Author: Duncan Pike

Privacy and security-focused software company Brave Software has entered the video conferencing realm with a privacy-conscious video chat feature built directly into their own browser, called Brave Talk. Users of the Brave browser can initiate a video call directly in the browser by clicking on the camera icon or by going to talk.brave.com. Calls need to be started within the Brave browser, but once started can include participants using any browser. The feature is made possible using the open-source ‘Jitsi as a Service’ platform and so features many of the same privacy features as Jitsi Meet. Because you can use…

In Samsung’s lineup of devices, the Fan Edition (FE) series is the company’s attempt to bring the flagship smartphone experience to the masses at an affordable price. So far, they’ve done pretty well. When the S20 FE launched last year it was by no means a perfect smartphone. But it did garner a fanbase for those who want value for money and also want to stay in Samsung’s ecosystem. The newest entry to the series, the S21 FE, was first accidentally confirmed by Samsung itself and fans have been patiently waiting ever since. The device was initially expected to release…

Youtube is testing out a feature that allows users to download videos, but it’s not available to all users and it doesn’t work how you’d think. So don’t be too quick to get your hopes up. A few things to get out of the way first. First off, this is just a trial run of the feature and it’s only available to Premium subscribers. Does anyone actually pay for that? The other disappointment is that, at least for now, you can’t watch the videos outside of your browser. So while you’re still technically downloading the videos, it might be better…

As we draw closer to the 5 October launch of Windows 11, you might still have some questions about the next Operating System (OS). The biggest and most important of those is probably, ‘can my PC even run this thing?’ because Microsoft wasn’t exactly leaping to explain all of the new, kinda strict requirements.  Initially, Microsoft had the PC Health Check app that would attempt to answer those questions for you. The problem was if it found a problem it wouldn’t tell you why. Then Microsoft took the app away and with it, the most convenient way to check if…

OnePlus announced today that it will not releasing a new phone this year and will be replacing OxygenOS for OnePlus devices and ColorOS for Oppo devices with a “unified and upgraded global operating system.” The company’s CEO Pete Lau confirmed this in a press briefing for its unified OS announcement.  OnePlus have released a T version of its number flagship range since 2016’s 3T which is usually an incremental upgrade to the existing flagship range. Well, not this year. The next flagship device we’ll see from them will be some time next year. It will ship with the new OS…

Sony recently released a new firmware update for both the 1000 series and 1100 series PS5s. This update can, in certain cases, give you a little extra performance. Not a whole lot though, we’re talking about a few percentage points here which can translate to about 2-3fps. Still, they’re frames you didn’t have before. If you didn’t know, earlier this month, the PS5 received a hardware revision that changed the cooling system a little but functions more or less the same as the launch consoles. The launch consoles have the model number CFI-1000 and the revised consoles are labelled CFI-1100,…

When Android 11 launched last year, it came with a feature that reset the permissions of apps that weren’t used for a few months. Now, Google has announced it is bringing this feature to billions of older devices, running Android 6.0 and up. The change is expected to ship out in December this year to devices running Google Play services and Android 6.0 or newer. The feature helps to improve the privacy and security of a user’s device. After a few months, your phone’s OS will reset the permissions of unused apps so when the app needs permission to access…

Google might be upping charging speeds for Pixel 6 -- finally Image: Google Google’s next flagship smartphones, the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, are on their way with Google’s new tensor chips and we’re waiting with bated breath. While Google has officially confirmed the devices exist and that they’ll be running tensor chips, that’s about

If you’re one of the roughly 209 million people that have a Netflix account and you use a laptop or PC to stream your movies and series, then you should know that you only really have two choices if you want to get the most out of it. If you want the best experience out of your Netflix and chill sessions, you’ll need a premium subscription. That allows you to stream 4K HDR content on up to four devices simultaneously — provided your internet connection is fast enough. There are a few other considerations to keep in mind if you…

LG is the latest display manufacturer to enter the scalable display market. Well, its digital signage solutions have been around for a while, but now it’s bringing them to your house. Well, not your house — and we wouldn’t call the places you’d put these in ‘houses’ — mansion, estate, villa or castle might be more appropriate.  Unlike most modern LCD TVs, which have an LCD screen and some sort of LED backlight, with LG’s Direct View LED TV (DVLED) Extreme Home Cinema, you’re looking directly at the LEDs. The same is true (kinda) for microLED TVs like Samsung’s The…