but unsure of the underlying cause.
I asked Subirana for a bit more clarity on this point.
“The tool is detecting features that allow it to discriminate the subjects that have COVID from the ones that don’t,” he wrote in an email. “Previous research has shown you can pick up other conditions too. One could design a system that would discriminate between many conditions but our focus was on picking out COVID from the rest.”
For the statistics-minded out there, the incredibly high success rate may raise some red flags. Machine learning models are great at a lot of things, but 100% isn’t a number you see a lot, and when you do you start thinking of other ways it might have been produced by accident. No doubt the findings will need to be proven on other data sets and verified by other researchers, but it’s also possible that there’s simply a reliable tell in COVID-induced coughs that a computer listening system can hear quite easily.
The team is collaborating with several hospitals to build a more diverse data set, but is also working with a private company to put together an app to distribute the tool for wider use, if it can get FDA approval.
Are your AirPods Pro earbuds making weird noises? You’re not imagining it — and you’re not the only one.
Just a few months after Apple started shipping AirPods Pro, some users started noticing that one or both of their earbuds were rattling or crackling. The noises would reportedly get worse whenever the user moved, and would sometimes only develop after months of use.
Apple didn’t say too much about it at first, but would usually replace crackling earbuds if you took the time to hit up support. A few folks here at TechCrunch have had the rattle rear its head on our own AirPods Pro buds… only to have it pop up again in the replacements.
It seems the problem has become widespread enough for an official acknowledgement: today Apple launched an “AirPods Pro Service Program” (as first pointed out by Mark Gurman) specifically for swapping out crackling buds.
A newly published support page outlines the potential symptoms, both of which suggest the issue has to do with the noise cancellation system:
- Crackling or static sounds that increase in loud environments, with exercise or while talking on the phone
- Active Noise Cancellation not working as expected, such as a loss of bass sound, or an increase in background sounds, such as street or airplane noise
Apple notes that only units made before October 2020 are affected, suggesting they’ve fixed the issue in units now coming off the line. The support page repeatedly says faulty units will be “replaced” rather than “repaired” — so for the most part, it sounds like turnaround should be pretty quick.
Cloudflare has announced a new tool to help customers detect and analyse the presence of bots on their website. Called Bot Analytics, the new solution provides more detailed detection, informing users of how many bots are present and whether they can be classified as ‘good bots’ or ‘bad bots.’
Although bots have a bad reputation online, not all of them are malicious. In fact, many helpful services that employ some level of automation use bots. These are completely above board and as long as they are open about the practice, shouldn’t be prevented from visiting any sites.
On the other hand, ‘bad bots’ can be an unwelcome presence. They may be hoarding inventory or scraping content from a particular site. However, because bots represent an estimated 40% of all online traffic, determining which bots to block and which ones to allow isn’t easy. This is where Cloudflare’s Bot Analytics comes in.
“Beginning today, we are going to show you the bots that reach your website,” Ben Solomon, product manager for Bot Management at Cloudflare, explained.
“You can see these bots with a new tool called Bot Analytics. It’s fast, accurate, and loaded with information. You can query data up to one month in the past with no noticeable lag. To accomplish this, we exposed the data with GraphQL and paired it with adaptive bitrate (ABR) technology to dynamically load content. If you already have Bot Management added to your Cloudflare account, Bot Analytics is included in your service.”
Boy Analytics can be found under the Firewall tab of the Cloudflare dashboard. Enterprises without Bot Management access will only see a snapshot of their bot traffic, but that should still be enough to determine whether bots are swarming all over a webpage.
Website admins can also set their own bot threshold to determine how much automated traffic they allow. Of course, there’s no sure-fire way of keeping out all bots, but setting the right limit should ensure that more bandwidth is given to genuine website visitors.
Seagate has launched four new FireCuda, BarraCuda SSDs in India that include Seagate FireCuda 520, FireCuda 120, FireCuda Gaming SSD and BarraCuda Fast SSD. This new lineup of SSDs include internal as well as external ones.
