When it comes to HDR, there are two competing standards – HDR10 and Dolby Vision. But now an improved HDR10 standard, HDR10+ is on the rise, and Amazon Prime Instant Video has just announced that it will be supporting Samsung’s new format. Dynamic tone mapping is a process by which contrast and brightness information can be changed on a scene-by-scene basis within a movie. HDR10+ should not be confused with HDR+, the technology that allows SDR content to be upscaled to HDR, and which works surpr

The days when you had to buy a dedicated gaming rig and spend a load of cash for a quality gaming experience are long gone. Thanks to the iPhone (and iPod touch) and the App Store, you can get an excellent mobile gaming experience for just a few bucks (or quid, for that matter), or even less. In fact, a lot of the games out there are free. But can you get great games for nothing at all, or is the ‘free’ section of the App Store just a shoddy excuse to bombard you with in-app purchases? The trick

Update: The HTC U launch date has been confirmed with an official invite for the event on May 16. The HTC U Ultra wasn’t quite the flagship HTC needed either, but the good news is another high-end phone is thought to be on the way. It won’t be called the HTC 11 though, with HTC U all but confirmed for HTC’s main 2017 flagship. HTC’s next flagship, successor to the HTC 10HTC’s next flagship, successor to the HTC 10 When’s it out? But more surprisingly a leaked video shows an HTC phone with Vive b

Sky has confirmed that it will be broadcasting test cricket in Ultra HD for the first time, with England’s series against South Africa to be given the 4K treatment. The HBO deal sees the two companies join in a $250 million multi-year co-production deal to produce ‘world-class drama series’. VR AttenboroughSir David Attenborough OM CH CVO CBE FRS FRSB FLS FZS FSA & now VRFinally, Sky and Sir David Attenborough will take people behind the glass at London’s Natural History Museum. A three-dimensio

HTC has confirmed the unveiling of its new flagship phone to the world – the HTC U – on May 16. The new flagship phone has also been shown off briefly in a five-second teaser on Twitter, showing off some innovative features. The design is also on show, with the HTC U looking like a sleek and slim device, and one would expect that it will feature the same pearlescent rear as the HTC U Ultra which was recently launched by the brand. ‘U’ is HTC’s new branding for its top-range phone – although conf

Plus, we got to see the beginnings of Facebook’s own moonshot projects, courtesy of a former Googler. One major area Facebook is now focused on is turning the camera into a mainstream augmented reality platform. Dugan explained a pea-size electrode implant is in the part of the woman’s brain that would normally control motor functions. Dugan described the system as an artificial cochlea, or the part of the ear that lets us pick up sound vibrations. Dugan’s presentation was the highlight of the c

Audio-gear manufacturer Bose has been accused of spying on users of its premium wireless headphones – including the very popular QuietComfort 35 – via the company’s Connect smartphone app. The data collection reportedly occurs once the user has paired their headphones with the Bose Connect app, which is offered to customers as an option to manage the connected audio device and view settings, like adjusting noise-cancelation. The claim alleges that every time a smartphone is opened after a Bose d

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal , Google is planning to integrate its own ad-blocker into its immensely popular Chrome browser. The unprecedented move would send shockwaves through the online advertising industry, with Google itself being a business that’s highly dependent on ad revenue. According to data shared by the US federal government’s Digital Analytics Program (DAP) in January, Chrome is currently the most popular browser in the United States with a 44.5% market share. G

The biggest product unveiled at Facebook’s annual developer gathering, known as F8, is Facebook Spaces. It’s also the most fun I’ve ever had using virtual reality. With Facebook Spaces, suddenly there is another person in the same virtual room as me, seeing what I see, interacting with me. While hanging out with my new pal inside virtual reality was great, the most impressive Facebook Spaces feature is the ability to call a friend who isn’t in VR using Facebook Messenger. Of course, no system ha

prior to the announcement of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, the mystery surrounding the upcoming iPhone 8 seems to be what will become of its rumored all-screen design. The supposed leak appears to show the back panel of the next iPhone, showing space for a dual-camera setup aligned vertically on the side while a fingerprint scanner is placed in the middle beneath Apple’s logo, making for a busier design than we’re used to from the iPhone maker. While unconfirmed, the leaked design matches up a

