Inhoudsopgave van June 2024 - Tech Advisor

Intel has tacked an additional dozen games to its Intel Application Optimization technology, meaning that several popular games will receive a higher frame rate if you’re using a supported processor and the technology is turned on. Better yet, it should work on older processors now, with a little legwork. Intel updated the technology in conjunction with the launch of the Core i9-14900KS – which, at speeds of up to 6.2GHz, should already be exceptionally fast by itself. But IAO adds an even higher speed boost – up to 11 percent faster performance in Metro: Exodus, according to an Intel presentation. Intel’s IAO launched alongside the 14th-gen Core line-up with only support for Metro: Exodus and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege included, but the new updates has added World of Warcraft,…

ChromeOS has been adding capabilities to bring it up to speed with other operating systems for…well, for as long as Google has been working on it, which is about 12 years now. The latest update might be of particular interest to anyone who switches between a Chromebook and other devices regularly. It lets you change the keyboard shortcuts and mouse buttons to your liking. The change to the release build of ChromeOS was announced on Google’s Chromebook support page (fave.co/43TWdtD) ChromeOS version M123 is the one you’re looking for, which should be available to download and install on all currently updating Chromebooks. The options for changes are in the Settings menu, under Device > Keyboard > Customize Keyboard Keys and Device > Mouse > Customize mouse buttons. Trying out the…

Price: £1,299 from fave.co/3TWqEfA Over the years, we’ve touted the MacBook Air as the laptop for just about anyone – it’s an ideal combination of performance, features, and price. It became even more compelling when Apple redesigned it and upgraded to the M2 chip in 2022 and released a 15-inch M2 model in 2023. The MacBook Air now joins the M3 party that Apple started last autumn. It’s practically the same laptop as before – besides the chip upgrade, there are only two other new features in the new M3 MacBook Air. A lot has not changed with the Air, and neither has our perception of the laptop: the MacBook Air continues to be the best laptop choice for just about anyone. PERFORMANCE This update to the MacBook Air is…

Price: £169 from fave.co/4aLQo3F A touchscreen control panel that hangs on the wall is one of the most common features of professionally installed smart home and home security systems. I’m talking subscription services such as Vivint Smart Home and Alarm.com in the mainstream, and Control4, Crestron, and Savant at the high end. Amazon has now delivered such a component to people who rely on Alexa to power their smart homes. The Echo Hub is powerful and highly customizable; as such, it will be of most interest to hardcore Alexa users. While it’s very functional right out of the box, you’ll want to spend some quality time re-arranging its visual elements in whatever ways you find most useful. This is easy to accomplish in drag-and-drop fashion – once you’re accustomed to…

Spring is here and that means weeding, cleaning, packing away winter clothes… and tuning up your PC. Optimizing your PC’s performance isn’t as complicated as it sounds, however. Just a few tweaks here and there and you’ll have your computer running faster than ever. Improving your PC’s efficiency can take a little effort, though some processes can be automated. Your PC is like a Roomba in that streamlining your laptop or desktop often happens when you’re not looking. Below, we’ve listed several ways to improve the responsiveness and overall speed of your PC and to preserve its longevity, too. Some may be familiar, others not. And if you’ve already taken care of these, good for you. After all, why buy a new PC if you don’t have to? 1. APPLY…

If your Windows 11 PC has failed a Windows Update session in the last week or so, there might be a very specific reason for it. According to a German tech site, Windows 11 version 24H2 (currently in testing among Windows Insiders) has a surprisingly expansive list of apps that will block it from updating. These include a few power user favourites, like StartAllBack. DeskModder.de reports (fave.co/43OSkX1) that Microsoft is including a database file with the major 24H2 version of Windows 11 that will block the installation if it detects any of eleven very specific applications on the machine. Notable entries include popular tools like EaseUS Disk Copy, user interface tweaks like StartAllBack, ExplorerPatcher and Multi-Mon, and even some innocuous utilities like a Realtek USB adapter, AMD’s Radeon GPU driver…

With the new Chrome versions 123.0.6312.58/59 for Windows and macOS and 123.0.6312.58 for Linux, released on 19 March, Google fixed 12 vulnerabilities in its browser. So far, none of these vulnerabilities have been exploited for attacks. Manufacturers of other Chromium-based browsers have not yet followed suit, but will do so in the near future. In the Chrome Release Blog (fave.co/4cSVxbZ), Srinivas Sista lists the seven of the 12 vulnerabilities that were discovered by external security researchers and reported to Google. Google classifies one of these vulnerabilities (CVE-2024-2625) as high risk. It is located in the Javascript engine V8. A further five vulnerabilities are classified as medium risk. One or two of the vulnerabilities could be used to inject and execute code. Google has awarded the discoverers rewards totalling $22,000 USD.…

