You might have noticed a new end-of-year trend on Instagram the past few days. If so, you can thank 2017bestnine.com, a website that lets you automatically collect and collage your most-liked photos of 2017. Best Nine has been around for a while, so many of you may be familiar with the tool already. But for those of you who are new to that Best Nine game, here’s how it works. First of… Read More
Imagine attending a business meeting with an Amazon Echo (or any voice-driven device) sitting on the conference table. A question arises about the month’s sales numbers in the Southeast region. Instead of opening a laptop, opening a program like Excel and finding the numbers, you simply ask the device and get the answer instantly. That kind of scenario is increasingly becoming a… Read More
Keeping those New Year’s resolutions could be tricky with all the distractions 2018 is set to bring, but what if you could use your phone to help you keep on track?
There are lots of apps on the market that can help you keep your head in the game and make it much more likely you'll reach your goal, whatever it is.
Below we've listed our top choices to help you stay on track with the new goals you're setting for yourself for 2018.
To sort your life out, you need to get a good to-do list app up and running on your phone. One of our favorites is Todoist, which you can have on either your Android or iPhone.
It's a great way to organize your lists so you can keep up with everything you need to do. Todoist looks great, allows you to organize yourself and you can also integrate it with an Amazon Echo so you can make notes whenever you want by just using your voice.
Lots of people want to read more every year, and if you want to keep track of the books you want to get into in 2018 this may be the best choice for you.
It's exclusive to iPhone, but Bookout allows you to make lists of titles you want to read as well as tick off the ones you've already got to. There are even further options that allow you to make notes or quotes from each book you're reading.
It's one of the most boring tasks, but if you plan to update and keep track of all your passwords this year we'd recommend trying out LastPass.
It can generate secure passwords for all your accounts and keep them stored safely away behind encryption, so you'll never lose them and are less likely to get hacked.
The name of this app basically sums up what you can expect from it and it may even be what you've written down as your New Year's resolution for 2018.
This app will help you lay out all of your expenses at the same time and you'll be able to work out where you can save money and why you're spending so much every year. You will need to pay after a full month of using the service, but if you find it's saving you money it's likely worth your investment.
Have you decided you want to get fit in the new year? If you plan to do that by running or cycling we'd recommend using Strava to get your feet moving.
It features challenges you can get started with or you can just start jogging and use it to track your stats as you're out and about. There are also leaderboards, so if you're motivated by competition then Strava could help even more.
If running isn't your thing, we recommend the Nike Training Club app to get yourself fit in 2018. It offers a bunch of free workouts - over 160 at the last count - and allows you to work out at home in a variety of ways.
You can choose how much equipment you have, how hard you want to go and how often you want to work out and then it'll create a schedule for you.
With every year it seems we’ve finally arrived in the best 12 months for gaming ever, only for the next one to roll around with yet another slew of contenders ready to take that title. So here we are again, at the end of 2017, with a quite staggering calendar of gaming behind us on PC.
Whether you’re a RPG diehard, a shooter purist, an indie devotee or a collector of curios, 2017 has served up dish after tasty dish of must-have interactive experiences. And it’s been tough to whittle all these gems down to a powerful ten, so sit back and prepare to been amazed all over again.
Do you really think we could put together a top ten PC game of the year list and not include Bluehole Inc’s battle royale masterstroke? No other game has come close to catching the hype train that is PUBG, brushing aside claims of blatant infringement and laughing in the face of similar BR-esque titles that have followed in its wake. It also put the painfully buggy H1Z1 mercifully to the sword.
The game’s success has helped put top Twitch streamers on the map (such as the tache-toting swagger of Dr Disrespect) and seemingly burned the words ‘Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner’ into the subconsciousness of every gamer on the planet.
While the issue surrounding Bungie’s control of XP (and how it feeds into the ongoing issue of microtransactions in full-priced games) has taken off at least some of Destiny 2’s sheen, there’s no denying the shooter sequel improves on the first game in almost every way.
A substantial story campaign addressed plot concerns, improved matchmaking made teaming up far easier and a move towards a more Overwatch-style setup in the Crucible all proved Bungie was listening to its fans.
With some exciting new DLC already incoming, and plans to support the title with new updates and events, Destiny 2 looks likely to remain in GOTY lists long after 2017 has drawn to a close.
