Best portable humidifiers for dry skin, sinus relief and sore throats in 2020 - CNET

Your lungs, sinuses and skin don't like things too dry. This line up of air humidifiers will keep them moist these holidays.

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Best laptop backpacks for travel in 2020 - CNET

You only have one back, you might as well get the best bag for it -- and your traveling needs.

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Samsung Galaxy S20 Series - the smartphone camera to beat for 2020

When Samsung decided to name the successor of the Galaxy S10 as the Galaxy S20, it was obvious that this wasn’t a small generation-over-generation upgrade. The Samsung Galaxy S20 series that is made up of the Galaxy S20, the Galaxy S20+ and the Galaxy S20 Ultra takes a huge leap with mobile photography setting itself up as the phone camera to beat for 2020.

All the models in the Galaxy S20 Series feature wide, ultra-wide and telephoto lenses allowing the user all kinds of creativity when it comes to framing their shots. Samsung has paired its flagship series with its best sensors with the Galaxy S20 Ultra going up to a whopping 108 megapixels on the primary camera and 40MP on the selfie camera. Here are some of the exceptional camera qualities on the S20 series.

Record videos in 8K

The Galaxy S20 series is the first phone we’ve seen that is capable of recording 8K video that can easily be streamed to your Samsung QLED 8K TV. The resolution of 8K is four times higher than 4K and 16 times higher that FullHD which allows you to pull 33 megapixel still shots from the video.

One shot to rule them all

The incredibly powerful camera module in the Galaxy S20 Series is matched with equally powerful software and AI to get you the best shots. Samsung has introduced a “Single Take” mode on the camera app that can basically be described as the next generation of the burst-mode. It takes one shot and turns it into multiple formats of up to 14 photos and videos instantly.

With Single Take mode, you will no longer need to shoot multiple photos or videos to get that perfect shot. Samsung’s intelligent software creates all shots for you such as Best Moment, Ultra-wide, Photo Bokeh, Beauty, AI Filter and  Smart Crop. And it’s not just restricted to photos- you will also get all sorts of videos automatically created for you such as Original, Reverse – Backwards, Bounce – Boomerang and Fast Forward, with just one click.

Turn night into day

The Galaxy S20 Series comes with a large sensor and an anti-rolling stabilizer which is great for two things. First, your videos will come out super-smooth- almost at the level of action cams. And second, you’ll get superb low-light shots using the Bright Night mode. The extremely large sensor allows for 3x3 pixel binning that will let the camera take in a lot of light empowering you to capture the best night scenes that's blur-free with less noise. 

5G power

Other than the camera, the Galaxy S20 Series also features leading industry specs. The Galaxy S20+ and the Galaxy S20 Ultra support 5G so you can transfer files in an instant or even live-stream videos or your gaming sessions without any buffering. The batteries on these phones are also some of the highest in the industry reaching up to 5,000mAh capacities while storage capacities go up to 1.5TB which is more than what most laptops are equipped with.

Your last chance to be the first to own

There’s no question that the Galaxy S20 Series are the hottest new phones. If you’re looking for premium, top of the line phones with a mind-blowing camera, you should definitely pre-order one right now on Samsung.com to get exclusive extras worth AED 828. You’ll get the all-new Galaxy Buds+, 1-year Samsung Care+ accidental damage coverage with the Galaxy S20+ or Galaxy S20 Ultra. Offer ends 5th March, so be the first to own and don’t miss out.

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Best DNA testing kits in 2020: 23andMe, AncestryDNA and more compared - CNET

Looking for the best DNA test kits from the best testing services available to buy now? Here are your top options.

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Best AV receivers of 2020 - CNET

We compared affordable, full-featured AV receivers from Denon, Onkyo, Sony and Yamaha. Which one wins?

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South Korea's Samsung Electronics closes mobile device plant after coronavirus case confirmed: Yonhap

Samsung Electronics shut one of its mobile device factories in South Korea after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing a company official.

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This Photoshop Elements alternative boasts almost $1,000 worth of freebies

The Photo and Graphic designer package by Magix and Xara is a capable alternative to Adobe’s Photoshop Elements and has a suggested retail price of $60.

However, if you purchase it via Fanatical, for a limited time you can get this offering and a truckload of other applications thrown in for free.

The package is made up of three separate bundles: photos, movies and music.

• We've curated the best laptops for photographers on the market
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The Photo bundle includes Photo story deluxe, Photo manager deluxe, Xara Page and Layout Designer 11 and Xara Web Designer. 

The Movie bundle boasts Vegas Movie Studio 15, Vegas DVD architect, Video Sound cleaning lab and VR studio 2. 

