ZTE wants to do display holes for the earpiece now

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Lenovo Z5s hands-on photos surface, show a screen hole in the middle of the status bar

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Mixpanel: iOS 12 adoption rate reaches 75%

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11 sued over selling Samsung OLED secrets to Chinese company

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Xiaomi Mi Mix 3 Forbidden City Edition goes on sale in December

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Counterpoint: Xiaomi obliterates competition during Diwali

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Renders of Sony Xperia XZ4 cases support rumor of extra tall body

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Microsoft Office 365 Icons Updated With New Design to Reflect Cloud-Oriented Approach

Microsoft on Thursday announced new, redesigned icons for all Office 365 applications to reflect a modern real-time and cloud-based approach for the Redmond giant.

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Tech Mahindra Launches New Business Unit For Video Services in 5G

With the establishment of the new "Video Integration and Engineering" (VIE) platform, Tech Mahindra said it would aim to improve its strategic position with several video distribution companies in the US.

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Top Silicon Valley CEOS to meet Trump administration to discuss tech innovations and jobs

The roundtable, to be held next Thursday, will see Microsoft's Satya Nadella, Google's Sundar Pichai among other top tech CEOs

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Samsung Electronics says it would cancel $4.4 billion worth of its shares

This step was the second stage of its previously announced plan to cancel all of its treasury shares.

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YouTube is rolling out its Snapchat Stories-like feature to more creators

YouTube is now expanding the feature to creators with over 10,000 subscribers.

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Oppo to show off its first foldable smartphone at the Mobile World Congress 2019

The confirmation has come from none other than Oppo's product manager Chuck Wang.

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Facebook starts verifying identity, location for paid political ads in UK

Facebook said it would, however, exempt select UK news organizations from housing their content.

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Elon Musk scraps plans for high-speed passenger tunnel in West Los Angeles

He's however building a similar tunnel across town designed to whisk baseball fans to and from Dodger Stadium.

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South Korea indicts 9 people for leaking Samsung's OLED secrets to Chinese company

Samsung Display invested 150 billion won over six years to develop the leaked technology.

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Artificial Intelligence may show biases regarding conduct, response towards humans

AI might be an important tool for recruitment but it may show bias during the recruitment process.

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Twitter records 48 lakh tweets related to Assembly elections in last two months

Twitter also launched a special #AssemblyElections2018 emoji until December 23

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Oppo India MD resigns amidst increasing losses, to give up office on 30 November

Oppo India MD Yi Wang's resignation coincides with the increasing losses to Oppo in the country.

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International civil aviation body stresses need for global security plan

The recommendation came at an International Aviation Security Seminar.

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Apple Watch Series 4 to get ECG suport with the public release of watchOS 5.1.2

watchOS 5.1.2 will add an Apple-designed ECG app which is capable of indicating heart rhythm anomalies.

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Baidu's 'Facemoji Keyboard' application now supports 22 Indian languages

Facemoji is a keyboard input application that enables its users to jazz up their conversation

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Google's Project Fi is now Google Fi and works with a wider range of phones

Fi was earlier limited to newer Pixel handsets made by Google and a few Android-powered smartphones.

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Realme U1 first impressions: Aggressively barging into the Rs 15,000-segment

The smartphone's first sale will start at 12 pm on 5 December via Amazon India.

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Pornhub VP says banning legit adult sites could lead people to access illegal content

The porn ban is seen to have an impact on the Pornhub site leading to a decline in traffic.

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Amazon faces probe from German authorities for exploiting third-party retailers

Germany's FCO has received complaints from traders about the business practices of Amazon of late.

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Microsoft gets $479.2 mn contract by US Army to supply prototypes for its AR systems

Microsoft will supply prototypes AR systems helping soldiers in training and combat missions.

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Facebook invests $1 mn to boost computer education among minorities and women

CodePath is a US-based NPO that provides computer science education to female and minority students.

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OnePlus 6T McLaren edition to debut on 11 Dec with 10 GB RAM and 256 GB storage

The OnePlus 6T McLaren edition will likely be the first phone by the brand to feature 10 GB of RAM.

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DJI releases cute little Osmo Pocket gimbal for a price of $349 in the US

In terms of size, the DJI Osmo Pocket happens to be four inches tall and weighs about 116 gms.

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PSLV-C43 launch highlights: Mission successful, all 31 satellites have been placed successfully in orbit

ISRO has successfully used the PSLV-C43 rocket to put all the 31 satellites into Earth's orbit.

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Nokia 8.1 leaked images confirm that it will be the global variant of Nokia X7

Nokia 8.1 is expected to be launched on 5 December with prices starting at about Rs 23,999.

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COAI's objections to Rajinikanth starrer 2.0 are reasonable, the timing isn't

For some reason, people assume that the "electromagnetic radiation" from cell towers is harmful.

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Google Assistant Brings Pretty Please Feature, Gets Ability to Create Notes, To-Do Lists

The Pretty Please feature of Google Assistant was announced back at I/O 2018 earlier this year.

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Nokia 7.1 With Dual Rear Cameras, HDR Display Launched in India: Price, Specifications

Nokia 7.1 price in India is set at Rs. 19,999 (recommended best buy price) for its 4GB RAM/ 64GB inbuilt storage variant.

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OnePlus 6T Display Affected by Random Pixel Static, Some Users Report

Users have started reporting a weird issue with the display on their newly bought OnePlus 6T handset.

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Airbnb Will Start Testing Prototype Homes as Soon as Next Year

Airbnb announced Thursday that it will begin testing prototype homes as soon as next year to accommodate the needs of owners or occupants who rent and share living spaces.

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Netflix Cancels Marvel’s Daredevil After Successful Third Season

The first three seasons of Daredevil will continue to be available for streaming on Netflix.

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HTC U11 Life Android One Variant Now Receiving Android 9.0 Pie Update, Users Report

The Android 9.0 Pie update for the HTC U11 Life is reportedly rolling out in some part of Europe.

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OnePlus 5, OnePlus 5T Start Receiving Android 9.0 Pie-Based HydrogenOS Public Beta Update in China

As the HydrogenOS public beta is rolling out to OnePlus 5 and OnePlus 5T, the company may soon release the Android Pie-based OxygenOS beta.

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Astrophysicists Count All the Starlight in the Universe

By their estimate, over the history of the universe, stars have emitted 4 times 10-to-the-84th-power photons into the visible universe (that's a 4 followed by 84 zeros).

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Realme U1 vs Realme 2 Pro: What's the Difference?

Realme U1 vs Reame 2 Pro price in India, specifications compared of the two Realme smartphones. What's the difference between Realme U1 and Realme 2 Pro?

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IBM Teams up With IIT Delhi to Advance AI Research in India

IBM researchers will collaborate with students and professors from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT-D to inculcate in AI systems some key traits like reasoning, comprehension and inferencing.

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ASUS Partners With Quantum Cloud to Help Gamers Earn Passive Income

Quantum Cloud uses some of the user's graphics processing unit's (GPU) power to run powerful Cloud-based applications. These applications generate profit for the platform, and the users earn a cut based on the amount of GPU power provided.

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OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition to Have 10GB of RAM? Reports Suggest so

OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition will have 10GB RAM and 256GB storage. If one goes by the information, this could be the first OnePlus smartphone to feature 10GB RAM.

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Oppo India MD Steps Down Amid Mounting Losses

Oppo India's Managing Director Yi Wang has resigned from the company and the handset manufacturer has accepted his resignation.

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Before 5G Phones Hit The Market, Spirit And HTC Announce 5G Mobile Smart Hub

Sprint and HTC announced their collaboration on a 5G mobile smart hub that could come to US customers as early as the first half of next year.

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New Zealand Says Huawei Ban Not Because It's Chinese

New Zealand denied Thursday that telecommunications giant Huawei was banned from a 5G network rollout because it is Chinese, saying the problem it faced was a technological one.

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Facebook Invests $1 Million to Boost Computer Education Among Minority Communities

CodePath.org is a US-based nonprofit that provides computer science education to female and minority students at universities around the country.

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NASA Chooses Lockheed Martin Among Nine Companies For The Next Moon Mission

The US space agency on Thursday announced nine private companies, mostly start-ups, that will bid on $2.6 billion in contacts to build spacecraft to carry payloads to the Moon as early as 2019.

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Instagram Adds Features to Increase Platform Accessibility For The Visually Impaired

The social network touts its object recognition technology as accurately identifying what is pictured in a post and automatically using this information to write alternative text.

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Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 Incoming?

A second-generation version of Google Glass, aimed at enterprises, could be getting prepped for imminent launch, according to MySmartPrice.

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PUBG Mobile Revenue Surpasses Fortnite, For The First Time, on iOS

According to Sensor Tower‘s Store Intelligence data, estimated worldwide player spending across both the App Store and Google Play was up 2.7x last week in comparison to the past seven days.

