According to new analysis from energy think tank Ember, the cost of generating electricity from power plants using fossil fuels is around double what it costs to produce it from renewable sources.
Ember’s findings, as reported in Yahoo! News, have arrived with the publication of their mid-year analysis of the energy sector. The data presented examined electricity production in 27 major EU nations across the first six months of the year and compared it to the same period in 2020, and in 2019 before the pandemic.
The think tank believes that the reasons why electricity production from wind and solar is about 50% cheaper than fossil fuels stems from the continually rising cost of coal. In addition, the now increasing demand for electricity has also had an impact as Covid restrictions have eased around the world.
Other notable findings from the research include how electricity use Europe-wide is now ‘back to pre-pandemic levels’, but the ‘consistent growth’ of renewables is significantly outpacing that of fossil fuels.
When compared to the first half of 2019, coal generation was 16% lower, while clean energy use has also been shown to have increased in the first half of the year - as it now provides two-thirds of power to the 27 EU countries Ember analysed.
More needs to be done to reduce reliance on fossil fuels
However, despite the encouraging data that suggests a big shift towards further production of renewables, Charles Moore, Ember’s Europe lead, has still called for more to be done to ‘reduce reliance on fossil fuels for energy’ and reduce emissions.
Speaking on the matter, Charles Moore said: "There’s never been a better time to accelerate the transition to wind and solar with the costs of sticking with fossil fuels painfully clear.
"There’s a clear consensus: it is no longer credible for rich nations to target net zero by 2050 without near-term plans to secure 100 per cent clean power by 2035."
Mr Moore added: "With all eyes on the UK as it hosts the critical COP26 climate conference, the UK should make this commitment and join Biden to catalyse a new high ambition coalition on clean power."
What this might mean for consumers
If this trend and preference for renewables continues with our energy creation, it may lead to a greater choice of green tariffs from energy suppliers. On top of this, these tariffs may also become more affordable as the markets become more competitive – meaning cheaper energy bills in the long run.
There will also be the wider environmental benefits from reduced emissions, plus a necessity for more supplies of renewables could mean investment in facilities and farms, creating more green job opportunities.
Whether this proves to be the case or not is yet to be determined, but there are opportunities now to switch to green energy tariffs ahead of the curve by using an online energy comparison service. With a quick review of the markets, you’ll be able to see what the best energy deals are near you - and invariably you’ll find these are much cheaper than standard tariffs.
Better still, the popularity of green tariffs has also grown in recent years and some of the best energy suppliers around are now offering these to customers. This means that by switching you could make the most of big savings on your bills and the excellent customer service provided by these suppliers.
Find the best energy deal for your home
TechRadar has partnered with MoneySupermarket to help you find the best energy deals in your area. Our energy comparison tool takes less than five minutes to use, and could save you hundreds on your energy bills. Save money now
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Don't worry, we've kept spoilers out of this article Spoilers for Halo Infinite ’s main campaign are leaking online following the ...
Halo Infinite campaign spoilers have leaked via the technical preview
Don't worry, we've kept spoilers out of this article
Spoilers for Halo Infinite’s main campaign are leaking online following the launch of the game’s first technical preview.
343 Industries' Joseph Staten flagged the leak on Twitter, confirming that the team “unintentionally included a small number of Halo Infinite campaign files in the tech preview build” and that “unfortunately, these files contain spoilers.”
Hey folks, heads up: we unintentionally included a small number of #HaloInfinite campaign files in the tech preview build. Unfortunately, these files contain spoilers. 1/2July 30, 2021
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Datamined details for the campaign are now popping up in various places online, some even spoiling plot details. This is a spoiler-free zone, so we’re not going to link to any of that here or go into any specifics.
Staten went on to say that “leaks like this are painful for the dev team and can ruin the campaign experience for everyone. So please, keep your eyes peeled for spoilers and don’t spread them if you see them.”
For those who want to keep Halo Infinite unspoiled ahead of its release for the sake of themselves and the game's development team, we’d definitely suggest muting some keywords on social media. We can point you towards our very own guide on how to mute on Twitter for some help with that.
Halo Community Director, Brian Jarrard, replied to Staten to say, “Twitter mute words are your friend” and gave an additional warning through his own Twitter, advising members of the community not to post datamined content to their social media channels as they “run a very real risk of getting a takedown notice, which could result in a strike on certain platforms.”
Stress testing
Halo Infinite’s Bot-focused initial technical preview kicked off on July 29 and will run until August 1. It’s the first of a series of planned tests that will allow the team at 343 Industries to stress test the technical side of the game while garnering some player feedback. Further down the line, 343 Industries has said that flights will “expand into more content including traditional PVP Arena and Big Team Battle.”
At the moment, there aren’t any solid dates on when future tests will launch but anyone that wants to have a chance of taking part will need to be a Halo Insider. Signing up for this is a matter of registering for the program with your gamertag and opting in for communications and flighting. Halo community manager John Junyszek has previously posted a Twitter thread, breaking down the steps to register in detail.
Being an Insider doesn’t guarantee that you’ll be invited to take part in future technical previews or flights but it’s the only way to have a chance. 343 Industries has previously said that its goal “is to eventually get every eligible Halo Insider a chance to go hands-on and help us achieve our goals on the road to launch. Remember, if you don’t get in this time, please don’t despair – more opportunities will come.”
Halo Infinite doesn’t have an exact release date just yet, but it’s slated for the holiday period of 2021 and will launch exclusively on Xbox platforms and PC.
This info comes from a Chinese leaker via Weibo, so sprinkle some extra caution around with this speculation, which was highlighted by @9550pro on Twitter.
DG2 CES 2022👀https://t.co/frql6vkCS3 pic.twitter.com/l4uhaJpdgZJuly 30, 2021
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Going by the translation of the Weibo post, the claim is that Intel will spring its Xe-HPG (high-performance gaming) card on the world at the next CES according to ‘reliable’ news from an inside source. Seemingly that will be the actual launch, as in cards being available in January 2022, and we might get some sort of reveal previous to that in late 2021.
