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VAIO is fondly remembered as a cutting edge computing brand by many, and its new SX12 continues in the path of its predecessors.

A utilitarian design combines with a super light frame that sees an overall weight of just over 900g (2lbs) for the heavier unit. The 2020 version adds 10th generation Intel CPUs (including a six-core model), and shrinks its footprint to 287 x 203mm, meaning that although it's not small, it is certainly still portable. 

When it comes to connectors, Sony didn’t hold back. The SX12 boasts a Gigabit Ethernet connector, four USB ports, an HDMI connector, an audio connector, a card reader and, most surprisingly, a VGA connector.

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D-Sub ports are still popular with many businesses, especially in Japan, where legacy projectors and displays abound. Their maximum resolution is limited, but they are still very useful as a backup.

These ports have been phased out over the last 24 months, even in business laptops, so it is refreshing to see VAIO still includes this venerable (but near obsolete) piece of technology.

The remaining specs are average for a device of this calibre. It has a 12.5-inch anti-glare panel with a full-HD resolution, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and a battery that Sony says can last up to 13.5 hours.

The SX12 is available in Japan for as little as $1,800 (about £1,400, AU$2,700).

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You know what sucks? A good vacuum. And we're here to find the perfect one for your everyday needs. We know that finding the best vacuum cleaner can, well, suck – there are just so many models to choose from, and who really wants to spend their time finding an appliance that means more work around the house?

The thing is, vacuum cleaners have come a long way since the days where you had to haul out that massive corded behemoth from your hall closet and plug it into a new socket every few minutes. Compared to some of the slick vacuums on the market today, that's practically medieval. 

Today's vacuums are much slimmer, and while most are still controlled by hand there's a growing number that have robotic brains and can clean up all on their own. Many of today's vacuums also run on battery power, so you won't have to worry about dragging cords all around your house. 

While it's still a 'chore' in the traditional sense, vacuum cleaning can now be done in far less time and with far greater ease thanks to cordless vacuums. But if even that sounds too hard, you'll likely be chuffed to learn that most robot vacuums can be set on a schedule, so they'll even clean your house while you're out living it up (or working).

It's true that high-end vacuums can be quite costly, but they can also be the sort of investment where the benefits become almost immediately clear. As soon as you've experienced the added ease and efficiency first-hand, it's hard to go back to anything else. 

Whether you're after a lightweight cordless, a super-powerful upright or the kind of brainy robot cleaner that'd give Will Smith night-terrors, these are the best vacuum cleaners currently available in Australia. They all suck, but in the best possible way.

Adding another integer and two years of R&D to its V-series cordless range, Dyson’s V11 Absolute takes another giant leap forward for vacuum cleaner kind. It’s more potent than its best-in-class predecessor, cleans even better on all surfaces, is quieter, and has a impressive run-time of over 40 minutes on the seriously-capable Auto power mode.

The powered tools ooze design class and hard-earned experience in the field, with the mini motorised tool easily outperforming air-powered equivalents, and the adaptability of the vacuum when you pair the torque head with the Auto mode makes the V11 Absolute easy to use as well as powerful. It also has an LCD screen, a first for Dyson, which tells you the exact run-time remaining, where blockages are located and how to clear them. Pretty handy if you ask us!

Admittedly, the V11 Absolute doesn't come cheap, but we think it’s worth the money if you're after the best cordless vacuum cleaner available today.

Read our full Dyson V11 Absolute review

The main reason to get yourself a robot vacuum cleaner is so you can either put your feet up and get something else to do all the hard work for you, or so you get more time to do more important things – or perhaps both. The Deebot Ozmo 930 will do just that for you and goes further than most other robovacs.

There’s not much we can fault with this little droid: it vacuums, it mops and it does so quite well: Ecovacs Robotics has pretty much aced it with both hardware and software. 

It’s already a must-have in our books, and if there was a way to increase suction power in these robot vacuums, the Deebot Ozmo 930 would be the perfect helper, no matter what type of floor you have at home. Add to that the ability to control it remotely and the addition of voice control makes this robot worth every penny.

Read our full Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930 review

At the time of its release, Dyson was so confident in the sucking prowess of the Dyson Cyclone V10, that the company ceased production of new corded vacuums going forward. Now, it did eventually develop a successor in the Dyson V11 Absolute (because of course it did), but that should still give you an idea of how good the 

Dyson has redefined its cyclone technology to produce more suction power than previous generations; the V10 digital motor is 20% more powerful than the previous V8, and, we can assure, it sucks a lot (we mean that as a compliment).