Finally, the Music bundle includes Music Maker, Acid Pro, Sound Forge audio studio, MP3 Deluxe 19 and a voucher worth $40 to be used in the Magix In App Store.

The total price of these bundles is nearly $1,000 but they can be yours for only $60 (roughly £45 / $AU90) - a massive saving of 94%. 

This package, which includes 14 applications in all, is available worldwide but prices may vary slightly depending on taxes and conversion rates.

These are three separate bundles, and apps are downloaded separately by redeeming coupons at Magix.

• Here's our choice of the best video editing workstations of 2020

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The best chest strap heart rate monitors, as rated by Amazon reviews - CNET

No more slipping, sliding or shimmying with these chest straps.

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Best air mattresses for 2020: SoundAsleep, REI and more compared - CNET

We inflated and slept on 10 of the most popular air mattress models, from Intex, Coleman, King Koil and more. Here’s what we learned.

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Best Android tablets for 2020 - CNET

Android tablets rarely make the case for ditching Apple iPads, but that doesn't mean you don't have any good options available. Here are our favorites.

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New lion, size of house cat, with bone-crushing teeth, is found in fossil form - CNET

In Australia, researchers discover a hitherto unknown type of lion that lived over 24 million years ago.

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Vivo Apex 2020 concept phone hides a camera under its screen - CNET

Vivo's new phone has a curved waterfall display, 60-watt super-fast charging and a notch-killing in-screen selfie camera.

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Twitter Verified a Fake US Congressional Candidate Account Created by a Teenager

In a bizarre incident, a 17-year-old high school student got his Twitter account verified as a fake Republican candidate for 2020 US Presidential election.

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Xiaomi's Mi 10 Pro 5G: Release date, specs, price, features and a 108-megapixel camera - CNET

Xiaomi's 5G promise in 2020 starts with the Mi 10 series. Starting at approximately $570, you get a Snapdragon 865 chipset, 90Hz refresh rate, and a 108-megapixel main camera.

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Apple Closely Watching Coronavirus Outbreak in South Korea, Italy, CEO Tim Cook Says

Apple is closely watching how the coronavirus outbreak is unfolding in South Korea and Italy, where the company has suppliers, Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in an interview.

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Boeing Blames Incomplete Testing for Astronaut Capsule Woes

Boeing acknowledged Friday it failed to conduct full and adequate software tests before the botched space debut of its astronaut capsule late last year.

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Could the most expensive Apple Mac Pro be surpassed by this 128-core AMD Epyc workstation?

Many smaller workstation vendors are rushing to fill a very lucrative niche; the likes of Coreto, Scan, Velocity Micro and Boston have a tiny window of opportunity before the computer giants (Lenovo, HP and Dell) jump on AMD’s EPYC bandwagon.

The EPYC 7702 is currently the best option out there if you're looking for the pinnacle of desktop performance - put it this way, you won’t find anything from Intel that will even come close to what AMD's Rome series CPU has to offer.

Rome offers 64 cores and 128 threads, and you can pair two together to get the sort of processing power that was found in supercomputers only a couple of decades ago.

• We've curated the best workstations on the market
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At $51,399, the Apple’s Mac Pro has “only” 28 cores (Intel Xeon W-3275M) and accommodates up to 1.5TB memory, two Radeon Pro Vega II Duo (that’s four GPU and 128GB HBM2 memory) and an 8TB SSD.

How does that compare to, say, an a-X2 from Mediaworkstations containing the EPYC 7702?

For a start, the a-X2 is a little more expensive at just over $53,000 (roughly £41,500 / AU$81,800). However, you get two 64-core processors, 2TB of memory, a pair of Nvidia Quadro RTX 8000 GPU with 48GB GDDR6 memory, and 8.68TB worth of high speed storage. For peace of mind, a three-year warranty with next business day onsite service is also thrown in.

It's true, the casing (adorned by two 200mm front intake fans) is not as alluring as the Mac Pro's aluminium housing, but you get so much more for your money.

Note, while Mediaworkstations ships internationally, you may have to pay additional tax depending on your location.

• Here's our list of the best video editing workstations of 2020

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The best 3D printers in 2020 for beginners and budget creators - CNET

From Flashforge to Monoprice, these printers will get you started making all kinds of cool stuff.

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Elliott built a stake in Twitter, is pushing for changes: sources

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which often pushes technology companies to improve operations, has built a stake in Twitter Inc and is pushing for changes, including removing the chief executive officer, two people familiar with the matter said on Friday.

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Activist investor seeks to replace Jack Dorsey as Twitter CEO, report says - CNET

Billionaire Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management, wants to take over.