Intel ON happens at the end of October, and Wccftech theorizes that we could get a glimpse or teaser of the high-end graphics card when that event rolls around.
We recently heard that Intel is now sampling the DG2 gaming GPU with partners, so development appears to be progressing nicely, and we were already mulling over the prospect of the card appearing at CES 2022 in previous coverage.
Intel’s Xe-HPG graphics card looks like it’s coming on well, then, but actually being able to buy the product in January 2022 seems a little optimistic. Also, a reveal at Intel ON in just a few months perhaps seems similarly so, although if it’s only a small teaser, that could of course happen. Remember that we’ve heard the possibility that Alder Lake processors could be unveiled at that event, with hints dropped by Intel itself, in fact, so we wouldn’t imagine that Team Blue will play all its reveal cards at Intel ON.
Intel shouldn’t be rushing to make things happen, anyway, of course. Indeed, the chip giant needs to make sure it absolutely gets DG2 right, because the first impression of this heavyweight gaming graphics card will be vital. And that impression is as much about getting the software right as the hardware, because running with initially flaky drivers will set the tone and prospects for the future – putting folks off if they have a bad experience (or hear about early adopters having a bad experience).
The GPU arena could really use a competitive third player, if only to (hopefully) attack on the pricing front, and curb what seem to be ever-spiralling-upwards asking prices. But if Intel doesn’t get it right out of the gate, being more affordable won’t matter – so we’d rather the chip giant took its time, getting things as good as they can realistically be, even if that means a longer wait than the very start of 2022. After all, AMD and Nvidia’s next-gen cards won’t be appearing until the end of next year, as per the rumor mill.
Panasonic has long had a reputation for exceptional OLED TVs – helped by its use of a custom Master HDR Professional Edition panel that elevates the brightness usually possible on an OLED screen.
This year’s iteration doesn’t change much in that sense – last year’s HZ2000 had effectively the same panel and brightness output – but the continued excellence of Panasonic’s flagship screens, alongside the tweaks and improvements that have come to the JZ2000’s connectivity and audio output, could make it a shoe-in for the best 55-inch OLED TV we’ve seen this year.
That’s high praise indeed, in a year which has seen the LG G1 – a Gallery Series screen that similarly ups the brightness compared to run-of-the-mill OLED displays – or the Sony A90J that marked the TV maker’s best screen since 2019’s Sony A9G.
But while all these screens share excellent picture quality and processing, with high-spec chipsets powering the deep black, infinite contrast and all-round dynamism of OLED panels – all of which, we should remember, come from the same supplier (LG Display) – the JZ2000 has an edge in just how much audio power it packs into a single screen’s built-in speakers.
Not to mention the side-firing speakers (new for 2021) that help expand the sound around your living room or home cinema, ensuring the quality of the sound is heard clearly anywhere nearby.
Sound the alarm
(Image credit: Panasonic)
The 125W output of the JZ2000 is truly wall-shaking, and that’s even if you only up the volume to half of its full potential. It marks a welcome change from the often substandard built-in audio of so many high-end screens, which get by on the presumption of a separate sound system in your home, or questions even high-spend consumers’ dedication to premium audio alongside the excellent picture quality of these OLED screens.
The LG C1 and LG G1 OLEDs only pack in 40W total audio output each, with a muddy bass response that seems preschool compared to the advances made in Panasonic’s extensive sound systems.
In our LG C1 review, we said the screen’s only real issue was how “audio can be a bit all over the place – meaning you’ll hear booming bass and nearly sibilant highs with weaker dialogue when watching that big new Hollywood blockbuster. For us, it happened during Falcon and The Winter Soldier where the sound effects were fantastic but the actual actors’ voices were getting lost in the mix.”
It’s a small issue, and admittedly fixable by choosing an Enhanced Dialogue sound preset or turning on volume leveling – though at the expense of some bass output, meaning it’s something of a compromise.
The Sony A90J certainly impressed our reviewer on the audio side – though its Acoustic Surface Audio+ system, which literally shakes the screen’s panel to emit sound, can be a bit of a Marmite option, sounding expansive to some and a bit muddied to others.
The Sony A90J OLED is still one of this year's finest TVs(Image credit: Sony)
It’s hard to imagine anyone listening to the JZ2000’s impactful sound and feeling disappointed, though.
We wrote in our review that “The JZ2000’s speakers are truly incredible for built-in audio, being capable of recreating both the delicate footstep on a stairway and roaring explosion of a car crash in equal measure. You’re getting precise audio detail as well as a strong bass response – and while some subwoofers and surround sound systems can outperform it, you simply won’t get better built-in audio on a smart TV right now.
“While any TV will have a ‘sweet spot’ for the picture and sound (usually dead on center) the wide viewing angles of the OLED panel and side-firing sound of the JZ2000’s speakers means that sitting in almost any spot in your living room should make for an impressive movie night. And it’s this combination of picture and sound capabilities that makes the JZ2000 an all-in-one home cinema in a way the LG C1... simply isn’t.”
Ticking all the boxes
There are more reasons to buy a TV than its audio performance, certainly. But at a time when OLED, even brightness-enhanced OLED, is becoming standardised across a few flagship ranges, and HDMI 2.1 specification is available on both mid-range and high-end sets, audio remains a hugely varying spec across screens of all sizes and price tags.
Panasonic’s TV department is smart enough to vary this audio output between its OLED screens, too, making do with 30W on the entry-level JZ980 and JZ1000 models, and gradually scaling up to the 125W of its JZ2000 flagship.
Unsurprisingly, you’ll be paying through the nose for this high-end Panasonic screen. It starts at £2,699 for a 55-inch size, going up to £3,499 for a 65-inch model. Both feature the same sound system, too, meaning you can get a lot of audio power even on its smaller sizing option.
If you’re after an OLED TV in the UK that sounds as good as it looks in 2021, and can do all that at a 55-inch size – rather than requiring the wall space for 65 inches or above – the JZ2000 should absolutely be on your radar.