You'll notice a number of crucial changes between the V10 and older V models. For example, the barrel is now front-facing, and all attachments connect here directly. This design allows for greater suction efficiency, according to Dyson. The V10 is smarter than ever before, too, and can even detect differences in altitude, air pressure and temperature, and auto-adjust itself for maximum performance. 

Prices and models vary across regions, but needless to say, you pay for the Cyclone V10's souped-up suction. And while the Cyclone V10 is super powerful and boasts a more energy-dense battery than previous models, putting it on the highest setting will drain the battery in about five minutes. At the lowest setting, however, you'll get up to 60 minutes of use, and that should be plenty for your everyday messes. 

Read our full Dyson Cyclone V10 review

Dyson might be dominating the handheld vacuum arena at the moment, but when it comes to the robot vacuum space, many people rate iRobot and its Roomba 980 vacuum cleaner at a similar level of esteem. 

With its low-clearance design and smartphone app control functionality, this dirt-sucking disc is intelligent enough to go about its business in your home without much prompting on your part. The Roomba 980 will intelligently map your home for problem spots, kicking into a high-power mode whenever it rolls over carpets, and weaving around chair legs and other potential obstacles. 

Making things even easier, you can manage the Roomba 980's daily schedule from the device's accompanying iOS and Android apps, allowing you to set the time and duration of its cleaning routine however you see fit. You will have to empty it out after each use, though.

With an impressive two hour battery life, it'll also manage a longer cleaning cycle than any cordless or robot vacuum from Dyson, and when it's running low it'll automatically head back to its dock to charge itself.

Other smart features of the Roomba 980 include its battery-powered Dual Mode Virtual Wall Barriers which you can place around your crib so that your 'bot will know which areas to avoid, such as rooms you don't want it to enter or floor-level pet food bowls you don't want it to crash into.

However, the Roomba 980 does still have some room for improvement, with its app being a little sluggish at times. The robot also has a tendency to get trapped in cables and stuck under furniture. 

Sure, it's pretty pricey for what is admittedly a cleaning luxury, but it really is like having a robot maid that will keep your place clean. If you hate vacuuming and can afford it, the Roomba 980 offers exceptional cleaning convenience. 

Read our full iRobot Roomba 980 review

There's no question that Dyson's manoeuvrable and endlessly convenient stick vacuums are incredible, sporting powerful suction and a modular design that allows for a number of area-specific attachments – all without having to worry about pesky cables getting in the way. However, cordless vacuums do have their caveats.

Getting a limited amount of vacuum time from a battery that takes hours to charge can be extremely frustrating, and there are times when you may require a more powerful and heavy-duty vacuum solution. Cordless models are often pretty darn expensive, too.

If you share these concerns, Dyson's Cinetic Big Ball vacuum may be a terrific alternative, offering the same quality cleaning experience that the company's vacuums are known for, while avoiding all the usual annoyances that make inspire people to choose a cord-free option.

Most vacuums will tip over as they're dragged along the floor — not the Cinetic Big Ball, with its ball-shaped design that has been perfectly weighted to roll back into place whenever it falls down — it's a neat example of Dyson's knack for finding solutions to problems that have plagued these kinds of products for decades. 

Another advantage over cordless vacuums: its suction power leaves them in the dust — literally. At 250 air watts, the Cinetic Big Ball is even more powerful than the new Dyson Cyclone V10, which offers around 150 air watts of suction.

Taking into consideration that you can now pick up a Dyson Cinetic Big Ball for under $500, and what you have is a highly-recommended alternative to Dyson's pricier cord-free options.

Read our full Dyson Cinetic Big Ball review

Like most Miele vacuums, the cat and dog version of the CX1 is a little more expensive than the non-pet versions, but that extra cost is offset by the additional attachments you get that will help you round up and deal with shed hair and the general mess that comes from having four-legged members of your family. 

Plus, when you consider how affordable it is compared to the average Dyson product, the price of the CX1's 'deluxe' model will seem quite reasonable.

We also love that it's got an AirClean lifetime HEPA filter to remove allergens from your household, as well as an extremely high airflow that works hard to remove as much dust and debris from your floors and carpets as possible. It's also the first bagless Miele device, and it does a pretty darn good job of that, too. 

Boasting a 1,200W “Vortex” motor, the Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat Dog Bagless delivers an air speed of more than 100km/h and still manages to separate dust into two types: coarse stuff goes into the clear dust container, while the finer stuff is caught and trapped in its own filtered container.