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Elliott built a stake in Twitter, is pushing for changes: source

Activist hedge fund Elliott Management has built a stake in Twitter inc and is pushing for changes, a person familiar with the matter said on Friday.

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Hilary Duff publicly asks Disney to move Lizzie McGuire reboot to Hulu instead of Disney Plus

Photo by: Aaron Poole/E! Entertainment/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

New Disney CEO Bob Chapek has only been on the job for a few days, and he’s already got a controversy to deal with. Hilary Duff, whose career was launched by the Disney Channel series Lizzie McGuire, is asking the company to move the in-the-works reboot off of Disney Plus and onto Hulu instead. The actress and singer posted the request on her Instagram on Friday night.

“Was incredibly excited to launch ‘Lizzie’ on D+ and my passion remains,” Duff wrote. “However, I feel a huge responsibility to honor the fans’ relationship with Lizzie who, like me, grew up seeing themselves in her. I’d be doing a disservice to everyone by limiting the realities of a 30-year-old’s journey to live under the ceiling of a PG rating.”

View this...

Continue reading…

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Could deepfakes be used to train office workers?

A consultancy that makes business training videos is advertising for a "deepfake expert".

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The Internet Archive’s VHS Vault will send you on a 90s nostalgia trip

Photo credit should read KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images

The Internet Archive, perhaps best known for the extremely handy Wayback Machine you can use to find older versions of webpages, also has free movies, books, software, and music. Yet a little known part of the organization’s media trove includes uploaded recordings from VHS tapes, as I learned today thanks to this Vice article. They live on The VHS Vault, and as of this writing, there are more than 20,000 recordings you can peruse.

A lot of the recordings are from the 90s, which is when I was a kid, so I’ve found a lot of stuff that has given me all sorts of nostalgic feels. Take, for example, this collection of Nickelodeon commercial breaks recorded in April 1998:

True 90s kids will also remember the greatest late-90s/early 2000s trend...

Continue reading…

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Coronavirus and COVID-19: Everything you need to know video - CNET

How worried should we be? Is there a vaccine? And what can we do to protect ourselves? As the new coronavirus spreads, we cut through the confusion.

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Best tax software for 2020: TurboTax, H&R Block, TaxSlayer and more - CNET

Get your taxes done faster -- and at the best price -- with these online DIY tax options.

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See Marvel head Kevin Feige play a Thanos-like villain on The Simpsons - CNET

Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo also show up to try to stop Bart from spoiling their movie.

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India vs Sri Lanka live stream: watch today's T20 Women's World Cup 2020 from anywhere

The Women in Blue are the first team to qualify for the Women's T20 World Cup and they'll be looking to maintain their 100% win here against the Lionesses - don't miss a moment by reading our India vs Sri Lanka live stream guide below.

India will know they weren't completely convincing in their last game against New Zealand, sneaking through with a three-run win and will want to end the group phase in style in Melbourne.

Sri Lanka have given a decent account of themselves in their previous two matches against New Zealand and Australia, but ended up losing both games.

Sri Lankan hopes on Saturday will be resting on influential skipper Chamari Atapattu who hit who hit a superb fifty in the Lionesses last outing against Australia. Teenager Umesha Thimashini gave a solid turn as number three batter and looks set to retain her place.

India, meanwhile, will be looking for more from skipper Hermanpreet Kaur, who has only managed 11 runs in her three innings so far. 

It's a Women’s T20 World Cup match not be missed - don't miss a ball by checking out our India vs Sri Lanka live stream guide.

• Don't miss a match with our T20 Women's World Cup live stream guide

Live stream T20 cricket from outside your country

You might find you have a problem accessing your usual home service if you're abroad because of geo-blocking. It's where local broadcasters lock online streams of their coverage to specific areas by logging the IP address of the device trying to access their website.

Fortunately, there's an easy way to get around this nuisance and tune into the cricket just like you would from home. It's called using a VPN, and these useful pieces of software - known as Virtual Private Networks in full - allow you to log back to your country that is broadcasting the match.

Watch a Women's T20 Cricket World Cup live stream in India

How to stream India vs Sri Lanka live in the UK

How to live stream India vs Sri Lanka in Australia

How to watch India vs Sri Lanka: US live stream details 

How to get a FREE T20 Women's World Cup live stream in Pakistan

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GDC 2020 has been canceled

Well, after what I’m sure was a hectic few days for the folks planning the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the team announced today that they have officially decided to cancel the event happening this March, saying in a blog post that they hoped they would be able to reschedule an event for “later in the summer.”

In recent days, nearly all of the event’s corporate sponsors announced that they would not be sending employees to the event due to concerns surrounding coronavirus. Microsoft, Unity, Epic, Amazon, Facebook and Sony had all bowed out of the event. GDC’s statement did not reference the virus.

