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Asus TUF 15.6-inch laptop | $999.99 $899.99 at Best Buy
(roughly £700)
With a GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card and AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor, this Asus is easily the most powerful laptop for under $1000 right now. The 512GB SSD and the $100 discount are just the cherry on the top ahead of Black Friday.
View Deal
If you've been searching for a solid workhorse laptop that can also be used after dark as a gaming powerhouse, then you might want to consider the 15.6-inch Asus TUF FA506IV-BR7N12 - available for just under $800 at Best Buy - that’s $200 off.
With an eight core AMD Ryzen 7 4800H processor, a 512GB PCIe SSD and a GeForce RTX 2060 graphics chip (with 6GB GDDR6 memory), this beastly Asus device is probably the most powerful laptop you can buy for under $1000 right now.
You seldom see components this powerful even in machines priced at $999.99, so in terms of bang for your buck, it's definitely up there.
The specs on this machine are so powerful, in fact, that it could even have plenty of applications outside of gaming, such as 4K video editing or CPU intensive music production.
It's also a prime candidate for a cheap VR laptop, as the 60Hz refresh rate display won't matter at all when you're inside your headset and the RTX 2060 will keep frame rates super silky smooth.
This machine comes with 8GB memory (DDR4 3200MHz), which is probably the bare minimum you'd want for gaming. At $800, and with an RTX 2060 and Ryzen 7, this is pretty understandable in our books.
Luckily, RAM is the easiest and cheapest component to upgrade in a laptop, so picking up another stick and installing it won't set you back much, and should yield great results.
It's also worth noting you get a free six-month antivirus package (Webroot Internet Security) for three devices, which itself is worth $29.99.
Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari, popularly known as Imola, hosts its first F1 GP since 2006 this weekend, a race that's been christened the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Follow our guide to watch F1 online and get an F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix live stream wherever you are, including complete coverage of every practice session and qualifying.
The circuit has a rich and tragic history, having been the site of the crashes that saw Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger lose their lives on the infamous weekend of the 1994 San Marino GP. This will be the third Italian GP of the year, and unusually, there's only going to be one practice session rather than the standard three, meaning the drivers will have just 90 minutes to familiarise themselves with the track before getting into full quali mode.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix starts at 1.10pm local time (CET) this Sunday, which is 12.10pm GMT / 7.10am ET / 4.10am PT. Sky Sports is the home of F1 racing in the UK, and you can scroll down for full coverage details around the world. If you're abroad you can tune in just like you would at home with the help of a good VPN.
The elder statesman of the grid, Kimi Räikkönen, is the only current driver to have raced in the last GP to have been held at Imola. He had a pretty good day at the office too, finishing in fifth place for McLaren-Mercedes.
The winning driver? A certain Michael Schumacher. That was one of 91 career victories, a record few though would ever be broken until Lewis Hamilton, who made his F1 debut the following season, burst onto the scene.
The Mercedes supremo's Portuguese GP win last weekend was the 92nd of his career, and there's no sign of a let-up. After a shaky start that saw him drop from pole position to third in the blink of an eye, Hamilton did what Hamilton does and made his way to the front of the pack, and never looked like he'd finish anything other than first.
Charles Leclerc, Pierre Gasly and Sergio Perez also sparkled in Portugal - Gasly and Perez's performances were especially notable because of their teammates' struggles - maintaining the thrill of this year's midfield battle.
Don't miss another second of the Formula action - read on for full details of how to get an F1 live stream and watch the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix from start to finish this weekend.
If you're resident in the UK, US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, you can scroll a bit further down for a guide to who's showing the Formula 1 Emilia Romagna GP in your country this weekend. But if you're abroad for whatever reason, you might encounter a problem accessing your normal coverage in the form of geo-blocking.
You needn't worry, though - by using one a VPN services we recommend, you can whizz around these digital borders and tune in to a reliable Emilia Romagna Grand Prix live stream, just like you would at home. Here's how to get started.
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Sky has the rights to Formula 1 in the UK, meaning you'll be able to see it all via Sky Sports and its dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel. Subscribers also get to watch on the move using the Sky Go app , which is available on nearly all modern phones, tablets, laptops, PCs and consoles.
For those of you without Sky, the best option is to nab a Now TV Sky Sports Monthly Pass, which includes all 11 channels. As well as plenty more F1 action, this will get you access to live Premier League football, Test cricket, and lots more.
Coverage begins on the dedicated Sky Sports F1 channel at 9am GMT on Saturday for the first and only practice run of this weekend, 12pm for qualifying, and 10.30am Sunday for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix itself.
To access your usual streaming service from outside the UK, you'll need to download a good VPN as detailed above.
For the 2020 F1 season, it's ESPN that will be providing broadcasts in the US. Cord-cutters are in luck, too, as you don't have to use cable to access ESPN.
Over-the-top streaming services let you watch TV online and and can typically be had for a fraction of the cost of even the most basic cable package.
When it comes to getting ESPN, two in particular stand out.
How to watch F1 and ESPN without cable
Sling TV's Orange package includes ESPN and offers a FREE trial period before billing you at $30 a month. If you just want access to ESPN and the F1 action, this is the cheapest way to go.