Among these new SSDs the FireCuda 520 and FireCuda 120 are the internal gaming SSDs, while the FireCuda Gaming SSD and BarraCuda Fast SSD are the external ones.
According to Seagate the new FireCuda 520 delivers up to 45% more speed than PCIe Gen3 M.2 NVMe. It also writes that the FireCuda 120 is ideal for optimising performance, capacity, and speed for gamers. The FireCuda Gaming SSD and BarraCuda Fast SSD apparently deliver improved performance for gamers.
On the other hand Seagate FireCuda Gaming SSD works as a NVMe SSD in performance while BarraCuda Fast SSD is designed for speed and space and optimal SATA performance.
“Next-gen gaming is going to be all about high speed, robust performance, compatibility, and flexibility. We are committed to providing a whole new gaming experience to our customers in India,” says Sameer Bhatia, Director Asia Pacific, Consumer Business Group and Country Manager for SAARC & India, Seagate Technology.
“Whether it’s a boot drive to run heavy duty games or a secondary drive for mass storage and streaming, Seagate’s advanced gaming solutions help gamers push their builds and upgrades to the next level. Our gaming solutions deliver the performance, simplicity, and ingenious design to help gamers realise their peak potential.”
The Seagate FireCuda 520 is priced at Rs 13,999 for 500 GB, Rs 28,999 for 1TB and Rs 44,999 for 2TB capacities. The FireCuda 120 is priced at Rs 14,999, Rs 27,999 and Rs 57,999 for 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities.
Seagate is offering a five-year limited warranty with the FireCuda Gaming SSD. It is priced at Rs 32,999, Rs 39,999 and Rs 53,499 for 500GB, 1TB and 2TB capacities. For the BarraCuda Fast SSD, Seagate is offering a three-year limited warranty, and is priced at Rs 7,499 for 500 GB, Rs 14,999 for 1TB and Rs 28,799 for 2TB capacities.
The smartphone experience is not just driven by the hardware that the phone comes with. The software i.e. the user interface equally impacts how the overall user experience. While the jury on stock vs custom Android skin is still divided and is largely a personal preference, smartphone maker Vivo is set to replace its Funtouch OS interface with Origin OS.
According to a post on Vivo’s official Weibo account, the company is set to host a developer conference on November 19. During this event, VDC 2020, the company is expected to share its strategy around upcoming smartphones, applications, technology, overall business and most importantly the new Origin OS.
Citing a tipster, Digital Chat Station, SeekDevice reports that Origin OS basically stands for Original OS and will be significantly different from the Funtouch OS that powers current-gen Vivo devices. The first phone to rock this new UI could be one from the Vivo X60 series that is scheduled to launch next.
Though the exact date of the announcement of the Origin OS or its rollout is not clear as of now. To recall, Vivo was initially expected to replace Funtouch OS with Jovi OS, however, that project was stalled late last year.
That said, the current Funtouch OS has gone through a considerable amount of change during recent times. It was often criticised for icons and settings menu that were heavily inspired by iOS and was probably the only Android user interface in the wild that had the shortcut tray opening from the bottom of the display. However, recent phones like the Vivo X50 Pro and the Vivo V20 have incorporated a standard notification and shortcut tray that opens from the top.
Vivo is also often criticized for not rolling out security and firmware updates on time. Hopefully, the Origin OS can iron out these issues as well.
Just days after the Maharashtra government officially confirmed that it was in talks with Tesla to set up a new factory in the state, we have more information on how it plans to pull that off.
Last week, Aaditya Thackeray, the state tourism and environment minister, announced that Maharashtra has invited Tesla to set up a local plant. No further details were shared except that policies will be created to favour this endeavour. New developments have revealed that the government is considering offering land in prime locations such as Pune, Nashik and Nagpur for the next Gigafactory. Legacy automakers such as Mercedes, Tata, Jaguar, Volkswagen, etc. also have their vehicle plants around the same area.
Maharashtra has the geographical advantage of being close to the centre of the country as well as easily accessible ports for exports to other Asian, Middle-East and African countries. Industries Minister Subhash Desai said that the state will also offer "VIP treatment along with commensurate basic infrastructure facilities and special incentives for the company to make its foray into the India automotive industry."
