We reviewers are used to obsessing over incremental technology changes, but every now and then a supernova appears on our radar – something that can single handedly change the status quo.
The AMD Ryzen 4000 family is one such supernova and promises to bring some of the best processing performance ever to laptops, at a price that defies logic.
When we first laid eyes on the Ideapad 5 15, it was immediately clear Lenovo is going for the jugular.
Available for as as little as £475 (roughly $ 590/AU$ 920), the IdeaPad is considered an entry level model, so we were delighted to see the AMD Ryzen 7 4700U making an emphatic appearance.
The laptop comes with 8GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD (M.2 2242, PCIe-NVMe, TLC) and, most importantly, you can swap out Windows 10 for FreeDOS (an MS-DOS equivalent).
You can also add a dummy hard disk drive for free, which means you can integrate a secondary 2.5-inch SSD at a later date.
It also features a 15.6-inch full HD TN display, which you can swap for a touch/non-touch superior IPS model for a small additional fee.
Likewise, if your budget will allow, you can add a fingerprint reader, replace the 45Whr battery with a 57Whr model and exchange the Wireless 2×2 AC for a more advanced Wi-Fi 6 2×2 AX.
Note, the machine is not yet available in Australia or the US, but we've contacted Lenovo to find out when it will appear in non-European regions.
Apple's new iPhone SE is available to buy now around the world. If you've been waiting to pick up a new iPhone that doesn't cost as much as a member of the iPhone 11 range, now is the time to do it.
The new iPhone SE has a 4.7-inch screen, the modern A13 Bionic chipset and a 12MP rear camera. In other words, it's an iPhone 8 that's been jazzed up a bit with some modern internal tech.
You can pick up the new iPhone SE (2020) from $ 399 / £419 / AU$ 749, which is a lot less than the $ 699 / £729 / AU$ 1,199 iPhone 11. In fact, this price is decidedly mid-range compared to the main-series phone, and while we'd struggle to call it 'cheap' given you can pick up a decent Android phone for half the price, it's still a low cost for people who want an Apple device.
If you've read the above, and our iPhone SE (2020) review, and you've decided it's the new phone for you, it's pretty easy to pick up the new iPhone.
We've prepared a page full of iPhone SE deals which should help you find a bargain in your region, whether that's with a carrier offering money back or a great contract.
We're always scouring the internet for the best iPhone SE (2020) prices for you, and as well as in our deals page, you can find the best in your region below:
We're expecting the iPhone 12 announcement to take place in September, however there are claims the handset's release date might be as late as 2021, and a new iPhone 12 leak is giving us another possible release window.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is perhaps the most reliable source regarding information on upcoming Apple products, has said (as reported by 9to5Mac) that while there are four iPhone 12 products coming later this year, they won't all be released at once.
Kuo seems to think that the two smaller iPhones – the 5.4-inch and 6.1-inch models – will enter mass production in September, with a larger 6.7-inch device only getting that far in October.
It's not clear what the fourth iPhone will be, though it's possible it's also a 6.7-inch device (which we'll get to in a moment).
The diminutive (by today's standards) 4.7-inch iPhone SE (2020) – launched in mid-April – went into production in mid-March. This would suggest, going by Kuo's statement, that the new iPhone 12 handsets may not be available until October and November respectively.
Unlike the iPhone 11 range, which became available all in one go, it seems the new iPhone 12 models may be released in waves.
This wouldn't be the first time Apple has staggered the release of its iPhone line. Wind the clock back to 2017, and the launch of the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X, to see the later arriving a few months after the 8 and 8 Plus went on sale.
What are these four iPhones?
There's not been much word, from Kuo or otherwise, on what the four iPhones will be, but we've got a few ideas.
Based on precedent, we'd expect there to be a standard iPhone 12 model as well as an iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. We've heard leaks about that latter phone, but that doesn't confirm the name will be used, because it was just provided by the leaker based on the iPhone 11 names.
The fourth device could be the anticipated 5G iPhone, which multiple rumors have stated is coming in 2020. We don't know much about the specs of this phone, or how it fits in the iPhone 12 range, but since Kuo only states three different sizes, it's possible the 5G iPhone will be the same size as the most top-end 4G device, perhaps 6.7 inches.
That would leave a curiously large gap between the phone sizes, with 0.7 inches between the small and medium devices and 0.6 inches between the medium and biggest, which is more of a gap than Apple has left in the past, but it's possible it's just trying to distinguish its devices more.