The company behind GDC detailed that they will be refunding conference and expo attendees in full, though a blog post details the group hopes to host a GDC even later in the summer, noting “We will be working with our partners to finalize the details and will share more information about our plans in the coming weeks.”

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Lyft ramps up self-driving program

A year ago, Lyft submitted a report to the California Department of Motor Vehicles that summed up its 2018 autonomous vehicle testing activity in a single, short paragraph.

“Lyft Inc. did not operate any vehicles in autonomous mode on California public roads during the reporting period,” the letter read. “As such, Lyft Inc. has no autonomous mode disengagements to report.”

The 2019 data tells a different story. Lyft had 19 autonomous vehicles testing on public roads in California in 2019, according to data released earlier this week by the CA DMV. Those 19 vehicles, which operated during the reporting period of December 2018 to November 2019, drove nearly 43,000 miles in autonomous mode.

The report is the latest sign that Lyft is trying to ramp up its self-driving vehicle program known as Level 5. 

The CA DMV, the agency that regulates autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in the state, requires companies to submit an annual report that includes data such as total AV miles driven and number of vehicles. It also requires companies to report “disengagements,” a term that describes each time a self-driving vehicle disengages out of autonomous mode either because its technology failed or a human safety driver took manual control for safety reasons.

That’s still far below established AV developers such as Cruise and Waymo, which accumulated 831,000 and 1.45 million autonomous miles, respectively. And it makes up just a tiny sliver of the total autonomous miles racked up by the 36 companies that tested on public roads in 2019.

The total number of autonomous miles driven in 2019 rose 40%, to more than 2.87 million, thanks largely to a notable uptick in public on-road testing by Baidu, Cruise, Pony.ai, Waymo and Zoox. While the number of companies with testing permits grew to 60 in 2019, the percentage of companies actually testing on public roads fell to about 58%. In 2018, about 62% of the 48 companies that held permits tested on public roads.

Other companies scaled back public testing in California. Some moved public testing outside of California, others retracted due to the high cost. Others said they were opting to place greater emphasis on simulation.

Still, the report shows Lyft is doing more than partnering with autonomous vehicle companies like Aptiv. Lyft and Aptiv launched a robotaxi pilot in January 2018 in Las Vegas. The program, which puts Aptiv vehicles on Lyft’s ride-hailing network, surpassed 100,000 rides this month. Human safety drivers are always behind the wheel and the vehicles do not drive autonomously in parking lots and hotel lobby areas.

Lyft’s Level 5 program — a nod to the SAE automated driving level that means the vehicle handles all driving in all conditions — was launched in July 2017. Today, Level 5 employs more than 400 people in the U.S., Munich and London.

Testing on public roads in California began in November 2018 with a pilot program in Palo Alto that provided rides to Lyft employees in Palo Alto. The pilot provided on-demand rides set on fixed routes, such as traveling between the Lyft office and Caltrain.

Since then, the company has expanded the scope and geography of the pilot. By late 2019, Lyft was driving four times more autonomous miles per quarter than it was six months prior.

Lyft is also testing on a dedicated closed-course track in East Palo Alto that it opened in November 2019. The company told TechCrunch it uses this facility, which can be changed to include intersections, traffic lights and merges, to test software prior to putting its vehicles on public roads.

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The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez on Netflix will stay with me a long time - CNET

Commentary: This harrowing documentary is unsettling to watch, but will leave you with plenty to think about.

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Save $231 on Bowers & Wilkins PX wireless noise-canceling headphones - CNET

They're refurbished, but now's your chance to save 57% on headphones that rank among the best noise-canceling cans money can buy.

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Apple blocks Clearview AI facial recognition on iPhones after developer violation - CNET

It's a new challenge for the controversial facial recognition startup.

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Norton LifeLock phishing scam infects victims with remote access trojan

The cybercriminals behind a recent phishing campaign used a fake Norton LifeLock document in order to trick victims into installing a remote access trojan (RAT) on their systems.

The infection begins with a Microsoft Word document that contains malicious macros. However, to get users to enable macros, which are disabled by default, the threat actor behind the campaign used a fake password-protected Norton LifeLock document.

Victims are asked to enable macros and type in a password, provided in the phishing email containing the document, to gain access to it. Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42, which discovered the campaign, also found that the password dialog box accepts only a upper or lowercase letter 'C'. If the password is incorrect, the malicious action does not continue.

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If the user does input the correct password, the macro continues executing and builds a command string that installs the legitimate remote control software, NetSupport Manager.

Establishing persistence

The RAT binary is downloaded and installed onto a user's machine with help from the 'msiexec' command in the Windows Installer service.