Originally revealed in 2014, it took many a delay to get Cuphead out into the wilds, but the way proved more than worth it with one of the most challenging run and gun platformers we’ve ever played.
Even its gorgeous art style - which nails the aesthetic of the 1930s golden era of animation - continues to wow critics and players alike.
Sure, it’s a tough little cookie that rewards the bold and mercilessly punishes those that make the slightest mistake, but every level and each boss offers such a font of unique personality that you’ll instantly jump back in for another run.
Mental health and suicide have always proved difficult subjects to cover, especially in a medium like videogames where interaction and involvement are key, but somehow What Remains Of Edith Finch tackles both with an unrivalled grace and poignancy.
From the same studio that produced The Unfinished Swan, WROEF follows the story of a family whose members have all died an untimely death.
While it falls into the ‘walking simulator’ subgenre, it’s a game of many facets that’s absolutely worth experiencing blind. It’ll surprise you, make you shed a tear and almost certainly remain with you long after its story comes to a close.
The Creative Assembly had quite the challenge on its hand when it set about following up 2016’s Total War: Warhammer and yet a year later the British studio did just that - and then some. Okay, it’s still not called Total Warhammer (even though it really should by now), but it innovates and improves on practically every element from the first game.
It’s real-time strategy is much improved with four distinct armies to choose from, a genuinely engrossing story and a streamlined approach to battle management that made its turn-based and real-time DNA sing mid-skirmish. With plenty more updates and expansions to come, RTS games don’t come much better.
Yes, the reanimated corpse that is Resident Evil 7 really did shuffle into our lives and onto our PCs in 2017 - but only just, with its release date back in January. And what a return it’s been. Wisely acknowledging the renaissance for horror games and pioneering work of Amnesia, Outlast and the like, Capcom took its premier series first-person and created one of the most terrifying games in years.
With legendary jump scares (because bosses burst through walls now, apparently), PT-esque freakout moments and the usual creature features you’d expect from a Resi game it all coalesces to create an interactive horror that drips with menace both in VR and on traditional screens.
Much like predecessor, Divinity: Original Sin II does something very special. It harks back to the days when isometric RPGs such as Baldur’s Gate infused the genre with both personality and deep mechanics, while taking the genre forward and cementing itself as one of the new cornerstones in PC gaming.
While the ability to build a party of full-playable companions is hardly anything new, it’s the charisma of the world you’re exploring and ability to unlock new story threads and quests at any moment, weaving your very own fantastical tale that grows in depth without becoming convoluted. It looks incredible, has a standout soundtrack and offers all the hallmarks of truly great RPG.
Long gestating as Prey 2, the game that eventually reemerged had very little in common with the original Prey from 2006.
Instead, its ‘alien catastrophe aboard a space station’ storyline headed in a direction more akin to the open-ended, choice-driven creativity of the Bioshock series. Part System Shock, part Dead Space, Prey may look like a first-person shooter but it holds far more depth than simply firing off some guns.
Myriad powers can turn your character into a hybrid god, but each one comes at a cost that will make the game that bit more difficult. There are secrets to uncover, puzzles to solve and a wave of monstrous aliens trying to kill you.
No one quite expected the Wolfstein: The New Order to be the brutal, bombastic hit it turned out to be, but that placed a tidal of wave of expectation on its inevitable sequel.
That second outing, Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, does something remarkable - it manages to not only better its predecessor in both level design and the agency of its violence, but how it builds a story with moments that will shock and surprise you with equal measure.
Its gunplay mechanics might not be perfect, and its difficulty curve might still be steeper than a cliff face, but The New Colossus offers a new landmark in single-player driven shooters.
There’s nothing quite like NieR: Automata, which is quite the feat considering it’s a spin-off from a spin-off and a product of hyperactive Japanese studio, PlatinumGames. On the surface it looks like a generic action-RPG with a big emphasis on combat, but beneath there’s so much more.
The combat model has the depth and nuance of the early Devil May Cry games, its story fits perfectly with the bizarre plot threads of the original NieR, and its score is deliciously easy on the ears it’s almost a crime. It’s a game as strange and charismatic as its director, and there’s no denying Yoko Taro has produced another classic that walks to the beat of its own drum.