If you are holding on to a really old Android device – one that's running Android 2.3.7 (Gingerbread) or earlier – then take note that you won't be able to use your Google account to sign into apps like Gmail or YouTube on it from the end of September.
As per a forum post from Google, the functionality for affected devices is stopping on September 27, though if you really need to you can still access these services on ancient hardware through the built-in web browser.
Considering the tablet-focused Android 3 (Honeycomb) and Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) both debuted in 2011, we're only talking about a very small percentage of devices here, and the vast majority of users shouldn't have to worry.
"If you sign into your device after September 27, you may get username or password errors when you try to use Google products and services like Gmail, YouTube, and Maps," explains the post, with users encouraged to upgrade their software if they can.
Safety first
Part of the reason for the cut off point is security: newer software tends to be much more secure than older software, especially across a time scale of 10 years – and no one wants their Google account to be compromised by an old vulnerability.
Devices that are still all the way back on Android 2.3.7 are also missing out on a decade's worth of new features and innovations that Google has added to its mobile operating system since, so they're well overdue for an upgrade.
These older versions of Android have long been left behind in terms of security patches and updates for Google Play services, which handle a lot of background tasks for these updates. Google Play services support for Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) is ending next month.
Analysis: Updates matter
(Image credit: Google)
The news that Google sign-in support is going to be dropped for devices running Android 2.3.7 or earlier is only going to directly affect a small fraction of users, and perhaps an electronics gadget museum or two.
But it's a reminder of how important it is for Google and the other tech giants to set cut off points for older software and hardware as newer versions and devices are released. No one likes to see their gadgets become obsolete, but support can't go on forever.
Older hardware just doesn't have the capacity to run the most modern software – and that means security vulnerabilities, major headaches for developers, and user experiences that slowly get worse and worse over time.
Android 2.3.7 had a good run in terms of Google sign-in support – and even if you aren't affected, it's worth remembering that you should always install the latest software updates for your devices, as they're made available to you.
I’ve struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember, specifically with social anxiety and panic disorder, and more recently, thanks to the pandemic, agoraphobia.
Now, I’ve arrived at a good place when it comes to recognizing and managing my condition, but that certainly doesn’t stop it from impacting my daily life.
I’m far from alone in this – a 2016 report from the World Health Organization found that between 1990 and 2013, the number of people worldwide suffering from depression and/or anxiety increased by nearly 50%, from 416 million to 615 million.
Of course, some of this is down to population growth and greater awareness of mental health issues, but there’s no doubt that now, more than ever, anxiety is on the rise.
For better or worse, this is naturally a market that consumer tech companies want to tap into, and which many already focus on – from Apple’s upcoming mindfulness revamp in the watchOS 8 update to the addition of stress and sleep tracking in the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3.
For myself and many others, a telltale sign of anxiety is increased heart rate and heart palpitations, and on an average day I’ll experience two or three periods of this at varying degrees of severity.
Most smartwatches include a heart rate monitor, and this can be used for more than simply giving you feedback on your performance when you’re working out; and wearables are increasingly coming with stress level monitoring too.
I’ve been using the Garmin Forerunner 45 for a few months now to help me monitor my heart rate and stress levels, and detect any patterns that emerge. Here’s what I’ve learned so far, and how it’s already changed the way I operate day to day.
Heart rate and anxiety
Anxiety is the body’s natural response to a perceived threat, but with an anxiety disorder, these feelings are heightened, and can be triggered by a wide variety of stimulants which can sometimes be irrational.
The knock-on effect of heightened anxiety is beyond mental fretting. Physically, your autonomic nervous system (ANS) – also known as your fight or flight instinct – is triggered, which can lead to physical reactions in the heart, lungs, digestive system, and/or muscles.
It’s only been more recently that I’ve started to take these symptoms seriously as a way to both pre-empt upcoming panic attacks and identify stressors I could better avoid.
For example, one of the first things I noticed about my heart rate was how rapidly and regularly it would increase before a meeting, especially if I was headed to a session more than 30 minutes long.
By recognizing that my ‘10 minutes to go’ meeting notification triggered an irrational anxious response, I’ve been able to create a routine that takes me away from my desk in the period prior to the meeting to make a drink, freshen up and, if I feel the need, arrange my thoughts on paper. It’s not always possible, but so far this ritual has decreased the regularity of pre-meeting heart rate spikes significantly.
While beats per minute (BPM) is a relatively straightforward metric to interpret – although not always accurate in smartwatches –, stress indicators can be a little harder to unpack.
Some smartwatch producers vary in how they define stress level monitoring, but most smartwatches use heart rate variability as an indirect indicator of how the body is doing.
Image 1 of 1
Garmin Forerunner 45 running watches show live health stats, and the app provi(Image credit: Garmin)
My Forerunner 45 and a number of other smartwatches use this metric to generate a ‘stress score’, which is presented as a number on a scale running from 0-100.
Again, there’s a margin of error here – positive excitement can similarly trigger increased stress levels, so I went into my next experiment with this in mind after doing some research.
Naturally, throughout the day my stress levels would gradually increase, but there were some interesting peaks and troughs. For example, the last hour of my working day saw a significant spike in my stress levels, which lasted all the way through to around 7pm.
This is usually around the time I start to look back on what I’ve done in a day, and as someone who struggles with imposter syndrome, I tend to get stressed about whether or not I’ve accomplished enough.
Seeing how the increase in my stress levels carried over beyond working hours and into my personal time made me realize just how much of an impact this particular anxiety was having on my day.
So, instead of spending this time reflecting, I now use the last part of my day to clear out small tasks and then start planning the next day’s workload.
Small though these changes may be, I’ve noticed an overall improvement in my health and wellbeing as a result. My heart rate is now much more balanced throughout the day, and as soon as I notice my stress levels starting to increase, I know to take a step back and breathe, before the anxiety really hits.
Too much of a good thing?
Smartwatches aren’t a cure-all for anxiety, however. In fact, they can sometimes add to stress levels. Increasingly, reports are showing that BPM and stress level tracking can actually serve to heighten anxiety for many people.