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Skullcandy Venue Review: You Wouldn’t Want to Lose These Headphones, And You Can’t

The Venue indicates a new direction for the higher-end Skullcandy headphones, and we are impressed.

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Dell.com Resets All Customer Passwords After Cyber Attack: Statement

Dell said in a statement that on Nov. 9 the company detected and stopped hackers who had breached its network and were attempting to steal customer data.

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Amazon's Latest Gadget is a Self-Driving Toy Car For Coders

Customers can train and tweak machine learning models in an online simulator and then test drive them on vehicles one-eighteenth the size of a real race car.

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Honor 8C With Snapdragon 632, 4000mAh Battery Launched in India For Rs 11,999

The Honor 8C features a 6.26-inch FullView Display with HD+ resolution and the phone offers 86.6% screen-to-body ratio.

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Asus ROG Gaming Phone Launched For Rs 69,999; Does This Give You an Advantage on The PUBG Scoreboards?

Asus ROG Phone features a 6-inch AMOLED display with HD+ resolution (1080×2160 pixels), 18:9 aspect ratio, 402ppi pixel density, with Wide color Gamut support, HDR support, and 90Hz refresh rate.

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This OnePlus 5T Limited Edition is a perfect memorabilia for Star Wars fanatics

Star Wars, the iconic series that took off in the year 1977 has a long history attached to humanity when you look at it today. Created by George Lucas, the space opera has defined modern technology in ways that could not have been fathomed back then. With the second film in the sequel trilogy, hitting theaters on Friday, OnePlus has launched a Star Wars Edition of their latest flagship smartphone, OnePlus 5T.

OnePlus’ homage to the series is an interesting take on the whole franchise. Here is a company of modern times welcoming back Luke Skywalker, 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi. And if that itself doesn’t give goosebumps to the Star Wars fan in you, their Star Wars Edition OnePlus 5T surely will. While this special edition has design tweaks, the hardware that comes with it is the same as that of the normal 5T. You can read our full review of OnePlus 5T here.

• OnePlus 5T review

In a galaxy far, far away

The OnePlus 5T comes in a black box with the markings of Star Wars The Last Jedi, OnePlus 5T in red and white accents. It's a special edition and the company has made it feel just that. Pop-out the cover and you will see the smartphone in all its glory.

The OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition has a Sandstone white finish on the rear which is how it is placed inside the box, surrounded by the dark side.

It just feels like a surreal mix of Star Wars legacy and smartphones that every fan of the franchise will feel nostalgic, hyperactive and happy when unboxing this special edition. This experience is elated even further when one removes the sheet on which the phone rests. Underneath, there’s a custom-made case for the phone which resembles a miniaturized version of Kylo Ren’s mask.

The case feels sturdy in hand, like one of those Otterbox or Spigen armor cases. It's one thing to have just another armor case to protect your Star Wars edition smartphone, but having this case is just straight-up pizzazz. It has Star Wars The Last Jedi stamped on the inside and the OnePlus insignia engraved on the bottom-right side.

With all of this, you will probably feel overwhelmed just like the fan inside me did. Next item inside the box is the proprietary Dash Charger in a mix of white and red. Things don’t end up there. There’s the usual paperwork followed by a OnePlus Star Wars sticker which looks amazing, ready to go on the laptop.

OnePlus seems to have left no stones unturned with the Star Wars Edition of OnePlus 5T and you will be thrilled to unbox it just like us.

Design and build quality: How's it like?

OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition treads the line between the dark and light side of the force. The back of the smartphone has a similar finish to that of the Sandstone Black variant of previous OnePlus phones, only white. It’s a rough white finish with the OnePlus logo beneath the ceramic fingerprint sensor in metallic black and the Star Wars emblem in red outline.

On the right edge, the lock/unlock button and the SIM slot have a black accent while on the left only the volume rockers are black colored. The alert slider on the left edge has a red accent (which OnePlus calls Red Mineral) to it that looks really cool.

Now, one might think as to why OnePlus went with the White and Red combination here. One reason for it is that the back of the Star Wars Edition is a reference to the light side of the Force while the all black front more than makes it up to the dark side.

The second reason is that the Sandstone White finish on the rear has got to do with a new planet that will be introduced in The Last Jedi. Planet Crait, which has already made its debut in the film's trailers, is an uninhabited planet in a remote location of the galaxy. It is a small planet with its surface covered with white salt. Hence the back of the OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition. Underneath, its red mineral cover forms the base of the planet.

In one of the introductory videos, director Rian Johnson curiously says, “what would a battle on a planet like that look like?” and if you have seen the trailers, you do know how they look like.

This red mineral covered planet is the inspiration behind all the red elements on the Star Wars Edition OnePlus 5T.

The phone looks really nice to hold in hand and as OnePlus has done away with the metallic back in lieu of Sandstone White, the 5T feels lighter than the normal version. 

To make the OnePlus 5T feel more like a tribute to series, OnePlus has created a special Star Wars red theme for this edition which looks awesome and goes with the theme. Apart from this, there are special Star Wars wallpapers which are really cool and fulfils the overall experience the phone demands.

Other than the design and the theme, it's everything that the OnePlus 5T is. A powerful smartphone powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 paired with 6GB/8GB of RAM and internal storage of 64GB/128GB.

Made for fans

The Star Wars Edition is something that will attract many fans because it stays true to the pop-culture icon that Star Wars is with its design and aesthetics. It's a treat for every fan of the series because the panache is strong with this one.

OnePlus 5T Star Wars Edition price and availability

The OnePlus 5T Star Wars Limited Edition with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage will go on sale starting December 15th midnight at Rs 38,999. 

• Why we love Star Wars

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Realme U1 launched in India starting at Rs 11,999

Realme Mobiles, a spinoff from OPPO which was formed about six months back has launched its fifth smartphone in India. The Realme U1 broke cover earlier this morning at an event held in the capital. The U1 is the first smartphone by Realme in their new U-series lineup which the company claims is the new “photography expert” on the block.

The U1 features a 6.3-inch FHD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels) IPS display which sits flush with a waterdrop notch design on the front. This gives the phone a 90.8% screen-to-body ratio with a 19.5:9 aspect ratio. This is further topped with a layer of 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3 for protection against regular wear and tear.

Realme U1 is 8mm at its thickest and weighs around 168g. The company has adopted for a diffraction effect on the rear panel that has been treated to a 13-layer lamination. The U1 comes in three color variants, black, blue and gold.

The launch of the Realme U1 was also the global debut of MediaTek Helio P70 chipset which is supported by an octa-core CPU clocked at upto 2.1GHz. The SoC uses ARM Mali-G72 for graphics rendering. There are two RAM and storage variants of the U1 for buyers to choose from - 3GB RAM with 32GB storage and 4GB of RAM with 64GB internal storage. The storage can further be expanded by upto 256GB via microSD card.

Realme U1 runs on Android 8.1 Oreo with ColorOS 5.2 custom skin.

Coming to the camera department which Realme touts as the USP of the phone, the U1 sports dual cameras on the back. The primary sensor is a 13MP snapper with a f/2.2 aperture and a 2MP secondary camera with a f/2.4 aperture which assists in collecting depth information.

On the front, there’s a 25MP selfie camera with Sony IMX576 sensor and a wide f/2.0 aperture. Additionally, the selfie camera has features like back-light clarity, night shot, portrait mode with different lighting effects among others.

Other features include a game space that boosts the performance of games, system optimizations that result in faster app launches and face recognition. There’s a fingerprint sensor on the rear panel as well, in case you do not want to unlock the phone using your face.

Powering the Realme U1 is a 3,500mAh battery which should easily power through a day’s worth of usage on a single charge.

 Realme U1 price and availability 

The Realme U1 starts at Rs 11,999 for the variant with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage while interested buyers will have to shell out Rs 14,499 for the top-end variant with 4GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage. 

Alongside the U1, Realme also launched two new accessories for the phone, the Realme U1 Iconic Case and Realme Buds, both of which are priced at Rs 499.

Realme U1 goes on sale on December 5 at 12 in the afternoon exclusively on Amazon India. 

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Firefox Reality now supports 360-degree video and seven extra languages

Firefox Reality, Mozilla's VR web browser, has received its first major update since its launch in September. Firefox Reality 1.1 (available to download now for Oculus and Google Daydream) adds several new features to make browsing the web easier and more natural while wearing a headset.

Firefox Reality now supports 360-degree video from sources like YouTube, so you can leave the browser interface behind completely and become fully immersed in the action. There's also a new Theater mode for regular videos, which dims everything except the playback window so you can focus more easily.

There's improved localization, with support for seven additional languages, and the browser now offers improved voice search - an addition that makes using the web much easier than 'typing' using a controller and a virtual keyboard. 