It’s been pretty easy to point at Twitter and, with each quarterly moment when it discloses its financial guts, let out a long exasperated sigh. But then something interesting happened in the back half of 2017: it went on a rather spectacular run, and though ending on a bit of a slump, it looks like it could finish the year up more than 25 percent — which, by Twitter terms, is… Read More
Happy New Year! It’s been a transformational year in tech. The golden era of startups ended. Sorry about that. The tech industry finally rolled over a big rock it had ignored and/or leaned on for years, and exposed the squirming morass of sexual harassment beneath. We witnessed major AI breakthroughs, a cryptocurrency megaboom, really truly self-driving cars, and 18 SpaceX launches. But… Read More
Remember Fuchsia OS? It's the mysterious operating system about which we know very little, except that Google is actively developing it and has described it as an "experimental project" that isn't replacing Chrome OS or Android... at least for the time being.
Well, we just learned a something new about it – it's being tested on the Google Pixelbook, the standard bearer for Google's Chromebooks. As Android Police spotted, the laptop has been added to Fuchsia's official documentation on the web, which shows that at least some developers are playing around with it on the Pixelbook.
Chromebooks in general are flexible devices, and it makes sense for Google's flagship computer to be used as a testbed for its next-generation operating system, even if it's not exactly clear what the whole purpose of Fuchsia is at this point.
Google is keeping its cards close to its chest for the time being as far as Fuchsia is concerned, but from what we've been able to put together it sounds like the OS is being written from the ground up with modern-day hardware in mind.
That means it doesn't have to deal with older, legacy devices and software code in the same way that Android and Chrome OS might have to – and that in turn should result in a leaner, more efficient operating system. We've already seen some indication of what the finished product might look like.
As for whether Google will stick with Fuchsia, nobody knows: the company might decide that the combination of Chrome OS with Android apps, just like on the Pixelbook currently, is enough for users in the future.
You don't have to pay hundreds of pounds for a tablet these days, and there are a number of top cheap tablets available.
[Update: A new year, and perhaps a new dawn for cheap tablets? 2018 will likely bring us an updated fleet of Amazon's low-cost slates, alongside a handful of budget Android tablets from some of the main players. Anyone hoping for a low-cost iPad, well you'll need to keep your fingers crossed Apple launches a new iPad Mini and as a result slashes the price of the iPad Mini 4 (currently £419).]
It's a strange time for cheap tablets, and even tablets in general. Exciting releases are few and far between these days, and the most fascinating tech is restricted to the top end of the market.
The best tablet in the world is the new iPad Pro, and that will set you back an awful lot of cash. Best budget tablet it is not.
In fact, none of Apple's current fleet of slates manage to break the £250, but if it's iPads you desire you'll want to check out our best iPad roundup.
All hope is not lost though, and we've got the list of the best cheap tablets you can buy right now below - but let's make one thing clear. There aren't many to choose from.
It's slim pickings for anyone looking to pick up a cheap tablet these days as the market for low-cost slates has somewhat fallen away, but the ones below offer excellent value for money.
The Huawei MediaPad M3 8.0 is the best cheap tablet right now, combining an excellent screen, a whole heap of power and slick Android interface in a slate that offers great value for money.
One of the best things about the MediaPad M3 is its slim, light aluminium frame that looks and feels good while being seriously practical.
The screen is sharp, and has colour modes that provide both more natural and saturated tones, while the speakers are another high point, delivering impressive volume for a tablet this slim.
Read the full review: Huawei MediaPad M3 8.0
In a sea of slates and smartphones, crafting a device that has enough personality to stand out and enough quality to be worth caring about is a difficult proposition.
With the Tab 4 8 Plus, Lenovo has succeeded in producing something with a flavor of its own, and something that makes the mid-range Android tablet market worth attention once again.
If you already have an Android device, commute regularly and want something a little nicer than an Amazon tablet, this is the obvious next step.
Read the full review: Lenovo Tab 4 8 Plus
When the Galaxy Tab S2 launched, it was Samsung's thinnest and lightest tablet. While that's no longer the case, it remains a highly portable option in its 8-inch form factor.
There is a larger (and more expensive) 9.7-inch option, but the only really difference is screen and battery size - the 8-inch version still boasts top notch power and a high definition display.
