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11/25/15--07:30: Buying Guide: Best Mac to buy in 2015 click to rate







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Picking the perfect Mac

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Buying a new Mac isn't as easy as picking out a new iPhone. With a phone you only have to worry about cost, color, and capacity, but when upgrading your computer you need to consider portability, power, speed, storage, screen size, pixels, expansion needs, and more.

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So while Apple's Mac lineup is fairly streamlined and straightforward, there's still a lot to consider. If you decide you want a desktop, there's the Mac mini, iMac and Mac Pro to choose from. If portability is your primary concern, you have the MacBook Air, MacBook and MacBook Pro. Even if you pass on the build-to-order options, there are dozens of possibilities ranging from $499 (about £325/AU$646)all the way up to $3,999 (about £2,610/AU$5,181).

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11/25/15--07:30: _Buying Guide: Best ... 11/25/15--12:54: _A laptop battery pa...

A new Mac is a long-term investment. You don't want to be stuck with the wrong one for years and years, so we sorted through every option for every model to help pair you with your perfect match. Head to the next page as we dive right in.

Mac mini While the all-in-one iMac is Apple's most popular entry-level desktop, the screenless Mac mini is a more cost-effective option. Its small, square enclosure can easily fit on any desk, no matter how cluttered it may be. The mini isn't exactly a powerhouse, but it performs well for a computer that's cheaper than an unlocked iPhone 5s. The Mac mini doesn't come with a keyboard, monitor, or mouse, but it's packed with ports: one for HDMI, a pair for Thunderbolt 2, four for USB 3, an SDXC card slot, and an IR receiver sensor. The entry-level model skates by with a 1.4GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard drive, but for an extra $200 you can double most of the specs. That's a 40% price increase over the base model, but it's worth considering since Apple has made it almost impossible to upgrade your mini after you get it home.

11/25/15--13:40: _New Superfish scare... 11/26/15--01:28: _Raspberry Pi Zero l... 11/26/15--21:15: _Sony is officially ...

The top-of-the-line Mac mini bumps the processor up to 2.8GHz and adds a Fusion Drive in place of the 5400-rpm spinner, but at $999, we wouldn't recommend it. If you're willing to spend over a thousand dollars on a desktop computer, you'll be better served by moving up to an iMac.

11/27/15--00:50: _Lenovo is making a ... 11/27/15--03:14: _Updated: Best gamin... 11/27/15--06:56: _2-in-1 laptops? Why...

In the UK, the Mac mini runs from £399 to £799, while in Australia it starts at AU$699 and tops out at AU$1,399. See the best Mac deals

11/24/15--00:00: _Black Friday: Amazo... 11/27/15--00:44: _Black Friday: The b... 11/27/15--03:04: _Black Friday: The b... 11/27/15--03:18: _Black Friday: All o... 11/27/15--05:09: _Black Friday: The b... 11/23/15--11:38: _Microsoft imposes d... 11/23/15--13:55: _Buying Guide: 10 be... 11/23/15--14:46: _Updated: Best iPhon... 11/23/15--16:10: _Updated: Buying Gui... 11/30/15--04:38: _Cyber Monday: The b... 11/30/15--09:10: _Apple may be discon... 11/30/15--15:00: _Updated: Buying Gui... (showing articles 101 to 120 of 2651)

iMac The iMac has always been a trendsetter, going all the way back to its Bondi Blue CRT days, and the current razor-thin model is as stunning as ever. Even the cheapest iMac has a lot going for it, most notably the 21.5-inch screen - you'd have a hard time finding another monitor that looks this good, let alone a whole computer. And the starting MSRP of $1,099 (£899/AU$1,549) puts those luxury looks in an affordable price range. The base model is a little limited by its processor, but it's not a bad entry-level machine. Its specs are comparable to the base Mac mini, but the iMac gets a bit of a performance boost thanks to a healthy 8GB portion of RAM. The machine doesn't include an HDMI port, but either of the two Thunderbolt ports can double as a Mini DisplayPort connector for dual-monitor setups. As with the mini, spending an extra couple hundred bucks gets you a whole lot more. The middle iMac configuration has double the hard drive capacity (1TB), plus it gets you better graphics with an upgrade to Intel's integrated Iris Pro technology over the lowerperforming HD Graphics 5000 card. The processor jumps to the quad-core 2.7GHz CPU, with a Turbo Boost that pushes it all the way to 3.2GHz. And don't sweat the 8GB of RAM - its easy to upgrade through a memory compartment door in the back. Unless you're on an extremely tight budget, this is the model we recommend. If you want a larger screen, there's also a 27-inch iMac. The sole configuration consists of a 3.2GHz quad-core processor, 8GB of memory, a 1TB hard drive, and a hefty Nvidia GeForce GT 755M graphics card for $1,799 (£1,449/AU$2,499). It isn't a bad deal, but we can't recommend it when, for $1,999 (£1,599/AU$2,799), you can get your hands on the mother of all iMacs. Packing an eye-popping 14.7-million pixel screen, a 3.3GHz chip, and the AMD Radeon R9 graphics card, the iMac with Retina 5K Display isn't just one of the most powerful Macs in Apple's lineup, it might actually be the most practical purchase you can make. A decent stand-alone 5K display will set you back at least $2,000, and when you factor in the cost of a machine that can handle it, the retina iMac starts to look like a bargain. The lower-end model packs more than enough punch for most people, but you might want to consider upgrading the platter drive, either via a $200 BTO option or by stepping up to the 3.5GHz model for an extra $300. See the best Mac deals

Mac Pro The Mac Pro was cutting-edge when it launched in late 2013, and it's still one of the most advanced PCs money can buy. The machine has power and performance to spare, with quad-core Intel Xeon E5 processors, dual AMD FirePro graphics cards, and super-fast PCIe-based flash storage. And its distinctive 9-inch-high cylindrical form fits great on any desk. Of course, the Pro's price tag matches its performance - ranging from $2,999 (£2,499/AU$4,399) to around $10,000 depending on your storage, memory and processing needs - but it's as future-proofed as any Mac you'll find. Even if OS X were to transform into some kind of a Multitouch hybrid in five years, today's Mac Pros will surely be able to handle it. See the best Mac deals

MacBook 12-inch Apple's newest MacBook isn't for everyone. While it supplanted the MacBook Air as the lightest and smallest laptop, the extra portability came with compromises. Most notably, Apple replaced the standard USB 3 and Thunderbolt 2 ports with the brand-new USB-C protocol. While it's cool that a single cable can now be used to handle both power and data as with an iPhone, Mac users who are used to plugging in a variety of devices may find themselves frustrated until the market for USB-C hubs, docks, and drives starts to flourish. There's also the keyboard. When the PowerBook debuted in 1991, Apple caused a stir by pushing the keys closer to the screen to create a natural palm rest and room for a trackball. Apple is attempting to change the game again with the new MacBook, this time by re-engineering every key to be thinner and far less springy to the touch. It feels quite a bit different than any other laptop we've ever used, so we recommend trying one at an Apple Store before making a decision. If those two concerns (and the loss of the glowing Apple logo) aren't an issue for you, the MacBook is pretty great. Even though its 1.1GHz or 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core M processor has nowhere near the power of the Pro or even the Air, the laptop is more than capable of running iMovie, Photos, and even Photoshop with ease. It's also easy on the eyes with a stunning design that's available in silver, space gray, and gold, and it comes packed with the latest in portable technology, from the 2304x1440 retina display to the Force Touch trackpad. An affordable $1,299 (£1,049/AU$1,799) gets you 8GB of RAM, a 256GB flash drive and a 9-hour battery. See the best Mac deals

MacBook Air The MacBook Air is in an interesting spot. While it's still one of the most popular and well-known notebooks around, the launch of the slimmer, lighter new MacBook has stolen some of its thunder, and we have to assume one of two things: either a major update is in the works, or it will soon be made obsolete by an expanding MacBook line. But until then, we wouldn't discourage anyone from buying it. The MacBook Air will still give you all-day battery life, USB 3 and Thunderbolt ports, and an SDXC card slot. Even without a Retina display or Force Touch trackpad, it's a very capable machine, with a 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 128GB flash drive. Either model can be had for less than a grand, and with identical specs, choosing between the two sizes comes down to preference, with just $100 separating the $899 (£749/AU$1,249) 11-inch version and the $999 (£849/AU$1,399) 13-inch one. See the best Mac deals

MacBook Pro The name may suggest a high-priced machine, but the MacBook Pro is far more affordable than the desktop tower that shares its surname. If you're looking for more of a desktop replacement than a road companion, it's definitely the way to go. We don't recommend the cheapest model, however. While it does have a zippy 2.5GHz i5 processor, we aren't wowed by the laptop's 13-inch non-Retina screen, 5400-rpm hard drive and 7-hour battery life. At $1,099 (£899/AU$1,549), we'd either get the upper-end Air for the same price or chip in another $200 to go Retina. The extra money also buys double the RAM, three additional hours of battery life, a Force Touch trackpad, and Iris graphics. You'll give up quite a few gigs of storage (125GB vs 500GB), but the upgrade to a flash drive makes the tradeoff much more palatable. You can spend even more for extra storage and a few megahertz, but most users will get what they need for $1,299 (£999/AU1,799). At the very top of Apple's laptop lineup is the 15-inch model, and it earns its premier spot. Packed with a 2.2GHz or a 2.5GHz quadcore Intel Core i7 processor, a Force Touch trackpad, and 16GB of RAM, it's a screamer whether you're editing videos in Final Cut Pro or making music with Garageband. Starting at $1,999 (£1,599/AU$2,799), this model is significantly more expensive than its smaller sibling but worth every penny. And the $2,499 (£1,999/AU$3,499) step-up brings more than the usual storage and chip bump; Apple has also crammed in AMD's Radeon R9 M370X graphics card, which makes this the only laptop advanced enough to power a 5K display. See the best Mac deals

11/25/15--12:54: A laptop battery pack is your dream travel companion

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Introduction and design We've all been there: you're sitting at a coffee shop trying to crank out a presentation at the eleventh hour when all of a sudden, your laptop blares out a warning that you have less than 5%remaining battery life. In an age when manufacturers trade the functionality of removable batteries for the convenience of lighter, slimmer form factors, mobile computing users struggle with balancing portability and power.

Mobile battery packs, also known as juice packs, are fairly common for smartphones, allowing you to get a few recharges. With these devices, you're out of luck if you need to recharge a more power-hungry Windows-based tablet or a laptop. However, several manufacturers make dedicated laptop battery packs, and I recently bought two different models to test: the IntoCircuit Power Castle PC26000 ($99, £65, AU$136) comes with a 26,000mAh battery and the RAVPower Xtreme 23000 ($99, £65, AU$136) that comes with a 23,000mAh internal battery.

Design Both units are about the size of a small 7- or 8-inch tablet. Both units share the same 7.3 x 0.8 x 4.9-inch (18.5 x 2.0 x 12.4cm) measurements, and traveling with either battery pack will add 1.5 pounds (0.68kg) to your gear bag. The upside is that with more than 20,000mAh of battery power, you likely won't need to carry your laptop's charger. How much is 20,000mAh? For comparison, the Dell Latitude 12 7000 Series (E7250) battery is about 7,000mAh, while the Surface Pro 4's battery is just over 5,000mAh. Microsoft's 12-hour Surface Book battery comes in at a total of 9,187mAh, with the base containing a 6,800mAh battery and the tablet portion housing a 2,387mAh battery.

The IntoCircuit's 26,000mAh battery, if it's completely efficient, is theoretically capable of giving the Latitude three times more battery capacity than its internal battery and five times the charge of the Surface Pro 4. I haven't done a full battery run-down by continuously using my Surface Pro 2, which comes with a 4,200 mAh battery, or my Surface Pro 4 and the IntoCircuit yet, but I had no problems lasting two full workdays without recharging either my tablet or the battery pack. The battery provided more than enough power to run my Surface Pro 4 for 18 hours of web browsing, emailing, word processing, and light video and music playback. The IntoCircuit is housed in a silver brushed aluminum frame, whereas the RAVPower unit has black metal surfaces, save for the black plastic on the base. I prefered the IntoCircuit because I am rough on my gadgets, and the all-metal construction feels more reassuring than the RAVPower, which creaked when I pressed on the plastic.

How it works and alternatives Both units will allow you to charge multiple devices simultaneously. There is an AC input port to charge the battery itself, and an AC output port. You'll want to connect one end of the included male-to-male AC cable to the output port, and then connect a compatible charging tip to the other end of the cable so that you can plug the battery into your laptop or tablet. The RAVPower and IntoCircuit both ship with an assortment of AC charging tips, so you'll likely find a compatible power plug that fits in your notebook. Neither the RAVPower nor the IntoCircuit battery comes with a MagSafe or MagSafe 2 charging tip for the MacBook Air or Pro, but if you're willing to take a few risks, you can find some inexpensive cables on eBay, Amazon or AliExpress for around $10 (£6, AU$13).

In my case, I ordered the Surface magnetic charging tips for my Surface Pro 2 and Surface Pro 4 on Amazon. If you have a new HP laptop, like the EliteBook Folio 1020 G1, with the blue charging tip, you'll need to find a tip for that, as neither battery pack ships with the new HP connector. I found one on eBay at a reasonable cost, but shipping from Asia took a few weeks.

The RAVPower came with a flat Lenovo charging tip for ThinkPad models, like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Third Edition, but I wasn't able to find one for the IdeaPad line or for the Lenovo Yoga 900. The end of the tip that connects to the AC cable is standard size, making them interchangeable. You can use the ones that ship with the IntoCircuit on the RAVPower, and the RAVPower tips will also work on the IntoCircuit. However, there are several differences between the two units. The IntoCircuit comes with just a single USB port, while the RAVPower unit has two USB ports. The USB port allows you to plug in a phone or a tablet to charge your mobile devices, so you don't need to carry a separate power bank.

Also, the IntoCircuit comes with a switch that allows you to change the charging current between 12V, 16V and 19V. This is done automatically depending on the laptop model you plug in on the RAVPower. The RAVPower has a single button that activates the LED strip. This LED strip shows how much battery power you have left and what charging current is used to charge your laptop.

Alternatives Dell sells a Power Companion with various battery capacities. The Dell Companion is more compact than either the IntoCircuit or the RAVPower models, and the unit looks like a Dell power brick that charges your laptop. When you're at your desk, you can daisy chain to recharge the Power Companion and your Dell laptop by connecting your Dell charging brick to the Power Companion, and then connecting the Power Companion to your laptop. The Dell Power Companion has been one of my staples whenever I use a Dell laptop. Like the third-party battery packs that I've tested, Dell included two charging tips, making the battery compatible with the company's enterprise and consumer line of laptops. If you'd rather not deal with adapters and charging tips, ChargeTech makes a 24,000mAh battery pack that comes with an AC wall outlet built into the unit. When you need power, connect your laptop to its power brick, and then plug the power brick directly into the ChargeTech. This makes it a more versatile solution for users with obscure charging tips, and you won't have to worry about compatibility. The downside is that you'll have to carry the ChargeTech and your laptop's power supply, which could add significant weight to a mobile setup. If you find that you'll be away from a wall outlet for extended periods of time, or are the type to forget to charge your laptop overnight, there are battery packs with even more charge. Amazon sells battery packs that go as high as 50,000mAh.

Is the weight worth it? At 1.5 pounds (0.68kg), the IntoCircuit weighs almost as much as the 1.73-pound (0.78kg) Surface Pro 4. With the Type Cover, the Surface Pro 4, as a laptop, weighs 2.37 pounds (1.08kg). This means that the IntoCircuit is 60% of the weight of the Surface Pro 4 and Type Cover. You'll definitely feel the weight when traveling, but I appreciated the flexibility of not having to look for a power outlet. I've taken the IntoCircuit on several business trips and conferences, and the extra power means that I can work freely without fear of running out of juice.

Dell's Power Companion is a far sleeker battery pack if your office relies on Dell Inspiron, Latitude, XPS and Venue laptops and tablets, but if you have an office that supports multiple brands and makes of notebooks and tablets, the IntoCircuit and RAVPower models are more versatile. The ChargeTech will deliver the most versatility, since it comes with an AC outlet built into the power pack, but you'll have to carry around your laptop charger, which will add to the size and weight of your gear bag. For me, I don't mind hunting for charging tips, and I'd rather ditch my laptop's charger all together, so the IntoCircuit is now a staple in my carry-on whenever I travel.