It's also possible this extra phone is the iPhone SE Plus, which we're been hearing about, and that would make sense with the 5.1-inch sizing. However that would leave the 5G iPhone mysteriously absent.
We'll find out more about the iPhone 12 range come September 2020, when we're expecting to see the handsets. Stay tuned to TechRadar before then for all the latest news, leaks and rumors.
We reviewed the Lhmzniy A9 not so long ago, and it remains one of the most promising laptops from China we’ve encountered in 2020. It comes with Windows 10 Pro, 16GB of RAM in dual channel, a webcam cover and a tiny charger – not to mention a premium finish that doesn't seem to match its affordable price tag.
Fast forward to April and a slightly larger clone has entered the market: the KUU K1.
The KUU K1 looks a lot like the bigger brother of the A9, with a 15.6-inch display and a full numeric keypad. The 256GB model is available for a mere $ 394.99 (around £350/AU$ 685) from Gearbest, using coupon code O4883112F39EB000 for a saving of $ 31.
The slightly more expensive 512GB model costs only $ 419.99 (roughly £375/AU$ 735) with coupon code D4883220F65EB001, which reduces the price by $ 36.
One key difference between the lookalike devices is the inclusion of a Core i5-5257U CPU in the KUU K1. It's an old CPU, launched in 2015, but with a base clock speed of 2.7GHz and a relatively powerful Iris Graphics 6100 GPU, it is still competitive with the likes of the Intel Core i5-7200U according to CPUBenchmark numbers.
The rest of the specification is also unheard of at this price point: 8GB of RAM with a Magnesium Aluminum alloy, support for two SSDs (256GB or 512GB SSD), a fingerprint reader, and an IPS full HD display.
The machine also features 802.11ac, a 38Whr battery, two USB ports, a micro-HDMI interface, a card slot and a headphone jack. The webcam is located on the hinge, similar to the older Dell XPS 13 laptops, and should come with a privacy cover.
Note, Gearbest ships worldwide, but the exact cost in your local currency will be calculated in real time and displayed at checkout.
The best TED Talks make you think, leave you inspired and, very often, make you laugh as well. We've been watching Ted Talks evolve and grow over the last 15 years and have come to treasure the nuggets of wisdom they impart.
But if you're just discovering Ted Talks for the first time – or feel like you've missed a bunch throughout the years – we want to help you dive head-first into the heady lecture series with a round-up of our absolute favorites: What you'll find below is a collection of personal picks from the TechRadar team that we feel best exemplify what a Ted Talk can be.
Not seeing one of your favorite talks below? Drop me an email and I'll try to add it to the list.
How to gain control of your free time by Laura Vanderkam
There’s a certain irony in watching a YouTube video on how to save time, but Laura Vanderkam’s talk is worth the 10 minutes of your life. It’s all built on the basic idea that shaving 5 minutes here and there from your favorite activities isn’t really going to give you more control of your life – rather, you need to set priorities for yourself and then build a schedule around those priorities.
The hilarious example Vanderkam offers is that, instead of skipping commercials to save eight minutes of every half hour of TV you watch, maybe you could just watch a little less TV and do something else with your time. The message is simple, effective and engaging, all the hallmarks of a good TED Talk.
What makes a good life? Lessons from the longest study on happiness by Robert Waldinger
“Good relationships keep us healthier and happier. Period.” That’s the results of a landmark study of happiness conducted by more than four generations of researchers over the last 75 years, tracking hundreds of participants and measuring every facet of their lives.
This Ted Talk takes awhile to get to the juicy details but the story of this preternatural study on happiness illustrates the lengths the researchers have gone through to get this invaluable data that shows us what makes people happy at the end of their lives. The results sound simple – almost infuriatingly so – but the lesson here is that anyone can be happy with the right relationships in their lives.
The game that can give you 10 extra years of life by Jane McGonigal
Gamers, it turns out, are pretty awesome. They’re committed to saving virtual worlds and with the right skills and focus they might be able to save the physical world, too. McGonigal, a game developer and author, has spent years creating different apps and games that use in-game rewards to push players to solve real world problems.
The talk, which is a bit long at 20 minutes, walks the audience through her previous experiences creating these games and the research data that she uses to get gamers engaged before diving into Superbetter, the app she developed to make everyone who plays it live better, fuller lives.