F1 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2020: US times and TV coverage
ESPN's coverage is pretty comprehensive, and this Sunday you can watch the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix live from 7.10am ET/4.10am PT on ESPN (build-up starts at 5.30am ET/2.30am PT), while qualifying action goes live on TV at around 8.55am ET/5.55am PT on Saturday ahead of a 9am ET/6am PT start.
For the truly dedicated, the practice session will go on-air at 5.55am ET/2.55am PT.
Watch an Emilia Romagna Grand Prix F1 live stream abroad
US residents heading outside of the country can still access the feed they normally use and pay for at home by checking out a quality VPN and following the instructions above.
In Canada, 2020 F1 races are aired on a pair of Bell Media-owned sports broadcasters: the English-language TSN and its French-language counterpart RDS. Check your local listings for linear TV details, but those wanting to watch online are well-served by their digital platforms.
The TSN Direct and RDS Direct streaming services cost just CA$4.99 a day or (much better value) $19.99 a month and can be purchased by anyone, regardless of whether you have the channels as part of a pay TV package - though existing subscribers should note they can log in to live streams at no extra charge with details of their provider. They both also offer apps for convenient on-the-go streaming.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix starts at 7.10am ET/4.10am PT this Sunday, with qualifying action the day before starting at 9am ET/6am PT.
The one practice session gets underway at 6am ET/3am PT on Saturday morning and coverage is also being offered, going live at 4.30am ET/1.30am PT.
Canadians abroad can use a VPN to whizz back to the Great White North and watch the streaming coverage they normally do at home - only from anywhere in the world.
Paid-for TV network Fox Sports is showing every race of the 2020 Formula 1 season Down Under, including all of this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix action.
The necessary channels are available to Foxtel subscribers on linear TV, but Australians who don't want the commitment or cost of a cable subscription are in luck, as Fox Sports F1 coverage is also available via streaming-only service Kayo Sports.
In fact, it's available from just $25 a month - and it comes with a FREE 2-week trial period so you can see how it works for yourself. It's also home to comprehensive NRL and AFL coverage, making it a great all-around choice for Aussies, while expats and fans of other sports will enjoy its coverage of soccer, golf, tennis, NBA basketball and much more.
For the best value, consider the upgraded Kayo Sports Premium Package, which provides three concurrent streams for $35 per month. We probably don't need to tell you, but if you've got mates or family who also like to watch F1, this can be shared and breaks at just over a tenner a head.
You can watch the Emilia Romagna GP live from 11.10pm AEDT on Sunday night.
Before that, the practice run on Saturday, October 31 starts at 8pm, and the all-important Emilia Romagna Grand Prix qualifying session starts at midnight Saturday night/Sunday morning.
Don't forget, you can take your coverage abroad with you as well - just grab a VPN and follow our instructions above to take your streaming service of choice with you wherever you go in the world.
New Zealand gets the 2020 F1 races broadcast by Spark Sport which costs $19.99 per month. But if you just want to catch one race for free, you're in luck as there is a 7-day free trial.
The Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 2020 is scheduled to start at 2.10am NZT in the very early hours of Monday morning.
If you're elsewhere in the world right now, using one of our best VPN recommendations should let you sign in to your account and stream just as you would if you were at home.
Pleasant surprises have been few and far between in 2020, but the Motorola Edge smartphones have certainly been that. The Edge and Edge Plus are intriguing handsets, named after their displays, the edges of which curve dramatically into the sides of the phones.
The Edge is a great mid-range handset and the Edge Plus is an impressive premium device – and, while neither is perfect, we have to commend Motorola for leaving its budget-phone comfort zone and making something new. In a world of successors and follow-ups, that’s a rare move.
And while on the subject of successors, there’s been no mention yet of a Motorola Edge 2 line, not from early-bird leakers and fan rumors, or via any official words for that matter, so we have no idea whether the Edge line will see a 2021 follow-up. We certainly hope it will.
For upcoming smartphones we usually write up a wish-list of features we’d like to see in the new model, but since there’s so much uncertainty regarding the Motorola Edge 2, we’ve instead come up with a list of reasons why we want to see it at all.
We’ll also use this page to provide updates on information that appears about the phones, if or when it does, so if you’re interested in Motorola’s flagship line then stay tuned.
The Motorola Edge and Edge Plus were launched in April 2020, and were released in staggered formation: the Edge was first available in the UK, while the Edge Plus launched in the US; over time, both phones became available in both countries and beyond.
The Edge was priced at £549 / $699 (about AU$1,015), while the Edge Plus went for $999 / £1,050 (around AU$1,550) – as we said, mid-range and premium respectively.
In the absence of any actual Motorola Edge 2 information, our prediction is that the handsets could debut in April 2021 (Motorola does often follow yearly release cycles, after all), for roughly the same prices as before – if they appear at all, that is.
Below you’ll find just some of the reasons we’d want to see a follow-up to the Motorola Edge, so if you’re not aware of the original line, or just don’t get the hype, on reading our points you’ll be sure to gain a better understanding.
A curved-edge display can be considered a ‘love-them-or-hate-them’ feature. Some folk find it annoying, since it’s easy to accidentally press or swipe, but others love a curved edge, because they make a smartphone feel far more comfortable in the hand.