Read our picks for the best laptops

11/25/15--13:40: New Superfish scare exposes Dell laptops to hacks when connected to WiFi

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'Tis the season for security alerts? It sure feels like it if you're a laptop user. Just a day after Dell offered a fix for its Superfish-style security scare, the laptop maker is making headlines for a new security vulnerability involving a pre-installed root certificate. The discovery of DSDTestProvider root certificate comes just after eDellroot scare. This new certificate could allow attackers to perform man-in-the-middle and passive-decryption attacks when a Dell user logs into a public Wi-Fi network. The certificate includes a private key. When a Dell laptop is signed onto a public hotspot, the attacker generates certificates that are signed by the DSDTestProvider Certificate Authority, and those certificates will be trusted by any Dell computer that trusts the certificate authority. This allows attackers to impersonate websites, sign software and email messages as well as decrypt network traffic. An attacker can even install malicious software on compromised systems.

Dell's acknowledgement Dell acknowledged that these certificates were installed as an easy way for Dell customers to get personalized support when calling in with problems. "In the case of Dell System Detect, the customer downloads the software proactively to interact with the Dell Support website so we can provide a better and more personalized support experience," a Dell spokesman told ZDNet. "Like eDellRoot, the support certificate in question was designed to make it faster and easier for our customers to get support." Dell said that customers who used the "detect product" function on its support site between October 20 and November 24 are affected by the vulnerability, and the company has since removed the application.

A fix "We are proactively pushing a software update to address the issue and have also updated instructions on our site to permanently remove the certificate," Dell said in a statement. Dell users should revoke the certificate by going into the Windows Certificate Manager and move the DSDTestProvider certicate to Untrusted Certificates. You should also repeat this for the eDellroot certificate. Users should also delete the Dell.Foundation.Agent.Plugins.eDell.dll module. Dell stated that the certificates aren't malware in its support forum, and the company provided instructions (Word document download) on how to remove the root certificates on affected machines.

Read our picks for the best free anti-virus software

11/26/15--01:28: Raspberry Pi Zero launched, smallest ever Pi costs literally next-to-nothing

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A new flavour of the Raspberry Pi has been launched, and if you thought previous models were cheap, then this one takes the budget biscuit. The Raspberry Pi Zero doesn't quite cost nothing, but as its name might suggest, the device's price tag is very close to it and you can pick one up for £4 (or $5 over in the US, which is around AU$7). For that next-to-nothing outlay, you get yourself a tiny system powered by a Broadcom BCM2835 CPU running at 1GHz, backed with 512MB of LPDDR2 SDRAM, complete with a microSD slot, mini-HDMI port (allowing for 1080p video output at 60 fps) and microUSB sockets. It runs Raspbian, and is the smallest Raspberry Pi ever made with dimensions of 65 x 30 x 5mm (check the size relative to a $5 bill in the image above).

Supply and demand "Several tens of thousands" of the devices have been made, but it's expected to be pretty popular at this price point, so you might have to order quickly before supplies run dry. At the time of writing, stocks from the UK sellers highlighted in the blog post trumpeting the launch are still holding up. Interestingly, the December issue of the MagPi magazine has the Raspberry Pi Zero cover-mounted, and that apparently arrives in stores in the UK today (subscribers will get one too – though hopefully there won't be any danger of it getting mushed in the post). As well as a free Zero, the mag contains various articles based on the tiny computer including project ideas to spark your imagination as to what can be done with the device.

You can now bake your own Raspberry Pi

11/26/15--21:15: Sony is officially working on PS4 Remote Play apps for your PC and Mac

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It may have only been a workaround app made by a rogue developer, but when word broke that you could stream your PS4 games to PC via an unsanctioned app, gamers everywhere got a little bit excited. The good news is that Sony's president of Worldwide Studios, Shuhei Yoshida has tweeted that the company is most definitely working on bringing Remote Play not just to the PC, but also to Macs. "Some people asked if we plan to provide Remote Play function to PC," he tweeted, "and yes, we are indeed working on an official application for PC/Mac."

Playing the game Ever since the PS4 launched, Remote Play has been widely regarded as one of its best features, turning the oft-maligned PS Vita handheld into a portable screen for the console. Sony took the same tech and brought it to certain Sony-branded Android devices. While some people would perhaps prefer Sony to open up Remote Play to all Android and iOS devices before shifting it to PCs and Macs (despite Sony saying that will never happen), the fact that Sony has confirmed it is working on an official app is still significant progress. It's also somewhat essential, given Microsoft has brought game streaming to Windows 10 devices with the most recent Xbox One update. There's no word on timeframes for the new Remote Play apps to arrive on PCs or Macs, unfortunately.

Here's our guide to the best games on PS4!

11/27/15--00:50: Lenovo is making a video game – and you can help design it

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Lenovo isn't just about PCs – the company also makes tablets, phones, servers, software and even smart TVs – and now the Chinese outfit has announced it's dabbling in video games. Yes, you read correctly, Lenovo has fired up a crowdsourcing campaign to develop a new indie game in conjunction with game studio Dark Rift, and various other industry players such as Machinima and Nerdist who will help promote the title. The project is called Game State, and the central idea is that any gamer out there can contribute ideas and inspiration in terms of designing missions, levels, game mechanics, character development and plot, and even finer details such as sound effects, music and lighting. Essentially then, the future players of the game will be much more than beta-testers, and will have far more of a hand in shaping the experience – although design by committee is obviously something of a tricky process with its own dangers, and it will be interesting to see how Lenovo and company handle the process.

February 2016 deadline Development of the game begins now, with core elements already in place – you need to register at the official site to be part of the team of contributors – and it continues until February of next year (a pretty short window, really). That final month will be spent testing the preview version and the demo. Everyone who signs up and creates a profile is informed of the game's progress and any opportunities to participate in development, plus things like badges are awarded for those who come up with suggestions which are adopted. We're definitely interested to see how this one turns out. Whether the game ends up being good or not, if nothing else, there will likely be something to learn from an experiment in game development on a wide scale.

11 best indie games: top indie games on PC and consoles

11/27/15--03:14: Updated: Best gaming keyboard: top 10 gaming keyboards reviewed

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The keyboard may be the most unglamorous of peripherals, with its uncomfortable tendency to conjure up images of sitting in office cubicles. But if you're a mad-keen online PC gamer then finding the best keyboard is vital. Whether you use it to control strafing in all directions in a first-person shooter, or to select from an arsenal of spells in an MMO, it's the primary tool that allows you to showcase your skills and establish an all-important reputation. So it pays to invest in the best one available.

A great keyboard deserves the best gaming mouse With that in mind, we've selected the 10 best gaming keyboards available for all the different flavours of PC gamers. Whether you're a World of Warcraft ninja or an up-and-coming Counter-Strike: GO expert, and whatever your financial situation or space requirements, you should be able to find the best keyboard among this selection.

1. Corsair Strafe Cherry MX Red Switches and textured keys are great for FPS or MOBA fans Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: Cherry MX Switches, USB Port, Textured and contoured keycaps See more Corsair Strafe deals

Comfortable, textured keys Per-key red LED backlighting Not as premium as more expensive keyboards No dedicated media buttons The Strafe is an affordable mechanical keyboard with a choice of Cherry MX Red or Brown switches and attractive per-key LED backlighting. Carrying a similar design to Corsair's Vengeance keyboards, it comes with two swappable sets of WASD and QWERFD key-caps that, like the Space Bar, have a comfortable textured pattern to help you locate keys in FPS or MOBA games. It uses a good quality plastic body, rather than alumnium, so if you prefer your keyboards to be all-metal then it's not for you. Built quality is still excellent, and the inclusion of a pass-through USB port means you can charge your mobile or another peripheral while you game.

2. Razer BlackWidow Chroma Beautifully made and handsome to behold Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: 10 key rollover, Gaming mode option, Braided fibre cable, 5 Additional Macro keys, audio-in and microphone out, USB passthrough See more Razer BlackWidow Chroma deals

Comfortable, programmable keys Customisable colours Less key travel Something of a status symbol among high-end PC gamers, Razer's BlackWidow Chroma takes a thoroughly bespoke approach to fulfilling gamers' needs. Instead of using Cherry's mechanical keys, it boasts its own specially designed ones, with less travel, but still bags of feel. This could prove to be to your taste, but you still might want to try before buying. It also has five programmable macro keys, keeping the MMO and MOBA-lovers happy, and you can customise the colours of its rainbow backlighting.

3. Roccat RYOS MK Pro Not the prettiest, but robustly built Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: Per-key illumination, Two 32-bit ARM CPUs, Integated media hub, Advanced ant-ghosting, Five rubber feet, Roccat Talk, Roccat achivements display, 500 programmable macros See more Roccat RYOS MK Pro deals

Easy shift key is innovative Wide Cherry MX mechanical keys section Blue only choice of backlight Bulky wrist rest can't be removed The RYOS MK Pro might just be the most high-tech gaming keyboard in existence, with not one but two 32-bit ARM processors built in. So you can record and unleash up to 500 macros on the fly, which could give you the edge in an MMO or MOBA. A clever 'EasyShift' key lets you remap the entire keyboard, and you can light up individual keys or groups of them. Plus it has a palm-rest, a USB hub, and built-in audio jacks, and is available with all the different flavours of Cherry MX mechanical keys – black, red, brown and blue – which have subtly different amounts of travel.

4. Cougar 600K Worth consideration by FPS ninjas Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: No | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: Cherry MX Switch, Aluminium structure, NKEY Rollover, 32-BIT ARM Processor, 1000Hz Polling Rate, Repeat Rate 1x/2x/4x/8x, USB Pass-through See more Cougar 600K deals

Affordable Sturdy build Repeat rate function is finicky With its brushed aluminium body, Cougar's 600K is uncommonly handsome for a keyboard, and its feature-set and customisability options manage to do justice to its looks. As with most of its peers, it uses Cherry MX mechanical keys and, uniquely, has four keys for setting repeat rate (up to 8X), letting you persuade keys that they are being held down. It lacks individual macro keys, but is especially well-suited to playing first-person shooters, with a detachable rubber palm-rest below the W, A, S, D keys.

5. Turtle Beach Impact 700 Premium gaming keyboard with a minimal footprint Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: No | Features: Steel reinforced chassis, Six-key rollover with anti-ghosting, 3.5mm mic and audio jacks, 2 x USB 2.0 ports with audio pass through See more Turtle Beach Impact 700 deals

Compact Numberic key pad No programmable keys If you favour gaming keyboards at the more compact end of the spectrum, Turtle Beach's Impact 700 does away with a wrist-rest, and has as small a footprint as is possible for a keyboard that includes a numeric keypad and uses Cherry MX Brown keys. It does lack programmable macros, though, so lends itself more to devotees of first-person shooters – especially since it comes with spare W, A, S and D keys (along with others), and a tool that enables you to remove worn-out ones. Plus it lets you illuminate key-clusters. Not the cheapest, but worth considering by those who have a tendency to hammer their keyboards into oblivion.

6. Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. M Funny-looking but great value Interface: Wireless | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: No | Features: Switch between four devices, Small and stylish, Case and tablet stand included See more Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. M deals

Small footprint Unique design Cramped keys for typing Poor for desktop use We'll admit that if you rock up at a LAN party and pull out a Mad Catz S.T.R.I.K.E. M, derisive hoots of laughter will probably ensue. Nevertheless, it's a unique and versatile keyboard that could end up coming in handy – particularly if you don't class yourself as a thoroughly hardcore gamer. It's tiny and wireless (via Bluetooth), and has a built-in optical sensor with buttons that acts like a mouse. And although the keyboard is a membrane one, it feels surprisingly tactile. Perfect for gaming on Android devices or when you're on the move.

7. Logitech G910 Orion Spark Not cheap, but a very impressive piece of kit Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: Romer-G mechanical switches, RGB key illumination, ARX Control Integration, 9 programmable buttons, dedicated media controls, 113 key anti-ghosting See more Logitech G910 Orion Spark deals

Fast, anti-ghost keys Looks great Pricey No key "click" sound The G910 Orion Spark uses another type of mechanical keys – the Romer-Gs – which, Logitech claims, are the fastest ones on the market. It's a handsome beast thanks to full colour-control over key illumination, and has a clever mobile phone dock, which is handy for those games that have accompanying apps. Nine programmable macro keys should excite the MMO/MOBA brigades, too. Read the full review: Logitech G910 Orion Spark

8. Razer DeathStalker Ultimate An expensive option, but with unique touch sensitive screen Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: See more Razer DeathStalker Ultimate deals

Touch-sensitive LED screen Custom apps Pricey No key "click" sound Razer's apocalyptically named DeathStalker Ultimate is another gaming keyboard that tends to polarise opinion. It's fearsomely expensive, yet has a membrane keyboard, so if you demand mechanical keys, you can safely ignore it. But it has one totally unique feature: a touch-sensitive LED screen (with 10 programmable touch-keys above it) that has all manner of gaming applications. With custom-designed apps for Star Wars: The Old Republic, Battlefield 3, Counter-Strike: GO and Team Fortress 2, you can assign all sorts of useful functions to the touch-screen, and you can design your own apps for it if you're that way inclined. A curiosity indeed, but it might just give you the edge if set up properly.

9. Roccat RYOS TKL Pro A compact and attractive gaming keyboard Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: Per-key illumination, Compact tenkeyless format, Easy-shift key configurations See more Roccat RYOS TKL Pro deals

Good macro capabilities Wrist rest Lacks USB and audio ports No numberpad Essentially a RYOS MK Pro with the numeric keypad removed, Roccat's RYOS TKL Pro is one of the best-value gaming keyboards around. Like its bigger sibling, it's a great all-rounder, suitable for first-person shooters, MMOs and MOBAs, and sports Cherry MX keys and a wrist-rest (slightly oddly, given that it would otherwise be impressively compact). Three thumb-keys below the space bar give it decent macro-launching capabilities, in conjunction with Roccat's Easy-Shift system. While it lacks USB and audio ports, it still has everything you need for top-end gaming.

10. Logitech G105 Cheap, cheerful and probably enough for your needs Interface: Wired | Keyboard backlighting: Yes | Programmable keys: Yes | Features: Long-life LED backlighting, Six programmable G-Keys, Multi-key input, Game mode switch, Instant media access, Easy to setup See more Logitech G105 deals

Game mode switch key Affordable Basic design The SteelSeries Apex M800

11/27/15--06:56: 2-in-1 laptops? Why they're the hottest thing in mobility

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In association with PC World Business Over the past decade, laptops have gradually replaced desktop computers in businesses and firms all over the country, pushing their more traditional counterparts into increasingly niche pockets. Lately though laptops have found themselves struggling against tablets which have become more powerful and versatile over time. However, laptop manufacturers are fighting back by offering some innovative features thanks to the arrival of Windows 10, Microsoft's latest operating system, and new, more power-efficient processors from Intel and AMD. A new segment, 2-in-1 laptops as they are called, has been one of the fastest growing ones in the laptop market, making analysts upbeat about the new form factor.

5 business Windows tablets that will increase your productivity Peter King, Research Director, Tablet & Touchscreen Strategies service argued that, "As the enterprise market becomes increasingly open to the wide scale deployment of Tablet platforms, Microsoft has a key advantage in that its operating systems are found on the vast majority of PC and servers within the enterprise, potentially providing a smoother integration of Tablets using the Windows OS into the enterprise. Most, if not all, major vendors will have high to premium tier Windows Tablet offerings by the end of 2016 to address prosumers and enterprise currently served by Microsoft's Surface Pro line."

Speaking of the Surface Pro, it was the one that spearheaded the current paradigm shift when it launched three years ago, came with a keyboard cover by default and with Windows OS, the de facto client operating system for businesses. In 2013, a number of vendors started testing a number of form factors that blended tablet functionality in a laptop form factor. The market opted for the two simplest ones, detachable and swivel ones, with The ASUS Transformer Book T200TA and the Lenovo Yoga 3, being two examples of models that are currently on vendors' shelves. 2-in-1 devices are set to increase their market share for a number of reasons both for vendors and for customers. For the latter group, hybrid laptops provide with the sort of versatility that is increasingly becoming the norm in modern businesses. Employees are now expected to work flexibly which is why they would demand the same from the devices they use.

Convertibles allow users to switch seamlessly and rapidly between modes. The Yoga 3 mentioned above, for example, can rotate to offer either a traditional layout, a presentation mode, a tablet one or a laid-back/tent mode. The other option vendors have adopted is to detach the keyboard dock from the laptop, a process that takes seconds, allowing the user to enjoy an even better user experience since the screen essentially becomes a standalone tablet. For both form factors, the presence of a touchscreen display, sometimes coupled with a stylus or a pen, allows for an even wider range of tasks. Vendors are also increasingly incorporating better connectivity options for 2-in-1 laptops as chipset integration now allow for the latter to adopt features like 4G/LTE or NFC which were, hitherto, limited either to tablets or smartphones. And because they often share the same DNA as their tablet counterparts, a lot of them to have excellent battery life despite an ultrathin profile with several boosting more than 10 hours powered on.