In a new report, the researchers at  Palo Alto Networks' Unit 42 explained that the MSI payload installs without any warnings and adds a PowerShell script in the Windows temp folder. This is used for persistence and the script plays the role of a backup solution for installing NetSupport Manager.

Before the script continues its operations, it checks to see if an antivirus from either Avast or AVG is installed on the system. If this is the case, it stops running on the victim's computer. If the script finds that these programs aren't present on the machine, it adds the files needed b NetSupport Manager to a folder with a random name and also creates a registry key for the main executable named 'presentationhost.exe' for persistence.

Unit 42 first discovered the campaign at the beginning of January and the researchers tracked related activity back to November 2019 which shows that the campaign is part of a larger operation.

• Keep your devices protected with the best antivirus software

Via BleepingComputer

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iPhone 9 release date, price, news and leaks

The iPhone 9 looks set to launch in the near future, finally bringing the cheap iPhone that many have been waiting for since the iPhone SE was unveiled back in 2016.

However, where the previous budget model from Apple was designed for those that love a smaller phone, the new iPhone 9 looks set to be larger, aping the design first used on the iPhone 6.

While the cheaper iPhone 9 is likely to be popular in most countries, Apple will likely be bringing this out to also service more emerging nations, where cheaper phones sell well. These territories might have been able to buy the older iPhone 8, but offering a 'new' iPhone to them will have significant marketing power.

The new, lower-cost handset from Apple is supposed to be launching on March 31 but with the recent coronavirus outbreak that date might need to shift.

We're still waiting on more information regarding the iPhone 9, explaining what kind of features it might be bringing, but we've started to see the rumors start to appear with greater frequency, so it looks pretty likely we'll see the cheap iPhone launch in the next month or two (as long as Apple can actually make the phones).

iPhone 9 release date

Right, straight away we're into one of the more problematic elements of the iPhone 9 launch - when it will actually be.

The planets were starting to align around a March 31 launch event, where the iPhone 9 would be shown off alongside a possible new iPad Pro, new AirPods and, well, a rocket or something (we assume that Apple's got a lot of fingers in many pies).

However, with the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, smartphone production has slowed worldwide and the factories in China usually used to create the iPhone have been partly shuttered.

Tim Cook recently said that the factories had begun to return to full production, to offset investor worry that the new phone wouldn't be launched as quickly as first thought.

The iPhone SE at launch

That hasn't stopped Apple from needing to put out a press release confirming that revenue wouldn't be as high as previously thought, thanks to the outbreak, stating: "worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained".

So it's uncertain whether we'll see an Apple event at the end of March, but if the event is going ahead we expect to see the invitations going out by the middle of the month.

If the plans stay as expected, the launch on March 31 would see the iPhone 9 release date would be April 11 - but it depends whether enough handsets can be created to satisfy worldwide demand.

iPhone 9 price

Right - we've got something more of an idea about this one: the iPhone SE price began at a shade under $400 - well, $399 / £379 / AU$679.

Now, according to noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (get ready for hearing a lot of that name, as a lot of the current rumors are based on the researcher's notes - but they're usually rather accurate) the iPhone 9 price will be the same.

That means starting at $399 (probably £399, AU$600 given Apple pricing conventions), according to the findings for TF Securities - and reiterated again by Kuo later.

However, in 2016 the cost of high-end phones was about half as much as it is today - the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra launched for a maximum of $1400, so to see a smartphone being unveiled for just under $400 seems rather novel.

Whether that is the price remains to be seen - the design and spec list (which we'll dig into a little later) are a little better than the iPhone 8 - and that still retails for $449. 

iPhone 9... or the iPhone SE 2?

There's a lot of confusion currently reigning about the name of Apple's forthcoming budget phone.

Case-makers have gone early and tried to predict that it'll be called the iPhone SE 2 - and usually, they're pretty on the money. 

However, to go for the SE 2 title would be an odd move from Apple, given the last model came out four years ago, and was designed to be a smaller handset for those that missed the more holdable model.

Fast forward to the impending launch and we're expecting something much larger - it doesn't really feel like the same sort of special edition, does it?

If anything, the next version of the 'budget' iPhone feels more akin to the iPhone 5C, taking the same shape and innards as the 'main' handset by making it cheaper in a number of ways.

The iPhone 8

So that leads us back to the iPhone 9 - the iPhone 8 was last phone to put large bezels above and below the screen (along with the Touch ID button), so the iPhone 9 would be a continuation of that line, and reports have suggested that it will indeed be the case.

But then you run into the issue of the iPhone 9 sounding like a real downwards step from the iPhone 11, currently one of the world's best-selling phones. 

