Microsoft Band is more accurate than Apple Watch at measuring your heart rate
Fitness bands and smartwatches that monitor your activity are notoriously inaccurate. Wear a bunch of them at the same time and they’ll all return entirely different results. And we’re not talking about slight discrepancies either -- the results can differ by several thousand steps. The idea is the trackers provide you with a general ballpark figure, rather than a precise one, so you can see how your activity varies on a daily basis, and take steps -- hah! -- to improve on it.
As a result, comparing the results from two or more fitness trackers isn’t usually very helpful -- each device will measure activity in its own way, and who is to say what’s right or wrong? However, more advanced wearables -- Microsoft Band and Apple Watch, for example -- measure your heart rate, and it’s much easier to check how accurate they are. All you need to do is compare the results they produce with the figures from a reliable source.
Sond Audio Bookshelf Speakers: Quality Bluetooth speakers for the home [Review]
We review -- and get asked to review -- a lot of Bluetooth speakers. While the ones we look at might be from different makers, and of varying quality, they all share one thing in common. They’re small, and portable. Not so the Sond Audio Active Bookshelf Speakers.
The twin speakers are large, and designed to sit in the one place. This could be a bookshelf, provided you have one that’s deep enough to accommodate them, or the floor. If you enjoy listening to music, and the sound quality delivered by portable speakers doesn’t cut it for you, then the 180w these speakers offer could well be what you’re looking for.
How to easily switch from Android to Windows Phone
Once people have made the decision to go with a particular mobile operating system, they tend to stick with it. Moving all of your data from one device to another can be a bit of a pain, and it’s made even harder if you’re also switching operating systems, and have to find and re-buy all of your favorite apps.
If you’re thinking of making the move from Android to Windows Phone -- perhaps in anticipation of Windows 10 Mobile later in the year -- the process doesn’t have to be stressful. Here’s what you need to do.
Nest refreshes its entire product line -- major redesigns, updates, a new cam and more
Nest has been quiet for quite some time, but today it breaks that silence with multiple product announcements.
Alongside the launch of a new Nest Cam, there’s a completely redesigned second-gen Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide alarm that is apparently actually good at detecting fires, and a software update for the Nest Learning Thermostat that adds new features. There’s a new app too.
Samsung's new 4TB portable hard drives are the thinnest and lightest in the world
Storing data on a portable hard drive means you’ll have access to it wherever you happen to be, and can connect the device to any computer. Of course you don’t want to be lugging around a heavy drive -- the lighter the better -- but neither do you want to be compromising on capacity.
Samsung HDD, a division of Seagate Technology, today announces two new 4TB external hard drives -- the M3 Portable and the P3 Portable -- which it says are the first 4TB USB-powered single drive solutions to come in 2.5in enclosures.
Microsoft Lumia launches an uplifting 'good news' paper to inspire commuters
Most newspapers are full of bad, and depressing news. Microsoft Lumia wants to change that, and is putting together its own print newspaper that it hopes will inspire commuters and help them to "achieve more".
The Five to Nine newspaper will focus on positive, uplifting content, and also show workers how they can use technology to work smarter and more efficiently. There will be five editions, published between 22 June and 26 June, all focusing on a different theme (culture, music, fashion, design, and sport) and featuring commissioned content alongside crowd sourced "good news" stories, life hacks and musings.
Keep your Raspberry Pi 2 safe with the official new case
Although there are plenty of enclosures available to buy for the Raspberry Pi, all of them come from third parties. There’s never been an official case for the Pi, until now.
The brains at the Raspberry Pi Foundation first talked about creating an enclosure for the wildly popular device some two and a half years ago, and it’s finally come to fruition. If you’re worried about damaging your Pi, or just want to give it a stylish look, then the Official Raspberry Pi Case is for you, and as you’d expect, it’s incredibly cheap.
LastPass hacked, email addresses, password reminders and more compromised
A lot of people trust LastPass to keep their passwords safe, which is why news that the company has been hacked and its user data compromised is seriously worrying.
LastPass discovered and blocked some suspicious activity on its network last Friday and immediately launched an investigation. Today it reports its findings, and they're very concerning indeed.
Watch Sony's PlayStation E3 press event live here
Microsoft’s press event has finished, and revealed a lot of great gaming news, including that the Xbox One will soon be able to play selected Xbox 360 games. Huge news.
Next up it’s the turn of Sony. The company will have lots of gaming news of its own, and it won’t only be content relating to the PlayStation 4. Expect to find out more about Morpheus, the company’s VR headset that’s set to rival Oculus Rift.
Watch Microsoft's E3 keynote live here
The annual E3 video game conference gets underway properly from tomorrow, but Microsoft’s press keynote takes place today, and you’ll be able to tune into it right here as it happens.
The company’s focus will, naturally, be on the Xbox One and Windows 10, but there will also be plenty of games announcements too -- Microsoft says we can expect to see "the greatest games lineup in Xbox history" this year.
Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10130 now available to download on the Slow ring
Microsoft released Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 10130 to the Fast ring two weeks ago, but it came with a couple of major bugs that meant it wasn’t suitable for all. Last week Microsoft pushed out ISOs of the build, for people who were having trouble updating to the new version through Windows Update, but it still wasn’t deemed stable enough for Slow ring Insiders.
Well, the good news is if you’re on the Slow ring you can finally update Windows 10 to Build 10130, as Microsoft is pushing the update out to everyone now. And your patience is rewarded with news that the update comes with some useful fixes.
Microsoft's Surface Pro 3 comfortably beats Apple's iPad Air 2 in speed tests
UK consumer watchdog Which? tested a range of popular tablets and discovered that when it comes to speed, there’s only one champion, and that’s Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3.
It turns out it wasn’t only Microsoft’s slate that bested Apple’s tablets in the speed stakes. The iPad mini 3, which sells for £319 in the UK, was beaten by the Tesco Hudl 2 which costs just £99.
Apple Music should fear Spotify, not the other way around
Apple’s recently announced streaming music service is being viewed by many as a potential Spotify killer. Spotify might have more than 20 million paying subscribers and over 75 million active users, but Apple is a force that cannot be ignored, and being late to the party means nothing.
So should Spotify be concerned about the forthcoming battle with Apple? Unquestionably. Although, if new research is to be believed, it’s Apple that should be worrying the most.
Watch the unveiling of the Oculus Rift consumer headset here
Oculus will be one of several names demoing virtual reality products at E3 next week, but ahead of the big games show the company is going to be taking the wraps off of the consumer model of its VR headset later today.
The Oculus Rift consumer model isn’t actually due to go on sale until early next year, but today’s special event should give us a good idea of what to expect from the device, more concrete release details, and hopefully the all-important price.
Security firm Kaspersky Lab hacked by a 'nation state'
Security firms are supposed to keep us safe from threats like malware and hacker attacks, but occasionally they fall foul of the bad guys too. A year ago Avast was hacked, and some 400,000 user details were stolen. Two years ago, AVG and Avira had their websites taken over by pro-Palestinian hackers.
The latest security firm to be hacked is Russian anti-virus software maker Kaspersky Lab.
Wayne's Bio
Wayne Williams is BetaNews' managing editor. He has been writing about computers, technology, and the web for over 20 years now. He’s written for most of the UK’s PC magazines, and launched, edited and published a fair few of them in his time also. If you like what you read, you can Buy Me a Coffee!
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