Motorola absolutely nailed this design feature on the Edge, with the phone’s generous availability of software providing excellent ‘accidental touch protection’. As such, swiping off a menu or selecting something by mistake is unlikely with this handset. So, whether you love or hate curved-edge displays, you can be assured that the Motorola Edge will work flawlessly.
In fact, Motorola actually added some tools for the curved-edge display: you can swipe up on the edge to see recent apps, for example, or swipe down to bring up your notifications. We didn’t use these features much, but others may find them super-useful, so their addition should be lauded.
The main advantage of a curved-edge display is that it leads to a phone feeling great in the hand. The rounded glass nestles in your palm snugly – and, with such an arched screen, the Motorola Edge feels pleasant to hold.
Hand-feel is an often forgotten metric for judging a phone, with giant smartphones that you have to stretch to hold becoming the norm. Well, the Motorola Edge scores top points in this department, and given the slew of awkward-to-hold phones we’ve seen since, we’re longing for the Edge 2 to come along and treat our hands right.
Since new phone lines are a bit of a rarity in the smartphone world, the launch of the Edge and Edge Plus was a noteworthy event of 2020, even more so for Motorola because these two devices were the best the company has put out in some time – both devices sit in the top slots of our best Motorola phone buying guide.
The company has been better known for its budget G-series phones, which used to dominate the top slots of that list, with the super-affordable E line and low-mid-range Moto One range also featuring a few entries. But now Motorola has shown that it can innovate in other market segments, too.
The Motorola Edge has proven to be a new high for Motorola, and we’d like to see where the company decides to go from there.
If you’re an avid mobile gamer, then you’ll likely be considering buying a gaming phone. However, such handsets aren’t always great for... well, anything besides gaming. The Motorola Edge offers a great compromise in this regard.
One function of the curved edge that we didn’t mention before is the ability to set up digital triggers on the screen, so when you’re gaming you can tap the edge to perform a specific function. It’s a fun way to add gaming tools to a phone that isn’t predominantly aimed at gamers.
The selling point of many mid-range handsets is ‘top-end specs for a lower price’, but there are few phones that truly pull off that feat, with many obviously cutting corners to meet that reduced price. However, the Motorola Edge is one of the few phones in the mid-range market that we believe genuinely looks and feels like a premium device.
This is down to the great combination of design and display, as well as the clean software and UI, and long-lasting battery. Obviously, it isn’t an out-and-out premium phone (unlike the Edge Plus), but you certainly wouldn’t get that from looking at it, or in general use.
In this regard the Motorola Edge sits alongside the Xiaomi Mi 10 and Oppo Find X2 Neo, and that’s some pretty great company to have.
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Doogee S96 Pro - $239.99 pre-order at Aliexpress
(£191.06/AU$431.93)
The latest rugged smartphone from Doogee is now available to pre-order. Its main selling point is a 20-megapixel night vision camera and it also comes with an 18-month warranty and massive 6,350mAh battery. The only issue is its mediocre HD display.View Deal
While the rest of the world has to contend with Black Friday, the Chinese have their own version, known as Singles Day (a.k.a 11.11).
Some vendors use the occasion as the perfect excuse to pre-launch new products and slash prices ahead of the expected tsunami of orders.
Doogee, for example, has announced that the S96 Pro - billed as the first infrared night vision rugged smartphone that runs Android 10 - is now available. The device is priced at $299.99, but you can grab it for $239.99 instead if you pre-order at the Singles day price and don't mind waiting.
The S96 Pro’s unique selling point is a night vision camera based on the Sony IMX350 sensor chip, with four infrared lights and four LED lights. Doogee claims you will be able to clearly photograph any object, even in total darkness.
Note, this is different to the heat-seeking FLIR technology found in devices like the Blackview BV9900 Pro.
The rest of the spec sheet includes three rear cameras (including a 48-megapixel Samsung model), a 16-megapixel selfie camera, a Mediatek G90 chipset, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB storage (that uses Samsung’s faster UFS technology).
The only real weakness is its 6.22-inch, 1520 x 720px display; that's not even full HD resolution.
Chuwi AeroBook Plus 4K laptop - $559.99 at Banggood
This laptop from little-known manufacturer Chuwi is the most affordable 4K machine on the market. It certainly looks the part and its specs are decent, but shame about the outdated Intel Core i5-6287U processor. Still, this could be a great option if a super sharp display is your top priority.View Deal
Since its appearance last July, the Chuwi AeroBook Plus is still by far the cheapest 4K laptop on the market, costing hundreds of dollars less than rivals.
You can pick up this new Chuwi machine for just under $560, excluding region-specific coupons and delivery. Banggood, the marketplace where Chuwi sells its gears, ships globally (including the US, UK and Australia).
On paper, the Chuwi Aerobook Plus looks a fantastic piece of kit, especially if you're after a screen with one of the highest pixel densities on the market (making it super sharp), spread over 15.6 inches.
With a full-metal chassis, the Aerobook Plus doesn't look like a cheap device, but corners have been cut in order to reach this exceptionally low price point.
It runs on an Intel Core i5-6287U processor - a dual-core processor that was launched five years ago. It's still quite competitive thanks to a very high base clock speed and the onboard Intel Iris Graphics 550 graphics, but we can't see why Chuwi didn't opt for a more recent model (other than the usual stock issues).