Next year for sureOctober 2, 2020
Gujarat government is also looking to woo Tesla but those talks are still in early stages. It has also been invited to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Global Sumit in January 2021, according to a report by Divya Bhaskar. Previous information also stated that Tesla is considering setting up a first-of-its-kind R&D centre in Bangalore, which is the hub for many electric vehicle startups.
Last month, Elon Musk reinstated that Tesla will indeed commence operations in India in 2021. This is expected to start with the deliveries of the Model 3, post the configurator being available in January. Imported vehicles can be subjected to up to 100% duties, which would make any vehicles by the world’s most valuable auto company very expensive for a price-sensitive country like India. Having a local assembly should help it avoid some of these costs.
Musk previously stated that Tesla wants to produce over 20 million vehicles each year by 2030. If such ambitious figures are to be achieved, India will have to be on its radar.
AOL founder Steve Case was there in Dulles, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., when in 1996 the Communications Decency Act was passed as part of a major overhaul of U.S. telecommunications laws that President Bill Clinton signed into law. Soon after, in its first test, a provision of that act which states that, “[n]o provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider,” would famously save AOL’s bacon, too.
That wasn’t coincidental. In a wide-ranging call earlier today with Case — who has become an influential investor over the last 15 years through his Washington, D.C.-based firm Revolution and its early-stage, growth-stage, and seed-stage funds — he talked about his involvement in Section 230’s creation, and why the thinks it’s time to change it.
We’ll have more from our interview with Case tomorrow. In the meantime, here he talks about the related legal protections for online platforms that took center stage yesterday or, at least, were supposed to during the Senate’s latest Big Tech hearing.
In that early birthing stage of the internet, [we were all] figuring out what the rules of the road were, and the 230 provision was something I was involved in. I do think the first lawsuit related to it was related to AOL. But 25 years later, it’s fair to take a fresh look at it — [it’s] appropriate to take a fresh look at it. I’ve not recently spent enough time digging in to really have a strong point of view in terms of exactly what to change, but I think it’s fair to say that what made sense in those early days when very few people were online maybe doesn’t make as much sense now when when the entire world is online and the impact these platforms have is so significant.
At the same time, I think you have to be super careful. I think that’s what what the CEOs testifying [yesterday] were trying to emphasize. [It was] ‘We get that there’s a desire to relook at it. We also get that because of the election season, it’s become a highly politicized issue. Let’s engage in this discussion, and perhaps there are some things that need to be modified to reflect the current reality . . .let’s don’t do it just in the heat of a political moment.’
When we started AOL 35 years ago, only 3% of people are connected. They were only online about an hour a week, and it was still illegal, actually, for consumers or businesses to be on the internet [so] I spent a lot of time on commercializing the internet, opening up consumers and businesses, figuring out what the right rules of the road were in terms of things like taxes on e-commerce. And generally, we were able to convince regulators and government leaders that a light touch for the internet made sense, because it was a new idea, and it wasn’t clear exactly how it was going to develop.
But now, it’s not a new idea. And now it has a profound impact on people’s lives and our communities and countries. And so I’m not surprised that there’s more more focus on it, [though] it’s a little too bad that there’s so much attention right this moment because in an election season, things tend to get a little bit hot on both sides.
Putting that aside, I think there are legitimate issues that the policymakers need to be looking at and are starting to look at, not just in Washington, DC, but more broadly in Brussels. And I think having more of a dialogue between the innovators and the policymakers is actually going to be critical in this internet third wave, because the sectors up for grabs are most important aspects of our lives — things like health care and education and food and agriculture. And that’s really going to require not just innovation from a technology standpoint, but thoughtfulness from a a policy standpoint.
I understand entrepreneurs who get frustrated by regulations kind of slowing down the pace of information. I get that. Obviously, some of the businesses that we back have suffered from that. But at the same time, you can’t not expect the government — which is elected by the people — to serve the people, including protecting the people.”
