TechLife December 2021

Are we all excited about the launch of Windows 11?!? Well, some of us are. Some of us are also forever wary about new Windows releases, and look upon a new OS launch with a touch of concern. Things change, stuff moves around, and inevitably there are rough edges to smooth over. If you work on your PC as much as I do... You kinda fear change a little. And then there are Linux users, cheerfully above all this drama – and in this issue, we’re going to show you how can join that chill crowd and switch your PC over to the Penguin Side. You can even keep your old Windows OS running alongside it! We see Windows 11 not just as an exciting development – or a cause for…

Worth $69.99 Ashampoo WinOptimizer 18 Comprehensive system optimisation for Windows PCs. Ashampoo WinOptimizer 18 makes Windows PCs faster, cleaner and safer. The built-in cleaners are among the most popular features and safely remove web browsing traces, junk files and installation leftovers to free up valuable disk space. AntiSpy and Privacy Control put a muzzle on Windows telemetry broadcasts and protect your privacy. Three automatic modules reduce clutter, speed up Windows startup times and program launches and optimise gaming performance. For better system performance and PC stability, WinOptimizer also fixes Registry errors, removes broken shortcuts and disables unnecessary background processes and Autostart entries. Several analysis tools that display detailed information about installed hard and software and that track down resource hogs have been included for better system transparency. The tweaking module allows for individual Windows…

$3,499, www.dell.com If we’ve learned anything about the best ultrabooks over the past few months, it’s that it’s hard to pass up something reliable with a nice screen. If you’re going to be looking at it all day (and sometimes into the night), a quality display is important. The Dell XPS 15 (9510) is the company’s latest revision of a semi-professional favorite. Perhaps the biggest change here, other than the latest Intel and Nvidia components, is the addition of an OLED screen. It starts at $2,999 with an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 and integrated graphics, while we tested it at $3,499 with a Core i7 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti. The XPS 15 still retains some professional trappings, including a full-sized SD card reader, but still hasn’t changed much even…

The GSMA says that more than half of the world’s population is now using mobile Internet, an increase from a third in 2014. The expansion of cellular coverage across the world means only 6% of people cannot access any mobile network, down from 24% six years ago, according to the industry body’s State of the Internet Connectivity Report. However, this increase in coverage is not being matched by adoption. Of the 3.8 million people that do not use mobile broadband, only 450 million live in areas without a single mobile network. This means the adoption gap is now seven times the coverage gap. The main barriers to adoption therefore are awareness, digital skills, and affordability. The report says that Covid-19 has increased the cost of both handsets and mobile data packages in certain…

Over the past year and a half, consumers have started shopping online more than ever before and many of their searches begin on Google which is why the search giant has announced that it’s adding new ways to find shopping inspiration across its products. Since inspiration can strike at any time from an image you see online to a photo saved on your smartphone or even from something in the real world that catches your eye, the company is adding new features to Google Lens that make products users see instantly shoppable. Beginning soon, iOS users will see a new button in the Google app that makes all of the images on a page searchable through Google Lens. This will make finding a product you see online in a picture, just a…

Apparently there are fresh pricing difficulties with PC components – and it’s apparently to do with the supply of copper foil which is used in printed circuit boards (PCBs). As Tom’s Hardware spotted, there is a DigiTimes report which points out that prices are heading upwards – indeed, ‘surging’ – for copper and copper-clad laminates (CCLs) which are used in the production of the aforementioned PCBs. This is due to the rising price of copper, and more specifically, the spiking price of copper foil which has gone up by some 35% or so since the end of 2020. CCLs are produced using this foil (on both sides), and so those price hikes – plus increased costs associated with higher transportation costs, and more overall demand for PCBs across the tech industry (a…