5 business PC laptops that could rock your world Hybrids have driven innovation in the mobile computing area; products like the Surface Book from Microsoft have managed to integrate a dedicated graphics card in an incredibly thin enclosure and will almost certainly encourage other vendors to follow suit. Don't be surprised if, within the next few years, convertibles become the norm both in the consumer and the business markets, leaving traditional laptops, just as the latter did to their desktop counterparts, to niche markets like gaming or at the very bottom end of the entry level.

11/24/15--00:00: Black Friday: Amazon UK goes Black Friday crazy with phone accessory deals from Anker

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While Argos has already gone live with its Black Friday deals, Amazon is sticking to a calm and collected 'deals of the day' approach until Friday. Yesterday we saw some good prices on the Moto X Play smartphone as well as some other pretty good deals. But today Amazon has teamed up with accessory maker Anker to offer up to 40% off accessories for your phones and tablet. If you're looking for Christmas presents for your gadget loving friends and family members, this is worth a look. Some of these deals will run for today only, and some of them will also run tomorrow. But no deal on this page will still be going on Thursday so if you see something you like, grab it before it's gone!

Amazon's Black Friday deals of the day: 24th November Cables and adapters: Lightning cable: get 20% off this high quality replacement Lightning cable for your iPhone or iPad with our exclusive code TECHRAD1 at Amazon.co.uk Anker PowerLine Lightning cable: Apple MFi Certified - The World's Fastest, Most Durable Lightning Cable [Kevlar Fiber] Perfect for the new iPhone 6s / 6s Plus, iPad Pro / mini 5 / Air, iPod touch (Space Gray). Save 39% and get it for £6.49 Anker USB 3.0 to RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet Adapter: Get an ethernet connection on your laptop even if you don't have an ethernet port! Save 38% and get it for £7.99 USB hub: Anker Ultra Slim 4-Port USB 3.0 Data Hub. Now just £7.69 for a limited time

Bluetooth speakers: Anker Classic Portable Wireless Bluetooth Speaker: powerful sound with 20 hourbattery life and built-in microphone, works with iPhone, iPad, Samsung, Nexus, HTC, Nokia, Laptops, PC and more - save 30% and get it for £16.09 Anker Stereo Wireless Bluetooth Speaker: 20W Output from Two 10W Drivers, Dual Passive Radiators / Subwoofers for Bass, 10hour Playtime. Save 40% and get it for £23.99

Portable power pack/chargers: Anker Astro E7 Ultra-High Capacity 26800mAh: 3-Port 4A compact portable charger external battery power bank for iPhone, iPad and any other mobile device. Was £39.99 - down to £27.99 for today only. Anker Astro E1 5200mAh: ultra compact portable charger external battery power bank with for iPhone, iPad and any other smartphone or tablet. Save 40% and get it for just £6.59 USB charger: Anker PowerPort 6 60W 6-port family-sized desktop USBcharger for iPhone, iPad and any other mobile device. Was £25.99, now £18.19 Anker PowerCore 15600: Super High Capacity Battery Pack 15600mAh power bank with most powerful 4.8A output, for iPhone, iPad all other mobile devices. Save 42% and get it for £10.49 Anker PowerCore 20100: Ultra High Capacity Power Bank with most powerful 4.8A output for iPhone, iPad and other mobile devices. Save 30% and get it for £16.79 Anker PowerPort 5: Multi-port USB charger for iPhone 6 / 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 / mini 3, Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge and More. Save 30% and get it for £12.59

iPhone cases / battery cases iPhone 6s Case: Anker ultra protective case with built-in clear screen protector for iPhone 6 / iPhone 6s (4.7 inch). Save 30% and get it for £6.99 iPhone 6s Battery Case: Anker Premium Extended Battery Case for iPhone 6 (2014) / iPhone 6s (2015) (4.7 inch) with 3100mAh Capacity / 130% Extra Battery (Black). Save 30% and get it for £20.99 iPhone 6s Battery Case: Anker Ultra Slim Extended Battery Case for iPhone 6 (2014) / iPhone 6s (2015) (4.7 inch) with 2850mAh Capacity / 120% Extra Battery (Black). Save 30% and get it for £18.89 Anker Bluetooth Folio Keyboard: Get this keyboard case for iPad mini 3 / mini 2 / mini with 4-month battery life between charges and comfortablelow-profile keys. Save 30% and get it for £20.99 Anker PowerPort 10-port charging station: Wall Charger for iPhone 6 / 6 Plus, iPad Air 2 / mini 3, Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge, Other Apple and Android Devices and more. Save 30% and get it for £19.59 Anker Car Jump Starter + Portable Charger: Power Bank with 400A Peak Current, Advanced Safety Protection and Built-In LED Flashlight. Save 30% and get it for £41.99 Anker PowerCore+ 10050: The World's Smallest 10,000mAh Portable Charger with Premium Aluminum Shell and Qualcomm Certified Quick Charge 2.0 Technology (Black). Save 30% and get it for £15.39 Anker PowerCore+ 13400: Premium Aluminum 13400mAh External Battery Charger with Leading 4.8A Output for iPhone, iPad, Samsung and More. Save 30% and get it for £18.19

More Amazon deals of the day: Vax Air Base U91-MA-Be Upright Vacuum: Save 70% on the original price and get this vacuum cleaner for £69.99 Hair removal: Philips Lumea Prestige SC2007/00 IPL Hair Removal System for Face and Body. Was £450, now £239.99 Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Collection [DVD]: Was £44.99 now £9.99 Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures [Blu-ray] [1981] [Region Free] was £19.99 now £12.99

11/27/15--00:44: Black Friday: The best Apple deals for Black Friday 2015

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Apple products are hot once again this Black Friday and the hottest product of them all is the iPhone 6S. You can save £125 on that iPhone deal, but there are plenty of other deals around on Apple products, from Macbooks and iPads to Lightning cables and iTunes gift cards. Most of these deals will not be found on Apple's official website - but luckily the guarantees offered by stores like John Lewis make them a better place to buy from anyway! Here is techradar's pick of all the best deals on Apple gear for Black Friday 2015 in the UK:

Best Apple deals for Black Friday 2015

NEW! iPhone 6S 64GB | 4G | SAVE £125 | £225 £100 upfront | Unlimited calls and texts | 6GB data | £31pm This is the best Apple deal of Black Friday by far. Using the voucher code BLACKFRI6S you can wipe £125 off the upfront price of the superior 64GB version of the iPhone 6S and pay £100 up front instead of £225. It comes on a pretty exciting contract too. It'll cost you £31 per month on a Vodafone 4G plan, and for that you'll get unlimited calls and texts and 6GB data (unlimited data for first 2 months). This deal is the best out there by far!

Get this deal in Gold Get this deal in Rose Gold Voucher code: BLACKFRI6S iPhone 6S 128GB | £300 £100 upfront | Vodafone 4G | 1000 min | Unlimited txt | 2GB data | 2GB | £34pm Using the code BLACKFRI200 you can save £200 on the upfront cost of the iPhone 6S 128GB and pay £100 upfront instead of £300. Then you're talking £34 per month for 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 2GB data from Vodafone. Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Rose Gold | Get this deal in Silver | Get this deal in Gold - don't forget voucher codeBLACKFRI200 iPhone 6S 128GB | £170 £100 upfront | Unlimited mins + txts | 2GB | EE 4G | £34.99pm Using the code BLACKFRI70 you can again pay just £100 (saving £70) for the iPhone 6S 128GB, this time on EE. For £34.99 per month, you'll get unlimited calls and texts and data. This deal should please anyone who wants to be on EE which, let's face it, is the UK's most popular (and best?) network. Get this deal in Space Grey | Get this deal in Rose Gold | Get this deal in Silver | Get this deal in Gold - don't forget voucher code BLACKFRI70

John Lewis Apple deals Save money with John Lewis iPad price matching - always get the best prices here! Apple iPad Air: Save £70 and get it for just £249 Apple Mac mini: Save £50 on the Mac mini and pick it up for £299 Apple iPad Air 2: Save £30 on the iPad Air 2 and get it from £369

More Apple deals for Black Friday Macbook Air: Get a Macbook Air from just £682 at Amazon.co.uk iPhone 6S: Get an iPhone from £25 per month at Mobiles.co.uk FREE iPad mini 4: Get one of the brand new and awesome iPad mini 4's absolutely FREE when you buy one of these phones at mobiles.co.uk Cheap iPhone: Get the cheapest iPhone in the UK! Pick up a refurbed iPhone 4S for £99.95 at Argos Lightning cable: get 20% off this high quality replacement Lightning cable for your iPhone or iPad with our exclusive codeTECHRAD1 at Amazon.co.uk iPad Pro: Apple iPad Pro 32GB Silver now £615 at Rakuten.co.uk Macbook Pro: Get the Apple Macbook Pro Core i5 with 4GB RAM and 500GB HDD for £899 iPad mini 2: Get the 16Gb version of the iPad mini 2 (brand new) for just £179.99 on ebay! Macbook: get a new Macbook with a three year guarantee at John Lewis! Prices start at £699 We'll add more Apple deals on Black Friday itself - so keep checking back for the latest deals!

11/27/15--03:04: Black Friday: The best John Lewis deals for Black Friday 2015

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john lewis deals John Lewis loves Black Friday. It's launched not only a bunch of awesome deals but it's also price matching all of the highstreet brands so chances are the John Lewis deals you'll find on its site will be better than any other site. So shall we just jump straight into the deals? Here are what we think are the best John Lewis deals for Black Friday 2015. You can look at our selection of you can just jump straight there and browse for yourself. Jump straight to John Lewis Black Friday deals

The best John Lewis Black Friday deals 2015 John Lewis TV deals: Sony 4K Android TV: 55-inch Ultra HD, ultra-slim with £400 off, now £1399 at John Lewis Samsung 4K: Get this 40-inch 4K TV by Samsung for a barely conceivable £379 Sony 4K: A 49-inch 4K TV for £699? Yes please LG Curved OLED: Get this curved LG 4K Ultra HD OLED for £2999 and save £1000 John Lewis: Get the own-brand (made by LG) 55-inch TV for £749 Sony 4K: Get the 43-inch Sony HD TV for £449 Cheapo TV: Get this Linsar 22-inch TV for just £99.95 - ideal for kitchens and bedrooms! 32-inch: Get this 32-inch TV from Hisense for just £179 Panasonic 50-inch 4K 50-inch Ultra HD with 42% off, now £699 at Amazon UK

John Lewis gaming deals Xbox One: Microsoft Xbox One Console with FIFA 16 for £249.95 PS4: Sony PlayStation 4 Console, 1TB, Star Wars Battlefront with Until Dawn for £329.95 PS4: for £289.95 PS4: Sony PlayStation 4 with Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection for £249.95 Xbox One: The 1TB version for only £269.95 PS4:for £289.95

John Lewis audio deals Sony Playstation Headset: Wireless stereo headset now £49.99 at John Lewis Headphones: Sennheiser IE8i in-ear headphones for £99.95 Bluetooth Speaker: UE Roll waterproof bluetooth speaker now £79.95 DAB: Roberts Revival RD60 DAB Radio now £99.95 Headphones:for £169 John Lewis own-brand soundbar: Save £130 on this soundbar and subwoofer set, now £199.95 at John Lewis UE Megaboom by Ultimate Ears Bluetooth NFC Portable Speaker: Save £50 with this deal for these wireless Bluetooth speakers. now £199.95 at John Lewis Bose QuietComfort Noise Cancelling QC20 Acoustic In-Ear Headphones: These excellent in-ear headphones have had £110 knocked off their normal price now £149.50 at John Lewis

John Lewis tablet deals Apple iPad mini 2, Apple A7, iOS 8, 7.9", Wi-Fi & Cellular, 16GB, Silver Save a huge 12% off this deal for the iPad mini 2 now £259 at John Lewis New Apple iPad Pro, Apple A9X, iOS 9, 12.9", Wi-Fi, 128GB, Space Grey Another cracking deal for the brand new iPad Pro, with a saving of £30 now £769 at John Lewis New Apple iPad Pro, Apple A9X, iOS 9, 12.9", Wi-Fi, 32GB, Space Grey The brand new iPad Pro has had its price cut by £30 now £649 at John Lewis Apple iPad Air 2, Apple A8X, iOS 8, 9.7", Wi-Fi, 16GB, Space Grey Another John Lewis price match special will save you 8% off the usual asking price now £369 at John Lewis New Apple iPad mini 4, Apple A8, iOS 9, 7.9", Wi-Fi, 16GB, Space Grey John Lewis price matches again, saving you 9% off the new iPad mini 4 now £289 at John Lewis Apple iPad Air 2 John Lewis is price matching all tablet deals today so you get £30 off the iPad Air 2. now £449 at John Lewis Tablet deal Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 32GB, Gold save £100 now £299 at John Lewis

John Lewis wearable deals Misfit Flash: Get the wireless activity tracker for just £10 Withings Pulse: Get the wireless activity, sleep and health tracker for £69.99 Adidas miCoach: Get the running assistant from Adidas, now down to £100 Fitbit Flex: get the accessory band in a 3-pack - from £16.75 Activity Tracker: Misfit Flash, Wireless Activity and Sleep Tracker, Coca-Cola Red for £10 Activity Tracker: Withings Pulse Ox Wireless Activity, Sleep and Health Tracker, Black for £69.99 Activity Tracker:for £240

John Lewis laptops, tablets and computing Samsung tablet: Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 with £100 off at John Lewis for now £299.95 Amazon fire tablet: Amazon's new entry level Fire 7 tablet is now even cheaper with £15 off at John Lewis now only £34.95 Convertible Laptop: Lenovo's Yoga 500 convertible laptop has £100 off across the rang at John Lewis starting from £349.95

Laptops Notebook: Lenovo IdeaPad 100s Laptop now £99.95 saving £80 Laptop: HP 15 Laptop, Intel Core i3, 8GB RAM, 1TB now £249.95 Laptop: Lenovo Z51 Laptop with Intel Core i7 and massive 8GB RAM is a great price at 549.95 Laptop: HP Envy 23-k405na All-in-One Desktop PC, Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 2TB, 23" down to £699.95 Laptop: Lenovo H50 Desktop PC, AMD A10, 8GB RAM, 1TB, Black for only £299.95 Laptop: Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro Convertible Ultrabook, Intel Core M, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD, 13.3" QHD+ Touch Screen, Silver now £849.95 plus £100 cash back

Computers Desktop: Lenovo H50 desktop computer now £299.95 at John Lewis We're still working on this - check back in the morning for more of the best deals from John Lewis! See all of John Lewis' awesome Black Friday deals

11/27/15--03:18: Black Friday: All of the best Amazon deals for Black Friday 2015

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Amazon is largely responsible for importing Black Friday to the UK. It's been around for four years now but before that it was very much an exclusively American thing - landing as it does the day after Thanksgiving in the US when everyone's on holiday, drunk, and with money to spend. This year in the UK, Amazon is leading with lightning deals again - highly discounted deals which only last a short period of time. You've got to keep your eyes peeled for those ones but keep checking here to see the latest ones! (Amazon supplied us with some deals in advance - others are just popping up on the site so we'll keep updating this page throughout Black Friday) Amazon Prime: Get a 30 day FREE trial to Amazon Prime and get: FREE delivery on all purchases AND early access to all Black Friday lightning deals! Amazon lightning deals: see all of the current deals here

Amazon's full-blown Black Friday deals of the day Amazon is of course also promoting a number of all-day deals which will last for the whole of Black Friday and in some cases through the weekend to Cyber Monday. These are all the full-blown Black Friday deals on Amazon.co.uk. There aren't actually that many - but remember there are thousands of other sellers on Amazon which far outweigh Amazon's own products:

TV & Video deals at Amazon: Amazon's streaming stick Save a tenner on Amazon's Fire TV Stick, now £24.99 at Amazon UK 4K Android TV box Nvidia Shield box with £30 off, now £119.99 at Amazon UK Panasonic 50-inch 4K 50-inch Ultra HD with 42% off, now £699 at Amazon UK Sony Android 1080p TV 43-inch smart TV, was £800 now £449 at Amazon UK 42-inch LG smart 1080p webOS Full HD with 40% off now £389 at Amazon UK Full 65-inch LG 4K Beefy LG smart Ultra HD, was £2,199 now £1484.10 at Amazon UK LG Ultra HD bargain 55-inch smart 4K, was £1,399 now £779 at Amazon UK

Gaming deals at Amazon: PS4 500GB console with FIFA 16 Steelbook, GTA5 and The Last of US Remastered now £299.99 at Amazon UK Wii U 32GB Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon Premium Pack with Nintendo Wii U Pro Controller now £239.99 at Amazon UK PS4 Refurbished PS4 now £199 at Amazon UK Nintendo 3DS XL bundle £99 at Amazon UK Xbox One bundle Xbox One 500GB console with Ori and Rare Replay now £229 at Amazon UK

Tablet deals at Amazon: Fire Kids Edition, 7" Display, Wi-Fi, 8 GB, Blue Kid-Proof Case This kid-proof tablet has had its price cut by £30 now £69.99 at Amazon UK

Cameras & Accessory deals at Amazon: Sony A5100 Get the A5100 mirrorless camera and 16-50mm power zoom lens and save £124.97, now £279 at Amazon UK Pentax K-S2 with 18-135mm lens Save a massive £390.99 on Pentax's latest DSLR, sold with the extra long 18-135mm kit zoom, now £699 at Amazon UK

Laptops & MacBook deals at Amazon: Powerful gaming laptop Dell Inspiron i7559-763, was £999, now £799 at Amazon UK Affordable Chromebook ASUS C200MA, was £220, now £129.99 at Amazon UK Powerful gaming laptop £999.99 at Amazon UK Affordable i3 Laptop Lenovo YOGA 500 14 inch Laptop, was £450, now £349.95 at Amazon UK

Wearables at Amazon: Great Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS deal Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Multisport Watch with Heart Rat Monitor - save 50% Was £319.99 now £174.17 at Amazon UK Garmin Vivoactive Garmin Vivoactive half price! Was £199.99 now £99 at Amazon UK Jawbone UP3 Jawbone UP3 with 40% off - was £129.99 now £77.99 at Amazon UK See more Amazon Black Friday deals!