Impressively, the Blizzard CX1 also sports a new CleanStream filter, which has a sensor-controlled self-cleaning system. You'll still need to clean the filters yourself on occasion, though.

That’s not the only big change Miele has in store for us: the design is also quite modern-looking, putting the device in a league above its predecessors. For a vacuum that goes for less than $500 at some stores, Miele has certainly stepped up its game with the CX1 Cat Dog Bagless. 

Once the leading name in vacuums, Vax is still going strong today and its Blade 2 Max 40V vacuum more than proves it. Easy to use, and delivering excellent results on different floor types, the cordless Vax Blade 2 Max 40V offers powerful suction and long run-time for a great price.

It has bright lights on the floor head, so you won’t miss any dirt, and a good-sized bin for a cordless machine too, meaning fewer bin-emptying interruptions when cleaning. The Blade 2 Max is easy to use, but it's let down by how heavy it feels in the hand – your arm may not be able to hold out for as long as the battery.

The Blade 2 Max delivers great cleaning results on different floor types, and it's no slouch when it comes to tackling pet hair; however, it's far from the lightest-feeling or quietest cordless cleaner out there.

There was a niche that needed filling and Ecovacs decided to take a stab at it. Unless you’re willing to pay top money for the iRobot Roomba 980 – the only robot vacuum we’ve tested that comes with a carpet agitator – there aren’t very many autonomous vacuums that can deal with carpets.

While the Deebot 900 does a good job on a low- to medium-pile carpet, it struggles on high-pile rugs. The fibres impede movement and dirt is often so deep-seated that there’s not enough suction, even on the Max setting, for a good clean. Moreover, with a limited battery life of 45 minutes on Max, a large home will always require a double run. On hard floors, however, there’s absolutely nothing you can fault the Deebot 900 for – it’s works like a charm.

Ecovacs has aced both the hardware and the software. Our only complaint would be the droid’s inability to clamber over obstacles and thresholds more than 18mm high, but that’s us nitpicking, really.

The droid moves exactly as you’d expect with practically perfect mapping, and the evidence of its cleaning performance will be there for you to see every time you empty the bin. And it’s all done quietly and at a relatively affordable price. Need we say more?

Read our full Ecovacs Deebot 900 review

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Think you’ve found a glaring security hole in Xbox Live? Microsoft is interested.

The company announced a new bug bounty program today, focused specifically on its Xbox Live network and services. Depending on how serious the exploit is and how complete your report is, they’re paying up to $20,000.

Like most bug bounty programs, Microsoft is looking for pretty specific/serious security flaws here. Found a way to execute unauthorized code on Microsoft’s servers? They’ll pay for that. Keep getting disconnected from Live when you play as a certain legend in Apex? Not quite the kind of bug they’re looking for.

Microsoft also specifically rules out a few types of vulnerabilities as out-of-scope, including DDoS attacks, anything that involves phishing Microsoft employees or Xbox customers, or getting servers to cough up basic info like server name or internal IP. You can find the full breakdown here.

This is by no means Microsoft’s first foray into bounty programs; they’ve got similar programs for the Microsoft Edge browser, their “Windows Insider” preview builds, Office 365, and plenty of other categories. The biggest bounties they offer are on their cloud computing service, Azure, where the bounty for a super specific bug (gaining admin access to an Azure Security Lab account, which are closely controlled) can net up to $300,000.

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Optus has been handed the second-largest fine ever dealt by the ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authority) for contacting customers that had explicitly unsubscribed from communications.

The ACMA fined the telco giant AU$504,000 following an investigation into breaches of Australia’s anti-spam laws, a sum second only to a AU$510,000 fine Telstra copped in 2014 for delays in connecting landline customers. 

Specifically, Optus was found to have sent marketing emails and SMS messages in 2018 to around 750,000 customers that had already opted out of these communications. Other emails were also sent that lacked any kind of unsubscribe facility.

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ACMA Chair Nerida O’Loughlin said it was the largest infringement paid for spamming and that it “reflects the seriousness of breaches made by Optus and its failure to honour its customers’ wishes to unsubscribe, in some cases on multiple occasions”.

In order to ensure Optus doesn’t break the law again in the future, the telco will appoint an independent consultant to act as a watchdog, reviewing its procedures, systems, and policies for compliance with these laws.

On top of this, “the ACMA will be actively monitoring Optus’ compliance with its commitments,” O’Loughlin said. “If they are not met, the ACMA will consider court action”.

O’Loughlin told the Sydney Morning Herald that Optus blamed the spam messaging on an “IT systems failure” and that the telco had checked its marketing lists for compliance, although the ACMA believes otherwise.