A different approach

Other new additions include improved interface performance (for tasks like resizing windows) and the ability to create bookmarks that are stored locally. These might seem unremarkable, but many of the tools and options we've come to expect in desktop and mobile web browsers require a different approach in VR. For example, resizing involves using a controller to change the size of the browser window, moving it up and down to make the window larger or smaller rather than dragging a corner as you would with a mouse.

Mozilla is currently working on adding multi-window support, tabs and content-syncing to Firefox Reality - all of which will also need a different approach to other versions of the browser. We'll be interested to see how the developer adapts them for use without a keyboard, mouse or touchscreen.

• The best VR headset 2018

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What's new on Netflix Australia for December 2018

As the number of shows and movies available to stream in Australia continues to grow at an impressive rate, it can be tough to keep up with all the new additions to each streaming service each month.

We've all come to anticipate a new stable of Netflix Originals releases each month, but figuring out which shows they are and when exactly they become available isn't so easy. And what about the large number licensed shows and films that are made available to stream, if only for a limited time?

In an effort to keep you informed of the best shows and movies that are in the process of being added to Netflix, we'll be bringing you an updated list of what you can expect on the service on a monthly basis. 

Not only that, we'll also be singling out the biggest releases, as well as a number of quality TV shows and films which we believe deserve your Netflixing time. 

So get ready to kick off the month with an epic binge – here's what's new on Netflix in December 2018. Check out the month's highlights video below!

TV shows highlights for December 2018

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter's Tale (14/12/2018) 

In a devilish twist on the usual 'Christmas special' formula,  Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: A Midwinter's Tale sees Sabrina orchestrate an emotional séance with serious consequences as the winter solstice approaches, and Susie's merry plans turn menacing.

Tidelands (14/12/2018)

Australia's very first Netflix Original series sees an ex-con return to her hometown Orphelin Bay blows the lid off a generations-long conspiracy of silence around murder, drugs and sirens – or are they mermaids?

Perfume (21/12/2018) 

A modern retelling of the Patrick Süskind novel of the same name (which was also adapted as a film in 2006), a perfumer with a superhuman sense of smell begins killing female students at a boarding school to distill their essence and create the perfect scent.

Watership Down: Limited Series (coming in December) 

You may want to keep your young children away from this terrifying animated tale, which sees a warren of rabbits battles many threats on their daring journey to find a new home in this adaptation of the classic novel by Richard Adams.

Movies highlights for December 2018

Dumplin’ (7/12/2018) 

Dumplin’ (Danielle Macdonald) is the plus-size, teenage daughter of a former beauty queen (Jennifer Aniston), who shakes up her small Texas town when she signs up for her mum’s pageant as a protest and inspires other local people to join her.

Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (7/12/2018) 

If you didn't get enough live-action Jungle Book action from Disney's recent adaptation, you're in luck – motion capture genius Andy Serkis reinvents Rudyard Kipling’s beloved masterpiece, bringing stars Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Freida Pinto, Matthew Rhys and Naomie Harris along for the ride.

ROMA (14/12/2018) 

A deeply personal film from Oscar winner Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Children of Men), ROMA chronicles a tumultuous year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the early 1970s.

Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable (18/12/2018) 

Talk show host extraordinaire Ellen DeGeneres returns to stand-up after 15 years for her debut Netflix original comedy special, Relatable. 

American Graffiti (7/12/2018) 

George Lucas' first true masterpiece, the nostalgic film American Graffiti follows a couple of high school grads as they spend one final night cruising the strip with their buddies before they go off to college.

ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay? (7/12/18) 

This true crime documentary explores the still-unsolved murder of Jam Master Jay, legendary DJ behind the groundbreaking '80s rap group, Run-D.M.C.

...and the rest for December 2018

ORIGINAL SERIES

The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot Season 2 (3/12/2018) 

Dogs of Berlin (7/12/2018) 

The Hook Up Plan (7/12/2018) 

El recluso (7/12/2018) 

The Ranch: Part 6 (7/12/2018) 

Nailed It! Holiday! (7/12/2018) 

Bad Blood (7/12/2018) 

The Fix (14/12/2018) 

The Protector (14/12/2018) 

Fuller House: Season 4 (14/12/2018) 

Travelers: Season 3 (14/12/2018) 

Inside the Real Narcos: Series 1 (14/12/2018) 

Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 3 (14/12/2018) 

Sunderland Til I Die (14/12/2018) 

Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5 (18/12/2018) 

Diablero (21/12/2018) 

Derry Girls (21/12/2018) 

7 Days Out (21/12/2018) 

The Casketeers (21/12/2018) 

BÖRÜ (Wolf) (21/12/2018) 

You (26/12/2018) 

Selection Day (28/12/2018) 

Murder Mountain (28/12/2018) 

NETFLIX WEEKLY SERIES

Memories of the Alhambra (1/12/2018) 

NETFLIX FILM

Battle (1/12/2018) 

Crossroads: One Two Jaga (1/12/2018) 

5 Star Christmas (7/12/2018) 

Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (21/12/2018) 

Bad Seeds (21/12/2018) 

Bird Box (21/12/2018) 

La noche de 12 años (28/12/2018) 

When Angels Sleep (28/12/2018) 

ORIGINAL COMEDY

Vir Das: Losing It (11/12/2018) 

ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY 

The American Meme (7/12/2018) 

Out of Many, One (12/12/2018) 

The Innocent Man (14/12/2018) 

Springsteen on Broadway (16/12/2018) 

NETFLIX KIDS & FAMILY

Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (7/12/2018) 

Super Monsters and the Wish Star (7/12/2018) 

Dance & Sing with True: Songs (14/12/2018)

Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 8 (14/12/2018) 

Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle (14/12/2018) 

3Below: Tales of Arcadia (21/12/2018) 

Alexa & Katie: Season 2 (26/12/2018) 

NETFLIX ORIGINAL ANIME

Hero Mask (3/12/2018) 

Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas (7/12/2018) 

Back Street Girls: Gokudols (12/12/2018) 

Baki (18/12/2018) 

LAST HOPE: Part 2 (21/12/2018) 

Sirius the Jeager (21/12/2018)

Hi Score Girl (24/12/2018)

MORE HIGHLIGHTS

Love Actually (7/12/2018) 

The Holiday (7/12/2018) 

Brooklyn (8/12/2018) 

Passengers (12/12/2018) 

The Founder (12/12/2018) 

Schitt's Creek: Season 4: “Christmas” (19/12/2018) 

Captain Fantastic (4/12/2018)  

Winchester (6/12/2018)  

About a Boy (7/12/2018) 

Paul (7/12/2018) 

The Change-Up (7/12/2018) 

Scent of a Woman (7/12/2018) 

Sisters: Season 1 (7/12/2018) 

Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life (12/12/2018)  

Hello, My Name Is Doris (15/12/2018) 

Tales by Light: Season 3 (21/12/2018) 

The Angry Birds Movie (22/12/2018)  

Carrie (23/12/2018)  

One Direction: This Is Us (23/12/2018) 

About Last Night (23/12/2018) 

The Last Animals (24/12/2018) 

Aquamarine (26/12/2018) 

Yummy Mummies: Season 1 (28/12/2018) 

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage (30/12/2018) 

Fences (30/12/2018) 

Rings (30/12/2018) 

Monster Trucks (30/12/2018) 

Allied (30/12/2018) 

What's coming next month and beyond?

Netflix has has big plans for 2018, with a number of high-profile shows and movies confirmed for release on the service. Here's our list of the best upcoming TV shows and movies on Netflix.

• None of these take your fancy? Check out our list of best Netflix TV shows: the top Netflix television series in Australia

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Another one bites the dust as Netflix cancels Daredevil

Following the surprise cancellations of Netflix's Iron Fist and Luke Cage shows, the streaming service has struck again by axing the Marvel series that started it all, Daredevil, as reported by Deadline.

Exploding out the gate with a popular and well-received first series, interest in the show began to dwindle following a two year hiatus and the disappointing team-up event, The Defenders. 

While the third season, which landed on Netflix last month, has been met with much more acclaim, it was seemingly not enough to save the Devil of Hell's Kitchen from the service's chopping block. 

It's unknown whether Marvel's move towards the upcoming Disney+ streaming service has anything to do with the decision, though the studio has already announced new shows starring Loki, Falcon and the Winter Soldier for the Netflix competitor. 

Pour one out for Matt Murdock

“Marvel’s Daredevil will not return for a fourth season on Netflix," said the company in an official statement on the matter. "We are tremendously proud of the show’s last and final season and although it’s painful for the fans, we feel it best to close this chapter on a high note." 

The statement continued, "We’re thankful to showrunner Erik Oleson, the show’s writers, stellar crew and incredible cast including Charlie Cox as Daredevil himself, and we’re grateful to the fans who have supported the show over the years."