11/27/15--05:09: Black Friday: The best computing and component deals for Black Friday 2015

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There's deals all over the place this Black Friday and in PC-land is no different. There are a host of fantastic prices hitting for everything from graphics cards and SSDs to controllers and full blown desktop PCs. So whether you're looking to upgrade your current gaming rig, find something awesome to plug into it or start from scratch with a brand new machine these are the deals for you.

PC and component deals for Black Friday 2015 Desktop PCs Scan 3XS Strix Black Gaming PC i5, GTX 970, 8GB DDR4. Save £100 now £899.99 at Scan Scan 3XS Vulcan Black Gaming PC i5, R9 390, 8GB DDR4. Save £100 now £849.99 at Scan Lenovo C40 All-in-One PC with free Windows 10 upgrade for now £329 at Amazon UK OcUK Gaming "Titan Riptide" Intel Core i7 5820K @ 4.2GHz Overclocked Six Core Gaming PC, was £1,241.22, now £1,151.22 at Overclockers UK

Chassis In-Win D-Frame Mini-ITX Orange Chassis A great ITX open air case from In-Win. Save £100 now£149 at Overclockers UK Corsair Obsidian 750D Corsair's most popular chassis now £99.98 at Scan BitFenix Shinobi XL E-ATX Chassis The perfect full tower case now half price. Save £55 now£69.95 at Overclockers UK BitFenix Phenom ITX Cube Case 50% off this great value ITX Chassis. now £29.99 at Overclockers UK BitFenix Colossus M Mini ITX - Black, was £64.99, now £27.95 at Overclockers UK Phanteks Mini XL Midi Tower Case - Black, was £144.95, now £71.99 at Overclockers UK

Monitors Acer 27" 4K IPS panel Perfect colour reproduction, and stunning viewing angles. Save £27 now£379.99 at Scan Asus PB287Q 28" 4K TN 60Hz Panel 4K for almost £300? What's not to love? Save £80 now£309.95 at Overclockers UK Acer Predator X34 34" 3440x1440 IPS G-SYNC WideScreen Super-Wide ZeroFrame Curved LED Monitor, was £989.99, now £929.99 at Overclockers Uk Gaming Monitor AOC gaming monitor now £95.99 at CCL Online Gaming Monitor 24-inch gaming monitor now £275.99 at Amazon UK

Processor Intel Core i7-5930K 6 Cores, 12 Threads and a hell of a lot of PCIe lanes. Save £67 now £373.19 at Scan

Memory Corsair Vengeance 16GB LPX DDR4 3000MHz 2x8GB DDR4 3000 MHz kit. Save £13 off now £82 at Scan Kingston HyperX Savage Red 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-19200C11 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit (HX324C11SRK2/16), was £73.99, now £64.99 at Overclockers UK

Graphics cards XFX Radeon R9 390 DD Great value GPU for 1440p. Save £30 now £229.99 at Overclockers UK Inno3D GeForce GTX 980 Ti Hybrid Top of the line GTX 980 Ti. Save £80 now £549.95 at Overclockers UK Gainward GeForce GTX 980 "Triple Fan" 4096MB GDDR5 Graphics Card, was £419.99, now £349.99 at Overclockers UK

SSDs SanDisk Ultra II 960GB SSD 1TB of SSD storage for £150? You've got to be kidding? Save £100 now £150 at Ebuyer Bargain 240GB SSD Speedy SanDisk SSD, now £39.99 at Amazon UK SanDisk SSD 240GB SanDisk SSD now £47.99 at Ebuyer Sandisk X300 512GB SSD 512 GB and a 5 year warranty? What's not to love. now £99.95 at Overclockers UK Toshiba SSD Incredibly cheap 480GB SSD down to now £99.99 at Amazon UK Samsung EVO SSD Pick up this Samsung 250GB SSD reduced to now £57.98 at Amazon UK

Gaming Mice Razer Deathadder Chroma Razer's signature mouse is back in full RGB colour! Save yourself £17 now £47.99 at Currys Zowie FK1 High Performance Gaming Mouse After the perfect fps gaming mouse with perfect precision? Save £15 now £34.99 at Overclockers UK Razer Abyssus Ambidextrous Gaming Mouse A solid and dependable gaming mouse. Save £17 now £22.98 at Ebuyer Logitech Gaming Mouse This gaming mouse from Logitech is now £39.89 at Amazon UK

Steering wheel Logitech G920 Driving Racing Wheel Perfect PC gaming racing setup. Save £120. now £179.99 at Currys

Gaming Keyboards Razer Blackwidow Chroma RGB Mechanical Keyboard Grab Razer's stunning RGB mechanical full size. Saving £40 now £109.99 at Currys Corsair K65 RGB Mechanical Keyboard Fancy a shorter K70 RGB keyboard? Save £40 now £79.98 at Scan Corsair K70 RGB Mechanical Keyboard Corsair's world famous K70 RGB keyboard with £45 off now £109.99 at Overclockers UK Razer Blackwidow Tournament Edition Mechanical Keyboard 2014 Grab this great entry level mechanical keyboard for a steal. £20 off now £49.99 at Overclockers UK Logitech K400 Wireless touch keyboard, now £34.99 at Amazon UK Roccat Keyboard Illuminated gaming keyboard for now £39.99 at Amazon UK Ducky Shine 4 Mechanical Keyboard Dual Blue / Red LED Blue Cherry MX Switch - UK Layout, was £119.99, now £89.99 at Overclockers UK

11/23/15--11:38: Microsoft imposes deadline to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11

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Business customers looking to continue using Internet Explorer instead of switching to Microsoft Edge on Windows 10 have until January 12, 2016 to upgrade.

Upgrading to the latest Internet Explorer version 11 by the deadline will ensure that you continue to receive security updates and technical support, according to a Microsoft advisory. "Internet Explorer 11 is the last major version of Internet Explorer, and will continue to be supported for the life of the operating system on which it is installed – including Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10," Microsoft said in a statement. Microsoft continues to support Internet Explorer, which recently turned 20 years old, stating that "Internet Explorer 11 will continue to receive security updates and backward compatibility improvements."

IE for business Businesses that develop and maintain web applications can save time and development costs by using the new Web Application Compatibility Lab Kit. Microsoft made product improvements to Internet Explorer to make it more business-friendly. Key product features include Enterprise Mode, Enterprise Site Discovery, HTTP Port numbers, Microsoft Edge and IE11 switching, and a simpler, scalable Enterprise Mode schema. "For example, Enterprise Mode provides higher-fidelity emulation for older versions of Internet Explorer, and Enterprise Site Discovery can help assess your existing web environment," Microsoft said. Users can specify port numbers in different document modes. Additionally, users can begin surfing the web in Edge and automatically switch to Internet Explorer 11 for pages that require backward compatibility based on specifications made by IT. "After January 12, 2016, only the most recent version of Internet Explorer available for a supported operating system will receive technical support and security updates," Microsoft said in a blog post. "For example, customers using Internet Explorer 8, Internet Explorer 9, or Internet Explorer 10 on Windows 7 SP1 should migrate to Internet Explorer 11 to continue receiving security updates and technical support."

IE11 versus Microsoft Edge Microsoft advises business users to install Microsoft Edge by default when upgrading to Windows 10, but support for legacy technologies means that Internet Explorer will continue to be a relevant tool for businesses. For example, businesses that choose to use password managers, like LastPass, may choose to continue using Internet Explorer because plugins are supported. Microsoft Edge doesn't support the LastPass password extension. Both browsers are supported on Windows 10. IE11 continues to support plugins, toolbars and ActiveX controls, while Microsoft Edge provides Cortana integration for smarter, contextual searches and allows you to note and annotate web pages. "In addition to better support for modern web standards, improved performance, increased security, and greater reliability, migrating to Internet Explorer 11 also helps unlock upgrades to Windows 10, Office 365, and the latest Windows devices," Microsoft said.

Read our picks for the best browsers

11/23/15--13:55: Buying Guide: 10 best Ultrabooks 2015: top thin and light laptops reviewed

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Best Ultrabooks Ultrabooks have come a long way since they were first introduced to compete with the MacBook Air world. They're thin and light while featuring powerful Intel Core processors, fast SSD storage and superb battery life. But more than anything else they represent the bleeding edge of laptops; case in point the size shrinking Dell XPS 13, the unbelievably light Lenovo LaVie Z and Microsoft's own addition with the

Surface Book. Of course, this all means Ultrabook also come at a premium. Don't be surprised with prices that start at $999 (around £584, AU$1,064) just for the low-end and nearly $2,000 (around £1,169, AU$2,131) at the very high end. It's an arms race in the Ultrabook world and there's no room for losers in this space, as such it's hard not to find a great machine. But if you're looking for the very best cream of the crop, you've come to the right place.

1. Dell XPS 13 Possibly the best laptop on the planet, Dell's latest is a masterpiece CPU: 2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 3,200 x 1,800 | Storage: 230GB SSD | Connectivity: 802.11 AC, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 2.8 pounds See the best Dell XPS prices

Gorgeous display Super lightweight No ethernet port Off-centre webcam The new Dell XPS 13 has a 13.3-inch screen, but it has the small footprint of an 11-inch notebook. Fortunately for us, the XPS 13 isn't all beauty and no brains. This laptop features the horsepower to make work and play enjoyable, and more than enough battery life to never die on you. Regardless of whether you choose to upgrade to the touchscreen quad HD+ version, or if you stand pat with the full HD model, the Dell XPS 13 will provide you with a delightful experience for years to come. And in case you're not already onboard, there are also newer models with Skylake processors. Read the full review: Dell XPS 13

2. Asus ZenBook UX305 A truly excellent ultrabook at a very agreeable price point CPU: 800MHz Intel Core M 5Y10 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5300 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.3-inch 1920x1080 | Storage: 256GB SSD | Connectivity: 802.11n + Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 2.6 pounds | Dimensions: 12.8 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches See the best Asus ZenBook UX305 prices

Very thin and light Incredible performance Wonky video driver Tinny speakers The ZenBook UX305 is a superbly-built, fully metal machine that's thin, light and very attractive. This lightweight system can easily take on any task whether its browsing the web, watching video or editing images. What's more, you get excellent battery life out of this machine all while doing. The most striking thing about the UX305 is that it comes priced at $699 or £649 (about AU$902). While it isn't exactly a shining symbol of innovation in the Ultrabook space, it's the most affordable Ultrabook out today and it won't disappoint you. Read the full review: Asus ZenBook UX305

3. Surface Book The heavy duty performance Ultrabook CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i5-6300U | Graphics: Intel HD graphics 520; Nvidia GeForce graphics | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.5-inch, 3,000 x 2,000 PixelSense Display | Storage: 256GB PCIe3.0 SSD | Connectivity: 802.11ac 2x2 MIMO Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 LE | Camera: Windows 8MP rear-facing autofocus camera (1080p HD), 5MP front-facing Hello face-authentication camera (1080p HD) | Weight: 3.48 pounds | Dimensions: 12.3 x 9.14 x 0.51-0.90 (W x D x H) See more Surface Book deals

Futuristic design Seamless tablet separation Battery life falls well below promises A bit heavy set The Surface Book is both the world's most powerful and thinnest Windows 10 PC in the world as well as an excellent laptop. This is all thanks to its ability to swap between being a really terrific notebook and tablet. Plus with all the power of an Intel Skylake processor and a discrete Nvidia GPU, this machine outpaces almost every other Ultrabook. The only thing users might find annoying is how it's heavier and bigger than most 13-inch laptops thanks to its 3:2 aspect ratio and 13.5-inch screen. Read the full review: Surface Book

4. Lenovo Yoga 900 Performance meets design, Lenovo's latest flagship is a jewel CPU: 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 520 | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 13.3-inch QHD+ 3,200 x 1,800 IPS display | Storage: 512GB SSD | Connectivity: Intel Wireless-AC 8260; Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p webcam | Weight: 2.84 pounds | Dimensions: 12.75 x 8.86 x 0.59 inches See more Lenovo Yoga 900 deals

Gorgeous display Slim design Shallow keyboard Display drivers issues If you're all about style and want power to back it up, things don't get much better than Lenovo's latest flagship hybrid Ultrabook. It's much more punch than its Intel Core M-toting predecessor thanks to trading in Core i5 and i7 CPUs, and it has bigger batteries to boot. Though it's no longer one of the lightest Windows laptops to date, the Yoga 900 still retains an incredibly sharp and thin design. Although it comes at a steep price, such panache will be worth it for style nuts. Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga 900

5. Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 An attractive alternative to a certain fruit-flavoured laptop CPU: 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-4720HQ | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 15.6-inch, 3840 x 2160 IPS Display | Storage: 512GB PCIe x4 SSD | Connectivity: Intel PRO Wireless AC 7260 + BT Wireless LAN Combo | Camera: Built-in 720P Video Camera | Weight: 5.0 pounds | Dimensions: 15.08 x 10.04 x 0.84 inches See the best Lenovo Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 prices

Bright, vibrant screen Excellent performance Feels heavy Mediocre battery life If you're looking for a laptop with a little more meat on its bones but don't want to break the bank, the Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 is a stylish contender. It features a bright, vibrant 4K display and simply flies with the fastest storage drive around. While it's not the lightest Ultrabook around, it comes with a very capable processor and a dedicated graphics card to handle some light gaming too. The UX501's meaty innards and affordability make it an attractive option for content creators and media buffs alike. Read the full review: Asus ZenBook Pro UX501

6. Lenovo LaVie Z The lightest Ultrabook in the world CPU: 2.40GHz Intel Core i7-5500U | Graphics: Intel HD Graphic 5500 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.3-inch WQHD (2560 x 1440) LED anti-glare | Storage: 256GB SSD | Connectivity: Wi-Fi 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p HD | Weight: 1.87 pounds | Dimensions: 12.56 x 0.67 x 8.35 inches See more Lenovo LaVie Z deals

Core i7 processor Excellent WQHD screen Mediocre battery life Astronomical price tag By creating the 1.87-pound LaVie Z, Lenovo has created the lightest laptop in the world. Aside from its lightweight chassis, the Lavie Z offers performance and display are among the best available today. However, the laptop's somewhat questionable build quality, inferior battery life, and inflated price tag are qualities that could turn many off from what is an otherwise splendid device. Read the full review: Lenovo LaVie Z

7. HP EliteBook Folio 1020 G1 A thin, attractive business laptop posing as an Ultrabook CPU: 1.2GHz dual-core Intel Core M-5Y71 | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5300 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: value | Storage: 256GB M.2 SSD | Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0; dual-band 802.11ac (B/G/N), dual-band Wi-Fi | Camera: 720p webcam | Weight: 2.68-pound | Dimensions: 12.2 x 8.27 x 0.62-inch See more HP EliteBook Folio 1020 G1 deals