A 2020 study from the University of Copenhagen investigating the clinical use of activity trackers in heart patients found that, while their use drove overall lifestyle improvements and a better understanding of their illnesses, anxiety levels also increased.
From increased paranoia around small, potentially harmless bodily functions and changes to self-diagnosis from unrelated data that hasn’t been filtered through the medical lens, there’s potential for smartwatches to do more harm than good.
The volume of data wearables can generate is immense, but no replacement for clinical intervention(Image credit: Shutterstock)
This phenomenon is also recognized in studies of sleep, too, with orthosomnia – a medical term for an unhealthy obsession with getting perfect sleep – causing some smartwatch users to become addicted to sleep tracking.
Following heart rate and stress level patterns are also by no means a way to handle all types of anxiety, or every instance of it. There were several occasions when I could feel my body gearing up its fight or flight responses while my smartwatch maintained my levels were normal.
Like most self-managed mental health strategies and practices, using tech to monitor heart rate and stress levels is something worth trying, but with a pinch of salt. While my experience with using a smartwatch for anxiety management equipped me with some new information on certain triggers, in no way did it offer sufficient support, or enough information to tear me away from my healthy relationship with doctors and therapists.
So while wearables, and the health data they provide, can be useful tools for many people, they’re just a small part of a more comprehensive approach to managing and improving our wellbeing.
2021 has been a weird year for smartphones. Well, it’s been a weird year for a lot of things, but smartphones have been no exception, with a number of them being delayed, canceled or getting a limited launch.
So what’s going on? There are a number of factors at play, and some things we know for sure, while others we can take an educated guess at. Below then, we’ll explain broadly why many anticipated phones are likely arriving late – or not at all.
The Covid-19 factor
The obvious reason that this has been a weird year for phones is the same reason that it’s been a weird year for almost everything else – Covid-19.
The pandemic has meant many employees have had to work from home rather than from their offices, with more people also likely being off sick, and some businesses either closing down or scaling down at points.
This will all have had an impact on smartphone production, and will understandably have led to delays and potentially even cancelations.
Beyond that, the pandemic has also – for these reasons and others – contributed to a shortage of chipsets, which are a core component of smartphones.
Covid-19 could mean there's no OnePlus 9T this year(Image credit: Future)
Chipset shortages
While the pandemic is the obvious explanation for why so many phones are being delayed and canceled, it’s not the only or perhaps even biggest reason, with a global chipset shortage seemingly having had the most impact – though as noted above the pandemic contributed to this too.
There are a whole load of reasons why there aren’t enough chipsets to go around – consumers have bought more consumer electronics than normal during the pandemic, with these devices all needing chipsets, while growing demand for cloud computing when people worked from home also played a role, and all the while chipset manufacturers were having to deal with shutdowns.
Other factors include the high demand for 5G phones, while sanctions against China haven’t helped the situation either. This chipset shortage is a problem that’s not just affecting phones but also computers, consoles and even cars.
Chipsets are in short supply(Image credit: Qualcomm)
It’s also a problem that companies and leakers have specifically pointed to as being behind a number of the delays and cancelations we’re seeing.
For example, back in March, long before the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 had actually been confirmed to be canceled, the company’s co-CEO DJ Koh said: "The disparity between the supply of parts and demand in the information technology (IT) side is severe".
"We are checking the parts supply problem every morning. It is difficult to say that it is 100% resolved. It is a bit of a problem in the second quarter.”
So it seems that the chipset shortage was indeed a problem. And the Note 21 seemingly wasn’t the only affected phone – a leaker has suggested that the chipset shortage is also to blame for the Google Pixel 5a not getting a global launch.
A report also suggested that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE might have been canceled due to the chipset shortage – though a more recent leak makes it seem like the phone might still land, just later than expected.
Other explanations
Do we need a Note 21 when there's an S21 Ultra?(Image credit: Future)
While the above factors are likely the main reasons for the delay and cancelation of handsets this year, there could be other factors too, most notably the fact that some of these phones arguably aren’t even needed.
The leaker who claimed there won’t be a OnePlus 9T pointed out that there aren’t many obvious upgrades for it, with the main likely one just being a slightly speedier chipset in the form of the Snapdragon 888 Plus.
Similarly, the Samsung Galaxy Note 21 might note be that much different to the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra – that’s already a huge phone with top-end specs, and for the first time it comes with stylus support too. With Samsung additionally bringing the S Pen stylus to foldables, the Note 21 could end up with no clear selling points.
Whatever the reasons though, the absence of these handsets is sure to be a disappointment to many, so hopefully in 2022 things will return to normal.
There are still plenty of great handsets - these are the best smartphones
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The Crown season 5, like previous seasons, will adapts real-world events through the prism of prestige drama – and filming is ongoing, with...
The Crown season 5, like previous seasons, will adapts real-world events through the prism of prestige drama – and filming is ongoing, with Netflix now having released our first glimpse of Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II (see above for that).
The Crown seasons 1-4 has used anime-style time skipping to keep the show interesting and to cover broad eras of the royal family's history. For a lot of people who don't know the family's history, Netflix's drama has proven to be an education.
Season 4 took us up to 1990, while season 5 will take us deeper into the decade. The Crown season 5 will give viewers another cast shake-up as we leap through time once more for the show's final few seasons, and Netflix has finally started talking about who's being added for this next run. Most recently, Jonny Lee Miller was added to the series as former Prime Minister John Major, but there are still a lot of actors we're yet to hear about.
Spoilers follow, as we go in-depth with everything we know about The Crown season 5 so far.
Release date: The Crown season 5 is filming now, so we'd expect to see the show return at some point in 2022.
Story: With The Crown season 4 ending in Christmas 1990, expect this next season to explore the end of Charles and Diana's marriage, John Major's time as Prime Minister, and the Queen's annus horribilis in 1992.
Cast: Imelda Staunton will take on the role of Queen Elizabeth II, with Jonathan Pryce playing Prince Philip, Elizabeth Debicki cast as Princess Diana, Lesley Manville taking on the role of Princess Margaret and Jonny Lee Miller playing John Major.