Curiously, Netflix then goes on to suggest that we haven't seen the last of the character, though it's difficult to discern what it means from a live-action standpoint. "While the series on Netflix has ended, the three existing seasons will remain on the service for years to come, while the Daredevil character will live on in future projects for Marvel.”

Currently, Marvel's Jessica Jones and The Punisher shows still remain, with each set to return for another season. Whether they continue beyond that is another story. 

• Ant-Man and the Wasp is set to be Netflix's final Marvel movie

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PlayStation Plus December 2018: all the free PS4 games you can get this month

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Sennheiser software may expose users to virtual attacks

The software for Sennheiser’s high-end headphones has been discovered to have a major security flaw which could potentially allow hackers access to a users’ personal details.

During a random check, security consulting firm Secorvo has found that Sennheiser’s HeadSetup and HeadSetup Pro softwares installed a root certificate into the Trusted Root CA Certificate store along with a non-unique private key.

This private key isn’t unique to each user, which is where the problem lies. It means that if someone is able to decrypt the key, they could then gain access to any of the affected users’ systems via faking a website and asking the user to enter their personal details.

• Best headphones 2018

To make matters worse, uninstalling the software itself doesn’t remove this trusted root certificate. So anyone who has ever installed the software is at risk.

Sennheiser has released an update that patches the issue and is imploring users both past and present to install it, even if they have since uninstalled an earlier version of HeadSetup. 

So if you think you may have ever used this software on your PC or Mac, we highly recommend you install this update.

• Sennheiser Momentum In-ear review

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4K upscaling: Everything you need to know about how TVs turn HD into 4K

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Best Mac apps: the best macOS apps for your Apple computer

Now that macOS Mojave has graced our Macs, we finally have access to some key iOS apps on the Mac, like News and Stocks. However, that’s not even the tip of the iceberg of software available to macOS. Your Mac can do everything – at the end of the day, the software, more than anything else, is what keeps people coming back to the Jony Ive designed hardware every year.

You can do so many different things with the best Mac apps, so some might not appeal to you. However, there are some Mac apps like Evernote, the best note-taking app around, that anyone can find a use for.

You won’t find every Mac app on this list on the App Store, but they’re still all worth your time. So, read on to find the best Mac apps that you can download right now. From free apps and utilities to programs for creatives and professionals, these Mac apps will make the best Macs even better.

Bill Thomas and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article

Check out our Linux vs Windows vs Mac - OS comparison video below.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: Free

No brand of computer is without its annoyances. For so long now, it’s been impossible to use our MacBooks – unbound by the chains of a power adapter – while video outputs to an external monitor. As we all know here at TechRadar, Apple’s laptops automatically enter sleep mode whenever the lid is closed. For the lot of us, this can be a huge inconvenience should you prefer the sheer magnitude of a monitor as opposed to a 12- or 13- or 15-inch laptop screen.

Fortunately, Amphetamine allows you to continue using your MacBook while closed. Before, you could do this by using a similar app called Caffeine, but we prefer the UI features you get with this freebie. Not only does it fit in naturally with the rest of your Menu Bar items, but Amphetamine also supports hotkey commands as well as deactivation reminders – not to mention there are no annoying ads in sight.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: $9.99 (£7.99 or around AUS$14)

While you’ve been able to snap programs to the edge of the screen in Windows since Windows 7, Apple didn’t have a solution until OS X El Capitan. What’s more, even then it lacked some of the comprehensiveness of Microsoft’s alternative. Luckily, HyperDock gives us that full-fledged functionality we so desperately crave, allowing anyone with a Mac to apply it to both the app Dock and windows.

In Windows, you can drag an app to the left or right edges of the screen (or the corners) and it’ll automatically fill that space. This makes it much easier to be productive on the desktop without wasting time dragging windows from the corners. For the Dock, hovering over apps activates something close to Windows 7’s thumbnail previews, giving an overview of the window that can be accessed by a click or closed directly from the preview. Useful.

• Get it from: Parallels
• Price: $79.99/year (Home & Student) Around £60 or AUS$100)

If you have recently picked up a Mac and miss some of your old Windows applications, don’t fret – Parallels Desktop 13 can bring them back. Instead of having to dual-boot your Mac into a Windows partition, Parallels Desktop 13 allows Windows and macOS Sierra to co-exist side by side, and you can even run Microsoft-only programs such as Visual Studio 2015, or the Windows versions of the company’s Office 365 apps, alongside your native macOS ones.

All you need is a Windows 10 license – so prepare to buy one if you haven't already. Or, alternatively, you can use Parallels to try a handful of free operating systems including Chromium (a free distribution of Chrome OS) or Linux Debian. The latest version of Parallels in particular has seen improvements such as Touch Bar support, better resolution scaling for Retina displays and picture-in-picture for using other operating systems in conjunction with macOS. 

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: £14.99 (around $20 or AUS$25)

If you’re anything like us, working on just one monitor or screen is just painful. Portable monitors are still fairly expensive (and bulky), luckily, though, you can use an iPad instead using a nifty app called Duet. Developed by ex-Apple engineers, it works by tethering your iPad to your Mac using one of Apple’s Lightning cables and firing up the app on both devices.

You can then drag apps and windows onto your iPad’s screen just like you would with a second monitor, and if you have a more recent iPad with a Retina display, you’ll get the full benefit of all those beautiful pixels. Just realize that the bandwidth isn’t quite what you would get with one of the best monitors, so it can be a bit laggy when you bump the quality up. But it’s still better for watching videos, reading websites and typing up documents. 

• Get it from: Atom
• Price: Free

Atom is a text editor that's primarily designed for coders, but its flexibility and customization options make it a viable option for many different types of users. That's because of two reasons: first, you can download a number of different Packages - effectively plug-ins - to make it bend to your will. It can be transformed into a Markdown editor for writing blog posts, for example, or you can hook it up to Evernote for storing notes in the cloud.

There's at least 10 different word counters out there, and you can even add typewriter sound effects as you hammer out your delicious prose. Atom is also infinitely customizable on the visual side thanks to an editable back-end, allowing you to do anything from changing the font size, line height and colors to giving the caret Word 2016-like elasticity.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: £149.99 (around $195 or AUS$255)

Whether you’re a world-famous producer or you just like creating some music in your downtime, Logic Pro X is one of the best music creation suites on the Mac. Developed by Apple itself, its accessible interface hides a ton of advanced functionality. The latest version also comes with a svelte design, 64-bit architecture and a new session drummer that will save you from having to drop more cash on a drum machine.

It also works in natural harmony with iPads, providing a touch-based alternative method of creating song structures to dragging and dropping blocks in the main visual editor. Whether you're a seasoned producer already (Sia used the app to record her hit song 'Chandelier') or are looking to upgrade from Garageband, Logic Pro X likely has what you need.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: Free

An uncomplicated app, but a great one, to do app Wunderlist’s selling point is its cross device functionality. It’s available on Mac, PC, Android and iOS, allowing you to sync your to do list wherever you’re using macOS’ Handoff feature.

Once you've started a list, you can schedule reminders, add notes and embed it into the macOS Notification Center using a widget. Team-based features are unlocked by signing up for Wunderlists’s pro subscription, and you can add files of any size without running into limits.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: Free

Evernote has morphed into a mighty note-taking app over the years. While some people will say that it's too bloated, the sheer number of things that you can do with it still makes it best-in-class. You can type up notes, obviously, organizing them using a combination of folders and tags. You can even embed Google Drive documents, which are accessible in a click.

There's also the ability to set reminders, share notes with friends, find information related to notes using Evernote's 'Context' feature, create lists, and favorite notes that you frequently return to. Better yet, all of your notes are synchronized using the company's servers, making them accessible on nearly any PC (through a browser or the native Evernote app) or mobile device in the world. The paid version lets you use Evernote with more than two devices while upping the amount of data you can sync each month.

• Get it from: Website
• Price: Free

GIMP or GNU Image Manipulation, is one of the best free image editing apps out there. It’s a great alternative to Adobe Photoshop and comes with a wide array of pro-level functions that let you tweak existing images in a range of formats or create fresh ones from scratch. Features include layers, highly customizable brushes, automatic image enhancing tools and filters. You can do even more with plugins, which are available to download from the GIMP Plugin Registry. 

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: £34.99 (around $45/AUS$60)

These days, balancing features with simplicity and good design in the best Mac apps is critically important. However, unlike Word 2016, or even Apple’s own Pages, Ulysses has an extremely minimalistic interface. This allows you to get on with writing without being distracted by so many buttons and menus. The app uses its own version of Markdown – a type of text formatting engine – that allows users to focus on their writing in a way that not only makes organization easier but also makes exporting easier – Ulysses will format it in an attractive way, using one of many export styles, when you’re done writing.

