TechLife April 2022

I’m going to say this out loud – there’s something really enticing about getting a brand new piece of hardware, or a big, juicy new software update to sink your teeth into. I got myself a new phone last year, for instance, and just taking the shiny slab of nigh-indestructible glass and metal out of the fancy Apple-designed box was just a tiny bit thrilling... But new hardware can also be a little bit daunting, especially if it comes with a new operating system and features, and that is exactly the case with the new iPhone 13. There’s a lot to get to grips with if it’s been a few years between upgrades, and if the popularity of the iPhone is anything to go by (it’s the most popular phone in…

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You’re unlikely to fill the Kindle Paperwhite with ease. It comes with 8GB of space, but ebooks generally take up around 1MB of space each. Amazon claims this device will hold 1,000s of books, and it’s right about that. $239, www.amazon.com.au The Kindle Paperwhite remains the best ereader for those who are looking for a simple gadget that lets you read for hours on end. It isn’t the top of Amazon’s range and the new Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition means some features aren’t included here. Instead, the Kindle Paperwhite is built for those who want a comfortable reading experience with top-end tech but don’t need the extra features of an all-metal design or wireless charging. Design and display The form factor and design of previous Kindles is relatively unchanged on this new model, but it’s…

Despite Apple discontinuing the original HomePod last year, and shifting focus to the HomePod Mini, a number of leaks and rumors have suggested that a HomePod 2 could be coming soon, with some new features. One of these upgrades is believed to be a screen, which would result in a device along the lines of the Amazon Echo Show 10 and the Google Nest Hub 2. Now, Siri seems to have confirmed this, with several users reporting that the voice assistant told them that information they requested was “displayed on [their] HomePod” (via What HiFi). Given that the current HomePod models lack any kind of display, unless this is some kind of malfunction on Siri’s part it suggests that we could soon see a HomePod 2 with a screen. However, we should still take…

After the launch of Windows 98, Control Panel became the go-to in finding the right settings for your PC, whether it was for changing the display resolution or checking user accounts. However, Microsoft has recently focused on replacing Control Panel with the Settings app, first introduced in Windows 10. While Storage Spaces is moving over to Settings, the move from Windows 10 to 11 has seen colourful icons to better showcase which options are available, alongside rows in each section that better explain how you can use the accessibility options for example. But with more updates coming to the app, it gives the impression that Settings is almost ready for Sun Valley 2, the next major update for Windows 11. Microsoft appears to be aware that parts of Windows are starting to show…

Luckily, this update is only available to members of the Windows Insider Program, so there’s no need to worry about it being automatically downloaded and installed onto your own laptop or PC. Microsoft has made the KB5010414 update available to the Insider Program: it’s a fairly significant patch for the Windows 11 operating system, though some users have already noted that issues are appearing on their systems after installing it. These include overheating due to excessive CPU loads, and new printing issues that are unrelated to those that previously plagued both Windows 11 and Windows 10 users, neither of which were reported prior to this update being downloaded. Luckily, this update is only available to members of the Windows Insider Program (a beta-testing platform for early adopters), so there’s no need to…