The rest of the specification is decent; 8GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256GB SATA SSD, Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a 55WHr battery that can power the laptop for an estimated eight hours, a plethora of ports and a weight starting at 1.7kg.
To avoid falling victim to a malware infection, users first need to be aware of which malware strains are actively being used by cybercriminals in their attacks which is why Webroot releases a list of the nastiest malware each year.
In its third annual nastiest malware list, the cybersecurity firm examined this year's biggest cyber threats and ranked them based on their severity.
According to Webroot, phishing and remote desktop protocol-related breaches remain the top methods its has observed cybercriminals using to launch their attacks. However, new malware strains and tactics are being deployed each day while others have received upgrades that made them more powerful.
This year the main trend the firm observed is modularity as cybercriminals have adopted a more modular malware methodology in which they combine attack methods and mix-and-match tactics to ensure their attacks reach their intended targets.
Emotet has once again taken the top spot on Webroot's list of the nastiest malware for the third year in a row. The malware is deployed by cybercriminals in a botnet that is used to spread ransomware and it often appears alongside TrickBot, Dridex, QakBot, Ryuk, BitPaymer and REvil.
Next up on the list is the Gozi trojan, IcedID trojan and Maze ransomware which are often deployed together. In a potential attack scenario, Gozi could end up on a machine through a malicious email, botnet or even TrickBot and then drop the IcedID trojan to help improve an attacker's chances of obtaining the credentials or information they want.
Just like TrickBot, Dridex is another popular banking/info-stealing Trojan that made Webroots's list this year. It has been around for years and is dropped via Emotet or through malicious spam campaigns. Also in a similar manner to TrickBot, Dridex spreads laterally and typically deploys ransomware such as BitPaymer/DoppelPaymer.
While these malware strains were the nastiest this year, they aren't the only ones to make the list. Other notable contenders for the nastiest malware of 2020 including the REvil and Dharma ransomware, the multi-functional malware distribution tool Valak and the info-stealing trojan QakBot.
To prevent falling victim to malware, Webroot recommends organizations lock down RDP, educate their employees about phishing, install a reputable security suite, develop a disaster recovery plan and backup up their important data.
Cloudflare has announced a new tool to help customers detect and analyse the presence of bots on their website. Called Bot Analytics, the new solution provides more detailed detection, informing users of how many bots are present and whether they can be classified as ‘good bots’ or ‘bad bots.’
Although bots have a bad reputation online, not all of them are malicious. In fact, many helpful services that employ some level of automation use bots. These are completely above board and as long as they are open about the practice, shouldn’t be prevented from visiting any sites.
On the other hand, ‘bad bots’ can be an unwelcome presence. They may be hoarding inventory or scraping content from a particular site. However, because bots represent an estimated 40% of all online traffic, determining which bots to block and which ones to allow isn’t easy. This is where Cloudflare’s Bot Analytics comes in.
“Beginning today, we are going to show you the bots that reach your website,” Ben Solomon, product manager for Bot Management at Cloudflare, explained.
“You can see these bots with a new tool called Bot Analytics. It’s fast, accurate, and loaded with information. You can query data up to one month in the past with no noticeable lag. To accomplish this, we exposed the data with GraphQL and paired it with adaptive bitrate (ABR) technology to dynamically load content. If you already have Bot Management added to your Cloudflare account, Bot Analytics is included in your service.”
Boy Analytics can be found under the Firewall tab of the Cloudflare dashboard. Enterprises without Bot Management access will only see a snapshot of their bot traffic, but that should still be enough to determine whether bots are swarming all over a webpage.
Website admins can also set their own bot threshold to determine how much automated traffic they allow. Of course, there’s no sure-fire way of keeping out all bots, but setting the right limit should ensure that more bandwidth is given to genuine website visitors.
Samsung Electronics has introduced its own version of Apple’s Find My feature to locate devices – though, naturally, it will only work with Galaxy devices, from smartphones to tablets to smartwatches to individual earbuds.
The feature, called SmartThings Find, locates devices using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Ultra Wideband (UWB) – a WiFi-less tracking method similar to what Apple has been rumored to be developing. SmartThings Find is now available on Samsung's Galaxy devices globally after the service was tested by 6 million users in South Korea, the USA and the UK for about two months, the company said in a press statement.
Sadly, older devices may not be able to run the feature, which is coming in a software update for on Galaxy smartphones and tablets running Android 8 or later, Galaxy Watch smartwatches powered by Tizen 5.5 or above, and Galaxy Buds Plus and Galaxy Buds Live wireless earbuds.
After completing a quick registration process, SmartThings users can easily find their Galaxy devices – from smartphones, tablets and smartwatches, down to each individual earbud.
While the app uses BLE and UWB technologies to track the devices, it shows their locations in an AR interface to help users see where their Galaxy products actually are.
"With the added advantage of using AR6 in conjunction with maps and sounds to guide you back to your devices, SmartThings Find is a simple and visual solution that will help you easily locate your favorite devices. This is just one example of the new meaningful mobile experiences that UWB technology will bring to people across the world,” said Jaeyeon Jung, Vice President and Head of SmartThings Team, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics.