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The defendants have allegedly connected hundreds of millions of fraudulent robocalls to US residents.

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The WireGuard VPN protocol will be included into the next Linux kernel as Linus Torvalds has merged it into his source tree for version 5.6.

There is no set date for Linux kernel releases and being as version 5.5 was released this month, the next version will likely be released in a few months time.

The addition of WireGurd in the next Linux kernel does also not come as a surprise as the code had already been merged into Dave Miller's repository back in December. However, the code was just recently pulled into Torvalds' source tree.

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WireGuard VPN protocol

While there are many popular VPN protocols such as OpenVPN, WireGuard has made a name for itself by being easy to configure and deploy as SSH. On its website, WireGuard's team explains what sets its protocol apart from others, saying:

“WireGuard has been designed with ease-of-implementation and simplicity in mind. It is meant to be easily implemented in very few lines of code, and easily auditable for security vulnerabilities. Compared to behemoths like *Swan/IPsec or OpenVPN/OpenSSL, in which auditing the gigantic codebases is an overwhelming task even for large teams of security experts, WireGuard is meant to be comprehensively reviewable by single individuals.”

The WireGuard protocol is a project from security researcher and kernel developer Jason Donenfeld who created it as an alternative to both IPsec and OpenVPN. Since the protocol consists of around just 4,000 lines of code as opposed to the 100,000 lines of code that make up OpenVPN, it is much easier for security experts to review and audit for vulnerabilities. 

While WireGuard was initially released for the Linux kernel, the protocol is now cross-platform and can be deployed on Windows, macOS, BSD, iOS and Android.

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Just as Amazon was basking in the news of a massive earnings win, the tech giant quietly published — as it always does — its latest transparency report, revealing a slight dip in the number of government demands for user data.

It’s a rarely seen decline in the number of demands received by a tech company during a year where almost every other tech giant — including Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Twitter — all saw an increase in the number of demands they receive. Only Apple reported a decline in the number of demands it received.

Amazon said it received 1,841 subpoenas, 440 search warrants and 114 other court orders for user data — such as its Echo and Fire devices — during the six-month period ending 2019.

That’s about a 4% decline on the first six months of the year.

The company’s cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, also saw a decline in the number of demands for data stored by customers, down by about 10%.

Amazon also said it received between 0 and 249 national security requests for both its consumer and cloud services (rules set out by the Justice Department only allow tech and telecom companies to report in ranges).

At the time of writing, Amazon has not yet updated its law enforcement requests page to list the latest report.

Amazon’s biannual transparency report is one of the lightest reads of any company’s figures across the tech industry. We previously reported on how Amazon’s transparency reports have purposefully become more vague over the years rather than clearer — bucking the industry trend. At just three pages, the company spends most of it explaining how it responds to each kind of legal demand rather than expanding on the numbers themselves.

The company’s Ring smart camera division, which has faced heavy criticism for its poor security practices and its cozy relationship with law enforcement, still hasn’t released its own data demand figures.

Many smart home device makers still won’t say if they give your data to the government

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Kleiner Perkins, one of the most storied franchises in venture capital, has already invested much of the $600 million it raised last year and is now going back out to the market to raise its 19th fund, according to multiple sources.

The firm, which underwent a significant restructuring over the last two years, went on an investment tear over the course of 2019 as new partners went out to build up a new portfolio for the firm — almost of a whole cloth.

Kleiner Perkins gets back to early-stage with its $600M 18th fund

A spokesperson for KPCB declined to comment on the firm’s fundraising plans citing SEC regulations.

The quick turnaround for KPCB is indicative of a broader industry trend, which has investors pulling the trigger on term sheets for new startups in days rather than weeks.

Speaking onstage at the Upfront Summit, an event at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. organized by the Los Angeles-based venture firm Upfront Ventures as a showcase for technology and investment talent in Southern California, venture investor Josh Kopelman spoke to the heightened pace of dealmaking at his own firm.

The founder of First Round Ventures said that the average time from first contact with a startup to drawing up a term sheet has collapsed from 90 days in 2004 to 9 days today.

Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital: we can look at every company we’ve ever funded, and learned that the time from first email/contact to term sheet has shrunk from 90 days in 2004 to just 9 today.

— Dan Primack (@danprimack) January 29, 2020

 

“This could also be due to changes in the competitive landscape … and there may be changes with First Round Capital itself,” says one investor. “It may have been once upon a time that they were looking at really early raw stuff… But, today, First Round is not really in the first round anymore. Companies are raising some angel money or Y Combinator money.”