While it's understandable - the iPhone 9 will be much cheaper - subconsciously it sends out a message that this phone is 'lesser', which is why Apple as usually come up with something more random (such as SE, 5C or XR) to help disguise the fact.

So what will it be this year? Truthfully, we're currently stumped. If it follows the current nomenclature, we could see the iPhone 11 with a suffix - so the iPhone 11R, iPhone 11SE or some other random letter (Apple never explained what the 'C' stood for on the iPhone 5C).

For now, the iPhone 9 seems the best bet.

iPhone 9 design

As alluded to previously, the design of the iPhone 9 looks set to be almost identical to that of the iPhone 8, the iPhone 7, the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6. Why change a winning formula, hey?

Well, actually, Apple did precisely that when it moved to the 'all-screen' phones of the iPhone X and later - but it hasn't stopped manufacturing the iPhone 8.

That means it's got the machinery to quickly built to turn around the same shape as that model, but pack it with new innards to keep it more up to date and, crucially, allow for more updates to future versions of iOS (as iPhone 6 and 6S owners can now no longer get the newest software.

This detail comes from Kuo once more, and has since been seen in renders from note leaker @Onleaks, as you can see below.

In its guise as the iPhone SE 2, the new budget iPhone has been 'seen' in a number of forms over the last two years, from a hybrid of the original SE (with angular metal sides) and the iPhone 6-8 range (with a more rounded glass front). 

It seems that will no longer come to pass, with the same iPhone 8 design, with the single camera on the rear, back in play, combined with the same 4.7-inch LCD display too.

At least that means no notch, right?

iPhone 9 specs

OK, so we've been through the price, the iPhone 9 release date, the expected design... and one question remains: what's going to make this new phone that much different?

It's a good point to posit, as it's hard to see how this model is going to be cheaper than the iPhone 8 - but it looks like that's going to be the case.

From (once again) Kuo  - and also reported elsewhere - we're hearing the following spec list:

• 3GB RAM
• A13 chipset (the same as used in the current iPhone 11)
• 4.7-inch LCD screen
• Touch ID button
• Single camera (MP still unknown)
• 32-64GB storage starting option
• No headphone jack

Let's break down those specs a little and see if we can't find out where the costs savings might be coming.

The first is the RAM, which is 25% lower than the iPhone 11 - and that's low in modern times, which means some apps might not run as smoothly.

If there was only 32GB of onboard storage, that would suggest that the iPhone 9 was  true budget phone, and would only interest those not particularly bothered about having a high-power phone... the amount of apps and media you could save on there would be pretty stingy.

However, most rumors put the iPhone 9 as having 64GB of onboard storage, which would be more than enough for most, but doesn't explain where the cost savings are coming from.

The 4.7-inch LCD screen isn't going to be high-res, with the same 750x1334 resolution as seen on the iPhone 8 - which will be a cheaper component. It'll be more than decent, but won't have the sharpness as the iPhone 11 nor the color-dripping beauty of the iPhone 11 Pro's OLED screen.

There have been plenty of rumors tipping the iPhone 9 to have Face ID facial recognition on board, or a fingerprint sensor baked into the power button - but more rumors (and our educated guess) would say that the home button / fingerprint sensor combo will remain.

And, sadly, there's almost certainly no headphone jack on board the iPhone 9 - simply because Apple's too far down the road of saying it's not needed on a smartphone to go back now.

So let's say goodbye to that port if you're an iPhone fan, and get saving for some cheaper AirPods Pro Lite.

• The iPhone 12 will likely be all about speed

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WeWork’s fall is so wild that it’s getting a second TV series, this one for Apple

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

WeWork was 2019’s soap opera of a company, and its story was so wild that it will be the focus of a second TV series, Variety reports.

The second series will be developed by Apple and the showrunner of Apple TV Plus series Little America, according to Variety. (Disclosure: Little America is adapted from a series by Epic Magazine, which is owned by Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.) The series will be based on David Brown’s WeCrashed podcast from the podcast network Wondery.

WeWork’s story should make for good TV

Variety’s report doesn’t indicate when the series might be released. But if or when it does, WeWork’s story should make for good TV.

Last summer, WeWork was gearing up for massive initial public offering. Shortly after its...

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Spotify Australia just launched a swathe of original and exclusive local podcasts

While Spotify currently dominates the globe on the music streaming front, the Swedish company has made it clear it wants to overtake Apple and conquer the realm of podcasts too, and its latest money move has arrived in the form of new Spotify Original and Exclusive podcasts for Australia.

This time last year, the streaming giant dropped US$200 million to help secure its podcasting future, acquiring the likes of Gimlet Media and claiming it would like to become “both the premier producer of podcasts and the leading platform for podcast creators”.

