The AR and VR-focused Facebook Connect 2021 has kicked off with a bang, with a suite of new features and accessories including an entirely redesigned Home system, enhancements to the multiplayer experience and more heading to the ever-popular Oculus Quest platform. The catch? Not everything will be immediately available, with some features currently scheduled for release in 2022, and some are exclusive to the newer Oculus Quest 2 . Horizon Home The biggest change coming to the standalone headset is Horizon Home, an overhaul of the existing Oculus Home menu that users spend time in when not in a specific VR app....

“There’s a lack of collaboration between the two parties,” says Steve Durbin, managing director of the Information Security Forum (ISF) , a nonprofit association that researches and analyzes security and risk management issues. “What is the common language that we should be speaking? How could we, from a security standpoint, be focused on the right things from a business perspective?” Research by the ISF has found that many CISOs are reporting the wrong key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators (KRIs)....

For many, a reliable phone signal is a given. But despite advances in technology, there are still plenty of areas, particularly in rural regions and even some city pockets, where coverage of even the best mobile networks is spotty or non-existent. If you find yourself running around your home or yard just to make a call, whether you have the best Android phone or the best iPhone , there are several strategies you can try to improve your signal....

With all the reported hacking and general security breaches that occur online, it’s a good idea to change your passwords regularly. Instagram is a prime target, with its access to many of your friends around the world, so here’s how to update your security details. It’ll take you less than two minutes. Open up the app and tap on the Profile icon in the bottom right corner (the one that looks like a silhouette of a person’s head and shoulders....

Back in the 1980s, home computer users wrote their own software using the BASIC programming language. As PCs came on the scene, providing a wealth of ready-written software, programming died out, leaving the professionals to do it all. According to some business leaders, this has had a detrimental effect on the skills available for the UK’s computer industry. How to use Google Blockly Go to the Google Blockly website to start creating your program....

Microsoft has added plenty of new features to Windows in recent years, but some functionality has been removed in that time. That includes the ability to create a “Guest” account, separate from any of the main user accounts. Previously, it offered an easy way to share your computer with someone, without risking any of your settings or files being affected. Not only is the feature unavailable in Windows 11 , it’s also been removed from Windows 10 ....

In these days where it’s not so easy to visit and hang out with friends, we can miss out on simple pleasures such as watching videos together. Of course, we can send links or share them on social media sites, but it’s not the same as getting the reaction from your mates in real-time. Well, there is a way to still watch these videos together, in sync, and it won’t cost you a penny....

Windows 11 is a capable operating system, but it’s also very complex. Beneath the shiny new design and simplified user interface, there are tools and services you may never have heard of. These can be safely ignored most of the time, but what if you’re trying a new app and it asks to make changes to your device? Or perhaps you’re following a tutorial that involves editing the Registry, risking irreversible damage to your PC if things go wrong....

If you love fizzy drinks or sparkling water, you’ll know it’s a pain to buy in the supermarket. It’s heavy, takes up a lot of space and leaves the recycling filled with plastic bottles. There is another way: make your own at home. Carbonating water using CO2 – carbon dioxide – is quick and simple with a counter-top machine such as the humble SodaStream. Just fill a bottle with tap water, press the button on top a few times depending on how carbonated you like it, and bingo, you have fresh sparkling water....

Given the usual lifespan of a PC and the ease with which parts can be swapped out, it’s likely that your current machine didn’t run Windows 10 when you bought it. Purchasing the software from the Microsoft website costs at least £119.99 , and it feels like an unnecessary extra spend when upgrading your hard drive to an SSD. But there are plenty of benefits to making the switch, including faster data transfer speeds and improved reliability....

Microsoft has become the first major company to let users remove their account password, embracing what it calls a “passwordless future”. It means you’ll no longer need to enter a password when signing in to Microsoft 365 apps, Outlook, OneDrive or any other service that usually requires a Microsoft account. A range of alternative sign-in methods are now available – Windows Hello, a security key, SMS/email verification code or the Microsoft Authenticator app....

Computer files have two parts to their names: the descriptive name and the file extension. The former can let you know what’s in the file, while the latter is there so you know which apps to use when opening it. For example July report.doc is a file about events from July, and was created by Microsoft Word. You know this because of the .doc extension. Similarly Dignity.mp3 is an audio file which can be opened by any application that handles mp3 files, such as iTunes , VLC , and plenty of others....

Testing your Wi-Fi speed is not as straightforward as testing your broadband speed, but it’s essential for understanding your home network’s performance. Many online tools and apps (such as speedtest.net ) will measure your internet speed, but they often reflect the speed of your broadband connection, not your Wi-Fi. If you want to know those numbers, here’s our guide on how to check your internet speed . To accurately measure the speed of your Wi-Fi, which is the connection between your device and your router, you need to use specific tools....

Back in April 2020, we reported that WhatsApp was working on a multi-device feature which would finally allow you to use your account across, well, multiple devices. The reason that it’s taken over a year to appear is because WhatsApp had to redesign the way it works in order to maintain end-to-end encryption. If you’re only dealing with two devices – the sender’s and the recipient’s – it’s more straightforward, but syncing these encrypted messages to multiple devices (potentially both on the sender’s and receiver’s end) means new systems had to be created ....

EE no longer sells phones that are ‘locked’ to its network in the UK – as it’s now illegal – but up until the end of 2021 it still did so. That means if you have an EE phone there’s a chance you may want to unlock it so that you can use it with another UK network. You may want to unlock your phone from EE for several reasons. Your contract with EE may be up, in which case you’ve paid off your phone and want to switch to a cheaper plan elsewhere....

For those that live in Greater London, the contactless revolution has truly arrived, with TFL offering contactless payment since Tuesday, in addition to regular Oyster cards. Utilising Near Field Communication (NFC) technology, this system makes life quicker, easier and even cheaper for anyone using public transport in the capital. Using contactless payments on TFL: how does it work? The wireless readers used to touch in and out with Oyster cards work via NFC chips....

Windows 11 is an operating system that’s designed for multitasking. Microsoft added a dedicated ‘Snap Layout’ feature to make it easier to use apps side-by-side, but Windows 10 already had plenty of ways to work on several things at once. Watching full-screen videos is great, but it’s not always the best option if you want to work on other things at the same time. That’s where Picture in Picture comes in – it shrinks the video player down to a small window that you can move anywhere....

Recently my colleague Martyn Casserly accused Facebook of being just like any other 10-year-old, and I have to agree with him at least in one respect: it has a tendency to throw a paddy and play havoc with your News Feed. Also see: How to stop videos and ads autoplaying on Facebook And he’s right. No matter how many times you switch your News Feed from Top Stories to Most Recent, Facebook will quickly change it back....

Undoubtedly, the best way to play the popular multiplayer game Among Us is with friends in voice chat. You can relay information a lot quicker, and of course you get the bonus of seeing how people lie when they don’t have the safety net of a keyboard behind them. But how do you set up a voice chat alongside a game of Among Us? We’ve rounded up everything you need to know, along with a few extra tips....

Lenovo is set to officially unveil its modular Project Tango smartphone , along with two new Moto Z smartphones and maybe even an updated RAZR V3 at Lenovo Tech World 2016. The event is taking place in San Francisco on 9 June 2016, and here we show you how to watch the live stream, as well as what you can expect to see announced. Also see: Best phones How to watch Lenovo Tech world live stream The biggest questions for Lenovo and Motorola fans right now are “When is the Lenovo Tech World 2016 announcement?...