According to Samsung: Once a device has been offline for 30 minutes, it produces a BLE signal that can be received by other devices "If you report your device as lost via SmartThings Find, any nearby Galaxy smartphone or tablet that has opted into helping find misplaced devices can alert the Samsung server about its location, which will in turn notify you."
The service is also set to offer integrated map directions and sounds for users to quickly find a lost device.
Once you're close to your device, you can choose to either have your device 'ring' or locate it using the augmented reality-based search nearby function, which displays color graphics that increase in intensity when you are getting closer to your device, the company said.
All SmartThings Find user data is encrypted and securely protected, ensuring that the device’s location is not revealed to anyone except its owner.
SmartThings Find is similar to 'Find My App' that are native to Apple devices.
The highlight of the service is it will allow users to find their missing devices even if they are offline.
Samsung said it plans to start expanding such solutions to tracking tags early next year, so that users can locate not only Galaxy devices but also other items.
"We are excited to also be working closely with leading companies in the item-finding space to both expand this experience and enable you to find more of the belongings you care about most," said Jung Jae-yeon.
Eight nations have signed on to become founding members of NASA's Artemis Accords, an international agreement that establishes how countries can cooperate to peacefully and responsibly conduct exploration of the moon.
NASA announced Tuesday that the United States signed the accords, together with Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agreement would establish a “singular global coalition” to guide future expeditions to the moon.
“With today’s signing, we are uniting with our partners to explore the moon and are establishing vital principles that will create a safe, peaceful and prosperous future in space for all of humanity to enjoy,” Bridenstine said in a statement released Tuesday.
NASA developed the Artemis Accords to partner with other nations to set basic principles to guide robotic and crewed lunar exploration. The agreement’s name refers to NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to send astronauts, including the first woman, to the moon by 2024.
The accords include provisions for peaceful exploration, safety, transparency, sustainable use of space resources, cooperation to build and operate spacecraft and other hardware, and the management and disposal of orbital debris.
“Fundamentally, the Artemis Accords will help to avoid conflict in space and on Earth by strengthening mutual understanding and reducing misperceptions,” Mike Gold, NASA’s acting associate administrator for international and interagency relations, said in a statement. “The Artemis journey is to the moon, but the destination of the Accords is a peaceful and prosperous future.”
The Artemis Accords build on another major international agreement known as the Outer Space Treaty, which was enacted in 1967. The Outer Space Treaty bans the use of nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction in space and establishes that exploration of space, the moon and other celestial bodies should only be for peaceful purposes.
Blue Origin, the US space company founded by billionaire Jeff Bezos, succeeded Tuesday in its latest test flight of its rocket aimed at one day taking tourists to space, even as the date of the first crewed launch remains unclear.
The New Shepard capsule, which was propelled over the boundary of space by a small reusable launch vehicle that returned to land vertically, will one day carry up to six passengers.
It attained an altitude of 66 miles (106 kilometers) above sea level, before descending back to the surface using parachutes and landing in a cloud of dust in the desert of West Texas.
Its total flight time was 10 minutes and nine seconds.
Blue Origin previously unveiled the capsule's interior: six seats with horizontal backrests, placed next to large portholes, in a futuristic cabin with swish lighting.
Multiple cameras help immortalize the few minutes the tourists experience weightlessness while taking in the Earth's curvature.
This summer, competitor Virgin Galactic showed off the interior of its own vessel which is one day supposed to take private passengers to the boundaries of space for a few minutes.
But neither company has announced the start of commercial flights, which have been expected for years.
While the rest of the U.S. economy languished earlier this year, the tech industry’s biggest companies seemed immune to the downturn, surging as the country worked, learned and shopped from home. On Thursday, as the economy is showing signs of improvement, Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Facebook reported profits that highlighted how a recovery may provide another catalyst to help them generate a level of wealth that hasn’t been seen in a single industry in generations.
With an entrenched audience of users and the financial resources to press their leads in areas like cloud computing, e-commerce and digital advertising, the companies demonstrated again that economic malaise, upstart competitors and feisty antitrust regulators have had little effect on their bottom line.
Combined, the four companies reported a quarterly net profit of $38 billion.
Amazon reported record sales, and an almost 200% rise in profits, as the pandemic accelerated the transition to online shopping. Despite a boycott of its advertising over the summer, Facebook had another blockbuster quarter. Alphabet’s record quarterly net profit was up 59%, as marketers plowed money into advertisements for Google search and YouTube. And Apple’s sales rose even though the pandemic forced it to push back the iPhone 12’s release to October, in the current quarter.
On Tuesday, Microsoft, Amazon’s closest competitor in cloud computing, also reported its most profitable quarter, growing 30% from a year earlier.
“The scene that’s playing out fundamentally is that these tech stalwarts are gaining more market share by the day,” said Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities. “It’s ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ for this group of tech companies and everyone else.”
The results were strong despite increasing antitrust scrutiny from regulators. Last week, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit accusing Google of cementing the dominance of its search engine through anti-competitive agreements with device makers and mobile carriers. Facebook faces a possible antitrust case from the Federal Trade Commission.
The companies’ advantages are becoming more pronounced in an economy starting to dig out from the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the Commerce Department said U.S. economic output grew 7.4% last quarter, the fastest pace on record, but remained below where it was in the last pre-pandemic quarter.