The future: The Crown has already been renewed for a sixth and final season, which is apparently set to cover up until the early 2000s.
Diana’s fairytale quickly unravels. (Image credit: Des Willie)
A new cast is on the way for The Crown season 5.(Image credit: Mark Mainz)
The Crown season 5 release date
The Crown season 5 release date: 2022
There will be a longer wait than usual for season 5 of The Crown. Deadline reported back in July 2020 that filming wouldn’t start until June 2021, with the series set to hit Netflix in 2022. The break in production is actually not down to the ongoing pandemic – the show had planned to take a gap year long before COVID presented the world of TV and film with numerous challenges.
The same report says season 6 is set to film in 2022, so the gap between the next two seasons should be slightly shorter.
Filming has indeed begun on season 5, according to reports, and the fact that we've now had our first look at Staunton as the Queen.
The Crown season 5 cast
The Crown season 5 cast: out with the young
(Image credit: Netflix/Des Willie)
Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II
Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret
Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana
Jonny Lee Miller as John Major
And many more to be confirmed
The fifth season of The Crown will undergo another sizeable cast shake-up, as our ageing royal family enters the 1990s – The Crown season 4 ended in late 1990, as we'll discuss further down.
We’ll be waving farewell to Olivia Colman and welcoming Imelda Staunton to take on the role of Queen Elizabeth II. You may recognize Staunton from her role as the abominable Professor Umbridge in Harry Potter. Similarly, Tobias Menzies will be stepping aside to allow fellow Game of Thrones co-star Jonathan Pryce to take over as Prince Philip.
Additionally, we’ll see Phantom Thread’s Lesley Manville assume the role of Princess Margaret, and Elizabeth Debicki, who you may know from Christopher Nolan's Tenet, will play the slightly older version of Princess Diana.
While the main cast changes have been confirmed, we are yet to find out who will fill the shoes of some of the key supporting cast. The roles of the Queen’s children, Anne, Edward and Andrew, are still unconfirmed, as are Camilla Parker Bowles and the Queen Mother. A Variety report from October 2020 said that The Affair’s Dominic West was in near-final talks for Prince Charles’ role, but that is also unconfirmed.
Season 4 also ended with the resignation of Thatcher, which means we’ll see a new Prime Minister enter the fray. Season 5 will follow the tenure of John Major, and we’ll likely also get a short burst of Tony Blair, who was in office during Diana’s death.
In June 2021, Netflix finally added another cast member to the list: Jonny Lee Miller as John Major. That likely means we're not too far off learning who the rest of the cast is going to be, especially if filming is happening now.
Jonny Lee Miller will play John Major in the fifth season of The Crown. pic.twitter.com/woMcTQtUmbJune 25, 2021
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The Crown season 4 recap
The Crown season 4 recap: where did it begin and end?
The Crown season 4 picked up in 1977, but the first episode honed in on 1979 with the election of Margaret Thatcher (Gillian Anderson). It also showcased the murder of Lord Mountbatten (Charles Dance), claimed by the IRA, which served as the show's entry point into focusing on the ongoing Troubles in Northern Ireland. We also started to see the show come into what might be termed recent history, with focuses on working class struggles, the dissolution of Apartheid, and Diana’s influence on the public.
The Queen (Olivia Colman) also took an early shining to Princess Diana (Emma Corrin) as Charles’ (Josh O'Connor) perfect, prospective bride. After passing ‘The Balmoral Test’ with flying colors, the royal family pressured Charles into marrying Diana.
The Queen’s relationship with Thatcher also began on kind grounds, but slowly neutralized over the course of the season as ol’ Maggie’s rule got more and more ruthless. The pair’s personal relationship soured, but ends in a dignified fashion with mutual respect shown for the traits they have in common.
Season 4 also did a fantastic job of making each and every cast member pretty unlikeable. The substantial age gap between Charles and Diana makes for a turbulent dynamic – Charles’ petulant reactions to Diana’s personal struggles paired with his unwillingness to let go of Camilla (Emerald Fennell) makes him hard to watch in season 4.
Throughout the season, the Queen observed Thatcher’s weakness when it came to her children, particularly her son Mark who she cited as her favorite. Upon learning this, The Queen sets off on a personal journey to reconnect with her own children, and discovers that they all carry their own indiscretions, emotional baggage and personal struggles.
The Crown season 4 wrapped up in 1990 with the resignation of an unpopular Thatcher and a particularly frosty Christmas at Balmoral Castle. During the festivities, both The Queen and Prince Philip tire of Charles and Diana’s marriage complaints. While the Queen simply and coldly urged Charles to focus on his royal duty, Philip turned a darker corner, with a quiet warning of the consequences Diana will face if her marriage fails.
Hey, maybe that's why some critics want to see a pre-show disclaimer reminding people that The Crown is a fictional drama, and not a documentary (something Netflix has confirmed it has no plans to do).
The Crown season 5 plot
The Crown season 5 plot: what will happen next?
Season 4 suggests the departure of Anderson’s Thatcher. (Image credit: Des Willie)
With Thatcher gone and Charles and Diana’s unhappy union in full swing, we’ll be sailing full speed ahead into the 1990s. It has also been confirmed that there will be a sixth and final season of The Crown, set to conclude in the early 2000s. Showrunner Peter Morgan has said that "season six will not bring us any closer to present day – it will simply enable us to cover the same period in greater detail."
The season doesn’t have an official plotline yet, but we can take a swing at what might happen in season 5 based on real-life royal events, with an additional season taken into account.
1992 was a particularly rough year for the Windsor clan. It saw the breakdown of not one, but two royal marriages – Prince Andrew’s separation from Sarah Ferguson, and Princess Anne’s official divorce from long-term husband Captain Mark Phillips. Prince Andrew’s wedding featured briefly in The Crown season 4, and we get a glimpse into Anne’s spousal struggles too, which suggests they may have a more pivotal role in season 5.