The art of asking by Amanda Palmer
Former busker-turned-successful-musician Amanda Palmer has a key lesson for everyone: don’t be afraid to ask. Society puts an inherent shame on those who ask – whether that’s for financial help or security, emotional help or even basic requests like where to find something – when, in fact, asking for help is one of the best things we can do. Asking, Palmer says, is inherently human and powerful, it allows us to create connections and leverage those connections to do more. That was evident when she wanted to crowdfund her band’s next CD, asking for $ 100,000, and raising over a million dollars instead.
The point here is that next time you look down on someone asking, instead view them with compassion and make a connection – because in the long run that’s more powerful, more effective and, well, more human.
The first 20 hours — how to learn anything by Josh Kaufman
Have you ever heard the old adage about needing to spend 10,000 hours to learn a skill? Good news, it's wrong. As it turns out, the research that factoid is taken from was studying experts in their respective fields, and not, say, the average trombonist.
In this talk, new father Josh Kaufman walks us through how long it actually takes to learn a skill – which, incidentally, is only around 20 hours. Now sure, 20 hours of practice isn't going to make you the next Bobby Fischer, but it will be enough time to teach you the basics and, most importantly, how to auto-correct yourself when you've done something amiss. If you've ever felt like the ship has sailed on learning a new language, playing an instrument or learning a new skill, this talk is for you.
Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong by Johann Hari
Journalist and author Johann Hari (Lost Connections, Chasing the Scream) offers a wide-ranging look at addiction in this 14-minute talk, whether that’s addiction to hard drugs, alcohol, or the endlessly-updating feeds on our smartphones.
We tend to think of addiction as a problem caused by the substance itself. We say that phones are addictive, or heroin is addictive – but Hari makes a case for a more nuanced understanding, one that sees how social circumstance affects our propensity for addiction, and the difference that strong bonds to those around us can make.
The power of vulnerability by Brené Brown
With over 47 million views, Brené Brown’s Ted Talk on the power of vulnerability is one of the most watched Ted Talks of all time, and for good reason.
In this 20-minute presentation, Brown shares what she’s learnt about the nature of shame, and how our fear of vulnerability prevents us from being able to fully embrace ourselves. As a researcher trained to “control and predict” phenomena, she shares her difficulty accepting the idea that to live fully is to stop attempting to “control and predict” at all.
An incredibly powerful talk that shows you – rather than just telling you – what it means to be vulnerable, and explores what a world that embraces vulnerability might look like.
Meeting the Enemy: A feminist comes to terms with the Men’s Rights movement by Cassie Jaye
What filmmaker Cassie Jaye does here that’s so special is that she walks us through an immense period of growth in her life thought-by-thought. At one point a stringent feminist, Jaye began a documentary about the Men’s Rights movement that asks for the acknowledgement of certain, specific issues that men face – a movement she thought ran counter to the central points of feminism.
What she learned in over a hundred hours of interviews with men’s rights activists is that these men didn’t want fewer rights for women, but some of the same care and devotion to some of the issues impacting men like veteran care, suicide, disproportionate parental control, length of prison sentences and others that do well and truly impact the life of men. The evolution of Jaye’s thoughts and the admission of her own preconceived notions is enthralling from beginning to end.
How I climbed a 3,000-foot vertical cliff without ropes by Alex Honnold
If you don’t have time for the excellent – but nearly two-hour – documentary Free Solo, check out this 10-minute Ted Talk by legendary rock-climber Alex Honnold who did something many thought to be impossible – or at least incredibly dangerous – when he climbed El Capitan, a sheer rock face in Yosemite National Park without ropes.
Honnold’s Ted Talk gives a great overview of the climb, as well as his previous experiences leading up to it. Listening to Honnold describe certain parts of the trek are legitimately sweat-inducing and his experiences post-climb are both hilarious and heart-warming. It’s well-worth the watch.
This is what happens when you reply to spam email by James Veitch
Not all Ted Talks have to be heady ventures to the core of who we are. They can, in fact, just be funny and lighthearted, too. There’s no better example of these kinds of talks than the ones given by James Veitch (yes there’s more than one) wherein he takes annoying-but-easily-ignorable situations like unsubscribing from an email chain and turn them into absurdly funny matches of verbal wit between two utterly committed individuals. If you need a laugh after all this profound introspection, Veitch’s talks are the best bet.