Podcasting is well and truly on the rise Down Under, with the number of weekly podcast listeners in the country increasing 50% over the last three years, bringing it up to 5.7 million active listeners (or 22% of the Australian population).

• Spotify's Daily Drive mixes music, news and podcasts in a personalised playlist

Australian launch

Two of the exclusive podcasts that have just landed for Australian listeners include season 2 of Extremes by Vice, as well as Generation Betoota from the team behind the satirical news website, The Betoota Advocate.

The second season of Vice’s Extremes will continue exploring the incredible stories of individuals who have survived against insane odds, while Generation Betoota will apply the special flavour of satire the Advocate is known for to a weekly youth-news podcast, “featuring stories young people care about, using the language they’re fluent in”.

Sound Up is a program Spotify first ran in 2018, which sought to raise the voices of First Nations Australians by offering applicants the opportunity to receive podcasting advice, equipment, and a grant that would enable their idea to reach market.

The streaming company has announced that Sound Up will be returning again in 2020 for Australia, and that one of the grant recipients of 2018’s program, Rowdie Walden, will be launching his podcast as a Spotify Original in May this year.

Walden’s project, Search Engine Sex, tackles some of the sex-related questions that are most commonly searched for online, providing advice, answers and practical information to potentially awkward situations.

• Google search just got smarter at finding podcast episodes

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Best VPS hosting providers of 2020

Standard shared web hosting packages are cheap and user-friendly, but they're also slow, inflexible, and don't have the power or functionality that professional and business users often need.

If you need more than a basic host but can't afford a dedicated server or don't want to deal with the complexity of these beasts, VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting could be a smart choice.

Buying a VPS plan means that you get your very own virtual server environment. You have full control over the operating system, the extensions and apps you install, and all their settings. Each physical server will still host multiple VPS customers, but not as many as with shared hosting, and typically each VPS will be allocated a share of key resources – RAM, storage space, CPU cores – for their use alone.

This can be easier to manage than you might think. Many VPS plans include standard tools like cPanel to help monitor and configure your site. Some hosts will manage the service for you, monitoring for problems like a crashed service, and fixing them as soon as they're detected.

VPS prices and specs vary from a few dollars a month to hundreds, depending on your requirements. There's a lot of choice out there, but don't panic – our list of five best VPS providers will point you in the right direction.

• Our list of the best web hosting solutions is also worth a read

Founded in 2004, Hostinger has been providing a quality hosting service for some time now and their VPS hosting is no different.

You have plenty of choices here from the low-tier plan that has 1 CPU, 1 GB RAM, 20 GB of storage and 1000 GB bandwidth to high-tier plan where you get 8 CPU, 8 GB RAM, 160 GB of storage and 1000 GB bandwidth. 

Pricing is affordable too, especially if you commit to longer terms. The 1 CPU plan starts at $3.95 per month (if you choose the 4-year billing) and renews at $7.95 per month, while the 8 CPU plan starts at $29.95 per month (if you choose the 4-year billing) and renews at $65.56 per month.

All plans have IPv6 support, a dedicated IP, 100 Mb/s Network and a few more additions. Linux users also have plenty of choices. Apart from the usual CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora and Debian, you can also choose Suse. Windows VPS hosting is available as well, with the plans being more pricier but also more powerful.

If you encounter any problems, there’s a 24/7 live chat service to help you. Hostinger delivers a capable VPS hosting with a very tempting first term price, and with all plans being fully refundable, everyone can try out the service.

Bluehost has been around for quite some time and always offered powerful plans for a variety of users, and their VPS range is no different. 

You have three plans to choose from, with the cheapest plan starting at $17.99 per month for the first term and $29.99 per month on renewal. That gets you 2 CPU cores (2x Xeon Gold 5220), 30GB SSD  storage, 2 GB RAM, 1 TB bandwidth and one IP address. The top-tier plan called Ultimate, gives you 4 CPU cores (2x Xeon Gold 5222), 120GB SSD storage, 8 GB RAM, 3 TB bandwidth and two IP addresses, and it’s priced at $59.99 per month for the first term and $119.99 per month on renewal.

All plans come with a free SSL certificate and a 1-year domain. You also get unlimited subdomains and email accounts, and cPanel is included too. Domain privacy and protection, and SiteLock are categorized as optional add-ons, so you’ll have to pay extra if you need them.

Support is available 24/7 so if you encounter any difficulties you’ll be able to call them at any time of the day. All in all, Bluehost is a capable provider for both newbies and experienced users so they are definitely worth a try.