That slow return to health is also providing momentum to companies that suffered early in the pandemic, like Twitter, which reported on Thursday that revenue rose 14% in the third quarter as advertisers started to return. Twitter’s stock dropped about 14% in after-hours trading on Thursday, a reaction that analysts attributed to slow user growth.
Big Tech’s third-quarter boom could look modest when compared with the final quarter of the year. For Apple, it’s when consumers buy newly released iPhones. And the year-end shopping peak means lots of customers turning to Amazon for gifts, while advertisers rely on Google and Facebook for digital ads during the holidays.
The pandemic-fueled surge in online shopping pushed Amazon to a record for both sales and profits in the latest quarter.
Sales were $96.1 billion, up 37% from a year earlier, and profits rose to $6.3 billion.
The quarter did not include the usual boost from Prime Day, Amazon’s yearly deal bonanza, which was delayed to October. And the profit increased during a building boom, with Amazon expanding its fulfillment infrastructure by 50% this year. The company added almost 250,000 employees in the quarter, for the first time surpassing more than 1 million workers.
The lucrative Amazon Web Services division grew 29% as companies continued their shift to cloud computing.
Amazon said sales could reach $121 billion in the fourth quarter because of the confluence of Prime Day, the holiday shopping season and the turn to online spending.
The delay in the iPhone 12’s release meant Apple would face a tough comparison with the same quarter last year, which included sales of the iPhone 11. As a result, iPhone sales dropped more than 20% in the quarter.
Yet Apple’s overall sales still rose 1% to $64.7 billion, showing the increasing strength of other parts of the company’s business.
Apple’s services segment, which includes revenues from the App Store and offerings like Apple Music, increased 16% to $14.5 billion. Sales rose 46% for iPads, 29% for Mac computers and 21% for wearables.
Profits fell 7% to $12.7 billion, partly because the company spent more on research and development.
“There are lots going on here, and everything is going incredibly well,” Luca Maestri, Apple’s finance chief, said in an interview.
Facebook’s revenue for the third quarter rose 22% from a year earlier, to $21.2 billion, while profits jumped 29% to $7.84 billion. The results surpassed analysts’ estimates of $19.8 billion in revenue and profits of $5.53 billion, according to data provided by FactSet.
Facebook had strong results despite a wide-ranging boycott by advertisers this summer over issues of hate and toxic speech on the site. Although the grassroots campaign, Stop Hate for Profit, rallied many of the top advertisers on Facebook to reduce their spending, the overall effects were brief.
The company continued gaining users as well. More than 1.82 billion people used the Facebook app every day, up 12% from a year earlier, it said. More than 2.54 billion people now use one or more of Facebook’s family of apps — Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger or Facebook — daily, up 15% from a year earlier.
After its first-ever decline in quarterly revenue in the second quarter, Alphabet rebounded with its highest-ever profit. The strength came from across Google, with search advertising revenue growing 6% and YouTube ad spending rising 32%. Google’s cloud computing business grew 45%.
When advertisers slowed spending with Google this year as COVID-19 started to spread, Alphabet’s business took a significant hit. But as the economy has improved and businesses found their footing, advertisers have returned.
Alphabet posted a net profit of $11.25 billion in the third quarter as revenue rose 14% to $46.1 billion. Ruth Porat, Alphabet’s chief financial officer, said the improved profitability reflected efforts to cut costs during the economic downturn, including a hiring slowdown.
Daisuke Wakabayashi, Karen Weise, Jack Nicas and Mike Isaac.
NASA said Thursday its robotic spacecraft Osiris-Rex was able to stow a rock and dust sample scooped up from the asteroid Bennu, after a flap that had wedged open put the mission at risk.
"We are here to announce today that we've successfully completed that operation," said Rich Burns, the mission's project manager.
The probe is on a mission to collect fragments that scientists hope will help unravel the origins of our solar system, but hit a snag after it picked up too big of a sample.
Fragments from the asteroid's surface in a collector at the end of the probe's three-meter (10-foot) arm had been slowly escaping into space because some rocks prevented the compartment from closing completely.
That arm is what came into contact with Bennu for a few seconds last Tuesday in the culmination of a mission launched from Earth some four years ago.
On Thursday, NASA said it had been able a day earlier to maneuver the robotic arm holding the leaking particles to a storage capsule near the center of the spacecraft, drop off the sample and close the capsule's lid.
It was a delicate two-day procedure, requiring the team at each step to assess images and data from the previous step.
The probe is 200 million miles (320 million kilometers) away, so it takes 18.5 minutes for its transmissions to reach Earth, and any signal from the control room requires the same amount of time to reach Osiris-Rex.
"My heart breaks for loss of sample," said Dante Lauretta, the mission's chief scientist, but he noted that they had successfully stowed hundreds of grams (several ounces) of fragments, far in excess of their minimum goal.
"Now we can look forward to receiving the sample here on Earth and opening up that capsule," he said.
Osiris-Rex is set to come home in September 2023, hopefully with the largest sample returned from space since the Apollo era.