BONUS: Bobby McFerrin Demonstrates the Power of the Pentatonic Scale
OK, while this one technically isn’t a Ted Talk, it has the spirit of one and includes Bobby McFerrin, which really just sells itself.
Just try not to sing along, it's impossible not to.
Looking for more things to watch? Check out our list of the best Netflix shows
One World: Together at Home LIVE – This event is now underway and Jenifer Hudson has opened affairs with a breathtaking rendition of Hallelujah – a stunning cover of the classic Leonard Cohen song that's right up there with the seminal Jeff Buckley version.
This weekend's must-watch TV is as an absolute no-brainer as the music and cultural event of the century takes place tonight. Curated by Lady Gaga, it's the spiritual successor to Live Aid and features a historic line-up of acts all turning out to raise money for the WHO and coronavirus frontline workers around the globe. Here's how to watch the One World: Together at Home – stream the concert live and for free wherever you are in the world with our easy-to-understand guide
Hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert, the One World: Together at Home line-up is beyond the wildest dreams of even the biggest festival promoters. There's musical legends in the form of Elton John, Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder; celebrity royalty like The Beckhams, Oprah and Samuel L. Jackson; and three of biggest acts of 2020 in event curator Lady Gaga, Billie Ellish and Taylor Swift.
Beyond that, disgruntled 90s youths get their fix thanks to Eddie Vedder, Billie Joe Armstrong and Alanis Morissette. Even classical music fans have a treat in store courtesy of Andrea Bocelli and Lang Lang, while those after an even smoother groove can look forward to Alicia Keyes, Usher, and Jenifer Hudson – by way of Pharrell, Rita Ora and Sam Smith.
And for those who prefer the firmly inoffensive, there's Chris Martin, Michael Buble and The Killers – because nothing screams 'lockdown' like a Mr Brightside singalong on Houseparty.
Heck, even the cast of Sesame Street is scheduled to appear! We're sure you'll want to tune in to this massive global event, which will see proceeds donated to the World Health Organization and frontline coronavirus healthcare workers, so without further ado – here's how to watch One World: Together at Home and stream the biggest concert of modern times for free no matter where you are in the world tonight.
How to watch One World: Together at Home in the US – stream live and for free online
How to watch One World: Together at Home – UK time and free live stream details
Where to watch a One World: Together at Home stream for free in Canada tonight
Live stream One World: Together at Home and watch in Australia for free this weekend
How to watch One World: Together at Home – stream the conert from anywhere in the world
The One World: Together at Home concert is being widely shown on free-to-air channels all over the globe, as well as being available for free online streaming via a number of popular services. However, if you can't access the platform you want due to geo-blocking restrictions, there's an easy solution.
Downloading a VPN will allow you to stream One World: Together at Home no matter where you are. This simple bit of software changes your IP address so that you can access content from anywhere in the world, simply by pointing yourself to the location where it's available.
Too Hot to Handle on Netflix is the spiritual successor to Love is Blind, and the new steamy dating show is now streaming on the service, just in time for the weekend.
The Netflix series casts a number of gregarious, good-looking singles, sends them to an island resort, and asks them to cohabitate for a few weeks.
The catch here, because these shows always need a catch to stay relevant, is that they can’t… canoodle. If they can abstain for physical intimacy for the length of the contest, they’ll win $ 100,000 – but hey, either way it’s a win-win amiright?
The series has eight 40-minute episodes that all dropped today… which will likely be gobbled up and all over social media by the time Sunday rolls around.
Does Netflix have the hots for trashy TV?
So what's the deal with all these new dating shows on Netflix? While traditional cable has always relied on one or two of these types of shows to woo viewers during primetime, Netflix traditionally has strayed away from going there.
But that seemingly changed with The Circle, a game show about catfishing your opponents through a pseudo social network, and also Love is Blind, which tasked contestants to go on a number of blind dates without seeing one another before picking a partner whom they’d marry at the end of the show.
Honestly, you can't fault Netflix for falling into the same trap that other networks fall into – these shows are relatively cheap to make (there's no special effects or big-name actors) and they draw a lot of attention.
While this one probably won't hook me personally, it's nice to see Netflix keeping others entertained during a particularly un-fun time.
After a whirlwind of leaks, Crytek announced the game, for PC, Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch, coming Summer 2020 (June-August for folks in the Southern Hemisphere). Crysis Remastered will be filled to the brim with technological advancements, with software-based ray tracing being chief among them.