At KPCB, the once-troubled firm has been buoyed by recent exits in companies like Beyond Meat, a deal spearheaded by the firm’s former partner Amol Deshpande (who now serves as the chief executive of Farmers Business Network) and Slack.

And its new partners are clearly angling to make names for themselves.

“KP used to be a small team doing hands-on company building. We’re moving away from being this institution with multiple products and really just focusing on early-stage venture capital,” Kleiner Perkins  partner Ilya Fushman said when the firm announced its last fund.

Kleiner Perkins partner Ilya Fushman

“We went out to market to LPs. We got a lot of interest. We were significantly oversubscribed,” Fushman said of the firm’s raise at the time.

In some ways, it’s likely the kind of rejuvenation that John Doerr was hoping for when he approached Social + Capital’s Chamath Palihapitiya about “acquiring” that upstart firm back in 2015.

At the time, as Fortune reported, Palihapitiya and the other Social + Capital partners, Ted Maidenberg and Mamoon Hamid would have become partners in the venture firm under the terms of the proposed deal.

Instead, Social + Capital walked away, the firm eventually imploded and Hamid joined Kleiner Perkins two years later.

The new Kleiner Perkins is a much more streamlined operation. Gone are the sidecar and thematic funds that were a hallmark of earlier strategies and gone too are the superstars brought in by Mary Meeker to manage Kleiner Perkins’ growth equity investments. Meeker absconded with much of that late stage investment team to form Bond — and subsequently raised hundreds of millions of dollars herself.

Those strategies have been replaced by a clutch of young investors and seasoned Kleiner veterans including Ted Schlein who has long been an expert in enterprise software and security.

Mamoon Hamid is heading from Social Capital to Kleiner Perkins

“Maybe at this point they think they can raise based on the whole story about Mamoon taking over and a few years from now they won’t be able to raise on that story and will have to raise on the results,” says one investor with knowledge of the industry. “Mamoon is a pretty legit, good investor. But the legacy of the firm is going to be tough to overcome.”

All of these changes are not necessarily sitting well with limited partners.

“LPs are not really happy about what’s going on,” says one investor with knowledge of the venture space. “Everybody thinks valuations are too high since 2011 and people are thinking there’s going to be a recession. LPs think funds are coming back to market too fast and they’re being greedy and there’s not enough vintage diversification but LPs … feel almost obligated that they have to do these things… Investing in Sequoia is like that saying that you don’t get fired for buying IBM.”

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Is Simona Halep unbeatable? The Romanian star is the only player that remains in the Australian Open in either draw that's yet to lose a set this fortnight. Standing in her seemingly inevitable path to the women's final is the unseeded Spanish star Garbine Muguruza who is having a tournament to remember.

Don't miss this opportunity to watch the action as it happens from anywhere in the world with our Halep vs Muguruza Australian Open semi-final live stream guide.

Halep looks in imperious form, having taken just 53 minutes to dispatch Anett Kontaveit in her quarter-final, in a match which saw her restrict her opponent to just two games. While Muguruza came into the tournament unfancied, it shouldn't be forgotten that the 26-year-old was a two-time major winning in the not-so-distant past, having triumphed in the French Open back in 2016 and at Wimbledon in 2017.

More significantly her head-to-head record against Halep is good, having beaten her opponent on three previous occasions. She has only lost twice to Halep, the most recent being a 2018 French Open semi-final 6-1 6-4 defeat which stands as the pair's only previous Slam encounter.  

Make sure you don't miss any of this 2020 Australian Open semi-final by following our Halep vs Muguruza live stream guide below - it doesn't even matter where on Earth you are.

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Live stream Australian Open 2020 from outside your country

If you're trying to discover what your watching options are in Australia, the US, UK, Canada or New Zealand, we have all that information just a bit further down this tennis live stream guide.

But if you're away from your country and still want to catch your usual broadcaster's coverage then prepare to be disappointed if you try to watch online, is you'll likely get an error message describing the fact the tennis action is unable to be watched from overseas.

How to live stream Simona Halep vs Garbine Muguruza for FREE Down Under

How to watch Australian Open 2020: US live stream

• FuboTV $54.99 for the first month
• Hulu with Live TV $54.99 per month
• Sling TV starting at $30 per month
• DirecTV Now $50 per month

How to stream Simona Halep vs Garbine Muguruza live in the UK

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How to live stream the Australian Open in New Zealand

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The electric automaker posted $105 million in fourth-quarter profit on $7.4 billion in revenue. It delivered a record 112,000 vehicles. 

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