There's a handy attachments bar on the right-hand side that features an attractive word counter and lets you write notes to assist you in your writing. Notes can be accessed anywhere thanks to iCloud support, so you can pick up your iPad and carry on where you left off using macOS's Handoff feature.

• Get it from: Website
• Price: $20

Sometimes you want to play your Xbox One, but you can’t because your roommate has decided to use the living room TV for watching the whole run of Ugly Delicious in one sitting. Now, you could technically stream Halo 5 or Sea of Thieves if you had a Windows PC. However, you just have a Mac.

That’s where OneCast comes in, a third-party work of reverse engineering performed by an independent developer to bring Xbox One game streaming to macOS. It works as easily as connecting both your Mac and Xbox One to the same network and subsequently logging in to Xbox Live. It works pretty well in our experience, though you should have both systems connected to your modem via ethernet if possible.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: Free

Nobody can deny that the best Macs are great for network admin uses, and if you need to manage a bunch of Windows devices, being able to remote into a PC to diagnose problems is critically important. Luckily, Microsoft has provided an app just for that.

With Microsoft Remote Desktop 10, you get an officially-supported app that gives you remote access to any PCs on your network – as long as you’re a network admin or an authorized user. It can be a bit of a pain to set up, and the PC you’re trying to access will need to be running Windows 10 Pro. But once you get going, you can access files, copy/paste across desktops and even run games – though, we don’t recommend that last bit. 

Microsoft Remote Desktop 10 is a godsend for network admins and IT professionals, and is easily one of the best Mac apps you can download right now.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: Free

It’s simple and not at all essential in the grand scheme of things, but DeskCover is a free and easy way to stay focused when you need to. 

For anyone working on larger monitors, full screen apps can strain your peripheral vision, and so you’ll have no other choice but to resort to smaller windows. Of course, this can lead to you getting distracted by your desktop background – this is where DeskCover comes in handy. Allowing you to easily blur your desktop and lower the opacity, DeskCover puts the task at hand front and center so that nothing else can get in the way of getting your work done.

In other words, DeskCover is basically a free version of Hazeover, which we’re not complaining about. What’s more, your options aren’t limited to manipulation of your existing wallpaper alone. You can also temporarily replace your background with something a little more plain, blocking it out with a solid color of your choosing. Best of all, DeskCover is compatible with hotkeys, thereby minimizing the distraction possibilities of the app itself.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: Free

The market for disk optimization apps is neither desolate nor particularly interesting, particularly on the Mac – where Apple usually does a good job of cleaning up its drives on its own. However, for a program that’s far more intuitive and user friendly than, say, the built-in Macintosh HD storage management software, your best bet is to turn your attention to Dr. Cleaner. This app splits  up all your data into easily digestible chunks that would otherwise be obtuse.

Dr. Cleaner groups up all the trash on your Mac and labels them in groups like ‘Junk Files’ and ‘Big Files’ – rather than listing off 30GB of documents and 10GB of iOS files you can’t comprehend. Then, you can look at the file names themselves and decide whether or not you want to keep them on your PC. You can also use Dr. Cleaner to monitor CPU, network and RAM usage as well, for the sake of putting some pep in your aging Mac’s step.

• Get it from: Website
• Price: Free

It might be kind of like three apps than just one, but SoftMaker Office 2018 takes all the key features of Microsoft Office and puts them into an interface that tailors to your needs. It comes with a group of programs called TextMaker, PlanMaker and Presentations 2018 that are similar enough to Office 365 without the rolling subscription.

Regardless of whether you need an easy-to-use word processor or a spreadsheet or slideshow creator of equal accessibility, SoftMaker Office has what you’re looking for. And, because it’s still in beta, you can get a complimentary, albeit temporary, license over email if you want to give it a spin. Otherwise, there’s a permanent free version called SoftMaker FreeOffice, but it’s only available on Windows, Android and Linux.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: $9.99 (about £7.19, AU$12.82)

Since you’re obviously going to install all of the other apps we’ve mentioned, you’re going to need at least a utility that, well, declutters your desktop. Unclutter is the solution you’re looking for whether you’re a frivolous notetaker or a temporary file hoarder like we are. It’s designed to keep your memos, documents and pasteboard clips in one place rather than scattered across several folders.

It’s a brilliant idea made even better by the fact that it can be configured for use with gesture controls. At any given point, you can swipe down from the top of the screen with two fingers on the trackpad (or one on the mouse) to reveal a trio of windows that can be concealed and re-summoned whenever you please.

• Get it from: Website
• Price: Free

When you’re out there hustling every day, it’s easy to lose track of messages. With so many social media companies, SMS platforms and instant messaging services to choose from, most of us also have a number of different accounts used to administer to all of those messages. But what if you only had to log into one?

That’s the central idea in Franz, a messaging app that allows you to view and send messages in WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Slack, HipChat and more. It lets you seamlessly switch between any of these apps as easily as you can toggle between Slack workspaces. Best of all, there’s no limit to the amount of services you can use at once. That way, even if you have 10 Facebook accounts for whatever reason, all of your messages will be visible in the same place.

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: $4.99 (£4.99, AU$7.99)

If you’re anything like us, you have tons of packages coming in all the time – and it can get hard to keep track of everything. Luckily, there’s an app for that. With Deliveries, you can keep track of all your incoming deliveries in one place in an easy-to-read interface. 

It will notify you whenever there’s a change in your delivery, syncing the information between macOS and iOS so you are on top of things, even on the go. All you have to do to track a package is hit Command + New and paste in the tracking number – that’s it. It really is one of the best Mac apps for anyone with a busy mailbox. 

• Get it from: App Store
• Price: $29.99 (£28.99, AU$46.99)

If you do a lot of cooking, and you have a hard time keeping your recipes organized – especially on a digital platform – you’re going to love Paprika. With this app, you can download any recipe you find online, and it will automatically format it in a way that’s extremely easy to read. 

What’s more, if you download the iOS app, you’ll be able to sync your recipes between all of your devices, so that you can keep tabs on the ingredients you need when you run to the store in a panic. 

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The 34 best indie games on PC and consoles

Gaming keeps evolving as time marches on, and the best indie games are no exception. One of the most interesting things about indie games in 2018 is that, unlike AAA game publishers, who can’t help themselves from monetizing every inch of their titles, the top indie games simply cost what they cost and don’t try to milk you for every dime – most of the time, at least. Free from corporate influence, the best indie games represent the pure artistic vision of the developers – especially if you have one of the best gaming PCs.

That’s not to say the top indie games can’t keep up with the latest Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty, though. In fact, the best indie games regularly surpass the latest AAA games in both quality and scope, thanks to their less repetitive nature – they don’t need to rely on tired tropes and cliches to appeal to a mass market.

So, now, we found the best 33 indie games you can play today. We mixed in classics like Braid and Dwarf Fortress, with modern indie darlings, like Dead Cells and Return of the Obra Dinn. To discover all the best indie games that made our list, read on. 

Linux, Windows or Mac - which one is best for you? Watch our guide video below:

Bill Thomas, Joe Osborne, Kane Fulton and Gabe Carey have also contributed to this article

Described as a sort of combination of Pokémon, Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing, we couldn’t help but recommend that you keep your eye on Ooblets until it releases at some point in 2018. This indie game is being developed by first-time studio Glumberland with the backing of the beloved Double Fine studios. The art style here curiously reminds us of Adventure Time. However, the game itself revolves around collecting creatures called ooblets in a town called, well, Oob. 

Upon doing so, you’ll be able to train and battle your ooblets against other ooblet trainers. At the same time, you’ll have to balance your ooblet training with the real-world responsibilities of being a farmer. That’s right, drawing influence from the likes of Stardew Valley, you can cultivate produce and decorate your house with various trimmings as well. You’ll also be able to join an Ooblet Club comprised of friends (NPCs) you’ll meet along the way. 

If you don’t know what to do in Ooblets, simply walk around and discover new shops and buildings that suit your interest. While you’re at it, you can open up your own shop and sell produce that you’ve grown on the farm in addition to items you’ve scavenged from throughout the world. Otherwise, you can feed the leftover crops to your ooblets to watch them level up and learn new techniques to be used in the turn-based RPG-style battles.

Expected: 2018

Jonathan Blow's masterpiece first appears to be a simple pastiche of Super Mario Bros, with a middle-aged curmudgeon replacing the titular plumber but still seeking to rescue a princess.

But, the longer you spend in the game, the more that’s revealed to you, moving from a series of time-bending puzzles to quiet reflective texts – which doesn’t stop it from being the smartest puzzle game until SpaceChem. Blow himself has subtly hinted that the ultimate story may revolve around the atomic bomb.