100GB Koofr Cloud Storage with Lifetime subscription - $29.99 at StackCommerce
While most other cloud storage providers charge monthly subscription fees, Koofr offers a lifetime subscription regardless of whether you choose its 100GB, 250GB or 1TB plan. You can access your files stored on its servers from the web, mobile and even using WebDav. Just bear in mind that lifetime often comes with some risks. View Deal
There has been a surge in the numbers of cloud storage services that offer a lifetime subscription to a fixed amount of storage and a standard subscription to “unlimited amount of storage” and at least one of them, Zoolz, has abandoned lifetime cloud storage altogether because it is not sustainable.
And therein lies the issue with anything that’s unlimited, unless you have some sort of restriction, the numbers simply don’t have up. While anything that depends on network resources can sort of get away with it, anything that relies on finite hardware (like hard disk drives) have to essentially conjure up some sort of magic.
Koofr for example pits itself as the only cloud storage that doesn’t track you, a statement that we’re sure, the likes of pCloud, iDrive, Microsoft (OneDrive) and many others will thoroughly disagree with. Files, the provider says, are encrypted at rest or during transfer.
With capacities ranging from 100GB all the way to 1TB, it scores points for having no size limits for file uploads, thumbnail preview (great for storing photos in the cloud) and for offering easy connection to your other cloud storage accounts (Amazon S3, Dropbox and others).
It can remove duplicate files and there’s even a mobile app for Huawei AppGallery and Windows Phone. Lifetime app updates are obviously included (the latest Android update dates from October 2020) and there’s a pretty active Reddit channel.
As we settle in for the 'work at home' long-haul, it's never been more important to have access to a powerful Ultrabook that can handle any task you throw at it.
We can largely thank Apple and its MacBook Air for the Ultrabook trend we're seeing. Where large, clunky laptops aren't sleek enough, and thin, portable tablets aren't powerful enough, the Ultrabook shines.
A unibody chassis packed with some of the best SSDs, processors and battery life available to devices this size, the Ultrabook is a thin and portable marvel that'll let you get on with your business, browsing or buffering without the lengthy wait times.
With TechRadar's extensive reviewing and lab testing, we've got a strong idea of what's going to cut it in today's Ultrabook landscape, and on this page we've ranked the best of the best so that you can find yourself a bargain on the cream of the crop.
Whether you're chasing the well-known brands like Dell, HP, Microsoft and Lenovo, or some surprise entrants like Huawei and Razer, we've got you covered.
The ultimate blend of work and play
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS – 9 4900HS | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 | RAM: Up to 32GB | Screen: 14-inch Non-glare Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS-level panel, 120Hz – 14-inch Non-glare WQHD (2560 x 1440) IPS-level panel, 60Hz | Storage: 512GB / 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0
We know, this is technically a gaming laptop, but for those that want to balance work and play, there's little else out there that's better value than the Zephyrus G14 right now. It's worth noting that it's missing a webcam and a Thunderbolt 3 port, so if that's a concern this isn't for you, but its solid battery life, compact form, and powerful specs do a fine job at balancing everything that you'll need from a laptop. This is an absolute beast for performance, with its AMD Ryzen 4000 processors and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card, best-in-class battery life that will last you all day long, a fast display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a lightweight, ultrathin design. The best part is that you’re getting all that without burning a hole in your pocket. Don’t get us wrong; it isn’t cheap. However, for a laptop this impressive, we’re surprised Asus isn’t asking for more.
Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Expensive, but certainly worth it
CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti | RAM: 8GB – 64GB | Screen: 15.6" FHD+ (1920 x 1200) InfinityEdge Non-Touch Anti-Glare 500-Nit – 15.6" UHD+ (3840 x 2400) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflective 500-Nit Display | Storage: 256GB – 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe
Dell's XPS series is the closest the Windows world has come to that MacBook elegance, and this year's XPS 15 might just tempt a few more conversions. While it’s quite comfortably one of the best Ultrabooks this year, its price in Australia isn't quite as appealing as in other regions. With that said, you'll be getting plenty of punch if you do invest thanks to its meaty internals, not to mention its gorgeous bright display with 500 nits of brightness, extremely comfortable keyboard, impressive speakers, and terrific trackpad. We’re not saying that this laptop is perfect (the price in particular is a sore point), but our coveted 5 out of 5 rating should speak for itself.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 15
HP’s flagship 2-in-1 gets a 2020 refresh
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS BrightView micro-edge WLED-backlit multitouch – 13.3" diagonal 4K (3840 x 2160) UWVA BrightView micro-edge AMOLED multitouch | Storage: 256GB – 2TB SSD
HP’s beloved and highly praised 2-in-1 is back with a vengeance, this time with more powerful components like the 10th-generation Intel Core processors and Intel Iris Plus graphics. Of course, that impeccable 2-in-1 design and pristine gem-cut chassis are back, as are its security features and Bang & Olufsen speakers. That killer combination makes it, now more than ever, one of the best Ultrabooks out there. Is it a wonder that this is one of our favorite laptops of 2020? If you care about aesthetics as much as you do performance and overall quality, this is the laptop for you.