Of course, we’re in for a further ride with Charles and Diana’s relationship, and that was not shy on scandal. In June 1992, author Andrew Morton released ‘Diana: Her True Story’, a bestselling autobiographical book that detailed Diana’s struggles and the turbulence of her marriage, with her own personal input. The book was published while she was still married to Charles. As you can imagine, it didn’t go down too well with the rest of the family, so we suspect it might crop up in the next season.
(Image credit: Des Willie)
And to top off that year, we may see a fiery, fictionalized spectacle based on the 1992 Windsor Castle fire. The real fire burned for around 15 hours and caused six minor injuries to staff – and a great big castle fire is a good old excuse for some top-notch TV drama, isn’t it?
All in all, the Queen dubbed 1992 her "annus horribilis" in a famous speech. That's bound to be great material for the writers of Netflix's hit series.
We’ve also got scope for a number of scandals inside the British Government in the 1990s. Notably, we have John Major’s 1993 ‘Back To Basics’ campaign, designed to promote traditional familial values, but ultimately fell into ruin following a number of scandals inside the Conservative Party.
The Arms to Iraq affair that coursed through the 1990s may also make for juicy plot developments in The Crown, as government-approved sales of weapons to Iraq made John Major quite unpopular in the run up to Tony Blair’s winning election in 1997.
Finally, the core of The Crown season 5 will undoubtedly be the breakdown of Charles and Diana’s marriage, until their divorce in 1996, and Diana’s tragic death in 1997. We all know that there’ll be ample room for tension and drama there, and lots of us remember the impact that Diana’s death left on the world.
What remains to be seen is how true to real life The Crown will remain, and how much justice it serves Diana in her final moments. With season 6 on the cards, it is also unclear as to whether season 5 will even get to Diana’s death. It may serve as a dramatic season finale, or simply be left for the final series.
Still, we won’t be seeing any of that until 2022 at the earliest. In the meantime, maybe it's worth binging a few documentaries about the royal family and reminding yourself about what truly happened.
Amazon is facing the largest fine levied by the European Union to date after being hit with a €746m ($888m) penalty for violating the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
As reported by Bloomberg, the ecommerce giant was fined by Luxembourg's National Commission for Data Protection (CNPD) earlier this month over how it allegedly processed personal data in a way that violated GDPR.
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While reporting its second quarter earnings in a 10-Q filing recently submitted to the SEC, Amazon said that the CNPD's decision is “without merit”. The company also provided further details on the situation in a statement, saying:
“There has been no data breach, and no customer data has been exposed to any third party. These facts are undisputed. We strongly disagree with the CNPD’s ruling, and we intend to appeal. The decision relating to how we show customers relevant advertising relies on subjective and untested interpretations of European privacy law, and the proposed fine is entirely out of proportion with even that interpretation.”
Record fine
The reason why Amazon is being fined by Luxembourg's CNPD is due to the fact that its EU headquarters is located within the small European country
Although the company has publicly commented on the decision, the CNPD has not as local laws prevent it from commenting on individual cases or even confirming receipt of a complaint.
The US-based company has faced increased scrutiny over the past few years due to the amount of data it collects on its customers. Amazon has defended its data collection practices though as they allow it to offer an improved and more personalized customer experience. However, both lawmakers and regulators have voiced concerns that the company has leveraged this data to gain an unfair advantage in the marketplace.
Amazon isn't the only tech giant to receive a hefty fine for violating GDPR as Google was fined €50 million ($57m) by France's data regulator CNIL back in January of 2019.
We'll have to wait and see how Amazon's appeal proceeds to find out whether or not the company will end up paying the CNPD's $888m fine.
Smartphones have evolved so spectacularly that their point-and-shoot brilliance is just one of the many of the icons on our homescreen. So are dedicated compact cameras really still relevant, or worth buying?
They certainly have a fight on their hands. In the space of ten years, phone cameras have turned from after-thoughts into multi-cam, high-resolution, computational wizards that can handling challenging scenarios from low light to popping-portraits.
One-trick-pony, point-and-shoot compacts that offer similar (or worse) picture quality to recent smartphones didn't really stand a chance in the face of such vast investment and progress from our multi-purpose pocket devices.
So how exactly are compact cameras still relevant, even desirable, in 2021? Far from conceding, camera manufacturers have redefined what is expected from our pocket cameras and we are continuing to enjoy the fruit today. Here are all the kinds of increasingly capable compact cameras that are still relevant today – and our thoughts on which ones you should still buy.
With point-and-shoot compacts mostly phased out in 2021, the most cutting-edge compact cameras (outside smartphones) can be categorized into seven main groups; premium, big-sensor, travel-zoom, rugged, action, instant and what we'll call vlogging cameras. Here's a brief run-through of each type.
(Image credit: Future)
In 2012, the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 was announced and redefined what a compact camera is. By including a much larger 1-inch image sensor, high-quality fast lens and sturdy metal body, the premium compact was born. Seven iterations on with the Sony RX100 VII (above) facing wide competition, premium compacts are more expensive than ever, but they pack incredible features that can make those life memories look all the better.
(Image credit: Future)
One step up from premium compacts (in terms of size) is what we call the big-sensor compact. While it's sometimes a stretch to label them 'compact', these cameras include either an APS-C or full-frame sensor paired with a moderate wide-angle, fixed-focal length and fast aperture lens. Ideal for low light, environmental portraits, street and reportage photography, they include cameras like the Fujifilm X100V (above) and Ricoh GR III.
(Image credit: Panasonic)
A travel zoom is based on two main qualities; compact size and a vast optical zoom range. A case in point is the Panasonic TZ200 (above) with its 15x optical zoom range, covering anything from landscapes to close-ups of far away action – it's a slip-in-your pocket camera for traveling and offers better optical zoom than the latest smartphones.
(Image credit: Future)
Rugged compacts such as the Olympus TG-6 (above) are designed to withstand the toughest environments, being fully waterproof, shockproof and freezeproof. When your smartphone's just malfunctioned after a brief dunking in a paddling pool, the appeal of rugged cameras is all too clear.