What does the future hold for virtual reality? The massive turnout at the Spodek naturally intertwines with VR, giving Intel and opportunity to show off what its work in VR means for gamers. Soqui describes merged reality as the middle section of a Venn diagram with VR and AR on each side ‒ a blend of virtual reality technology incorporating real-world elements and augmented reality. Soqui describes merged reality as the middle of a Venn diagram with VR and AR on each side ‒ a blend of virtual r

A brilliant insight into how I’m preparing for the London Marathon with tech at my side, an alternative view to the English capital’s finest race. But you won’t be running this way, so it’s kind of irrelevant. Mile 21-22When you see the Costcutter’s (a low-cost small supermarket here in the UK) you’ve just passed mile 21 of the marathon. As the London Eye rolls into view, Kieran offers some sage advice: ‘It’ll feel like the finish line is just around the corner and you’ll want to start flying. M

Less than a week since the NES Classic Edition ceased production, it looks like Nintendo is beginning work on another miniature console to fuel your nostalgia. It appears Nintendo may have stopped making the NES Classic Edition to make room for its next-gen successor — a mini-Super Nintendo, according to sources at Eurogamer. Considering that the NES Classic Edition costs £49/$59/AU$99 and came with 30 games installed, we’re willing to bet that if Nintendo really is making a Super Nintendo succe

A massive part of Facebook’s long-term plan to “build community” is to connect the world with the internet. From routers to drone planes, Facebook has done just about everything to deliver on that promise, but today it introduced one more method. The social network is developing a small helicopter called Tether-tenna, designed to deliver internet when infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, such as during a natural disaster. Tether-tenna in actionSome infrastructure fiber must still be operation

Not content with laying out a full-blown augmented reality (AR) platform with its new smartphone camera software, Facebook has launched two, brand new 360-degree video cameras to jump start that end of the immersive social media revolution. During Facebook’s second and last keynote address at its F8 developer conference in San Jose, California, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer debuted the new hardware dubbed Surround 360 x24 and x6. Looking a lot like Nokia’s own OZO 360-degree camera, the two seque

Pop Art StudioPop Art Studio is a fun and easy way to transform ordinary pictures into works in the style of Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and modern artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey. The filters work best with simple portrait photos with fairly high contrast between highlights and shadows. If you need to crop a picture or adjust its brightness and contrast first, you can do so quickly and easily using GIMP or Paint.NET. Pop Art Studio evolved from a project called the Andy Warhol Replica

Super Bowl LI was the fourth year that the NFL implemented Extreme Networks’ Wi-Fi analytics solution to collect data that helped the League better understand its fans. Super Bowl LI broke all Super Bowl records for concurrent users on Wi-Fi peaking at 27,000, 41 percent more than Super Bowl 50. Having this level of seamless connectivity allowed fans to gain a completely new perspective on the Super Bowl, and make closer connections to their teams. Fans at the Super Bowl didn’t see the technolog

Nokia has announced an upgrade to its VR camera, the Nokia OZO, and its supporting software. At Las Vegas media conference NAB, the Finnish tech company has revealed the OZO+, along with a platform of tools geared towards improving the quality of VR output and the accessibility of VR content. Arguably the most exciting thing about Nokia’s upgrade is the world-first live broadcast of 8K VR footage. Live VR is going to become widespread in the coming years, and 8K livestreaming is a good calling c

Windows Essentials was excellent in 2012, but its component programs have been superseded by far superior free alternatives. Replace Movie Maker with ShotcutIf Windows Movie Maker had continued to evolve after 2012, this is what it would look like. Replace Writer with Open Live WriterWindows Live Writer wasn’t one of the stars of Windows Essentials, but it was thoughtfully crafted and earned itself a loyal userbase. Open Live Writer is an open source project based on a fork of Windows Live Write

There have been a few rumors kicking around for the past few months that Sony would bring out a new flagship full-frame camera that sits above the Alpha 7 range, and today it took the wraps off the Alpha A9. The new Alpha 9 promises blackout-free continuous shooting at up to 20fps while undertaking 60 AF/AE tracking calculations per second. Its design also enables data speed processing at up to 20x faster than previous Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras, while the sensor has also been paired wit