Price: £869 from fave.co/4aKrsd3 In recent years, Asus’s Zenfone line has become synonymous with small phones. The Zenfone 10 remains one of the best compact devices you can buy, with its 5.9-inch screen bucking the ongoing trend for huge handsets. However, the Zenfone 11 Ultra couldn’t be more different if it tried. Its 6.78-inch display is in line with many flagships, as is the £869 starting price. On paper, the device has more in common with the ROG Phone 8 Pro, Asus’s gaming smartphone which has ditched the gamer-focused design for something much more mainstream. It’s not clear if a regular Zenfone 11 model will ever be released. So, is the Zenfone 11 Ultra worth buying? I spent a week using it as my main phone to find out. DESIGN…

A tablet might not have replaced a laptop for most people, but there are lots of reasons why you might want to buy one. The large display makes it great for watching videos, gaming or simply browsing the web. A tablet is usually more portable than a laptop, yet still allows for multitasking or connecting a keyboard for productivity. However, it can be difficult to decide on the right device for you. Many people will hear the word ‘tablet’ and instantly think of the iPad, but even then, there are four different types to choose from. And you definitely shouldn’t rule out Android tablets, which are a lot better than they once were and the obvious choice if you own an Android phone. But if you want a true productivity…

Copilot Pro delivers the power of the AI chat tool Chat-GPT directly to your Microsoft Office applications and the Windows sidebar. The tool summarizes texts, replies to emails, creates new texts, analyses Excel spreadsheets and creates presentations. A miracle machine that does all your Office tasks for you automatically? We took a look at the tool. GETTING STARTED To be able to use Copilot Pro, a few requirements must be met. First, you need a paid subscription to Microsoft 365 Personal (£5.99 per month) or Family (from £7.99 per month). These are available from fave.co/43WZs3m. Then you need to take out a subscription to Copilot Pro with the same Microsoft account for £19 per month (fave.co/3vLZdMa). Both subscriptions can be cancelled monthly. You also need Windows 10 or 11 –…

Microsoft Teams, a corporate messaging and video meeting service, will no longer be included with MS Office. The software break-up comes as a result of antitrust investigation in Europe, where Teams and Office 365 have been de-bundled since October of last year. The software separation is global as of last month. Reuters reports (fave.co/3PUBK28) that Microsoft is making the European-style offering standard across the world. “To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally,” a spokesperson told the news service. While the bundled version of Teams and Office is still available worldwide, customers can choose to switch to a separate Teams-only subscription, an Office package that does…

Price: £999 from fave.co/49s5iuR One of the great aspects of a PC maker like Lenovo is that it doesn’t make a single design of anything, and its LOQ 15-inch gaming laptop is no exception. While this review covers an Intel-based option that starts around a grand, there are more powerful choices and designs with alternative GPU configurations and up to 16-inch displays. DESIGN Where Asus likes the military look with its gaming machines, Lenovo has pitched for a slightly sci-fi motif with the LOQ, and the rear of the machine has a Star Trek vibe. Vents on the rear have an impulse engine styling, but regrettably, Lenovo didn’t deploy warp nacelles. Interestingly, the screen hinge position has been moved away from the back line by about 23mm, resulting in easier…

Price: £59 from fave.co/43QJUhG A new, bigger version of a fitness tracker from Xiaomi that makes a passable impression of a smartwatch. But how good can it be with a price tag this low? The Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro costs just £59.99 and while it has an excellent display and lot of tracking options, there are some downsides that might make you think twice such as the lack of NFC for contactless payments. DESIGN As the bigger brother of the Xiaomi Smart Band 8 I reviewed recently, the Pro model features a larger display, which in turn makes it a bit more of a presence on the wrist. The 46x33.35x9.99mm dimensions means it’s reasonably compact and lightweight at 22.5g (without the strap), so it sits comfortably under a shirt…

Microsoft not only introduces new features or programs with Windows updates, it also removes obsolete functions. Many people don’t notice this until they need a specific feature or the outdated program. One example is WordPad, which will soon be removed from Windows, or Windows-to-Go and the Homegroup. If you use WordPad, you should look for a replacement in good time. In most cases, however, Microsoft does not remove features immediately, but instead marks them as ‘obsolete’. This means that no more improvements are being developed for these features or tools and that Microsoft will remove them from Windows in a future version. Here’s a list of the Windows features destined to get the axe soon. 1. WORDPAD WILL NO LONGER BE PART OF WINDOWS Microsoft has announced that WordPad will…

If you’re like me and have multiple online storage accounts, you know that managing them via separate websites and clients is tedious at best. In my case, remembering what’s stored where can be a chore. That all ended when I discovered applications such as CloudMounter, ExpanDrive, Mountain Duck, Air Live Drive and RaiDrive. These ‘cloud storage managers’ integrate your online storage services, as well as FTP/SFTP and WebDAV connections, into your operating system’s file and folder manager: Windows Explorer, macOS Finder, and so on. Each connection appears as pseudo local or network drive with a drive letter that behaves just like the real deal, albeit a tad slower. Yes, you can browse, copy, rename, delete, back up, and so on to your online services without firing up any additional software…