(Image credit: Future)
An action camera is a tiny, mountable box-camera with an ultra-wide-angle lens that's primarily designed to capture your adrenaline-filled adventures in 4K. Immortalized by GoPro but with many other brands jumping on the bandwagon, the latest GoPro Hero 9 Black (above) is worth checking out.
(Image credit: Future)
Instant cameras synonymous with Polaroid are in an entire category of their own. Downright fun and simple to use, their charm is their appeal, providing immediate mini photo prints to keep or share. Our current favorite entry point is the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11, though there are now genuinely compact alternatives like the Polaroid Go (above).
(Image credit: Future)
One final category rides the current surge in demand for vlogging cameras. Although many cameras can vlog, in 2021 we are seeing cameras primarily marketed and designed with the solo vlogger in mind, such as the compact Sony ZV-1 (above).
In what ways are compact cameras still better than smartphones?
The laws of physics restricts the physical size of image sensors and lenses in a smartphone. Why is size so important? Well, image quality is hampered by small sensor size and compact cameras provide more physical depth to play with, making larger sensors possible.
At their best and often with jaw-dropping efficiency, smartphones rely on 'computational' photography as a workaround of small-sensor limitations – for example, 'portrait mode' can blur the background for popping-portraits. However, computational photography is never 100% reliable.
(Image credit: Future)
Portrait mode works by applying a uniform blur to your subject's surroundings with no true depth, and even in 2021 remains susceptible to digital artifacts. Those with a keen eye notice these imperfections. Conversely, a large sensor, fast-aperture compact creates genuine depth of field blur.
Another limitation to sensor size is dynamic range, because a smaller sensor captures less highlight and shadow detail in a single picture. Again, smartphones use computational photography via a multi-frame capture called HDR to increase dynamic range. Such an approach is fine when your scene is static, but if there is fast movement going on, then you'll get unwanted ghosting.
(Image credit: Apple)
Phone 'night modes' pose the same headache regarding movement, because they use long-exposure and stabilization to get bright, sharp shots. Ultimately, computational photography is tackling smartphone sensor size and is certainly closing the image quality gap, but real-world limits remain.
Smartphone multi-cam units offer different focal lengths and optical zooms are creeping into high-end smartphones in 2021 such as the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. However, smartphone lens technology is still no match to compact cameras like travel-zooms that offer a much greater reach.
Other handling benefits with dedicated cameras include those with the option of a viewfinder, which is especially helpful for clear viewing in bright light. Those with tilting screens also make shooting at awkward angles a breeze, while superior weather-proofing and build quality (especially in the case of rugged compacts) are also great reasons to have a dedicated camera. Lastly, autofocus performance is an entirely different proposition on compacts.
Creating more cutting-edge compact cameras comes at a literal cost. If you are going to buy a good one, it'll set you back the same amount as a decent smartphone, which is obviously way more than just a camera. Cost aside, there is more to the smartphone camera case.
One underrated benefit of the smartphone's ubiquity is also its ability to give you a degree of inconspicuousness, which ideal for something like documentary and street photography, or relaxed family portraits.
Convenience stretches to more than just availability, too. The whole process of using a smartphone camera is about as easy as it gets. As we said earlier, computational photography gets you the best possible quality image at the click of a button; auto HDR, portrait mode, night mode shots. These kind of effects can take a lot more effort to apply to compact camera shots. When the scenario is right, you can't beat the image processing of a smartphone.
(Image credit: VSCO)
Then there is sharing pictures. No Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connections to fiddle with, smartphone pictures are in your smartphone immediately for further editing, instant sharing and hassle-free cloud storage.
There are also strides towards 'pro' camera features in smartphones; manual exposure control, histogram display and shooting in raw format. But the reality in 2021 remains that auto computational photography does, in most cases, a better job of squeezing the best quality from the sensor than manually tweaking a raw file.
What are the best compact cameras you can buy in 2021?
Let's now take a closer look at our favorite compact cameras in 2021 and why you would use them instead of your smartphone.
(Image credit: Future)
A premium pocket camera with pro features, the Sony Cyber-shot RX100 VII (above) outmuscles any smartphone especially for capturing action pictures and videos. This is thanks to its autofocus, image stabilization prowess, and high-speed shooting modes, all in a camera with a much larger sensor than a smartphone and decent optical zoom range.
(Image credit: Future)
The retro-chic Fujfilm X100V street-shooter (above) boasts excellent image quality thanks to its large APS-C image sensor – this combines nicely with its sharp, edge-to-edge 35mm f/2 aperture lens to make it especially at home when shooting in low light. It's packed with dedicated exposure control dials that are sure to please photo enthusiasts, too.
(Image credit: Future)
Smartphones struggle to get you close to subjects in the same way as a travel-zoom like the Panasonic TZ200 (above). Its 15x optical zoom has a 24-360mm range, whereas a smartphone typically starts at 28mm and, at longer focal lengths, usually only offers a digital zoom that dramatically decreases image quality the further you zoom in.
(Image credit: Future)
Rugged and action cameras usually have a similar-size image sensor to smartphones and comparable image quality, but they are designed to be taken into scenarios that you simply wouldn't want to risk your phone in. Strapped to a helmet for hitting the slopes, underwater action, the GoPro Hero 9 Black (above) and Olympus TG-6 are the ones for your extreme adventures.
(Image credit: TechRadar)
It might be easy to share your smartphone images on social, but can you print photo keepsakes on-the-fly? Our favorite easy-to-use instant camera, the Fujifilm Instax Mini 11, uses one of the most affordable film stocks that produces prints with gorgeous colors.
Smartphones are the most convenient tools for vlogging, but the Sony ZV-1 takes the quality up a notch thanks to its larger 1-inch sensor and fast lens, which combine to create some lovely shallow depth of field. Its blazing autofocus offers an AF mode that's ideal for product influencers, while there's also a flip-out LCD screen, hotshoe for accessories and 3.5mm mic port.
Compact cameras vs smartphones: which is the best for me?