Samsung Electronics today announced the launch of 'SmartThings Find', a new service that helps users quickly and easily locate Galaxy devices --- smartphones, tablets, smartwatches and earbuds.
SmartThings Find is now available on Samsung's Galaxy devices globally after the service was tested by 6 million users in South Korea, the USA and the UK for about two months, the company said in a press statement.
Samsung will provide a new software update for the service on Galaxy smartphones and tablets running Android 8 or later, Galaxy Watch smartwatches powered by Tizen 5.5 or above, and Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Live wireless earbuds.
After completing a quick registration process, SmartThings users can easily find their Galaxy devices – from smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, down to each individual earbud.
The app uses Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and ultra-wideband (UWB) technologies to help people find their Galaxy products.
"With the added advantage of using AR6 in conjunction with maps and sounds to guide you back to your devices, SmartThings Find is a simple and visual solution that will help you easily locate your favorite devices. This is just one example of the new meaningful mobile experiences that UWB technology will bring to people across the world,” said Jaeyeon Jung, Vice President and Head of SmartThings Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.
According to Samsung: Once a device has been offline for 30 minutes, it produces a BLE signal that can be received by other devices "If you report your device as lost via SmartThings Find, any nearby Galaxy smartphone or tablet that has opted into helping find misplaced devices can alert the Samsung server about its location, which will in turn notify you."
The service is also set to offer integrated map directions and sounds for users to quickly find a lost device.
Once you're close to your device, you can choose to either have your device 'ring' or locate it using the augmented reality-based search nearby function, which displays color graphics that increase in intensity when you are getting closer to your device, the company said.
All SmartThings Find user data is encrypted and securely protected, ensuring that the device’s location is not revealed to anyone except its owner.
SmartThings Find is similar to 'Find My App' that are native to Apple devices.
The highlight of the service is it will allow users to find their missing devices even if they are offline.
Samsung said it plans to start expanding such solutions to tracking tags early next year, so that users can locate not only Galaxy devices but also other items.
"We are excited to also be working closely with leading companies in the item-finding space to both expand this experience and enable you to find more of the belongings you care about most," said Jung Jae-yeon.
Source: Samsung
Rejoice, Star Wars fans - for you at least, 2020 just got a whole lot better! Season 2 of The Mandalorian has just launched on Disney Plus, with episode 1 released on the service globally today from 12am PT / 3am ET / 7am GMT / 6pm AEDT. This means we're about to see how Din Djarin's attempt to return Baby Yoda, aka 'The Child', to his kind is working out. Read on as we explain exactly how to watch The Mandalorian season 2, episode 1 online and stream the live-action Star Wars series with Disney Plus right now.
Season 2 of The Mandalorian is here and we're every bit as excited as you are! Episode 1 is out today, with new episodes available the same day each week. A subscription is dirt cheap too - Disney Plus costs from just $6.99/£5.99/AU$8.99 a month, so not a lot more than the price of one movie rental online.
While the latest films in George Lucas’ Star Wars series (and even the prequels that came before) have elicited more than a few 'mehs', The Mandalorian received rave reviews as soon as it was first released last November, with Pedro Pascal’s portrayal of Din Djarin (the titular Mandalorian) earning particular praise - though it's been Baby Yoda or 'The Child' that's taken the internet by storm.
Season 2 should be no different, featuring eight 40-minute episodes just like season 1, a new chapter being released every Friday on to Disney Plus at the times mentioned above.
Pedro Pascal is back as The Mandalorian/Din Djarin alongside Gina Carano as Cara Dune, Carl Weathers as Greek Karaga and Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon. However, several new actors are said to be joining the cast this season including Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett, Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano, Kattee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan Kryze and Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth.
Whether you’ve been eagerly awaiting the next season of Disney Plus’ live-action Star Wars series or just want to see what all the fuss surrounding Baby Yoda is about, we’ll show you exactly how to stream The Mandalorian season 2 and watch episode 1 online today, wherever you are in the world - or, indeed, the galaxy far, far away.