Sleek design and tough construction Fingerprint scanner, enterprise security Underpowered Intel Core M performance No full-sized SD card reader Although it has the look and body of an Ultrabook, the HP EliteBook Folio 1020 G1 is very much a business laptop in disguise. Underneath its MacBook Air like exterior, this machine packs plenty of enterprise perks including fingerprint scanner, enterprise security and the durable build quality to meet a Military Specifications certification. At the same time though, the HP Folio 1020 G1 has a gorgeous aluminum and fanless design that's atypical of business-class notebooks. Add in a gorgeous QHD screen, comfortably ergonomic keyboard, and this premium business machine is well worth its slightly upscale price tag. Read the full review: HP EliteBook Folio 1020 G1

8. Acer Aspire S7 Acer's luxurious laptop is an ultraportable star CPU: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i7-550U | Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.3-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen | Storage: 256GB SSD | Connectivity: value | Camera: value | Weight: value | 12.72 x 8.78 x 0.51 | Dimensions: 12.72 x 8.78 x 0.51 inches See the best Acer Aspire S7 prices

Attractive glass design Full-day battery life Screen limited to 1080p Too much bloatware If you have a passion for white electronics, the Aspire S7's looks alone may seal the deal, but the laptop is more than just a pretty face. Acer packs in Intel's Broadwell Core i7 processor, a battery that lasts close to a full work day, plenty of storage and RAM all into a sleek body. The Aspire S7 is an attractive and powerful laptop, but not one without compromises. If you're willing to invest a little time to removing bloatware and can live with a keyboard with the shallow key travel, then the Aspire S7 rewards you with a very capable computing experience that also looks stunning on your desk. Read the full review: Acer Aspire S7

9. Toshiba Kirabook A high-res Ultrabook that's easy on the eyes CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-5500U | Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 5500 | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 13.3 inch 2560 x 1440 WQHD touchscreen | Storage: 256GB SSD | Connectivity: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 + Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: HD webcam | Weight: 2.9 pounds | Dimensions: 12.4 x 8 x 0.37 inches See more Toshiba Kirabook deals

Stylish design Good battery life Expensive Dim, bendy screen The Toshiba Kirabook (otherwise known as the Kira in the UK) sits at the higher end of the Ultrabook spectrum. It offers a high-res screen and a fully metal body that feels so premium, it even gives the MacBook a run for its money. While there were a few missteps with the annoying keyboard and dim screen, you'll be pleased with this long lasting machine that's easy on the eyes. Read the full review: Toshiba Kirabook

10. Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus With stunning performance and screen, it doesn't get much better than this CPU: 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5-4200U | Graphics: Intel integrated | RAM: 4GB | Screen: 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800 | Storage: 128GB SSD | Ports: 3 x USB 3.0 | Connectivity: 802.11ac | Camera: 720p | Weight: 3.06 pounds | Dimensions: 12.6 x 9 x 0.5 inches See the best Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus prices

Incredible touchscreen Excellent battery It's expensive Full of bloatware Samsung was one of the very first PC manufacturers to jump on the Ultrabook bandwagon. It's done a fine job of representing Intel's baby ever since, with some stunning offerings including the Samsung. It's a wonderful-looking unit that's thin and carefully crafted, with shiny, chamfered edges lining its all-aluminium chassis. Although this particular model has kept the company ahead of the game for a while, Samsung recently introduced its first convertible laptop with the Ativ Book 9 Spin. Read the full review: Samsung ATIV Book 9 Plus

11/23/15--14:46: Updated: Best iPhone apps 2015

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Best iPhone apps 2015

Apps are the cornerstone of Apple's iOS platform. The ecosystem is what sets Apple's mobile platform apart from its rivals, and the highest-quality iPhone apps are typically best in class. But, like any app store, it is sometimes difficult to find out what are truly the best apps, the ones that stand out from the rest and offer a tool or service that's far beyond anything else available. Sometimes the best apps are free, other times you will have to pay a little bit for them. Here we showcase the best available and offer up everything you need to know about the app and how much it will cost.

What's the best phone of 2015? This round-up compiles our favourites, from top-quality creative tools and video editors to the finest productivity kit and social networking clients. And in addition to our ongoing list of the absolute best, every week we're adding our picks for the latest and greatest new or updated apps, so check back often. This week's selection includes a kid-centric music app, new options for sharing photos, and a better way to find a new job. Even if you don't have an iPhone right now, it's worth reading up on what's available if you're considering investing in the iPhone 6S.

New this week: iHeartRadio Family

Free It may seem hard to believe, but the 2015 holiday season is already upon us. Right about now, the youngsters in the family are getting in the spirit with Christmas music, which makes the arrival of the new iHeartRadio Family app perfectly timed. Featuring all of today's most popular acts, this free radio app serves up kid-appropriate music 24 hours a day, seven days a week in an entertaining, educational and safe environment. There are even stations dedicated to favorites like Dora the Explorer, Elmo, Thomas the Tank Engine and more, and it's a universal app that works equally well on iPhone or iPad.

New this week: Pool

Free The folks at MediaFire have introduced a new personal assistant for your mobile photography in the form of Pool. The basic idea here is that events from each event are grouped together so the app can remind you to share them with family and friends who were also in attendance. The result is a private space where everyone can enjoy all of the photos from the same gathering, and each user has complete control over what is being shared. Best of all, Pool doesn't force everyone to store photos on its own servers - the app only handles the suggestion and sharing part, and the images can stay put where they are.

New this week: Switch

Free With the new year not far off, some are looking for a new challenge - like changing jobs, which just so happens to be exactly what the free Switch app was designed for. With the latest version 2.0 update, job seekers can find new employment even faster than before courtesy of the redesigned user interface, which includes an Activity tab that collects all of the jobs you've liked, employers you've matched with, and, yes, even notifications when you're being passed over for another candidate. If you only have a few minutes per day to hunt for a new job, Switch makes it easy to do, and connects you directly with the folks doing the hiring.

New this week: Productivity

Free The end of the year is also a good time to start looking at what we didn't accomplish this year, such as personal goals or kicking a bad habit. Thankfully, there are apps for this as well, and one of the latest is Productivity. As the name implies, the app allows users to track their time and get more accomplished faster, putting the focus on the things that are most important. Offering comprehensive reports, performance review and analysis, and the ability to set up daily goals, you won't have any excuses thanks to support for Apple Watch. For those who really want to increase their productivity, a Pro upgrade is also available via in-app purchase.

New this week: Talq

Free From the folks at cloud backup provider iDrive comes a free messaging app called Talq that makes waiting for customer service a thing of the past. Pronounced "talk," the app allows customers to look up businesses from their iPhone and start a direct chat with quick responses. No need to pick up the phone, compose an email or stand in line at a retail store - customers can even chat with multiple businesses at once for free. There are no subscription fees, and chats sync between devices so you can start a conversation from one and pick up on another. Businesses can also set up a Talq ID to make it easier for customers to find them on the service.

New this week: Lean

Free Now here's a feature Apple really should have included with iOS 9: The ability to clean up those messy Live Photos and convert them to normal images instead. Thankfully, we have Lean, a free app that does exactly that. Perfect for owners of 16GB models with limited storage capacity, Lean dumps the unwanted motion in your Live Photos, saving a flat image with the exact same metadata. We've got quite a few accidental Live Photos on our iPhones, since Apple chose to enable the feature by default, so this one comes in quite handy for getting things back to normal.

New this week: SessMe

Free Built-in apps like Messages are great for staying in contact with friends and family, but if you require a more comprehensive chat experience, look no further than SessMe. This free iPhone app puts privacy first and makes it easy to transfer text, images, audio or video. Just about anything can be attached to messages including location, calendar events, timers, contact data and more, and images can include decorative masks without the need to hop over to another app. Better yet, SessMe's image gallery is completely independent from the device for maximum privacy.

New this week: LaLune

Free Tapping into the power of the user-generated content at themoviedb.com, the free LaLune app helps users find all of the latest movies and TV shows, complete with quality color photos, artwork, trailers and more. The app will show which titles are most popular and come highly rated by members, help you discover upcoming films and television shows, and let you search by keywords including an actor's name. Members of themoviedb can also add movies and TV shows to a watchlist and rate their favorites with a free account.

Drafts

$9.99/£7.99 The App Store description for Drafts states that the app is "where text starts on iOS". A bit presumptuous, but actually a smart idea — instead of another note-taker, this app wants to be the one you instinctively launch before tapping out any words. This is worth serious consideration, because Drafts boasts a distraction-free editing environment that's simple and powerful, including a live word count and Markdown support. Lines of copy can be arranged by drag and drop, an extended keyboard row can be customised, and version history enables rollback and browsing for previous entries. Once you're done, powerful sharing capabilities help you send your text anywhere — even to several places at once by way of multi-step actions.

Scanbot

Free + $4.99/£3.99 IAP There are two flavours of Scanbot, each of which is impressive in its own right. For free, you get a superb iPhone scanner with cloud storage integration, QR code support, and the means to detect edges for any paper document you want to digitise. Upgrade to Scanbot Pro and things get more interesting. You can add pages to existing scans, quickly name files using a clever smart-naming system, and search/extract text from previous scans. There's also an automated actions feature, where the app finds the likes of phone numbers and email addresses within your scans, turning them into single-tap buttons within each item's actions menu. It's not quite accurate enough to be witchcraft, but we nonetheless happily leave important scans within Scanbot these days, rather than immediately deleting after export.

Tweetbot 4

$9.99/£7.99 There may come a time in the distant future when Twitter's own app is our favourite (or Twitter bans third party clients entirely), but until then, there's Tweetbot. This latest version builds on its predecessor, with an elegant interface fit for iOS underpinned by plenty of power-user features. There's a landscape mode and a second column for iPhone 6s Plus users, granular mute settings, support for optional content blockers in the browser view, and new Activity and Statistics tabs. Twitter might greedily block access to a handful of its newest toys, but Tweetbot's efficiency and power means we won't defect just yet.

Traktor DJ for iPhone

$1.99/£1.49 In the early days of iOS, developers had a tendency to follow Apple's lead and ape real-world technology on the screen. This sometimes worked well, but we were always a little suspect of DJ apps that thought it a smart move to present you with two virtual spinning records to try and manipulate with sausage fingers. On the iPad, Traktor DJ wisely thought different, instead enabling you to directly 'touch the groove', working with the waveform itself. With Traktor DJ for iPhone, everything's been crammed into the iPhone's smaller display, which should be madness — but it works. There's a bit more zooming and swiping involved, but you can apply effects, simultaneously work with two virtual decks, and get recommendations for tracks to play, based on their tempos and keys. Traktor DJ plays nicely with others, too — Audiobus and InterApp Audio are both supported.

Numbers

Free with new devices or $9.99/£7.99 When Apple first brought its office apps to iPad, they were an impressive attempt to perform complex tasks on a glass screen. Squeezing them down to iPhone seemed nigh-on impossible, and yet Numbers in particular survives intact. Naturally, there's quite a bit of zooming and swiping to do if your spreadsheet has plenty of rows and columns, but data entry can be relatively painless and surprisingly rapid by way of custom forms. Unsurprisingly, Apple would very much like you to use Numbers everywhere and sync by way of iCloud, but you can also export to CSV, PDF or Microsoft Excel, along with flinging completed documents to cloud storage providers such as Dropbox.

WhatsApp

Free WhatsApp is one of the most essential apps you can install on your iOS device, especially if you have friends and family across the world. Rather than worrying about your SMS allowance or signal, WhatsApp lets you send messages over any Wi-Fi or mobile data connection instead. You can also send and receive photos with no size restrictions, and if you're using Wi-Fi (or you have unlimited mobile data) they won't cost you any extra to send.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Periscope

Free Periscope, Twitter's live video streaming app, is an essential download for anyone who likes the immediacy of Twitter but craves something more visual. You can easily create your own live streams or watch other people's, send comments and hearts in real time and if you miss the action there's a 24 hour window with which to replay streams. In short it's simple enough to dive straight into but has enough to it that you'll keep coming back, whether you're more creator or viewer.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Pocket

Free Even in 2015 there are still times and places where we can't get an internet connection, but this doesn't have to mean you can't read websites, however, thanks to the excellent Pocket app. It allows you to save articles, news stories, blog posts, videos and much more, letting you read and watch them offline. You can also synchronise your saved articles across every device you've installed Pocket on, allowing you to pick up where you left off and continue reading.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Google Photos

Free There are probably hundreds of photo apps around, but Google Photos stands out as it gives you unlimited storage for photos and videos, all for free. That's reason enough to jump on board, especially as it works not just on iOS but on Android and computers too. But with basic editing tools and the ability to make collages and albums this is more than just photo and video storage, it aims to be your first and last stop after taking a picture. To achieve that it will need a few more features, but it's well on its way.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Snapseed

Free Snapseed is Google's own photo editor that's been designed from the ground up to make tweaking your snaps as easy and fun as possible on a touchscreen device. Although the interface is simple enough to use with just your fingers, there's also a lot of depth to this app as well. You use tools to tweak and enhance your photographs to make them look the best they ever have, as well as playing around with fun filters that can transform the photos you've taken on your smartphone or tablet.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Citymapper

Free Should you find yourself in one of the supported cities (including Paris, London, New York and Berlin), you'll be grateful to have Citymapper on your iPhone — assuming you don't want to get lost. The app finds where you are and then gets you from A to B, whether you want to walk, grab a taxi, or use public transport (for which live times are provided).

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Google Maps

Free It's no secret just how badly Apple's own mapping app performs, although it has got better post-iOS 6. Fortunately, Google Maps is a free download, and a far better solution than the old Google Maps app as well, thanks to the inclusion of turn-by-turn navigation and - in some cities - public transport directions. It's an easy way to supercharge your iPhone's mapping capabilities and one of the first apps you should grab for the iPhone 7 when it launches. Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Pushbullet

Free Boost your productivity with Pushbullet, which lets you view your iPhone's notifications and messages directly on your computer. It means if you get a text message you can read it there and then without having to take your phone out of your pocket or bag. You can also quickly send files from your computer to your phone with only a few clicks, and if you regularly find that you email links to yourself just to open them on your smartphone, then you'll never have to do that again thanks to Pushbullet's link sharing features.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Evernote

Free The idea behind Evernote is you should never forget anything again. Instead, you upload and tag everything, so the service becomes your digital memory. For free, you can upload 60 MB of data per month. Go premium ($5/£4 per month) and you can upload a gargantuan 4 GB per month, search document text, and store your notebooks offline.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Evernote Scannable

Free Although Evernote Scannable is quite basic by iPhone scanner standards, it's also efficient and reliable. On launching the app, simply point your camera at a document that contrasts the surface behind it and the app will capture it. The JPEG can be sent to Evernote or shared via another service, and multiple scans are compiled to PDF.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Uber

Free Uber is transforming the way we travel. You can quickly and easily request a taxi using the app and get picked up within minutes and you can compare rates and get quotes, as well as paying with PayPal or by adding your credit card to a secure Uber account. The Uber service is available in over 50 countries, and it's rapidly growing. Give it a try and you'll never want to hail a taxi the old fashioned way again.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Spotify

Free Spotify has been pretty quick to establish itself as the top music streaming service, and the Spotify Music app brings some great features to your iOS device, turning it in to a pocket jukebox that delivers your favourite tunes no matter where you are. Even better you can now listen to Spotify music for free on iOS, although if you want to download songs for offline listening and without any ads, then a Spotify Premium account is worth investing in.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Strava

Free If you're serious about running or cycling then you should be serious about Strava. As smartphone fitness tools go it's one of the best, allowing you to track your performance, set goals and see daily progress updates. There are leaderboards and challenges to give it a competitive edge and if you're ever not sure where to run or cycle you can find user created routes on the app, or share your own. All of that comes free of charge, while a premium version adds even more tools.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Instagram

Free Instagram is the go-to app for quickly taking photos, adding quirky filters to them and sharing them with the world. Over 300 million people use Instagram and thanks to the social aspects and effortless interface it's easy to see why it's such a hit. You're not limited to sharing your snaps on Instagram either, as you can easily add your photos to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and more with just a few taps.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Timehop

Free For the most part, social media is fleeting, but Timehop is all about digging up precious memories from the past. You link it to whatever social media services you frequent (and your on-device photos) and it shows you what was happening years ago on today's date.

Listed for app of the year at the TechRadar Phone Awards.

Dropbox

Free There are plenty of solutions for transferring content between your computer and iPhone, including Apple's increasingly popular iCloud. Dropbox is still worth using, though. It has great cross-platform clients, integrates with iOS 8's Share sheets, and has direct support in many iOS apps. Check out our essential tips for every Dropbox user.

