Author: Stuff writer

It’s nearly the end of August, which means anyone who relies on the free games released monthly for PlayStation Plus and/or Xbox Live Gold subscribers is looking ahead to what’s next. Luckily, both Sony and Microsoft just released their lists. On the Sony side of things, the biggest news is that Ubisoft’s colorful Grow Home (above) has won the first user vote for a free PlayStation Plus game, and it’ll be a gratis download for PlayStation 4 in September. PS4 owners can also grab Super Time Force Ultra, an updated port of the retro-flavoured side-scroller first seen on Xbox consoles,…

With Apple’s next iPhone event looming, the rumour mill has spun into overdrive. The latest info-nugget to spill out of the supply chain concerns the iPhone 6s/7’s camera, which a source claims will use a 12MP sensor. The current iPhone 6 uses an 8MP sensor and does so very well. Despite virtually all rival phones boasting substantially more megapixels, we still rate the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’ cameras as among the best in the business. Essentially, Apple does more with 8MP than most manufacturers can with 16MP. According to the source, who claims to work somewhere in Apple’s supply…

Samsung’s year in tablets has hardly been a quiet one, with the Galaxy Tabs E, A and S2 all having emerged since the turn of the calendar, and a further Tab rumoured for IFA come September. But it seems, at least where the South Korean manufacturer is concerned, that quantity just isn’t enough: according to SamMobile, the tech giant is working on a, well, giant tablet. With most modern tablets packing somewhere between 7in to 9in displays, with the upper end pushing 10.1in or so, Samsung is reportedly dwarfing them all with a whopping 18.4in display. TITANIC TABLET Yep, you read…

Earlier this month, Google made a surprising announcement: it would no longer be in charge of its own destiny. Well, sort of. See, Google launched a new company called Alphabet to oversee it, and Alphabet will also preside over other companies. In essence, “Google” will only be used as a brand for Internet-related pursuits, while the company’s more experimental efforts will be spun off into their own companies under the Alphabet umbrella. And as promised, the first of those moves was just announced today. Remember when Google said it was making smart contact lenses that could monitor the blood sugar…

Many of us view MMS messages throughout each and every week, but if you have an Android phone and the message comes from a malicious source, it could well make your device vulnerable to hackers. That’s according to Zimperium Mobile Security, whose researchers discovered a host of vulnerabilities within Stagefright, the media playback engine found within Android 2.2 and higher. Google surely now regrets that name, given the problems that Stagefright could introduce. Zimperium says that the malicious code can be executed simply by receiving the MMS message, so anyone with your phone number could send it – and there’s…

Windows 10 will be pumped into PCs all around the world today, 29 July, and existing Windows 7 and 8.1 users will be able to get it for free*. Hooray! Before you upgrade however, there are a few bits of housekeeping you need to sort out, if you want everything to go smoothly: *Windows 7 Enterprise, Windows 8/8.1 Enterprise, and Windows RT/RT 8.1 users aren’t eligible for the free upgrade. Sorry folks. 1. GET UP TO DATE Before you start anything, make sure all the latest updates have been installed on your PC. If you’re a Windows 7 user, that…

Leaks for the Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 Edge Plus have come at a rapid pace in recent weeks, with an official reveal rumoured for mid-August – and sure enough, Samsung has just announced a Galaxy Unpacked event for then. It’ll take place on 13 August in New York, according to the invite received by some tech sites and the teaser Samsung posted online (see above), and beyond the in-person event, it appears that Samsung will livestream the event on YouTube, as well. Based on all we’ve seen and heard, the Galaxy Note 5 looks to take its aesthetic…

Another day, another set of leaked Galaxy Note 5 pictures spilling into the web. These shots show what appears to be a retail-ready example of Samsung’s next phablet in gold livery and a white press-on protective case (possibly third-party rather than Samsung-made). There are a couple of AT&T apps visible on the home screen, suggesting this is running a finalised – or very near-finalised – version of the phablet’s software. But aside from giving us all yet more images of what’s shaping up to be a very exciting phone, this latest leak seems significant for what it reveals about the…

Nintendo’s days as purely a console/portable game and hardware maker – and nothing else – are about to be behind them, as the company explores smartphone gaming. But Nintendo has been poking around in other, less obvious markets. Last October, Nintendo revealed plans to launch a “Quality of Life” platform in 2016, with a non-wearable sleep tracker that would use cloud servers to measure and analyze your slumber. That’s all we heard at the time, but it was certainly an unexpected twist from the company. Now, a Japanese patent application discovered over the past weekend (but filed last year) shows…

Samsung traditionally announces its yearly Galaxy Note update during Berlin’s IFA tech show, which takes place in September. However, rumours abound that the company may unveil the phablet a little earlier than that this year. Chinese site Sogi reports that the Galaxy Note 5 may be launched in a standalone event in August. Why would Samsung announce so early? Sogi contends it could be a bid to get it out into the world before Apple unveils its next iPhone, of which there’s likely to be a “Plus” phablet edition. It could also be simply that Samsung knows that launching an…