As Disney Plus has now rolled out in North America, Europe and parts of Asia with the Latin American launch scheduled for November, watching season 2 of The Mandalorian using the service will be easier than ever. If you’re located in a country that does have access to Disney Plus, you just need to head to the Disney Plus website and sign up for the service to watch new episodes of The Mandalorian.
Disney+ is going old school when it comes to how the episodes are being delivered. Rather than 'doing a Netflix' and putting all eight shows out there at once to binge, season 2 has premiered on Friday, October 30 with a single episode release, and subsequent 'chapters', as they're known in Star Wars-speak, will be released every Friday until the finale on Friday, December 18.
In addition to being the exclusive home of The Mandalorian and other Disney Plus original series, the service also gives you access to Disney’s huge back catalogue and Fox’s as well. This means that adults will be able to watch every episode of the Simpsons ever made while kids can watch classic Disney films like Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King and more. A Disney Plus subscription also gives you access to the latest Marvel movies and the entire Star Wars canon - all for just $6.99/£5.99/AU$8.99 a month.
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Disney Plus is already cheaper than competing streaming services like Netflix but you can save even more when you sign up for an annual subscription which gives you 15% off the monthly price. Obviously you have to splash the cash at the start, but with so much content to get stuck in to we very much doubt you'll run out of things to watch before the 12 months are up. You're looking at $69.99/£59.99/AU$89.99 for the year.
Or if your interests are farther reaching (and you're in the US), then we'd seriously suggest looking at the fantastic value bundle package. It adds Hulu and ESPN+ to your subscription price. The Hulu element opens up a world of Hulu Originals such as The Great, Upload, Helstrom and Normal People. While ESPN+ brings tonnes of exclusive live sport, highlights and documentaries. The combined bundle costs just $12.99 a month.
Disney Plus is showing no signs of slowing down since the service first launched last November and in addition to new episodes of The Mandalorian, subscribers can also look forward to the release of a Rogue One prequel series, a Clone Wars spinoff, WandaVision, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Monsters Inc.’s Monsters at Work and more.
The streaming service has apps for iOS and Android (of course), and is available to watch online via the likes of Amazon Fire TV Stick, PS4, Xbox One and Roku streaming devices.
Finally, now that Disney has set the precedent of releasing its live-action Mulan remake on the service instead of in theaters through its Premiere Access program, expect the company to bring more films that were originally intended to be shown on the big screen to Disney Plus soon.
Season 1 of The Mandalorian gave viewers a glimpse into what life was like after the fall of the Empire five years after the events of Return of the Jedi. The imperial forces may have been defeated but the Empire’s grip on the galaxy still holds as we saw when The Mandalorian sought out 'The Client', who uses Imperial stormtroopers as bodyguards, for work.
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With so many shows and movies to choose from on Australia's major streaming services, it can often be difficult to find the best new stuff to entertain yourself with when each weekend.
In an effort to make things easier, every Friday we'll be hand-picking the best new shows and movies to watch on Aussie streaming platforms throughout the weekend, covering the likes of Netflix, Disney Plus, Binge, Stan and Amazon Prime Video.
Below, you'll find a list of this weekend's highlights, separated by streaming service, with binge-worthy new shows sitting alongside some great big-budget new movie arrivals – and a couple of oddball left-of-field entries, just for some variety.
Thankfully, there's a nice selection of new shows and great movies landing on Australia's streaming services this weekend for watching this Friday through Sunday. Here are our streaming picks for the week of October 30 to November 1, 2020.
The Mandalorian: Season 2 (TV Series – season premieres 30/10/2020 )
In an effort to salvage what it can of this miserable year, Disney Plus is now ready to kick off the second season of its fantastic live-action Star Wars show, The Mandalorian! Premiering on Friday, October 30, the show's second season promises to be even bigger than the first, with The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) continuing his quest to protect The Child (a.k.a. Baby Yoda) from the nefarious Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito).
Truth Seekers (TV Series – available 30/10/2020 )
The hilarious duo of Nick Frost and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul) have joined forces once more for a new Amazon Prime Video original series. Frost plays Gus Roberts, a broadband installer who moonlights as a paranormal investigator. Together with his new trainee Elton John (Samson Kayo), the pair find themselves in the middle of an apocalyptic conspiracy.