The metal frame adds a premium touch, there's a comfortable, soft touch plastic back and a microSD slot to expand on the internal storage.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Tab S2
If you have an Amazon Prime membership and you want a big screen tablet for watching movies and TV, reading, and a spot of gaming, the Fire HD 10 is a great option. If you also have a limited budget, then it’s your best option.
It's a great value package for a 10-inch screen tablet. It does have obvious weaknesses, like the plastic design and useless cameras, but they’re understandable in a tablet at this price.
Read the full review: Amazon Fire HD 10 (2017)
The Amazon HD 6 may be showing its age, but it's still a top-notch tablet for the money, which is why it features so highly in our best budget tablet list.
It's no tablet king, but it does what it sets out to well. Its crazy low price tag means it's perfect to hand off to the kids without the fear that they're wielding an expensive bit of kit around.
It may be too small for some, and the cameras aren't up to much, but the Fire HD 6 gives you the core tablet experience for not very much outlay, making it a budget tablet worth buying.
Read the full review: Amazon Fire HD 8
If you're in the market for a low cost tablet with up to date specs then the new Amazon Fire HD 8 and HD 10 deliver.
They won't bless you with a stunning display, sultry design or slick performance - but they will give you enough grunt under the hood to play even the most demanding of games.
The heavily modified Android interface (known as Fire OS) may not be to everyone's liking, but for less tech savvy users it's arguably less cluttered and easier to use.
Read the full review: Amazon Fire 7 (2017)
Update: Happy New Year! 2017 may be behind us, but its best Android phones are still very much in the here and now. 2018 promises to bring us a raft of new Android smartphones, but it's still early days and no new launches have happened just yet.
There's one key way in which Android is massively different from its Apple-branded smartphone competition - the number of phones out there running Google's hot mobile OS.
The big names are all here; Samsung, Sony, LG and Google are at the fore. The many variations in screen size, processor power, software features and design makes finding the best Android phone for you extremely tough.
2018 promises to bring us a new fleet of high-powered, highly attractive and showstopping handsets, with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S9, HTC U12, LG G7, Huawei P11 and OnePlus 6 all rumored - but for now that's all they are, rumors.
Want to know our top 5 smartphones you can buy right now? Watch below!
To help find the most fitting Android phone for you, we've rounded up the best Android handsets out there today, rating the phones on hardware performance, OS upgrade potential and, of course, how shiny and nice they are to have and boast about to work colleagues.
So here they are - the best Android phones money can buy today. For many, many different reasons.
Samsung has once again taken the top spot of the best Android phone in the world right now.
Samsung's latest Galaxy S8 is in the top position of this list thanks to an incredible design, amazing display and some truly great power packed into the phone.
Everything that has made Samsung phones great over the last few years has been packed into this 5.8-inch device - that's almost bezeless too - and comes with top of the range hardware and some easy to use Android software.
There's a new iris scanner to allow you to unlock the phone with just your eyes and Samsung has also included a new voice assistant called Bixby. It's not the perfect device some had hoped for, but it's the best Android phone you can buy at the moment.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S8
Second place goes to the Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. We've loved both the Galaxy S6 Edge and the Galaxy S7 Edge, but this year we prefer the smaller device of the flagship pairing.
The size of the Galaxy S8 Plus may put some people off at 6.2-inches, but we found the device easy to use and the main reason the Plus sits in second place is its higher price.
Everything we love about the Galaxy S8 is available here as Samsung has decided to only really changed the sizes of the screens rather than fiddling with the spec inside the device.
That same powerful 12MP camera and top of the range power setup is here to do everything you want it to as well as the new biometric tech that may allow you to unlock your phone faster than ever before.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus
A big-screen handset isn't for everyone though, and for those looking for a palm-friendly phone which still boasts the power and performance of a flagship will like the look of the Google Pixel 2.
It's bezel heavy design won't exactly dazzle, but this is a phone you can comfortably use one-handed, with a crisp, clear full HD display and stock Android 8 Oreo at your fingertips.
Like its bigger brother, the Pixel 2 XL, the Pixel 2 also boasts Google's stunning 12MP camera which takes seriously impressive snaps.