Read the full review: HP Spectre x360 (2020)
New and improved for 2020
CPU: 1.1GHz Intel Core i3-1000NG4 (dual-core, 4 threads, 4MB cache, up to 3.2GHz) | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus | RAM: 8GB (3,733MHz LPDDR4X) | Screen: 13.3-inch, 2,560 x 1,600 Retina True Tone display (backlit LED, IPS) | Storage: 256GB PCIe SSD | Dimensions (H x W x D): 30.41 x 21.24 x 1.61cm
Addressing a number of complaints we’ve had about previous releases of Apple’s affordable thin and light laptop – particularly its keyboard on last year's model – The MacBook Air (2020) feels like a considerable step up almost every area of note. Gone are the old butterfly switches, which were too shallow for many people, and prone to failing if debris, such as dust and crumbs, fell between the keys, and in its place is the new Magic keyboard, which first appeared with the MacBook Pro 16-inch. Thanks to the long-overdue inclusion of new components, Apple's 2020 MacBook Air has received a decent uptick in performance, too, making it an easy Ultrabook to recommend.
Read the full review: MacBook Air (2020)
An extremely premium piece of kit
CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G7 – i7-1065G7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q Design | RAM: 8GB – 32GB 3733Mhz LPDDR4x | Screen: 13.5-inch 3000 x 2000 (267 PPI) – 15-inch 3240 x 2160 (260 PPI) PixelSense Display | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB PCIe SSD
In many ways, the Surface Book 3 is an example of just how far the best laptops have come in just a few short years. It has an extremely premium piece of kit – with one of the best displays we’ve used in a laptop, a keyboard that will put the MacBook Pro’s new Magic Keyboards to shame, and a hybrid design with a removable screen. At less than an inch thick, and only 12.3 x 9.14 inches for its 13-inch model and 13.5 x 9.87 inches for its 15-inch version, this is also among the best Ultrabooks 2020 has to offer. It doesn't necessarily have the strongest processor when compared to many rivals on this list, so you'll need to weigh up this delightful form factor against your more intensive computing needs.
Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Book 3
No longer a compromise?
CPU: 1.4GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 – 2.8GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 – 655 | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.3-inch (diagonal) 2560 x 1600 LED-backlit display with IPS technology | Storage: 128GB – 2TB SSD | Dimensions (H x W x D): 0.59 x 11.97 x 8.36 inches
The 13-inch MacBook Pro 2019 has perhaps received the biggest update out of the three MacBook revisions that Apple rolled out in 2019. Next to the MacBook Pro 15-inch and the MacBook Air 2019 models, the MacBook Pro 13-inch has certainly come out the winner. In terms of upgrades from previous models, the inclusion of updated components and Apple's Touch Bar are arguably the most notable, this all makes the new MacBook Pro 13-inch (2019) feels less like a compromise for those who don't want to shell out for a larger and more expensive model. If you’re looking for a compact MacBook Pro that still offers plenty of oomph, the MacBook Pro 13-inch (2019) is the one for you.
Read the full review: MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2019)
Don’t be fooled: this is more than a gamer’s laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7-1065G7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 13.3-inch | Storage: 256GB
Razer has to deal with the common misconception that it’s solely a gaming laptop and peripheral company, a reputation it subverted when it introduced the Blade Stealth back in 2016. And, if you’re unconvinced, the latest edition of the Razer Blade Stealth may change your mind.
Read the full review: Razer Blade Stealth
Longer-lasting than most
CPU: Quad-core 10th Gen Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics | RAM: 8GB – 32GB | Screen: 15” 2496 x 1664 PixelSense Touch Display | Storage: 128GB – 1TB
With an impressive, reasonable price tag and some of the best battery life we’ve experienced in a 15-inch laptop, the Surface Laptop 3 certainly has a lot going for it. That also includes the fact that it’s got a great look and feel, as well as a weight that surprisingly light for a product its size. Performance-wise, it certainly knocks it out of the park. While it isn’t the most powerful 15-inch laptop out there, it has Intel’s 10th-generation chips and the Iris Plus graphics. That’s more than enough to make it one of the best Ultrabooks out there for 2020.
Read the full review: Surface Laptop 3
One of the best Ultrabooks for the travelling professional
CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8GB - 16GB | Screen: 13.3" diagonal Full HD touch display – Full HD touch Sure View display | Storage: 256 GB SSD
If you’re a traveling professional, and you’re looking for a plenty-capable machine, then the Elite Dragonfly from HP is certainly a solid choice. In other regions, the pricing make this a no-brainer and a fairly safe list-topper, but in Australia the price puts it a bit of a disadvantage. Regardless, it delivers a deadly combination of incredible features like a sublime keyboard and amazing speakers, raw power, portability, a beautiful design and a long battery life. Admittedly, it’s pricier than many competing laptops, but if you’ve got the funds, it’s worth every penny.
Read the full review: HP Elite Dragonfly
A 2-in-1 laptop experience with little to no compromise
CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: up to 16 GB DDR4 | Screen: 13.9-inch FHD (1,920 x 1,080) – UHD (3,840 x 2,160) | Storage: up to 2 TB PCIe SSD
The Lenovo Yoga C930 has many of the makings of the best ultrabook – from a whopping 14.5 hours of battery life and dual Thunderbolt-enabled USB-C ports to internal components that will breeze through those daily productivity tasks. That’s without even mentioning a 2-in-1 that offers form versatility so you can squeeze in some light gaming and movie-watching post-productivity. It has a few cherries on top as well, namely the integrated self-charging stylus and the fab speaker system.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga C930