Air Video HD

$2.99/£2.29 Even the most expensive iPhone has a fairly limited amount of on-board storage and that's not even likely to change with the iPhone 7. This is a problem if you have a large video collection you'd like to access. Air Video HD server streams (and if necessary, reencodes) files from a PC or Mac that can then be played on your iPhone; there's AirPlay support, and also the means to access your Air Video server over the web.

CARROT Weather

$3.99/£2.99 If there's one thing that's sorely lacking in the majority of weather apps, it's a malevolent AI that's seeking the destruction of all humankind, and in the meantime gleefully revels in you getting soaked in a downpour. CARROT Weather still gives you a pretty accurate indication of what's going to happen, though, given that it's powered by Dark Sky tech; but rather than getting all po-faced and technical, it'll instead laugh that you're in for weather hell, while showing a picture of cows being hurled across the screen in a gale. Secret locations are there for discovery as well, which is handy if you're desperate to know whether you need sunscreen when visiting Tatooine. (Hint: you really, really do.)

Sky Guide

$0.99/£0.99 Easily the most beautiful of the iOS stargazing apps, Sky Guide also happens to be the most usable. You can quickly and easily scan the heavens by dragging your finger around, optionally orienting the screen to wherever you happen to be looking. A Today view widget adds information about rise and set times for nearby planets, the sun and the moon.

Day One

$4.99/£2.99 Traditional journals are all very well, but there's something wonderful about an app that you always have with you, into which you can save messages, images, locations and more, and then later retrieve everything via a search. Day One is beautifully designed and easy to use - best-in-class on the iPhone.

Fantastical 2

$4.99/£3.99 Fantastical 2 betters iOS 8's iffy Calendar app by way of a superior interface, a non-hateful method of dealing with reminders, and truly exceptional event input. The app has a powerful parser, and so while adding an event, you can enter the likes of "TechRadar lunch at 3pm on Friday", watching a live preview build as you type.

Figure

Free Figure crams Reason's rich history of classic-era electronic music apps into a shoebox. Via a mixture of dials and pads, you can create all manner of banging choons, and then export them and assault your friends' eardrums. It's a fun toy for anyone, but also has the chops to be part of a pro-musician's mobile set-up.

iMovie

$4.99/£3.99 Camera enables you to do the odd bit of cropping with video files, but iMovie is an audacious attempt to bring a full video editor to your iPhone, infused with the ease-of-use its desktop counterpart is renowned for. Amazingly, it succeeds. Effects, themes, credits and soundtrack creation then provide extra polish for your mobile filmmaking.

Launch Center Pro

$4.99/£3.99 More or less a speed-dial for regularly performed tasks, Launch Center Pro can be a huge time-saver. You can create shortcuts for things like adding a new Tumblr post or sending your last photo to Twitter, and these shortcuts can be arranged in groups. An essential purchase if you heavily use even a handful of the supported apps.

Transmit for iOS

$7.99/£5.99 The app that defines iOS 8, Transmit for iOS is also a missing link for anyone who wanted a file manager for their iPhone. It might have roots in an OS X FTP client, but Transmit for iOS also integrates with cloud storage and local networked Macs. It's perfect for moving documents, renaming files, and creating archives to email or upload.

Unread

$4.99/£3.99 There are RSS readers that are more efficient, but Unread is the most pleasant to use. The interface begs you to sit back and take in articles from feeds you're subscribed to, and plentiful share options enable you to send content onwards. Note that although this is a free download, it's essentially for a demo; the full-price unlock gets you the regular app.

Pocket Casts

$3.99/£2.99 Apple's Podcasts app has improved since its initial launch, but still falls short of Pocket Casts. The third-party app cleverly mixes elegance and character, with a friendly, easily browsable interface. Subscriptions can be filtered, and you can stream episodes of shows you've not yet downloaded.

Soulver

$4.99/£3.99 Soulver eschews trying to recreate a traditional calculator on your iPhone. Instead, it's akin to jotting down calculations on the back of an envelope, but a magic envelope that pulls the numbers from your in-context sentences and gives you a total. Live currency conversion is built in, and you can save calculations and sync them via Dropbox or iCloud.

vividHDR

$1.99/£1.49 We've never been overly impressed with Apple's HDR, and it pales in comparison to vividHDR. The basic concept is the same: stunning, vibrant photos, capturing amazing details in both highlight and shadow. But vividHDR's combination of speed, presets and 'before and after' comparisons results in better photos - and that's what really matters.

ProCamera 8

$4.99/£3.99 If you don't feel the iOS Camera app really cuts it, ProCamera 8 should give you what you need: a bunch of extra modes (night; rapid fire; anti-shake; timers) and a dedicated lightbox with a range of editing features and filters. You can even buy vividHDR (see elsewhere in this list) as an IAP.

Retrospecs

$1.99/£1.49 Every iteration of the iPhone has a superior camera to the previous model, and so it's only right an enterprising developer came out with an app that can turn your crisp and beautiful snaps into something that you might once have seen on an ancient computer. In Retrospecs, then, you load your photo, select a system, mess about with dither styles, filters and cropping, and bask in retro glory. A wide range of creaky old computers and consoles is covered, so you should be set whether you were into the C64, Spectrum, SNES, or, er, Mattel Aquarius. (C'mon there must be at least one of you who had the last of those?)

Fragment

$1.99/£1.49 In all honesty, we've pretty much had it with filter apps. A new one comes out, and everyone gets all excited, but they pretty much all do the same thing. All of them, that is, apart from Fragment. Rather than offer the usual range of old-school camera filters and adjustment sliders, Fragment instead delves into prismatic photo effects. In short, this means you get to see what your photos look like through glass collages, smashed mirrors and arty blur effects. Probably not one for the selfie-obsessed crowd, but a must-have download for if you want something a bit more creative and interesting than the norm.

GarageBand

$4.99/£3.99 Apple's GarageBand remains an impressive, ambitious app, turning your iPhone into a recording studio. You get synths, loops, drums, guitar amps and a DAW for arranging MIDI data, making it suitable for beginners and pros alike.

ToneStack

$9.99/£7.99 With its huge range of amps and effects, ToneStack is an excellent choice for guitarists wanting to make some noise by connecting their instrument to their iPhone. An ABY unit enables you to split the signal, for hugely complex set-ups. And if that's not enough, a slew of IAP provides yet more amps, stomp boxes and features, including an eight-track recorder.

Bloom

$3.99/£2.99 Although we're happy making music on an iPad, the iPhone tends to be better suited to much more focussed composition, as evidenced by loop-maker Figure elsewhere in this selection of apps. Bloom may seem rather more noodly, on account of it being an app for fashioning generative audio, but it's still stripped right back, making it perfect for the smaller screen. Devised by Brian Eno and Peter Chilvers, Bloom has you tap out patterns, which create visual patterns and ambient melodies. And if that all feels a bit much, Bloom takes over when left idle, potentially providing limitless ambient background goodness.

Editorial

$9.99/£7.99 Although we're fans of the likes of the simple, straightforward Byword, Editorial is *the* app for people who want to have a huge amount of control over creating and processing their output. The writing interface is strong, but what makes Editorial is the means to quickly add custom snippets and integrate workflows for extending the app and saving you time.

Procreate Pocket

$2.99/£2.29 For illustrators on the go, Procreate Pocket is a must-have. You get a big range of brushes, transform tools, a superb painting engine, and a full-featured layer system. Alas, there's no IAP for magically improving your digital painting skills.

Workflow

$4.99/£3.99 Workflow is all about automation. You can download sets of actions or compose your own, which can trigger iOS apps and related services. For example, you could create a Home screen icon to call a friend, or build a single-tap icon to get directions to your nearest coffee shop.

1Password

Free Although iOS includes iCloud Keychain for securely storing/sharing login and payment details, 1Password is a better system. It's cross-platform, supports multiple identities and secure notes, and enables you to edit login details on your iPhone. A pro mode IAP ($9.99/£7.99) adds multiple vaults for teams/families, categories for personal documents, tagging and custom fields.

BBC iPlayer

Free BBC iPlayer is our favourite TV catch-up app because it cares about the user experience. There are no ads, you can watch live TV, and you can access content broadcast over the past 30 days. Episodes can be downloaded to watch later, and there's AirPlay support for sending shows to your telly by way of an Apple TV.

Documents 5

Free Until Apple sees fit to give us a Files app for iOS, Documents 5 will have to take the strain. It's really a document reader, designed for displaying PDFs, but in having full iCloud Drive access, it can be used to manage local and remote files, and download documents to your iPhone from the web.

Next for iPhone

$2.99/£2.29 The problem with apps for tracking expenses is they're usually dry, complex and time-consuming. Next for iPhone is none of those things, which is probably why we're actually using it. The app is icon-based, so you just tap the icon closest to the thing you've just bought. (You can add notes to be more specific if you want, but you don't have to.) The Next app then tots everything up, enabling you to look back in horror at the end of the month when you realise you've in fact spent a third of your earnings on absurdly expensive coffee.

Duolingo

Free Duolingo is entirely free from IAP, which is extremely generous given the quality of the app and its potential for helping you learn a new language. It's packed full of bite-size quizzes that you can dip into at any time, and that gradually build your vocabulary and grammar in any of the ten supported languages.

eBay

Free Start using the eBay app and you won't go near the site on a PC again. It's fast, efficiently flags new finds based on your activity, and can be used to create new listings. The built-in bar-code scanner can save you loads of time with the last of those.

Find My iPhone

Free Using Find My iPhone, you can always find where your device is, and keep track of any other devices on the same account. It's very useful if you've misplaced your device or think it's been stolen and want to know where it's at.

Google Translate

Free The revamped Google Translate is an astonishing app. When online, it'll translate written, photographed or spoken text between a huge range of languages. And for English to French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish (and back), the app will try to live-translate whatever's in front of your iPhone's camera — even when you're offline.

Groove

Free When you've a sizeable music collection, you can get stuck in a rut and always end up listening to the same thing. Groove tracks your listening habits and cross-references the data with last.fm. The result is a constantly evolving selection of automated personalised playlists, which might change your iPhone music-listening habits forever.

Novation Launchpad

Free For beginners keen on making music, Launchpad is perfect. You choose a genre and then trigger loops with a tap. Effects are only a further swipe and tap away. If you really get into the app, there's IAP for further loops and the means to import your own audio.

RunKeeper

Free Now as synonymous with mobile exercise as Nike+, RunKeeper is an excellent app, backed by a robust social infrastructure. Using your iPhone's GPS, you can track exercise routes and then share activities with friends. IAP subscriptions are available for 'elite' users, and are ad-free and offer real-time sharing.

Skype

Free FaceTime is a great alternative to standard voice calls, but it only works with Apple kit. Skype remains the best widely-used alternative for people you know distinctly lacking in Apple devices. You get free calls to anyone else using Skype, and cheap calls to anywhere in the world. If you're on Pay and Go, this can be handy, and the app enables iPod touch users to call normal phones too.

TodoMovies 3

Free TodoMovies is a to-do list for movies. Using the clean, efficient interface, you can check out what's on (and, if you like, movies from the past) and fashion a list of films you want to see. Usefully, the app provides the means to rate every movie, and so extended use results in a list of favourites you can delve into at any time.

TunnelBear VPN

Free For free, TunnelBear VPN gives you 500 MB of private browsing that can worm its way around geo-locking. All you do is fire the app up and tell the bear where to tunnel. If you want unlimited data, it's yours for $2.99/£2.29 per month.

Twitter

Free It's a pity Twitter has felt the need to hobble third-party clients, given that its own app doesn't appear to need any help these days in fending off the competition. Twitter for iPhone is fast and efficient, boasts useful Connect and Discover views, and expands tweets that contain photos, videos and other media.

Vidgets

Free You can do without most Today view widgets, but Vidgets provides some really useful monitoring tools. The standalone app is where you manage your icon-like 'vigets', which comprise world clocks and indicators for storage and network speeds. That sole $2.99/£2.29 IAP is primarily for showing your support, but you do get an option for saving space by removing widget titles.

Yousician Guitar

Free To some extent, Yousician Guitar is like Guitar Hero, only you use a real guitar that the app is teaching you how to play. You start with basic plucking and strumming before moving on to working your way through full songs, the app scoring you as you go. For free, the app only restricts daily play time. To go unlimited, subscribe for $19.99/£14.99 per month.

Instapaper

Free Instapaper was the service and app that kickstarted 'read later', the means to save web pages for later. Unlike Safari's Reading List, Instapaper strips articles back to just text and images, thereby providing an efficient and usable interface. Premium membership ($2.99/£2.29 per month) unlocks the means to search your archive and add highlights to articles.

The Elements

$13.99/£9.99 Originally the darling of the iPad, The Elements in late 2013 became a universal app, so it could be enjoyed on iPhones too. A rich, engaging digital book, it tells the story of the periodic table. Each of life's building blocks can be manipulated on the screen, before you delve into related facts and figures.

Warblr

£3.99 (UK only) We've all seen iPhones cleverly detecting songs playing around them, but Warblr uses similar technology to figure out what nearby songbirds are getting all fighty instead. The louder the input, the better the results, but waggle your iPhone in a bird's general direction and as long as you've a web connection, its song will be interpreted, and a list of possible culprits provided. The app's not always accurate and it could do with the means to stash multiple recordings to fiddle about with later, but it's otherwise a fine way to learn more about which feathered friends are in the vicinity.

Korg iElectribe

$9.99/£7.99 We're unashamedly huge Korg fans when it comes to iOS. The company's iPad apps are superb, but on iPhone everything's been rather simpler fare, until iElectribe. Astonishingly, Korg's squeezed its powerful beat-creation tool into an iPhone, giving you a step sequencer and 300 rhythms to mess about with. It's admittedly a touch fiddly to use, unless you're blessed with a plus-sized iPhone, but arm yourself with a decent pair of headphones and you'll nonetheless be in rhythm heaven. And for when you're back home or in the studio, surrounded by other kit, the app keeps on plugging away, thanks to support for nanoPAD, nanoKONTROL, Inter-App Audio and Audiobus.

Metamorphabet

$3.99/£2.99 If you've seen tiny humans around iOS devices, you'll have noticed that even those that can't speak beyond bababababa and dadadadada nonetheless merrily swipe and poke at the screens. Metamorphabet capitalises on this ingrained infatuation with shiny touchscreens, and cunningly attempts to teach the alphabet via the medium of surreal interactive animations. It starts off with A, which when poked grows antlers, transforms into an arch and goes for an amble. Although a few words are a stretch too far (wafting clouds representing a daydream, for example), this is a charming, imaginative and beautifully designed app.

VHS Camcorder

$3.99/£2.99 A constant in the world of mobile is device cameras getting better and better. Naturally, then, certain people who own mobile devices clamour to download apps that degrade photos and videos, so they resemble imagery and footage captured during bygone eras. You pretty much know what you're going to get with VHS Camcorder, a time machine of sorts back to the 1980s that makes your video look like it's decades old. The app's settings are particularly fun: 480p intentionally disables widescreen, and 'Tilting Device Makes Things Worse' is actually a switch you can toggle. One negative is there's no import, so you can't keep a clean version of your video and just use the app for later adding effects; but perhaps that's the point- it's all about authenticity. And fluorescent socks.

Pixelmator

$4.99/£3.99 Photoshop is so ingrained in people's minds when it comes to image editing that it's become a verb. Oddly, though, Adobe's largely abandoned high-end mobile apps, choosing instead to create simpler 'accessories' for the iPhone and iPad, augmenting rather than aping its desktop products. Valiantly filling the void is Pixelmator, a feature-rich and truly astonishing mobile Photoshop. It's packed full of tools and adjustment options, and works well whether you're into digital painting or creating multi-layered photographic masterpieces. On iPhone, Pixelmator's naturally a bit cramped compared to using the app on iPad, but at the price it remains an insanely great bargain.

11/23/15--16:10: Updated: Buying Guide: 7 best mobile workstations 2015: ideal laptops for business

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Best mobile workstation 2015 Few productivity decisions are more important and, in turn, nerve-racking than selecting the right mobile workstation for your employees. Making the wrong choice could mean saddling your employees with a bad computer. So what do business owners look for? A great display, computing power and exceptional battery life without breaking the bank. There are few mobile workstations that can do this and we've rounded them up here. Update: HP announced a new sleek and slim ZBook Studio mobile workstation with impressive specs. The device can be configured with up to 2TB of storage and comes with Intel's latest Xeon processor. In addition to the ZBook Studio, HP also refreshed other mobile workstations in its ZBook lineup. If you'd prefer a Best Desktop Workstation roundup or, if you're interested in a business laptop that isn't necessarily a workstation, we've got you covered.