The smaller size does mean the Pixel 2 carries a smaller price tag, but it's still far from cheap and when it comes to spending this amount we'd recommend plumping for the Pixel 2 XL if its size doesn't put you off.
Read our full review: Google Pixel 2
Huawei is getting really good at making competitive, high-end flagships these days and the Mate 10 Pro is its best handset to date.
The standout feature is battery life, toppling pretty much every other phone on this list, but it’s also got a decent slug of power under the hood to handle any task you can chuck at it.
For those looking for a strong camera performance from their phone need to take a look at the Mate 10 Pro as well. Phones higher up in this list offer better auto modes, but for camera enthusiasts the Mate 10 Pro provides a great selection of modes and settings.
Read our full review: Huawei Mate 10 Pro
Three Samsung phones in the top five?! It may seem extreme, but there's a very good reason why - they're all really, really good.
The Galaxy Note 8 doesn't quite hit the heights of its S8 siblings thanks to its lofty price tag and number of similarities to the S8 Plus, but it's a triumphant return to form for a series that was potentially in trouble after the Note 7 debacle.
But enough about other handsets, what makes the Galaxy Note 8 worthy of its fifth place birth? There's no question the phablet is more of a niche device, but its iconic S Pen stylus is now even better, with higher accuracy and more levels of pressure sensitivity making it great for sketching and drawing.
Then there's the massive 6.3-inch QHD Infinity Display which is superb for movies and games, and with a display this big using apps side-by-side isn't just possible, it makes sense!
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Note 8
Just when you think it's a Samsung landslide in the best Android phones list, the LG V30 appears!
Building on the G6 from earlier in 2016, the V30 improves in a number of ways including an improved design, larger, more colorful display and an update-to-date chipset under the hood.
In short what you get is a super smartphone absolutely bursting with features, making it great for gaming, movies, photography and music.
Its design isn't quite as jaw-dropping as the Samsung's that rank higher than it, nor are its dual-cameras quite the all-round super snappers, but this is a seriously impressive smartphone.
Read the full review: LG V30
The LG G6 is a top Android smartphone, with an excellent premium design, lovely QHD display and clever dual camera setup round the back giving you plenty to play with and enjoy.
However, some odd choices to go with lower-spec performance and not upgrade the camera in a meaningful way, but with more recent price drops the LG G6 is still more than good enough for our best Android phone list.
That doesn't mean the G6 isn't innovative – the screen looks great and there's raw power, from the camera to the battery to the general snappiness of the handset, rippling through this phone.
Read the full review: LG G6
The OnePlus 5T offers a pleasing array of upgrades that keeps fans of the brand happy without reinventing the wheel or upping the price.
It's the best phone the brand has ever made, and one that can mix it with the best handsets around without looking out of place
While there are a few small compromises to consider - no QHD display, stereo speakers, expandable storage or standout camera - the OnePlus 5T represents some of the best value for money in the market. You won’t be disappointed.
Read the full review: OnePlus 5T
Google's Pixel range has matured in 2017, and the Pixel 2 XL is the firm's top dog with its impressive, slender bezel design, dual front-facing speakers and simply fantastic camera.
If you're in the market for a new smartphone and camera quality is of high importance, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING. The camera on the Google Pixel 2 XL is one of the most - if not the most - impressive snappers we've used on a phone.
There's also a whole heap of power under the hood, and the 6-inch display gives you lots of space to operate.
The design isn't overly inspiring on the rear, it's not the most premium feeling phone in the hand - a shame considering the price tag - and the viewing angle on the screen is very narrow before a blue tint creeps in, but there's no question this is a great device.
Read the full review: Google Pixel 2 XL
The Xperia XZ Premium is the flagship smartphone Sony fans have been waiting for, bringing together an eye-popping display, strong snapper and solid battery life.
Those who love watching films and TV shows in 4K can do so on the move with the 4K screen on the XZ Premium - no other phone on this list can boast that - while the front-facing dual speakers also enhance videos and gaming.
If there's an area the XZ Premium does lack in, it's design. The flat glass front and rear are sleek, but the plastic edges of the phone detract from the 'Premium' part of the name.
Make no mistake though, this is a proper, fully-loaded Android flagship which easily holds its own against the competition.
Read our full review: Sony Xperia XZ Premium
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