If you're looking to take pictures that go beyond the scope of your smartphone, there are a few ways to do it – and compact cameras remain one of those options. But as we've discussed, it's important to pick the right model, as it's now no longer the case that dedicated cameras always carry a hardware edge or image-taking edge over phones.
Each compact camera mentioned in this article offers specific tools for specific scenarios – for example, a large APS-C sensor for taking your image quality or creative control up a level, or rugged models for those times when you don't want to risk a precious slab of glass with your entire life on it.
(Image credit: Future)
While the image quality gap is closing in general, computational photography is not 100% reliable, and there are ways in which compact cameras make better quality pictures for specific scenarios; lens reach, larger image sensors, better autofocus performance.
Of course, image quality is only one consideration when it comes to choosing a camera. The fact that a phone is most likely to be the camera in your pocket, and is a multi-purpose device that keeps those around you at ease in a way a dedicated camera do not, may just provide photo opportunities that you would otherwise not get.
A smartphone is also the most convenient picture-taking and sharing tool. If the scenario is fitting to a smartphone camera's strengths – for example, wide-angle, bright light, or simple compositions – then you're unlikely pine for more. Take time to learn how to use a smartphone for photography, though, and you may just elevate your pictures to the point where you start to want a dedicated camera.
The best smart speakers can be a handy tool for children - from helping them with their homework to letting them chat to family and friends and even listen to their favorite music and audiobooks.
The inbuilt voice assistants are great for education and keeping the kids amused, but there’s a worry that kids could stumble on something inappropriate if left to their own devices with Amazon’s voice assistant.
You can’t supervise them 24-7 so how can you strike the right balance between keeping them safe and letting them benefit from Alexa’s expertise?
This is where Amazon Kids on Alexa comes in. The free-to-use service lets you restrict when Alexa can be accessed, the Alexa skills that can be used and even blocks explicit lyrics when listening to Amazon Music, Apple Music or Spotify.
Initially launched in the US in September 2020, Amazon Kids on Alexa has now been made available in the UK as well.
As we’ve already mentioned, Amazon Kids on Alexa is a free-to-use parental controls service that when switched on, lets you set time limits on when, and for how long the smart speaker can be used.
It also allows pausing access to the device at any point - ideal if you want the kids to concentrate on eating dinner rather than interacting with a voice assistant.
It comes built-in to the new Echo Dot Kids smart speaker, which is priced at $59.99 / £59.99 (around AU$80), and is available with either a tiger or panda theme. However if you have an existing Echo smart speaker in your home, including an Amazon Echo (2020), Amazon Echo Dot (2020) and even the Amazon Echo 1st generation, you can enable Amazon Kids on Alexa through the Alexa app.
If your child has a subscription to Amazon Kids+, which offers unlimited access to child-friendly audiobooks, apps, games and tv shows, this can also now be used on any Amazon Echo smart speaker - although only content that’s audible rather than visual will be available.
We spoke to Amazon and a representative confirmed that Amazon Kids on Alexa and Amazon Kids+ doesn’t work on Amazon’s line of smart displays, such as the Echo Show 5 (2nd generation) and the Echo Show 10. Amazon told TechRadar it wasn’t able to reveal if this will change in the future.
(Image credit: Amazon)
Amazon Kids on Alexa offers more than just the ability to set use limits. When we activated Amazon Kids, we noticed Alexa’s tone softened and the language it used was more child-friendly.
For example, when we asked Alexa to tell a joke when Amazon Kids was enabled, it responded with a joke that would “tickle your funny bone”.
There were plenty of age-appropriate stories and jokes on offer, and Alexa was also able to provide spelling, definitions and even answer some mathematics questions for us when Amazon Kids on Alexa was switched on, although it can also do this in normal mode.
Crucially however, voice purchasing was disabled by default - so no more remembering to toggle this option in the Alexa app when the kids are around.
Amazon Kids on Alexa also does an effective job at preventing tracks with explicit lyrics being played. We requested a track loaded with swearing from Fatboy Slim album ‘We’ve Come A Long Way Baby’ and were impressed to find it wasn't possible.
However, we were able to play plenty of explicit-language free friendly tracks from Kylie Minogue, Justin Timberlake and even some Disney records.
Voice calling is enabled so children can use an Echo smart speaker to communicate with other Amazon smart speakers in the home or call their friend’s that have an Echo speaker (as long as their friend is assigned as an approved contact by you through the Alexa app)
Finally using the Parent Dashboard, which can be accessed through the Alexa app or on Amazon’s website, we were able to restrict the apps and Alexa skills that could be used when Amazon Kids was enabled, so ensuring kids can’t mess with smart home gadgets or , as well as review the skills that had been used while Amazon Kids on Alexa was enabled.
How do I turn on Amazon Kids on Alexa?
To switch on Amazon Kids on Alexa, open the Alexa app on your phone or table and select the 'Devices’ tab. Tap Echo & Alexa then select the devices you want to install the parental controls on.
Choose the settings icon from the top right-hand corner and then select ‘Amazon Kids’ from the options displayed. Move the slider to the on position.
From here you can add a profile for each child to your household, if they don’t already have any Amazon devices. As well as adding the name, and selecting an icon, you’ll also need to add their date of birth, so age-appropriate content and responses are given.
If they ‘own’ (well, have control of) Amazon devices, the profile will show up automatically, so you just need to select it from the list given.
Only one child can use an Echo with Amazon Kids enabled at a time, however you can easily switch the profiles in the Parent Dashboard.
Once Amazon Kids is enabled in the Alexa app, you’ll still need to ask Alexa on the device itself to open Amazon Kids, otherwise it’ll behave as though there are no parental controls
We also tried asking Alexa on the device to turn off Amazon Kids and revert back to normal mode, just in case any cheeky children thought they couldn’t circumnavigate the parental controls, but handily Alexa just says it can’t help and to ask a grown-up
If you’re a grown-up and you want to revert your Amazon Echo smart speaker into its full, non-child friendly state, you’ll have to disable it in the app
Want to get your hands on an Amazon smart speaker now? Then check out these great Amazon Echo deals
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