Be sure to check out our Black Friday guide for the best prices on computing-related products

1. HP ZBook 14 G2 The belle of the mobile workstation ball CPU: 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-5600 | Graphics: AMD FirePro M4150 (1GB GDDR5) | RAM: 16GB DDR3L (1600MHz) | Screen: 13.3inch FHD 1920x1080 | Storage: 256GB HP Z Turbo Drive PCIe SSD | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 3.77 pounds | Dimensions: 13.35 x 9.33 x 0.83 inches (W x D x H) See more ZBook 14 G2 deals

Gorgeous build Lightweight, Intel Core i7 processor No touchscreen Battery life The HP ZBook 14 G2 balances style and performance in an lightweight package with a replaceable battery and removable bottom cover. Read the full review: ZBook 14 G2

2. Lenovo ThinkPad W550s Workstation-grade performance with Ultrabook-class battery life CPU: 2.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i7-5600U | Graphics: Nvidia Quadro K2100M | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 15.5-inch, 2,880 x 1,620 (3K), multi-touch display | Storage: 512GB SSD | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 5.47 pounds (2.48kg) | Dimensions: 15 x 10.2 x 0.92 inches (38.1 x 25.9 x 2.34cm) See more ThinkPad W550s deals

Long battery life Strong performance No quad-core CPU option Bulky extended battery With more conservative CPU and GPU configurations than last year's ThinkPad W540, the W550s provides impressive performance with the added bonus of longer battery life – all in a lighter, thinner body. Read the full review: ThinkPad W550s

3. Dell Precision M6800 This monster laptop impresses with its power and versatility CPU: Quad-core Intel Core i7 | Graphics: AMD FirePro M6100 Mobility Pro with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory | RAM: 32GB | Screen: 17.3-inch HD+(1600x900) | Storage: 750GB HDD | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 7.86 pounds (3.57kg) | Dimensions: 1.71 x 16.41 x 10.65 inches (43.4 x 416.7 x 270.6mm) See more Precision M6800 deals

Excellent performance Versatile, sensible and sturdy design Poor battery life Bulky, heavy chassis The M6800 is impressive, but it's a niche product. If you can justify investing in such a powerful notebook, it excels in every important area, which makes it an excellent high-end workstation. Read the full review: Precision M6800

4. HP ZBook 17 G2 The best-testing mobile workstation CPU: 3.10 and 3.30 GHz Intel Core i7-4940MX | Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro K5100M | RAM: 16GB | Screen: 17.3-inch FHD 1920x1080 | Storage: 1TB 7200 RPM SATA, 256 PCIe SSD | Connectivity: 802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 7.42 pounds | Dimensions: 16.37 x 10.7 x 1.33 inches See more ZBook 17 G2 deals

Performance Speed Virus-prone Battery life With more conservative CPU and GPU configurations than last year's ThinkPad W540, the W550s provides impressive performance with the added bonus of longer battery life – all in a lighter, thinner body. Read the full review: ZBook 17 G2

5. Dell Precision M3800 Dell has produced one of the best Windows laptops available CPU: Intel Core i7-4702HQ | Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro K1100M | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 15.6-inch FHD 1920x1080 | Storage: 500GB SSD | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 1.86 kg | Dimensions: 18 x 372.1 x 254mm See more Precision M3800 deals

Superb CPU and graphics performance Thin-and-light design Poor battery life No ethernet port or optical drive If you can live with its quirks, the M3800 is still one of the best Windows laptops available and something we truly enjoyed using. Read the full review: Precision M3800

6. Lenovo ThinkPad W540 A top-notch 3K workstation with a top-shelf price tag CPU: 2.7GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-4800MQ | Graphics: NVIDIA Quadro K2100M | RAM: 8GB | Screen: 15.6-inch, 2880 x 1620 (3K) IPS | Storage: 256GB SSD | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 5.57 pounds | Dimensions: 14.8 x 9.8 x 1.1 inches See more ThinkPad W540 deals

Immaculate 3K screen Great performance for any task Inconsistent build quality High-res screen hogs battery life The Lenovo ThinkPad W540 is a workstation powerhouse, but it's too expensive for general office use. Read the full review: ThinkPad W540

7. MSI Prestige PE60 2QD A mobile workstation that has game CPU: 2.6GHz quad-core Intel Core i7-4720HQ | Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 2GB | RAM: 12GB | Screen: 15.6-inch, FHD anti-glare | Storage: 1TB HDD, 7200RPM | Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 | Camera: 720p | Weight: 5.29 pounds | Dimensions: 5.07" x 10.23" x 1.06" (38.28 cm x 25.98 cm x 2.7 cm) See more Prestige PE60 2QD deals

Insane graphics Beautiful 15-inch LCD screen Clunky touchpad Poor performance on battery power The MSI Prestige is a laptop that can handle the newest games and tons of spreadsheets. It's got a gorgeous screen, a dynamic build and it runs at a very nice clip. Read the full review: Prestige PE60 2QD

11/30/15--04:38: Cyber Monday: The best Cyber Monday deals 2015

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Cyber Monday deals in the US Loading Cyber Monday deals links... The best Cyber Monday deals for 2015 have officially started in the US, and retailers are offering discounts on the PS4, Xbox One, iPad, 4K TVs and just about everything else you can think of. Only a couple of hours into sales, stores across America like Amazon, Walmart, GameStop and Best Buy are all rolling back prices, so now is the moment to shop if you can still find what you want in stock. Sure, Black Friday started things off with a number of exciting bargains, but Cyber Monday deals are likely going to be better and last longer than just November 30. Walmart launched its lower prices as early as Sunday night, November 29, to get out ahead of Amazon, so we've compiled a list of the best Cyber Monday deals below.

Cyber Monday: Quick links Just straight to the deals at the biggest US retailers. Links will open in new tab:

Amazon US Cyber Monday deals + lightning deals Best Buy Cyber Monday deals Walmart Cyber Monday deals Target Cyber Monday deals GameStop Cyber Monday deals Toys R Us Cyber Monday deals

The best Cyber Monday deals so far... Apple Watch Cyber Monday discounts do exist, and it's just in time. The iphone-compatible smartwatch is $60 cheaper with a starting price of $296 at Target (click into the deal to see). Apple Watch starts at a discounted $299 at B&H Photo, which isn't as good as the Target deal until you factor in the excellent $50 gift card at B&H Photo. Google Nexus 5X just came out, but this unlocked unlocked 32GB Android phone is $80 off for today, now $349 at Best Buy. The best 4K TV prices are here right now. This 49-Inch Sony 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV is 50% off now $798 at Amazon. Honeywell Portable Air Conditioner MM14CCS 14,000 BTU with Remote Control - Cyber Monday is the right time to buy this AC unit originally $599, now $549 at Amazon. iPad deals are hard to find, as the Apple Store typically plays the part of scrooge, but today they're up to 25% off at Staples. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge unlocked for $500 off (no, that's not a typo) now only $539 at Target. Sony 4K TV - Get this beauty for 32% less today. Now $1298 at Amazon US. Canon Pixma MX922 inkjet printer saves for $135 off the MSRP, now only $64 at Amazon US. Madden NFL 16 Cyber Monday deal means it's not too late to get in on the NFL action on Xbox One for $47 at Target. Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is save $250 dollars on Lenovo's heralded 2-in-1. It's now $749 at Best Buy. Toshiba C55-C5390 Laptop with Windows 10 is $200 off. That's a big present at a small $249 at Staples. Guitar Hero 4 bundle, on all systems including PS4, Xbox One and Wii U, comes with the redesigned guitar controller. On PS3 it starts at $93 at Amazon. Fitbit Charge Cyber Monday deals will get you moving now that the popular fitness tracker is only $89 at Amazon. Canon Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm IS II & EF 50mm f/1.8 II Kit may be refurbished, but it remains only $199 via Canon. Nintendo 2DS is going for a Blue Light Special discount at Walmart for $79, though it's currently sold out. Wii U 32GB bundle including Splatoon and Super Smash Bros. is at its lowest price ever now $249 at Target and Wal-Mart. Unfortunately, the online retailers are out of stock, but it might be available locally in your neck of the woods! Look at each deal to find out. The new (smaller) Nintendo 3DS bundled with Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer is $40 offnow $179 at Wal-Mart.

Gaming deals PS4 and Xbox One are already the must-have items this Christmas and they're both selling well. Look out for some particularly attractive bundle deals which include consoles and games in one package, as well as some headline-grabbing low prices on standalone consoles. Leading the Cyber Monday deals charge among video games consoles is the PlayStation 4, with its sales almost doubling that of Microsoft's Xbox One. Don't worry, they're both still at a decent price, closing in on the bargain bottom line of the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS.

PS4 Cyber Monday deals The PS4 500GB Uncharted: Nathan Drake Collection bundle is our favorite because it pairs Sony's Indiana Jones-style games trilogy with the console. It costs $346 at Amazon. PS4 1TB bundle with Call of Duty Black Ops 3 doubles the storage of the gaming system and adds Activision's landmark firstperson shooter for a Cyber Monday discount of $429 at Best Buy. PS4 bundle with Nathan Drake Collection, Call of Duty Black Ops 3 and controller charging station combines the three and adds an accessory extra for $349 at Costco. PS4 Star Wars: Battlefront bundle includes the new game, plus classics downloads Super Star Wars, Bounty Hunter, Jedi Star Fighter and Racer Revenge, all for $349 at Amazon and $349 at Walmart. PS4 bundled with The Last of Us Remastered and Call of Duty: Ghosts lets you dual wield with two of last year's top-selling PlayStation 4 games. Right now, it's just $399 at Walmart. The absolute cheapest PS4 Cyber Monday deal doesn't come with a game and it's used, but the price is right at $299 through Best Buy. Want it in white? The cheapest white PS4 Cyber Monday deal is also on sale pre-owned, but it'll cost $40 more for $339 at GameStop.

Xbox One Cyber Monday deals Xbox One 1TB Halo 5: Guardians Limited Edition bundle is the best Cyber Monday deal for fans of the Mast Chief franchise, and costs just $449 at Amazon. Xbox One Halo: The Master Chief Collection bundle brings last year's game and the 500GB console together with the best price being just $299 at GameStop. Want it in white? Xbox One Special Edition White Halo: The Master Chief Collection bundle is sold out, but when it is back in stock will cost $349 at GameStop. Until then it's $399 at Amazon. Xbox One 500GB Gears of War: Ultimate Edition bundle in black is even cheaper on Cyber Monday, with prices currently at $299 through Amazon. Want it in white (again)? Xbox One 500GB Gears of War Special Edition White bundle is a exclusive that is actually cheaper. Act fast, because its price is $299 only at Walmart. Xbox One 1TB Madden NFL 16 bundle brings a bargain to the gridiron. Its best Cyber Monday deal so far make it $349 at Amazon. Xbox One 1TB FIFA 16 Limited Edition bundle combines the other kind of football, soccer, with Microsoft's next-gen console. It's in stock for $349 at Walmart. Xbox One 1TB Fallout 4 bundle gives you enough internal storage to save and re-save your game that could glitch any moment. Don't worry, the game is buggy, but fantastic, and costs around $349 at Amazon. Xbox One The LEGO Movie is the console bundle for the kids and the kids at heart. It's $299 through Walmart. Xbox One 500GB standalone console does away with the bundles, but clocks in at a cheaper price, one that once matched the name of Halo's developer. It's even cheaper at $334 via Amazon. Xbox One 1TB console bundle with three games includes Gears of War: Ultimate Edition, Rare Replay, and Ori the Blind Forest for $349 at Amazon. Xbox One 500GB bundle with Assassin's Creed Unity adds the latest game in the Ubisoft franchise and retails for just $374 at Amazon. Xbox One 1TB Rise of the Tomb Raider bundle is still available, but we could only find it in one store. It's price is $349 at Best Buy. The Xbox One Elite bundle combines a 1TB console with the pro-level Xbox One Elite controller. It launches on December 1, but you can pre-order now for $499 at Amazon. The cheapest Xbox One is at GameStop, which isn't always known for the best prices. It's inexpensive because it's pre-owned. It's in black for $299 at GameStop and white at $299 – also at GameStop. Just in case this hot number sells out before Cyber Monday, there's another deal for a refurbished, black Xbox One on sale for $299 at Amazon.

Wii U Cyber Monday deals Cyber Monday deals for Nintendo Wii U console bundles are going to be hard to find because they always sell better than expected with families. Here's what we found so far, before mom and dad snap them up. Wii U Mario Kart 8 bundle packs in the best game for Cyber Monday week for just $249 at Amazon Wii U Super Mario Maker bundle isn't available to buy at most stores, but it's still $299.96 at Walmart Wii U Skylanders Swap Force bundle gets you started with Activision's InerAction Figure game for only $300 at Amazon. Cheapest Wii U you can buy is a "premium refurbished" 8GB console that costs $229.99 at GameStop Cheapest Wii U 32GB console gives you more space for a few extra dollars $259.99 at GameStop

Nintendo 3DS Cyber Monday deals Nintendo is venturing into the mobile space, but all of its best portable games remain on the 3DS. It's going to be that way for some time. Here's the best way to save on the still viable handheld system. The Nintendo New 3DS XL in Red, with the wholly-worth-it C Stick and larger display, is currently slashed to $199 at Amazon. The Nintendo New 3DS XL in Black is almost as cheap for Cyber Monday week. It costs $199 through Amazon and even better for $179 at Walmart. The new (smaller) Nintendo 3DS Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer bundle is $40 off now $179 at Wal-Mart. The same Nintendo New 3DS XL with a choice of game is a good deal if you're getting a game anyway, as it starts at $199 at Walmart. Save some money with Nintendo 3DS XL in Black or Red without the C stick. It plays all of the same games and costs just $176 on Amazon. Even cooler is the Nintendo New 3DS XL Hyrule Gold Edition. This exclusive, in stock for now, won't be available for long due to its cheaper price at $199 only at GameStop. New 3DS XL Hyrule Gold Edition with Zelda Triforce Heroes bundles one of the best games on the Nintendo 3DS. It's $239 only at GameStop. The cheapest Nintendo 3DS XL is the NES Edition Cyber Monday deal. It's a hidden gem locked away inside of an old Nintendo controller at $159 at GameStop, though it's currently out of stock. Slightly cheaper is the same Nintendo 3DS XL NES Edition console at the used price of just $139 pre-owned at GameStop, though it's currently out of stock.

Video game Cyber Monday deals Fallout 4 is back in stock and it's a Game of the Year contender. It's going for $59.99 at Amazon. Star Wars: Battlefront - Standard Edition is a Cyber Monday force since it's as low as $49.99 at Walmart. Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is available for all systems, but cheaper on older ones starting at $39.88 at Amazon. Just Dance 2016 can make you a dance machine and the Cyber Monday price starts at $24.99 at Amazon. Halo 5: Guardians is a video game blockbuster that's exclusive to Xbox One and it now costs $49.88 at Amazon. FIFA 16 shoots and scores with a discount of its own with a price of $35.99 at Amazon.

Check out more deals at the Golden Joystick Store

TV & video deals TVs are almost always the most popular Cyber Monday and Christmas items and this year looks set to be no different. As we get closer to the big day we'll update this section each morning with all of the latest TV deals so that you can get the best one for you. We'll pick according to headline prices and big discounts so there should be a good range of "cheap as chips" TVs as well as "great TVs at a great price." Our pick of the best 4K Ultra HD TV deals this Cyber Monday: Samsung 60-inch HD TV is for anyone who wants a huge TV, but doesn't want it in 4K yet. It usually costs $999, but now it's only $699 at Best Buy. Samsung 60-inch SUHD JS7000 4K TV was $2,599 and now costs $1,299 at Samsung.com. This 49-Inch Sony 4K Ultra HD Smart LED TV is 50% off now $798 at Amazon. Samsung 55-inch 4K TV packs a 2160p resolution and 120Hz typically at $1,999, but today's Cyber Monday deal makes it just $797 at Target. Samsung 60-inch 4K TV is the same Ultra HD TV for only a few dollars. It did cost $1,699, but now it's an easy $897 at Target. Vizio 55-inch 4K TV gets you an Ultra HD television for the cheap price of $949 even cheaper at $699 at Best Buy. TCL Roku TV 40-inch is one of our favorites because it has the best smart TV interface that was $419, now costs $299 at Amazon. LG 55-inch 4K TV will make you think that Life's Good with a price of only $699 at Dell.com. All LG 4K TVs on sale starting at $547 through Amazon.

iPad & tablet deals The bottom has fallen out of the tablet market a little bit - there's a reason why Apple is now making the massive iPad Pro - it's already sold an iPad to most people who want one. Expect some aggressive iPad and tablet deals as we get closer to the big day. iPad Air 2 is on sale for Cyber Monday with a $100 discount on the 16GB model, now just $399 at Amazon. iPad Air 2 with the bigger 64GB of storage also saves you $140 this holiday season came and went for just $459 at Amazon. All iPads are discounted with the handy promo code CYBER15, which magically makes them 15% off at Target. Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 8-inch is our favorite new Android tablet and it's $50 off, now just $349 at Staples. Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 9.7-inch is an Android tablet and it's Cyber Monday deal is even better since it's $100 off at just $399 at Best Buy. Microsoft Surface 3 serves up a killer deal now that it is being featured with a $100 discount, bringing the price to $399 at Best Buy. Microsoft Surface Pro 3 is way more powerful, but comes in under the thousand dollar mark during Cyber Monday for $999 at Best Buy. It comes with 256GB of storage space on a 12-inch display. 7-inch Amazon Kindle Fire tablet is a red hot deals, and selling out fast. That's because it starts at just $49 through Amazon. Amazon Kindle Fire HD 6 tablet increases the resolution to high definition and costs 30% less than normal at $69.99 via Amazon. Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8 tablet is new and it adds two inches to the HD display in a durable frame for just $149 at Amazon. Amazon Kindle Fire HD 10 is the biggest Kindle tablet at, you guessed it, 10 inches. Today, it costs $229 at Amazon.