Blood of Zeus (TV Series – available 24/10/2020)
Fans of Castlevania will likely get a kick out of Blood of Zeus, a new Netflix Original anime series that's based in the world of Greek Myth. The show follows Heron (Derek Phillips), son of Zeus (Jason O'Mara), who is tasked with stopping a demonic army which plans to take over the world.
The Undoing (TV Series – season premieres 26/10/2020 )
In this brand new HBO-produced series, Australia's own Nicole Kidman stars opposite Hugh Grant in a story about a successful therapist whose life is thrown into chaos on the eve of her first book being released. Expect numerous twists and turns in this thriller from David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies, The Practice).
Condor: Season 2 (TV Series – season premieres 31/10/2020)
Based on the classic spy novel Six Days of the Condor (which was adapted as Three Days of the Condor in a 1975 film starring Robert Redford), Condor follows a young CIA analyst named Joe Turner (Max Irons) who stumbles onto a conspiracy that could kill millions of people.
BBK Electronics owned Oppo, Realme, and OnePlus are primarily known for their smartphones in India. Now, all three smartphones makers are preparing to focus more on IoT products in India according to the new report.
Currently, OnePlus is selling its Smart TVs, audio accessories, and power bank in India apart from smartphones. Realme, on the other hand, is building an ecosystem with connected home devices like smart camera, life-style products, wearables, smart TVs, power banks. And, Oppo, on the other hand, has entered wearable recently with Oppo Watch and a bunch of Oppo Enco series audio products.
According to a report from The Economic Times, Oppo, OnePlus, and Realme will adopt an aggressive strategy in the coming days to increase their focus on IoT products in India which is currently led by Xiaomi.
After entering the wearable market in India with its audio products and Oppo Watch recently, Oppo is said to bring its smart TV range to India. Oppo TV S1 and Oppo TV R1 made its debut recently in China and we might see these models soon in India as well. However, we do not know which model will be made available in India exactly.
Realme who launched a coupe of affordable smart TVs and a new SLED TV recently is said to bring in mid-range and premium TVs with wide options in screen sizes. And, lastly OnePlus is said to focus on the affordable segment in the smart TV segment to attract more users.
Further, OnePlus is also said to make all of its smart TVs in India by 2021. The OnePlus Y series manufacturing started this year and all the OnePlus smart TVs will be made in India by 2021.
Realme will bring in three new smart TVs to India by next year. Brands hoping to have a complete eco-system are bringing in smart TVs as a first step. In the first quarter of 2020, Xiaomi led the smart TV segment with 27% share followed by LG and Samsung with 14% and 10% share respectively. Sony and TCL had 9% and 8% respectively.
“India is one of the key markets for us and we are constantly working towards introducing new affordable products which are essential for Indian consumers. We are accelerating into the era of the Internet of Things by actively expanding a richer IoT product portfolio,” said Oppo India spokesperson to The Economic Times.
Oppo announced its first-ever smart TV range in China a couple of weeks back. The company has unveiled Oppo TV S1 and OPPO TV R1. They are available in three different models. The Oppo TV S1 comes in 65-inch screen size while the Oppo TV R1 is available in 55-inch and 65-inch sizes.
While gaming laptops used to be niche enough that it was a little easily to search for the one that happened to be packing the best processor, GPU and RAM assortment, the field has exploded since then and it can be a little harder to determine the best gaming laptop.
The gaming laptop we're used to seeing – thick chassis with RGB and tapered flares – isn't the only option any more, with a variety of advancements (such as Nvidia's Max-Q technology) allowing the sleeker ultrabook form factor to harbour some incredible grunt as well.
Regardless of if you're in it for the stealthy, sleek numbers to slip in your satchel on the go, or an all-in-one replacement for a desktop rig, we've sifted through what's on offer to bring you the best gaming laptops available in Australia.