First released as PC freeware by Japanese designer Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya back in 2004 after five years of 100% solo development, Cave Story predates the recent indie renaissance by a few years. Because of when and how it was first released, it's often forgotten in discussions of indie gaming.

But this classic deserves to be on every best-of list for its loving homage to the classic action platforming games of the Super Nintendo era, its incredible music and its incredibly vibrant world. Oh, and don't forget the hugely intuitive controls, gobs of secrets and weapons that are entirely too fun to use. If you've yet to enjoy this one, just put it on your backlog already.

From family-owned and operated Studio MDHR, Cuphead has connected with millions of people around the world, many of whom normally wouldn’t touch a run-and-gun platformer with a ten-foot pole. 

Although its gameplay was inspired by classic games like Mega Man and Contra, most gamers would likely compare it to a Fleischer Studios cartoon, like Betty Boop. Because Cpuhead utilizes a hand-drawn art style likened to a 1930s animation, it’s been universally praised for its gorgeous visuals.

Its beauty is more than skin deep, though, Cuphead is a challenging and engaging series of 19 boss fights, with actual levels taking place between them. And, if that’s not enough, Studio MDHR has announced the Cuphead: The Delicious Last Course DLC, with a new isle to explore, new bosses to conquer and, most importantly, a new playable character. 

Many AAA games serve as escapist power fantasies, where the player is ultimately able to dominate the game’s universe – right up until the game ends. However, many indie games serve as the opposite – like the IGF award winner and misery simulator Cart Life.

Papers Please is similar to Cart Life – it's also an IGF winner with elements of misery about it - but it's better, being a smart, weird sim about the compromised life of a border guard under a totalitarian regime. It's ugly and desperate, but also innovative, uproariously funny and terribly smart.

Among the hardcore gamers of my acquaintance, Spelunky is the go-to drug. Even today, several years after its release, some of them still play it every day, despite having completed it many times over. That's because Spelunky, an ostensibly rogue-like platformer with a definite end, is tough, varied and highly randomized.

It also has more dark secrets than a presidential candidate, meaning there are many, many ways to finish it, and its daily challenges are a sure-fire way to public humiliation.

Unfortunately, humor is often missing among games, mostly being restricted to slapstick comedy or crude one-liners. The Stanley Parable, however, is hilarious without being dumbed down. Players follow (or don’t) a very British narrator who changes the world around you, depending on your decisions.

No decision is punished, every play-through throws up new humor and weirdness. Being trapped in the closet in the Stanley Parable is more moving and funny than 9/10 of other games.

• Further reading: Retro-me-do! Digitiser's Mr Biffo on his top PC games of all time

It took more than nine years to make, but Owlboy was definitely worth the wait. Originally contrived for PCs and released in late 20166, the clever masterpiece of an indie game is now available to experience on Mac and Linux as well – and there’s even a Nintendo Switch version! Owlboy centers around a race of owl-human hybrid characters called, well, Owls. Of them, you control Otis, an Owl who is censured by his mentor for his inept flying skills.

The story sees Otis’ village dismantled by pirates who clearly have conflict with the Owls. As a result, Otis has to work with an assortment of villagers in-game to take out enemies. Of course, when boss battles arise, you’ll need to manage allies accordingly, as each character comes with their own set of unique skill sets to use in conjunction with one another. If you’ve ever played and enjoyed a Kid Icarus game, this is one for the books. Otherwise, play it anyway.

Similar to The Stanley Parable, Gone Home falls into the unofficially labeled ‘walking simulator’ genre. Where it diverts from the clever and philosophical Stanley Parable, however is its focus on life’s difficult realities, instead of light humor.

After arriving at your childhood home after an overseas visit, you play as 21-year-old Kaitlin Greenbriar who is greeted by a vacant house. While gameplay is basically limited to scavenging through notes to find out where your family is, the gripping story is a extremely emotional and compelling, as long as you keep an open mind. After all this time, Gone Home stands out as one of the best indie games out there.

Only SpaceChem has mingled education with entertainment as successfully as The Kerbal Space Program. The game is simple - design and build spacecraft to take the cutesy Kerbals to the Mun and beyond.

Yet its focused use of real physics means that you'll find yourself following NASA in building multi-stage rockets, space stations and exploring the Kerbal's strange universe on EVAs, before bringing your discoveries back to research on the Kerbal planet - that's if you can get off the ground at all. It's a huge, complex, challenging and fun game, that's smart without being preachy.

The exact opposite of the Kerbal Space Program, The Binding of Isaac is an action roguelike par excellence. Matched only by the equally visceral Nuclear Throne for replayability, you play as a young boy attempting to kill his damned siblings, his Mom, and possibly the Devil, using only his tears. Which he shoots from his eyes, of course.

With hundreds of weird modifiers to discover, endlessly touch procedurally-generated levels, and secrets galore, Isaac is a very dark take on the exploratory model established by Spelunky.

Though you might get put off by the pixel art graphics, Undertale isn’t a game that would have fit on the Super Nintendo. That’s because, in Undertale, you decisions make a huge difference in how the game ends and, more importantly, how it continues in New Game Plus.

While playing Undertale, you’ll come to realize just how much freedom the game gives you. Despite its ingenious and intense boss matches, you’ll be able to make it through the entire nine or so hours of Undertale as a complete pacifist. Plus, when you go through the game a second time, you’ll bear the weight of the consequences from your previous run. And, now Undertale is out on the Nintendo Switch, so you can take this masterpiece of game design wherever you go.

From developer Playdead, Inside is comparable to its predecessor, Limbo, in some ways but with an added layer of depth that inspires frequent wonder. This is mostly a result of the unspoken narrative, which revolves around yet another nameless boy. In Inside, however, the boy in the story is running away from a group of men who – if you fail to stay out of their sights – will try to mercilessly kill you.

Though it isn't quite clear why the boy is running from these men or why you should even care since you don't know who he is, Inside will leave you begging for answers. The bleak, lifeless setting of Inside is more than worth the price of admission. Its minimalist art style alone is avant-garde enough to feel right at home in a museum. Add in a game that's both fun to play and dripping with curiosity, though, and Inside is one of the best indie games money can buy.

Developed single-handedly by Eric Barone, Stardew Valley is undoubtedly a technical feat for that little facet alone. If you’ve ever played a Harvest Moon game, you’re already familiar with the premise of Stardew Valley – you may just not know it yet. Stardew Valley is an addictive farming simulator which sees you interact with townees to the point where you can literally marry them.

Stardew Valley isn’t just farming, though – it’s a whole bunch of things at the same time. You can go fishing, you can cook, you can craft stuff – you can even go explore procedurally-generated caves to mine for items and even attack slime-monster-things. However, you should keep in mind that your health and energy are finite, so you'll want to keep your character rested and fed to avoid suffering from exhaustion. Pass out and you’ll lose a considerable amount of money and items you’ve worked hard to attain. Stardew Valley will have you addicted for hours on end, for better or worse. (Definitely better.)

From Canadian game developer Alec Holowka, the creator of the award-winning Aquaria (also featured on this list) and independent artist/animator Scott Benson, Night in the Woods is an unconventional side-scrolling adventure game centering around a 20-year-old protagonist named Mae who drops out of college to move back in with her parents.

Featuring a story largely based around dialog choices and mini games that put a spin on mundane tasks, like carrying boxes up the stairs and eating perogies, Night in the Woods is a timeless coming-of-age tale. Not only will you experience middle class America through the eyes of a personified cat, but virtually every interaction in-game will have you laughing aloud. And now that it’s coming to the Nintendo Switch on February 1, you’ll be able to take it wherever you go.

If you’re a fan of the recent wave of games inspired by Dark Souls, you’ll absolutely love Hollow Knight. You take control of the Hollow Knight, and lead them through the deceptively adorable landscape to take on bosses and other difficult challenges. Much like Dark Souls, it’s not immediately clear what you’re actually supposed to be doing as the narrative is intentionally obtuse. 

The Dark Souls inspirations don’t end there, however. It also adopts Dark Souls’ ‘tough but fair’ philosophy, where the game is only as hard as you make it – you can overcome anything as long as you have patience and learn from your mistakes. Hollow Knight takes these lessons from Dark Souls and injects them into a MetroidVania, with all the side-scrolling and upgrades you could possibly want. You can even play it on the Nintendo Switch now.

If you’re looking for a game that’s as unforgiving as it is fun, look no further than Dead Cells. It takes gameplay inspiration from so many places – from roguelikes, to MetroidVania to even a hint of Dark Souls, to create a unique action game that will test your limits. 

Each time you play this game, it will be different. And, while you’ll lose some progress each time you die – and you’ll die a lot – the game will become more and more rewarding as the complex and fluid combat becomes second nature. In the final release of the game, you get access to over 90 weapons, skills and abilities that’ll let you tailor your gameplay however you want. 