Either way, we'll show you how to build a PC so you're ready for Crysis Remastered
We've reached out to both Crytek and Nvidia about what exactly this means, and will be sure to update this article if we hear back from either company, but it could be a game changer. Most ray tracing found in the best PC games right now is hardware-based, thanks to Nvidia Turing's RT cores that accelerate this computationally heavy workload.
It's extremely likely that Nvidia's RT cores will still be able to accelerate Crysis Remastered ray tracing, so that's not such a huge deal. The huge news here is that it will open the window to other hardware manufacturers (read: AMD) to easily get ray tracing running on their hardware.
Crysis with ray tracing is going to be quite the visual delight. The original game, launched way back in 2007, still looks good to this day, so coupled with all the other visual additions, Crysis Remastered could very well end up being 2020's graphics tech showcase. We'll just have to wait and see, though.
Look at all that juicy tech
No matter what happens, you should just brace yourself for an onslaught of "can it run Crysis" jokes.
Besides the always-demanding ray tracing, Crysis Remastered is going to be including stuff like volumetric fog and god rays, along with what Crytek is calling "state-of-the-art" depth of field. To someone who doesn't spend their lives surrounded with PC gaming jargon probably won't know what these mean, and that's fine.
What you need to know is that this will make Crysis Remastered look really good, and may make the title verge more into remake territory rather than the straightforward remasters we're used to.
Given that Crytek's teaser trailer opens with a bunch of clipped comments about Crysis's legacy as an extremely demanding PC game, we're putting our money on Crysis Remastered taking that legacy back.
We were finally able to run original Crysis at 4K 60 fps with everything maxed out on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti – now it's time for Crysis to push that out of reach once more. And, really, we're totally OK with that.
Creating video ads can be a costly and time consuming process which is why YouTube has launched a new tool to help small businesses create simple videos to better reach their customers.
The company's YouTube Video Builder has already been in the testing phase for several months but Google decided to fast track the tool's beta release to allow businesses to easily advertise their products during the global pandemic when in-person video shoots are no longer possible.
In a blog post announcing the beta of YouTube Video Builder, director of product management at YouTube ads, Ali Miller explained how both large and small businesses can use the tool to reach their customers, saying:
“Different businesses have different creative needs. A restaurant may want to communicate changing hours or promotions, while a supermarket may highlight new services like curbside pickup. For brands or agencies with existing video resources, Video Builder can help bring agility and experimentation to the creation process by generating supplemental, lightweight videos. For smaller businesses and those with less creative experience, it can provide an efficient, low-resource way to create videos, perhaps even for the first time.”
YouTube Video Builder
YouTube's new tool is now available for businesses to try out for themselves but they will first have to sign up to participate in the beta. Once accepted, businesses will need a Google account as well as a YouTube channel to start making and publishing videos.
The beta version of YouTube Video Builder allows businesses to animate their images, text and photos and set them to music from YouTube's free audio library. Users will also be able to select from a variety of layouts and customize the colors and fonts in their videos to create short six or 15 second videos.
Finished videos can be uploaded to a business' YouTube channel but more importantly, they can also be run as ads through Google Ads.
While YouTube's new tool has just entered its public beta phase, both large and small companies including the interior design service Havenly, sandwich shop Which Wich and the grocery store Central Market have already been using the tool to create their own videos.
Interested businesses can sign up here to gain access to the beta and Google Ads has also published a guide on how to use the new tool.
Sony has some good news for all the gamers stuck in self-isolation this week: it’s giving away two of widely recognized and widely lauded PS4 games absolutely free.
According to a post on the PlayStation Blog, the games are part of the company’s new Play at Home Initiative that intends to help prevent the spread of Covid-19 and includes a generous $ 10 million fund for indie developers to help support them in this difficult time.
The games will be available starting on April 15 at 8pm PST / 11pm EST and will be available through May 5, 2020 at 8pm PDT / 11pm EST. Once you redeem the games, Sony says, they are yours to keep and the post makes no mention of needing a PlayStation Plus membership to snag the games.
Unfortunately, Sony says these games might take longer to download than usual – as the company is complying with the governments' request to preserve internet bandwidth – but thankfully you have three weeks to jump on this deal.
Looking for other great PS4 games to buy this week? Check these out:
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