The best gaming laptop around
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS – 9 4900HS | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | RAM: Up to 32GB | Screen: 14-inch Non-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level panel, 120Hz – 14-inch Non-glare WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS-level panel, 60Hz | Storage: 512GB / 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
While the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is missing a webcam and a Thunderbolt 3 port, its solid battery life, compact form, and powerful specs do a fine job at balancing everything that gaming laptops should be offering. This is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop, delivering an incredible performance with its AMD Ryzen 4000 processors and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card while touting best-in-class battery life that will last you all day long, a fast display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a lightweight, ultrathin design. The best part is that you’re getting all that without burning a hole in your pocket. Don’t get us wrong; it isn’t cheap. However, for a laptop this impressive, we’re surprised Asus isn’t asking for more.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
An upgrade to the OLED marvel
CPU: Intel Core i7-10875H | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super (8GB GDDR6; MaxQ) | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch, 4K (3,840 x 2,160), 60HZ, AMOLED, Gloss | Storage: 512GB SSD
While the Aero 15 range from Gigabyte is aimed at designers, it makes for one of the best value gaming laptops on the Australian market right now due to its powerful internals, brilliant display, and sleek, stylish chassis. This year's model refreshes much of what was great about the 2019 model – packing a 15-inch 4K HDR screen which is ideal as a high-resolution on-the-go gaming monitor, media machine, or its intended design-centric use. It also ramps up the internals, with a 10th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU running the show and the latest RTX 2070 Super GPU in assistance.
Read the full review: Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED
Slays the field with truly face-melting performance
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 – i9 | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 16 series – RTX 20 Super series | RAM: up to 64GB | Screen: 17.3" Thin Bezel FHD 1920x1080 240Hz Anti-Glare Display | Storage: 1TB SSD (PCIe), 2TB HDD
The Gigabyte Aorus 17X is hardly for everyone, especially with that breathtakingly steep price. However, if you are looking for a laptop that can pretty much slay anything in its path, this one’s got that face-melting performance you’re looking for, with 10th-generation Intel Core processors and Nvidia’s most powerful GPUs for gaming. Besides its performance, it’s got a few other things going for it including a display that is a complete stunner, a mechanical keyboard (nothing short of that is good for gaming) that’s incredible to use and build quality that’s designed to last.
Read the full review: Gigabyte Aorus 17X
The new affordable gaming king
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 4600H – 7 4800H | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660TI – RTX 2060 | RAM: up to 32 GB SDRAM | Screen: 15.6" (16:9) FHD (1920x1080) 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel – 15.6" (16:9) FHD (1920x1080) 144Hz Anti-Glare IPS-level Panel | Storage: 1TB 5400 rpm SATA HDD – 256GB/512GB/1TB PCIe Gen3 SSD
Give us a laptop that touts one of AMD’s stellar Ryzen 400 mobile processors, and we’d be more than happy to try it on for size. What we found in the Asus TUF A15, however, is not just fantastic gaming performance, but a great value gaming rig with a long battery life and military-grade durability as well. With the help of Nvidia’s most powerful 1080p graphics cards, this Ryzen 4000-powered laptop will see you through all your 1080p gaming demands without burning a hole in your pocket. Whether you play a lot of competitive esports, or need a rugged laptop, this one’s a winner.
Read the full review: Asus TUF A15
Gaming power meets ultrabook style
CPU: Intel Core i7-8750H 2.20GHz | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q (8GB GDDR6 VRAM) | RAM: 32GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) 144H
Considering the huge 17.3-inch display, it's amazing that this laptop manages to be at once compact and sleek while still packing the latest GPU and plenty of gaming power to boot. It's an improvement on the GS65 in most ways (but it's certainly still great - see below), although the most significant bump is the inclusion of Nvidia's RTX 2080 GPU and a stupendous 32GB of RAM. The Samsung SSDs come in a RAID configuration for ultra-fast speeds, and the screen has tiny thin bezels on all four sides. There is no doubt that this is a premium beast.