Whatever you do, don’t get discouraged when you fail. Get up and try again, Dead Cells will only reward you in the end – which is why it’s one of the best indie games 2018 has to offer.

Introversions was one of the earliest 'indie' companies, releasing games like Uplink, Defcon and Darwinia whilst Vlambeer were still in short pants. After years of struggling, they've finally hit a huge success with Prison Architect, a game where you build, staff, outfit and manage a maximum security prison.

With smart prisoners who are willing to do anything to escape, you'll struggle to keep them all inside - or keep them from rioting - and turn a profit. It's still in alpha, but it's eminently playable right now..

While something like Kerbal Space Program can actually take you to the moon, To The Moon is a game about wish fulfillment, and thrives on narrative beauty. If we were to make comparisons to films, Kerbal Space Program is Gravity, The Binding of Isaac is Saw and To the Moon is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

You control two doctors who are exploring a dying man’s memories to implant a false memory so he can die in peace. Which is all depicted in a classic 16-bit Zelda style. It’s a rare, emotional, adult game.

Dwarf Fortress is its own genre, its own industry. This is a game that, before you've even set foot in it, has to generate the entire geography, mythology and history of its massive world. Then it tracks every single one of the dwarfs you're managing down to the hairs on their legs and the particular horrible elephant murder that they witnessed and they're now carving on an ornamental chair.

Your task is to keep the dwarves alive as they carve out their subterranean kingdom - given that insanity, monsters, and starvation plague are thrown at them at every stage that's not easy. And dwarves, always, always mine too deep.

Run. Jump. Die. Repeat. That’s essentially the gameplay loop of Super Meat Boy, a fiendishly addictive 2D platformer that’s also bloody hard, with an emphasis on bloody. Gallons of blood is spilled as the game’s eponymous meaty hero leaps over deadly drops, spinning saws and walking chainsaws in a bid to rescue his girlfriend, Bandage Girl, from the evil Dr Foetus. Obviously. Boasting tight controls, plenty of humor and colorful graphics, Super Meat Boy lept onto the PS4 and Vita last year in style – with a Nintendo Switch release coming soon, as well. 

It might not be Playdead’s most recent game, but Limbo is timeless. Even five years after its release, the game’s haunting storyline still affects us. You play the Boy, a child with glowing eyes who’s cast into Limbo to find his sister. Making your way through a bleak and dangerous world full of hostile silhouettes, giant spiders and deadly gravitational fields, you’ll need to think quickly and perfectly time your movements if you’re going to survive.

But Limbo is much more than a simple platformer: it's an experience, and one that has you pondering the very essence of life by the time it's over. Deep, profound and absorbing, it's one indie game everybody should take time out to play.

If you're yearning for a retro-styled multiplayer archery combat game (aren't we all?), TowerFall: Ascension is the pick of the lot. Fast, frenetic and teeth-gnashingly hard in hardcore mode, the game's mechanics are simple: fire arrows at enemies or jump on their heads to stay alive until the round ends.

Arrows that don't hit are embedded in walls, making for tense scenarios when you have to traverse the map while dodging enemies to retrieve them. As such, practicing until you achieve Robin Hood-esque levels of accuracy is recommended. Ascension is best experienced with friends in local multiplayer mode, which recalls Super Smash Bros' most manic moments.

It’s not often that a platformer manages to balance challenging and engaging gameplay with an emotional and thought-provoking narrative, but Celeste pulls it off. From the developers of Towerfall, Celeste follows the story of Madeline, a young girl who decides to face her mental health issues by climbing to the top of the mysterious Celeste Mountain. Ind doing so, she learns more not only about the mountain, but about herself amid the heartwarming process. 

An inevitable classic, Celeste integrates the obvious jump, air-dash and climb controls into a brutal series of platforming challenges in upwards of 700 unique screens. And, if that’s too easy, you’ll unlock B-side chapters along the way, designed for only the bravest of hardcore players. Better yet, you don’t have to worry about waiting an eternity between each respawn. Instead, Celeste brings you back from the grave instantaneously, a welcome departure from the typically extensive load screens.

Admittedly, exclusive indie games always wind up with the short end of the stick. That continues to ring true for Golf Story, an homage to Mario Golf on the Game Boy Color developed by Sidebar Games. As it’s a debut title for the Nintendo Switch, you might have overlooked Golf Story considering it came out on the same day as Stardew Valley, but here’s what you need to know.

You don’t have to obsess over the PGA Tour to get into Golf Story, as you’re likely better off appreciating it for its RPG elements. Substituting combat for an athletic sport, you begin your adventure as a kid who is mentored by his dad before realizing he isn’t very good at golfing, something you’ll have to overcome as you pursue professional golf.

After the raging success that was the original Nidhogg, it’s a shame to see the superior sequel get thrown under the bus. Nevertheless, in spite of its controversial art style, Nidhogg 2 packs a refined, gorgeous look that the first version, a cult-classic, couldn’t even think to compete with. In still frames, we can see how this could get misconstrued, but fortunately, it’s the fun and addictive local multiplayer gameplay that makes Nidhogg, well, Nidhogg. And it’s all there in Nidhogg 2. Plus, every time you respawn, you get one of four unique weapons that only bolster the challenge.

Esteemed indie designer Jon Blow's follow up to Braid may look like an entirely different adventure, being 3D and all, but the two are more thematically alike than you might think. The Witness, at its core, is another puzzle game that tells an interesting story through said puzzles.

This puzzler takes place in an almost equally impressionist – albeit heavily Myst-inspired – world, but it's story is far more nuanced and mysterious than Blow's previous. At almost every corner of this island that you've simply woken up on (or beneath), there is a clue as to how you got onto this island and why you're here.

Don’t get us wrong, we liked Bastion, but we won’t deny that Transistor was SuperGiant Games’ best work to date. Much of that has to do with the convergence of action-based and turn-based RPG elements contained within its cyberpunk futurescape. Likewise, in classic SuperGiant fashion, those mechanics are complemented by a gorgeous art style and a music score so unforgettable it’ll make you want to buy the soundtrack.

Leaving key gameplay beats up to the player, the story isn’t so variable. Transistor’s main character, Red, is a renowned singer in the city of Cloudbank. However, she’s been attacked by a group of vicious robots who call themselves the Process, operated by another group called the Camerata. In her journey, she finds the Transistor, a mysterious sword with the voice of a man. Soon enough, she’ll learn more about him and how he will shake up her world.

It’s weird to think that Oxenfree came out before the first season of Stranger Things, and yet, the two properties coincidentally have a lot in common. The 80s-inspired heavy synth music composed by scntfc, for one, accentuates some truly gripping sci-fi horror centering around – you guessed it – a group of teenagers stuck on an island.

The story involves a handful of uniquely written characters, namely the main character Alex, along with her stoner friend Ren, her newfound stepbrother Jonas, her dead brother Michael’s ex-girlfriend Clarissa and her best friend Nona (who Ren happens to be in love with).

The plot is explained through branching speech dialogue, similar to Life is Strange or modern-day Telltale games, and features five different endings depending on your choices.

Exploring a surreal wilderness seems like quite the trend these days in gaming, and developer Campo Santo's debut only serves to keep it going strong. Set in the wilderness of 1989 Wyoming, you're Henry, a fire lookout that's all alone in the woods after exploring something strange in the distance.

That is, save for your partner on the other line of a walkie-talkie: Delilah. She's your only point of contact as you explore the wilderness. Will you make it back alive? Will the decisions you make help or harm the relationship with your only lifeline to the outside world, your boss? Don't worry about those questions just yet – just look at those forestscapes!

Rust is one of the more successful indie titles of recent times. By the end of 2015 it had sold more than 3 million copies, which isn't too shabby considering it isn't even finished — the game has been on Steam's Early Access scheme since launching in December 2013.

Still, it seems people can't get enough of the Day Z-inspired survival sim. It sees you use your wits and bearings to survive its harsh open world, starting off with nothing but a rock. After gathering resources needed to build a house and weapons to fend off attackers (other online players, in other words), Rust gradually becomes more intense as you defend your growing base — or attempt to breach others'.

Fans of the original Overcooked will not be disappointed by the second installment in the chaotic couch co-op series from British indie game developer Team17.

This time your task is to defeat the 'Un-Bread' (zombie baked goods) that have taken over the Onion Kingdom, by battling through brand new recipes including sushi, pizza, and burgers in increasingly chaotic kitchens with up to three other people.

To add to the frantic fun, you must battle obstacles including random fires, collapsing floors, and interfering passers by, all while getting your orders out to the pass in time. 

Things get complicated incredibly quickly, and relationships, friendships, and family bonds will be tested as you work together to complete your recipes on time, making it a fun and challenging couch co-op game that will make you truly understand the meaning of "too many cooks spoil the broth."