• Bluehost VPS Hosting for US$19.99 per month

InMotion

is one of the more popular web hosting providers out there and it is no surprise that they're secured a spot here

Check out a few VPS hosting providers and it's easy to be tempted with low headline rates, but don't be fooled – companies use a range of tricks to keep their charges down.

The hardware specs of a starter product are often kept unrealistically low, for instance, to keep the price right down. Important items – backups, cPanel – may be expensive extras. And even then, the headline rate may only apply if you pay for two or three years upfront, increasing dramatically on renewal.

InMotion Hosting is refreshingly different. Its baseline VPS-1000HA-S plan doesn't have the most eye-catching price at $24.99 per month over two years, but it's easy to see why the company asks this much. The product has a better specification – 4GB RAM, 75GB storage, 4TB bandwidth, 3 dedicated IPs – than some high-end plans from other providers, backups and a cPanel licence are included for free, and there's a 90-day money-back guarantee.

There's an unusual feature in what InMotion calls "unlocked CPU cores". Rather than having access to one or two cores only, you're able to spread your processing load across all cores on the server, a major performance boost for tasks involving a lot of simultaneous processing.

Welcome bonus touches include a feature called Launch Assist, which essentially means you get two hours of free time with one of InMotion's server administrators. Whether you need to change domain settings, configure cPanel, migrate WordPress or database files, they can help you get the job done.

Put it all together and you're getting a very capable set of VPS hosting plans. If you'd prefer a package that comes with unexpected surprises, rather than hidden catches, we'd give InMotion a try.

Some VPS hosts focus on first-time users, others go for big business, but Hostwinds does its best to appeal to everyone with no less than 10 different VPS hosting plans.

The low-end Tier One plan looks a little underpowered to us, with just 1GB RAM, one CPU core, 30GB of disk space and 1TB traffic. But it's cheap at $4.49 per month, and you can extend it significantly without spending a huge amount (adding basic server monitoring and cloud backups costs an extra $6 a month for both).

The more realistic Tier Four includes 6GB RAM, 100GB drive space, two CPU cores and 2TB of traffic. It's also significantly more expensive at $26.09 a month, but still competitive with other providers.

Meanwhile the top-of-the-range Tier Ten product gets you 96GB RAM, 16 CPU cores, 750GB storage and 9TB of traffic for an initial $296.09 a month. You probably don't need anything like that, but this does show there's plenty of scope for upgrading your site over time.

Every plan has some appealing configuration options. In particular, along with support for the usual Linux variants – CentOS, Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian – you can choose Windows Server 2008, 2012 or 2016 for only a $5 a month premium. That's very good value, and if you're more familiar with Windows than Linux, it could save you from lots of management hassles later on.

Liquid Web is a premium web hosting provider which has been offering top quality managed solutions for more than 20 years, and now handles 500,000 sites for more than 32,000 customers worldwide.

The company doesn't try to beat the competition on price, instead focusing on delivering comprehensive products which will deliver quality results.

The cheapest Liquid Web plan may cost $59 a month (you can reduce that to $29 a month by going annual), for instance, but that gets you 2GB RAM, 40GB storage and a very generous 10TB of bandwidth.

There are lots of configuration options. Instead of just telling you that you're getting CentOS 7, Liquid Web allows you to select CentOS 6, Debian 8, Ubuntu 14.04 or 16.04, and often with multiple options of their own: cPanel, Plesk, CloudLinux and more.

This is a managed product, too. Liquid Web fully supports the base operating system, and the support team will proactively restore failed services as soon as they're detected. Getting a managed VPS with other providers could cost you an extra $30 a month, or more.

If your VPS still has issues, there's speedy 24x7x365 support from knowledgeable professionals who will do their best to solve your problems at speed.

Liquid Web may not have the most appealing headline prices, but it's still cheaper than many others considering the features you get, and the excellent support will help keep your site running smoothly down the line.

• We consider the merits of shared hosting vs VPS hosting here 

You might also want to check out our other website hosting buying guides:

• WordPress
• Cloud hosting
• E-commerce
• Dedicated server
• Small business
• Windows
• Managed
• Green
• Business
• Colocation
• Email hosting
• Resellers
• Shared
• Cheap
• Website builders
• Best website hosting

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Chinese regulators remove game 'Plague Inc' from China app stores, developer says

Strategy simulation game "Plague Inc.", which surged in popularity in China when the coronavirus epidemic first started, has been removed from the China app store after regulators said it contained illegal content, its developer said on Thursday.

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Facebook cancels developer conference as tech companies respond to virus

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it would cancel its annual developer conference due to fears over the coronavirus, as growing concerns about the economic impact of the global outbreak drove Wall Street to tumble for a sixth straight day.

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