Read the review: MSI GS75 Stealth
A fantastic value
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 4600H – 7 4800H | Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5600M | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare LED Backlight Non-Touch Narrow Border WVA Display – 15.6 inch FHD(1920x1080) 300nits WVA Anti-Glare LED Backlit Display(non-touch), 144Hz refresh rate | Storage: 256GB – 1TB SSD
Though Dell has its premium lines, it’s also been very good at building excellent budget machines. The Dell G5 15 SE (2020) is a very good example of that, touting impressive AMD specs, especially in the CPU department, to keep cost down without compromising performance. This is among the very few gaming laptops out there that are affordable and also deliver a staggering performance for the price, with a stunning display to boot. Of course, being a budget laptop, some sacrifices have been made – namely, its build and heat management. However, for the budget-minded, this is certainly among the best gaming laptops out there for gaming.
Read the full review: Dell G5 15 SE (2020)
Power and beauty
CPU: Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 – GeForce GTX 2080 Max-Q (8GB GDDR6 VRAM) | RAM: 8GB – 24GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) 144Hz panel with G-Sync
These days, the best gaming laptop manufacturers are scrambling to craft the thinnest gaming laptop packing raw power. Right now, the one that might be leading the charge is the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701. At just 0.7 inches thick, this beast of a laptop boasts an Intel Coffee Lake Core i7 chip, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics and 16GB of RAM. That means you can play any PC game under the sun on Ultra, and also take it with you wherever you go – ideal for travelers with a penchant for gaming. Plus, it’s packed with RGB lighting that’ll dazzle just about anyone.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX701
Thin. Beautiful. Powerful.
CPU: Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 (8GB GDDR5X VRAM, Max-Q) | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) anti-glare, wide-view 144Hz panel | Storage: 512GB M.2 SSD
If you want to play some of the best PC games on the move, but you don’t want everyone to know you’re playing games, the MSI GS65 Stealth is the best gaming laptop for you. Coming in at just 17.5mm thick and featuring impressive hardware like Intel Coffee Lake processors and Nvidia GeForce GTX 10-series – refreshed with RTX 20-series graphics at CES – the MSI GS65 Stealth packs a ton of power into a very svelte package. There’s nothing you won’t be able to throw at this thing that’ll slow it down. And, thanks to the subdued design, you’ll be able to bring this beefy rig everywhere you go, making it on of the best gaming laptops on the market right now.
Read the full review: MSI GS65 Stealth
Gaming in style
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 | Graphics: up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super | RAM: 16GB DDR4 | Screen: 144Hz FHD Matte or OLED 4K – 300Hz FHD Matte or OLED 4K Touch | Storage: Up to 1TB PCIe
Expensive though it may be – as is usual with the Razer Blade line – 2020’s installment of the Razer Blade 15 is staggeringly powerful, more than capable of annihilating any PC game you throw at it. With up to an RTX 2080 Super in the GPU department, there’s no doubt of its extra oomph, which makes it an excellent candidate for creative professionals as well, especially with that design that keeps things classy and a trackpad that’s among the best we’ve tested on a gaming laptop. If you’ve got deep pockets and you like to keep things stylish, this is the best gaming laptop for you.
Read the full review: Razer Blade 15 (2020)
Big, powerful, industrial
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i7 – i9 | Graphics: up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super with Max-Q | RAM: Up to 64GB DDR4 | Screen: 17.3-inch Thin Bezel 240Hz FHD 1920x1080 anti-glare display LCD | Storage: 2x M.2 SSD
If you want an absolute beast of a gaming laptop, Gigabyte’s Aorus 17G is a worthy candidate both inside and out. While this megalithic portable has a substantial weight of 2.7kg to match, it’s a small price to pay for such power inside – namely, 10th-generation processors and up to 64GB of memory, as well as Nvidia’s most powerful RTX and Super RTX cards. There’s nothing this laptop can handle (or annihilate), making it a prime example of what a next-generation desktop replacement can be. And, that’s without mentioning its 1080p display touting a whopping 240Hz refresh rate and its solid build. Just be ready to break that piggy bank, as this won’t be cheap.
Read the full review: Gigabyte Aorus 17G
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