Laptop & Macbook deals MacBook Pro 13-inch 8GB of RAM and 256GB storage is now just $1,499 at Best Buy. New MacBook 2015 12-inch 8GB of RAM, 256GB storage and the one we have and love is just $1,149 at Best Buy. MacBook Air 13-inch display, Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, 256GB of storage now $1,049 at Best Buy. Save $250 dollars on Lenovo's heralded 2-in-1. The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is now $749 at Best Buy. Dell Inspiron 11.6-inch touchscreen, 8GB of RAM, 128GB internal storage $165 off, now $384 at Best Buy. Dell 2-in-1 laptops are on sale through Amazon with various configurations starting at $319. HP Envy laptop 15.6-inch touchscreen with an Intel Core i5 CPU, 6GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive now $679 at Best Buy. HP Spectre laptop 13.3-inch touchscreen, Intel Core i7 CPU, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage saves you $200 now $969 at Best Buy. ASUS 15-inch laptops with various configurations on sale throughout Cyber Monday for steep discounts at Amazon starting at $139.

Smartphone deals iPhone and Android phone deals are on a lot of wish lists this Cyber Monday, and we're here to help point out the best bargains on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint. Apple's iPhone 6S on AT&T moves to the US carrier's monthly plan, so you don't have to pay for the phone upfront. It starts at $21.67 a month at Best Buy. The new iPhone 6S on Verizon is sticking to the usual two-year contract plan through some retailers on Cyber Monday. That means it starts at $199 and up at Best Buy. iPhone 6S on Sprint uses two-year contracts, though it sometimes offers lower monthly payments (which add up to more money over time). Best bet is to go with the just $99 deal at Best Buy that's expired after Cyber Monday. The iPhone 6S deals are rare. Even Apple's official store doesn't give Cyber Monday discounts on its smartphone because, really, it doesn't have to. It's usually out of stock come Christmas, anyway. Get the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge unlocked for $500 off now only $539 at Target. Snag the latest phone from Google and LG, the Nexus 5X, at its lowest price ever. The unlocked 32GB version is $80 off for today, now $349 at Best Buy.

Cyber Monday: What is it? Welcome to TechRadar's Cyber Monday deals homepage! This year, St Andrew's Day isn't just an excuse for Scots to get sozzled: November 30, 2015 is Cyber Monday, which is America's busiest online shopping day of the year, and it's now just a month away! Like many dates on the calendar, Cyber Monday is a marketing invention. It was coined in 2005 by Shop.org to encourage more people to shop online. It's safe to say it's done that: last year, US shoppers spent a record $2.68 billion, making Cyber Monday the biggest day in US online shopping history. Retail consultancy Channel Advisor reports that Google Shopping was up 2.9% year on year, eBay 9.82% and Amazon 30.76%, and clicks on paid search ads jumped by a massive 60.56% compared to 2013. Marketing experts Monetate, who work with some of the world's top brands, reported that traffic to US online retailers was up 11.8% year on year. Walmart reported that Cyber Monday 2014 was the biggest day for online orders in its entire history, and this year is expected to be bigger still.

Cyber Monday and Black Friday: what's the difference? It's not just that they sit on either side of the appallingly named Sofa Sunday. Black Friday is dominated by technology, and by a handful of big-name retailers with deep pockets and big advertising budgets: Target, Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop and so on. It's very hard for other retailers to stand out on Black Friday, so many of them don't bother. They offer their deals on Cyber Monday instead. When ecommerce provider EKMPowershop surveyed its small- and medium-sized business users about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it found that those retailers sold 29% more on the Monday than on the Friday. It isn't just the size of the retailers that's different. It's what they do, too. While Black Friday is dominated by technology products, Cyber Monday is better for fashion, shoes and home electrical appliances. For example in the last two Cyber Mondays, there were 45% more clothing deals than on Black Friday and 50% more deals on shoes. There are still plenty of tech deals around - firms such as Currys discounted HDTVs and gadgets for the entire long weekend until stocks ran out - but the freshest deals tend to be in other sectors. According to figures collated by ecommerce marketing experts Fresh Relevance, beauty sales were up 400%, gifts 300%, holidays 150% and home and garden items 150% on Cyber Monday 2014 compared to a normal Friday. So if you're looking for a laptop, Black Friday's the day to do it. If you're looking for something from a designer or some great Christmas presents, you should wait until after the weekend.

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADgSTMla3EU

The changing face of Cyber Monday Cyber Monday began as a day when people went back to work, thought "aaagh! It's nearly Christmas!" and immediately started misusing their employers' computers to do online shopping. Employers have cracked down on that, but it hasn't dented Cyber Monday's popularity. We're just shopping on our smartphones instead. Last year Adobe reported that 19% of total online sales were made from mobile devices; Monetate's figures suggest that since 2013, smartphone use for Cyber Monday shopping is up 57%. Even YouTubers like Cyber Monday...

YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NidQxwxHMqM While this is all great news for us bargain hunters, though, it's not all good news for the retailers, because while the numbers are bigger, the average order value is going down - and it seems that rather than creating new demand, the Cyber Monday weekend is actually an exercise in foot-shooting for many online stores. When marketing experts Verdict Retail analysed the effect of Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year they found that there was "no evidence that it stimulated demand"; by discounting their products, retailers sold stuff they would have sold anyway, but for less money. That's led retailers such as UK shopping giant John Lewis to say "we've got to ask if it's right to concentrate trade so much in that one period." There will be bargains, but for many retailers they'll be carefully chosen ones - and retailers will use them as bait in the hope they can cross-sell and up-sell too. There's also the issue of the Enormous Magical Sale That Goes On Forever, or EMSTGOF for short. Amazon was the most obvious proponent of EMSTGOF, with a week of deals running up to Black Friday and another week - Cyber Week - beginning on Cyber Monday, but you can expect other EMSTGOF from other retailers too - not least because by spreading things out, they're not as prone to the traffic spikes that knocked so many retailers offline last Black Friday. Walmart was one of several retailers that ran promotions before, during and after Black Friday and Cyber Monday (including a "Cyber Monday Evening Edition" for people coming home from work), and others are likely to follow suit.

How to get the best Cyber Monday bargains Start early and start here. We'll be rounding up the very best Cyber Monday 2015 deals on this very page, and we'll point you to the ones that really do deliver bargains. It's a good idea to do some homework, too; with some companies discounting almost everything - Brand View reports that Argos had discounted 93.3% of its tablets on Cyber Monday with average discounts of 21.5%, while Currys had 85.5% of its TV range on offer, with discounts averaging 19.8% - it's not a bad idea to study the shelves of your favourite online emporium to draw up a shortlist. There's a very good chance at least some of your shortlist will be offered at a lower price. It's also worth installing the mobile apps for your chosen retailers. We don't think we'll see quite as many sites going offline due to excessive demand this year, but if you've recently tried to order an Apple Watch or iPhone 6S on launch day you'll already know that apps are often more reliable than the same firms' websites. More than anything, it's important to set a budget and identify what you really want. There's no point bagging a bargain if the credit card interest is double the discount, or if it ends up gathering dust in a corner. Be careful out there.

Where to find the best Cyber Monday deals in 2015: Here's TechRadar's rundown of where to find the best Cyber Monday deals on November 30th 2015:

TechRadar.com: Last year, over a million people visited TechRadar's Cyber Monday deals page where we rounded up all of the best Cyber Monday deals from all of the most trusted retailers in the UK. This year, you'll be pleased to hear, we're doing it all over again just as we are for Black Friday! Tune in to our Black Friday page throughout November to discover what we think are the best deals, and then to our separate Cyber Monday page - that's this one you're reading now - to discover what could be some even better deals. Last year the best deals appeared on Cyber Monday.

Amazon.com: Obviously as the world's biggest online retailer, Amazon will be all over Cyber Monday like jam on toast. Expect some of the absolute best Cyber Monday deals to come from Amazon, and check out this page for a round up of them all so you don't miss out! Quick link: Amazon Cyber Monday homepage

11/30/15--09:10: Apple may be discontinuing the 11-inch MacBook Air

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If you're in need of a lightweight 15-inch notebook, Apple might soon have you covered. Rumors have surfaced that Tim Cook's team is planning to ditch the 11-inch MacBook Air in favor of a larger format laptop. The rumor, which comes via a Chinese news site, says Apple will be keeping the 13-inch MacBook Air models, but it will ditch the 11-inch version in order to clear a path for the 12.9-inch iPad Pro, according to the news outlet's sources. Additionally, the next-generation MacBook Air is rumored to feature Intel Skylake processors, a Retina display, a new battery pack and cooling modules.

What's in the MacBook Air? Today's MacBook Air models come in an 11-inch model starting at $899 (£749, AUS$1,249) and a $999 (£849, AU$1,399) 13-inch variant. Both models come standard with a 1.6GHz Intel Core i5 processor, Intel HD Graphics 6000, 4GB of memory and an 128GB SSD. The 13-inch MacBook Air comes with 1,400 x 900 resolution screen, and the 11-inch version comes with a 1,366 x 768 screen. If the 2016 version of the MacBook is updated to a Retina display, the 15-inch version will feature a 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, and the 13.3-inch model will come with a 2,560 x 1,600 resolution.

Why no 11-inch version? Apple has gone out of its way to market the iPad Pro as a productivity device that can replace your laptop. Given its dimensions and light weight, it's likely Apple views the iPad Pro and the 11-inch MacBook Air as direct competitors. Rather than produce two devices with similar target demographics, Apple could launch the 15-inch MacBook Air in order to capitalize on notebook users who require large-format screen real estate, but don't need the premium features included in the highend MacBook Pro. Via: Economic Daily News

What is the best laptop in the world?

11/30/15--15:00: Updated: Buying Guide: 10 best monitors and displays on the market 2015

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Introduction Ten years ago, monitors were nothing more than necessary accessories. Today, they can be luxury items that dramatically improve all aspects of computing and content consumption. There are so many types of monitors that suit so many different needs. Screen resolution, response time, panel weight: everything should be considered when choosing a personal device or an enterprise fleet. Unfortunately, all of these specs can be confusing. We've compiled this roundup to help you sort through the abundance of options available. Update: We recently reviewed HP's factory-calibrated Z25n display, which delivers accurate colors in a 25-inch format with slim side bezels, making it virtually seamless for a multi-monitor desktop setup.

1. LG UltraWide 34UC97 Great for work, games, and movies – but it's costly Screen size: 34-inch | Aspect ratio: 21:9 | Resolution: 3440x1440 | Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Response time: 5ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1M:1 (DFC) | Colour support: SRGB 99% | Weight: 19.8 pounds See more LG UltraWide 34UC97 deals

Good speakers with bass Great contrast and colour reproduction Expensive The LG's curved design, high resolution and huge diagonal make it a high quality replacement for single 4K panels or a pair of 1080p screens, and the form factor means it's tempting for work, games and movies. Read the full review: 34UC97

2. Acer S277HK A bezel-less beauty Screen size: 27-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Response time: 4ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 100,000,000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 11.9 pounds See more S277HK deals

Bezel-less design Refresh rate No USB ports Height not adjustable A gorgeous IPS screen and bezel-free design make the S227HK a stunning display by itself or an even more impressive and immersive member of a multi-monitor setup. Read the full review: S277HK

3. Viewsonic VP2772 What this professional monitor lacks in style it makes up with exceptional picture quality Screen size: 27-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Brightness: 350 cd/m2 | Response time: 12ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 18.8 pounds See more VP2772 deals

Bezel-less design Refresh rate No USB ports Height not adjustable A rich set of features, great picture quality out of the box and hassle-free setup make the VP2772 an attractive monitor. Read the full review: VP2772

4. Dell UltraSharp UP2414Q A superb display, but you're paying through the nose for a mere 24-inches Screen size: 24-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Brightness: 350 cd/m2 | Response time: 8ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100%; Adobe RGB 99% | Weight: 10.58 pounds See more UltraSharp UP2414Q deals

Super display Great features Very expensive Just 24-inches A fantastic monitor that's a little ahead of its time in terms of GPU and operating system support. Read the full review: UltraSharp UP2414Q

5. LG 34UM95 The first Thunderbolt 2-equipped 21:9 display is a cinematic sight to behold Screen size: 34-inch | Aspect ratio: 21:9 | Resolution: 3440x1440 | Brightness: 320 cd/m2 | Response time: 5ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 99% | Weight: 17 pounds See more 34UM95 deals

Port selection Low input lag No adjustable height Speakers lack bass The 34UM95 finally does 21:9 justice, featuring a huge working area free of scaling issues, low input lag and high colour accuracy wrapped up in an attractive design. It's not the cheapest of its kind, but it goes some way to justifying the cost. Read the full review: 34UM95

6. BenQ BL2710PT Aimed at CAD/CAM professionals, this feature-packed 27-inch monitor delivers Screen size: 27-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3440x1440 | Brightness: 350 cd/m2 | Response time: 12ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 99% | Weight: 23.8 pounds See more BL2710PT deals

Port selection Flicker-free backlight Design Touch controls A feature-packed and well-connected monitor that offers plenty for the asking price. It may not be exciting to look at and the menu controls suffer from a lack of labeling, but these are minor caveats that don't detract from an overall worthy investment. Read the full review: BL2710PT

7. Acer B326HUL Big, bold and accurate colours from a TV-sized monitor Screen size: 32-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Response time: 6ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 100,000,000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 15.35 pounds See more B326HUL deals

Colour accuracy Port selection No MHL Viewing angles Acer's larger-than-life B326HUL comes with great colour accuracy out-of-the-box, easy-to-use menu controls and good build quality, but its above-average response time, lack of MHL and price point may make you want to look elsewhere. Read the full review: B326HUL

8. Samsung UD590 An attractive, gaming-focused 4K monitor that's well-suited for general tasks Screen size: 28-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Brightness: 370 cd/m2 | Response time: 1ms | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 12.43 pounds See more UD590 deals

Easy to setup Image quality (once calibrated) No adjustable height TN panel A reasonably-priced 4K monitor with an attractive design, fast response time and decent image quality once you've calibrated it or fiddled with the settings. Read the full review: UD590

9. Samsung UD970 Get ready for ultra high-def on your desktop Screen size: 31.5-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Brightness: 280 cd/m2 | Response time: 8ms | Viewing angle: 178/178 | Contrast ratio: 1000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 100% | Weight: 30.14 pounds See more UD970 deals

Colour accuracy Landscape/portrait rotation Hardware button menu navigation Cost A 4K display that's factory-calibrated for great colour accuracy and image quality, which makes it ideal for digital designers, CAD/CAM engineers or videographers who aren't put off by the high-price tag. Read the full review: UD970

10. Asus PB287Q Get ready for ultra high-def on your desktop Screen size: 28-inch | Aspect ratio: 16:9 | Resolution: 3840 x 2160 | Brightness: 300 cd/m2 | Response time: 1ms | Viewing angle: 170/160 | Contrast ratio: 100,000,000:1 | Colour support: SRGB 87% | Weight: 21.1 pounds See more PB287Q deals

Stunning images Price Navigation Blindspots This machine isn't perfect, but it produces perfect images, especially if you're nowhere near sunlight. Photographers, designers and videographers will love this unit. Read the full review: PB287Q

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