The natural progression of survival games, SCUM takes what both predecessors like Rust and PlayerUnknown’s battlegrounds succeeded at and iterates in impressive ways. And, while it’s still in early access, it offers a unique twist – combining the frenetic gameplay of battle royale games with the slow, thoughtful gameplay of a survival sim. 

SCUM, unlike other similar games, is extremely heavy on the simulation side of things, however. You shouldn’t expect to run in guns blazing, as you’re going to get tired quickly (just as you would if you tried running outside yourself with a ton of stuff in your backpack). But, if heavy statistic systems is something your into, you’ll find a lot to love here. It’s like spreadsheets with a physics engine.

Just don’t go in expecting a polished experience just yet. However, developer Croteam is promising to add more features over time, and as they’re backed by Devolver, you can trust that the game is going to shape up into something great.

Every so often there’s a game that perfectly merges aesthetic, gameplay and narrative – where everything feels like it just, well, fits. The best indie games are always the best at this, and Return of the Obra Dinn is a great example. A mystery taking place on a derelict ship, you’re tasked with figuring out how the crew of this lost ship died, disappeared or worse. 

The entire game has this old-school visual style that, combined with the simple controls and gameplay style make it feel like a nostalgic adventure. Right from the settings menu, you’ll get to choose what kind of monitor you’d like to emulate – we picked an old school Macintosh option – that should give you an idea of the type of retro revivalism on offer here. 

Return of the Obra Dinn is a game that will require critical thinking, exploration and a ton of reading. So, if that all sounds appealing to you, and you’re all good with retro aesthetics, you will find a lot to love – it’s one of the best indie games, in a season marked with AAA decadence.

If you’re anything like us, you’ve spent hundreds of hours playing Roller Coaster Tycoon during your childhood. And, while there have been plenty of amusement park simulators over the last few years, they’ve never quite hit the spot. 

Until now. 

Parkitect is the closest we’ve ever been to those early aughts park simulators, and we’re absolutely in love. From the cartoonish art style to the realistic simulation and Steam Workshop integration, Parkitect is one of the best indie games 2018 has to offer.

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Best HP laptops 2018: the top HP laptops we’ve seen and tested

HP has been hard at work for the last couple of years rebuilding a reputation – mostly through the best HP laptops. These mobile workhorses were thought to be dead just a few years ago, but thanks to Windows 10 and the best Ultrabooks, the best laptops from HP have morphed into products that concentrate on design flair over cheapness.

The HP revolution has brought the popular ‘privacy filter,’ called Sure View, to the best HP laptops. Plus, these fresh HP laptops have this gorgeous gold trim that we’re used to seeing in HP’s high-end HP Spectre 2-in-1s and Ultrabooks. 

In our mind, the best HP laptops balance design flair with raw power, and the HP Spectre x360 is a perfect example. The 2018 model features perfectly slim bezels and is light enough to use in tablet mode comfortably. As a regular laptop, you’ll have trouble finding a better keyboard, brighter display and more powerful components – especially considering its size.

Read the full review: HP Spectre x360 

This isn’t just one of the best HP laptops. The HP Spectre 13 may just be one of the most beautiful laptops we’ve ever seen. The ceramic white finish is beautifully topped off by a two prong, glossy hinge design that’s extremely stylish. It goes beyond the aesthetics, though – the HP Spectre 13 is one of the best HP laptops in terms of power, too. It leverages the sheer power of 8th-generation Intel Kaby Lake Refresh processors perfectly – you’ll be able to get all your work done, and look good while doing it.

Read the full review: HP Spectre 13 

The HP Pavilion 15 isn’t going to blow your mind with sheer power, but it will make up for it with finesse. It’s one of the few remaining AMD Ryzen-based laptops in HP’s stable – which could change – but the Ryzen chips here are worth paying attention to. This is the best HP laptop for anyone on a budget, it's a rare example of a laptop that can strike a golden balance between price and performance, making it one of the best laptops for college students.

You shouldn’t have to break open your piggy bank to get one of the best HP laptops, which is why devices like the HP Chromebook 14 G5 exist. It’s an economical Chromebook that never feels cheap, which is a distinction that Chromebooks wear like a badge of honor. This Chromebook in particular boasts a sleek aesthetic and passable performance, especially when you spec it out. It’s easy to see why, for people on a budget, the HP Chromebook 14 G% is one of the best HP laptops.

The best gaming laptops have a shaky reputation for their lack of upgradeability, making them more disposable than a gaming desktop by nature. Luckily, HP has subverted this issue by adding plenty of essential features that most gaming laptops lack. For instance, you can overclock the Omen X, which just means free performance – which will keep it at the top of the stack longer than competitors. For gamers, the HP Omen X is the best HP laptop on the market. 

• Bill Thomas has also contributed to this article

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The best gaming routers 2018

If you play the best PC games online as much as we do, you likely want one of the best gaming routers to make sure your online gaming is never interrupted.

To put it simply, the top gaming routers are designed to prioritize network traffic from games, a feature known as QoS (Quality of Service), so your gaming won’t be interrupted by your roommate trying to watch Netflix up in their room.

Just ask any gamer, and they’ll probably tell you (for hours) that using a wired connection for online gaming is the best way to do it, and we’d have to agree. So, the best gaming routers will feature plenty of Gigabit Ethernet ports. 

Still, we know that it’s sometimes just not possible to have everyone in your home using a wired connection, so the top gaming routers are going to feature the latest and greatest Wifi standards – currently Wi-Fi 5. Having external antennae which can be moved to direct the Wi-Fi signal to certain areas of your house can’t hurt, either.

So, taking into consideration the needs of gamers, we’ve gathered up all the best gaming routers 2018 has to offer.

 

If you’re looking for one of the best gaming routers with old-school aesthetics and new-school tech, the TP-Link Archer C5400 v2 is exactly what the doctor ordered. This gaming router blends enthusiast-grade features and accessible setup into a package that’s appealing to pretty much everyone. And, when you add in the Alexa support, you have a router that can adapt to any situation, whether you’re focusing hard on topping the leaderboards in Overwatch, or you have guests all connecting to your network.

Read the full review: TP-Link Archer C5400 V2 

The Asus RT-AC5300 is one of the best gaming routers – it comes with a variety of advanced features, making online and network gaming as lag and frustration free as possible. This includes an easy-to-use yet powerful interface, as well as comprehensive QoS settings. The spider-like design won’t be to everyone’s taste, but the eight antennae serve a purpose, as they can be used to direct your Wi-Fi signal throughout your home, giving this router an excellent range. 

Read the full review: Asus RT-AC86U

For PC gamers that are always fighting for bandwidth with roommates, a beefy gaming router like the Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500 is going to be a godsend. Not only will this gaming router provide an insane 2.6Gbps of speed, but with MU-MIMO support and unique gaming-focused features like location-based connection filters and QoS, you’ll be able to get your game on lag-free. Just prepare for the high price, and maybe wait for a sale to pick it up.

Read the full review: Netgear Nighthawk Pro Gaming XR500

The Asus RT-AC5300 is an excellent high-end gaming router that comes with a number of advanced features for making online and network gaming as lag and frustration free as possible.

This includes an easy-to-use yet powerful interface, as well as comprehensive QoS settings. The spider-like design won't be to everyone's tastes, but the eight antennae serve a purpose, as they can be used to direct your Wi-Fi signal throughout your home, giving this router an excellent range.

 Read the full review: Asus RT-AC5300 Tri-band Gigabit Router

It might look like it’s getting ready to abduct a close friend or family member, but we promise the Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600 isn’t as alien in function as in appearance. Rocking the latest MU-MIMO support, which improves speed when multiple devices are connected to the same network, this gaming router prides itself on its performance capabilities. Because it can handle a ton of devices, while prioritizing bandwidth depending on the needs of each device, it’s one of the best gaming routers you can buy today.  

Read the full review: Zyxel Armor Z2 AC2600

The Asus RT-AC88U justifies its high asking price with insane next-generation 802.11ac wireless performance. Rocking four antennas and NitroQAM tech, which pushes speeds even further, this gaming router enables wireless performance that can break the 1GB/sec limit. But, there’s a catch – you’ll need to invest in a NitroQAM wireless adapter, such as the Asus PCE AC88, to see these faster speeds. It’s worth it, though – with speeds like this, it’s easy to see why this is one of the best gaming routers on the market in 2018. 

It might look like something from Battlestar Galactica – the old Battlestar Galactica – but, the D-Link DIR 885L/R is a dependable mid-range gaming router with great range and speed. If you’re looking for the best gaming router, you may want to give this one a chance – it has a good variety of port, and a nicely designed UI. It also features DD-WRT open-source firmware, which makes this router as flexible as it is powerful. 

•  We’ve also picked out the best best wifi extenders of 2018

• Bill Thomas has also contributed to this article

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