The year in reviews: 2013's best gadgets : Home Entertainment

Home Entertainment : Chromecast

 

The Chromecast might not be as fully featured as competitors like Apple TV, but it doesn't matter. This small dongle is very easy to set up and turns HDMI-complatible TV into a smart TV, all for the low price of $35. Its app selection is still lacks, but for now, you're getting more than your money's worth.

 

The year in reviews: 2013's best gadgets : Smartphones

Smartphones : Apple iPhone 5S

Apple continued to improve the iPhone line with the 5s, while the phone maintains the same body as its predecessor, it packs in enough upgrades to appeal to hardcore and casual users of iOS alike. However, even with future-proofing measures like 64-bit support and the fingerprint M7 coprocessor on board, only the most forward-looking Android power users will find it interresting to switch.

The year in reviews: 2013's best gadgets : Laptop

Laptops : Apple MacBook Pro with Retina display
 
With a starting price that's $400 less than the 2012 model, the new MacBook Pro with Retina display is a whole new level. In addition to its lighting fast SSD and off the roof graphics, its epic battery life and thinner, lighter body might make you reconsider if you've been in the market for the slightly smaller MacBook Air.

The year in reviews: 2013's best gadgets : Gaming

Gaming : SONY PLAYSTATION 4

 

 

It doesn't raelly look like a PC, but the PlayStation 4's sleek black exterior is a powerhouse that bounce off gaming PCs, with a user-friendly interface, a great controller and the ability to share your gameplay ina single touch. The next generation of consoles might just get started, but it's one start with the PS4 at the front of the pack.

The year in reviews: 2013's best gadgets : E-Readers

E-Readers : Amazon Kindle Paperwhite (2013)

 

The "all-new" Paperwhite doesn't really offer anything all that different from prvevious year's edition, but an improved frontlight and some new software have made an already great reading experience better. Unless Goodreads is a must-have app for you, but it's largely unnecessary upgrade if you already own previous model.

Over ear headphones to buy in 2014 : Griffin WoodTones

Griffin WoodTones

 
As you can probably tell by name, these over the ear headphones aren't made out of plastic - these include features made out of real wood. Available in a variety of tones, these Griffin cans have an air of classiness about them, though they still feel really sturdy and durable. Sound quality is impressive too, with a range of levels and crisp notes.They're comfy and you'll barely notice you've got them on.
Price: £74.99 | Griffin

Over ear headphones to buy in 2014 : Denon AH-D340

Denon AH-D340

 

The D340s follow many of the same ideas as the D7100s. Aesthetically they're a little closer to the acceptable middle ground, and the drivers are a little smaller but aside from that, the two are very similar. The 2-axis adjustable ear cups and pentagonal memory foam pads are as pillow soft as comfortable as before. Prolonged use does result in some sweaty ear syndrome, but it's a small price to pay for the comfort. And those 40mm drivers really deliver some thumping sound.
Price: £180 @ Denon

 

Over ear headphones to buy in 2014 : KEF M500

KEF M500

 

Boasting highly detailed sound, memory foam constructed ear pads for extra comfort and a design that just reeks of style and sophistication we have to say these cans are easily some of our favourites. The lack of sound leak is also highly welcome.
Price: £250 @ KEF

Over ear headphones to buy in 2014 : Focal Spirit One

Focal Spirit One

 

Clearly not the pair of ‘phones to buy if you’re looking to blend in with the crowd, these are colourful and chunky, really quite chunky. No matter though, the sound is the most important part and they have a real hit of punchy noise, extremely balanced bass and great volume. Another nice touch is that they are foldable, making them nearly in your bag.
Price: £139 @ Focal

 

Over ear headphones to buy in 2014 : Urbanears Humlan

Urbanears Humlan

 

Brand spanking new ‘phones look great and sound better.. Available in a range of colors, there’s a Humlan for every human. The washable parts ensure that you can get these on dirts, then bung them in the wash and there’ll be clean as ever.
Price: £39 @ Urbanears

Top 10 Best Gaming Laptops

When it comes to gaming, the platform of choice goes to the consoles. Well, at least as far as the average consumer goes. But enthusiasts know that if you want to experience the true quality that a game has to offer, then PC gaming is the way to go.Desktops will give you that extra oomph, but sometimes portability is a necessary factor for LAN party-goers or traveling pros. For those looking to take their game mobile without sacrificing too many frame rates, PCMag has rounded up the best gaming laptops.

As with desktops, the best gaming laptops tend to be configured specifically for gaming performance. That means the best gaming graphics card out there (in this case, either an Nvidia GeForce GTX 780M or AMD Radeon HD 8870M), and at least a third-generation Intel Core i5 or i7 CPU. The screen size for gaming laptops tends to be big (think 15 to 18 inches), though there are one or two ultraportable gaming laptops on the market today. And given that high-end components tend to drain battery life, don't expect these gaming rigs to stray too far from a wall socket very often. Lastly, be prepared to brownbag it for your workweek lunches for a while, as all this performance (especially in a portable package) doesn't come cheap.

But maybe you're not looking to burn up the gaming grid. Maybe you want a laptop that offers smooth gameplay on the lighter end of the 3D graphics spectrum without sacrificing your rent check. In that case, there are laptops available with lower-end GPUs that cost a little less than the higher-end stuff out there and still let you hold your head up when competing in World of Warcraft or Torchlight, or older titles like Team Fortress 2.

Below are 10 of our best gaming laptops, which range from the luxury to the more moderate purchase that can still command respect on the gaming grid.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : Anonymous vs. North Korea

Anonymous vs. North Korea

In April, North Korea's official Twitter and Flickr accounts were hacked, reportedly part of "hacktivist" group Anonymous's efforts to disrupt the Communist country's Web presence. The attackers targeted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a series of tweets and photos that portrayed him in a less-than-flattering light.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : Facebook, Apple Malware

Facebook, Apple Malware

In February, Facebook said its security team had discovered that Facebook's systems were "targeted in a sophisticated attack." It happened "when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised," Facebook said. Several days later, Apple made the rare admission that it too was the victim of hackers, attacked by the same online miscreants who targeted Facebook. No customer data was stolen from either company, however.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : Apple Developer Website

Apple Developer Website

Apple took its developer center offline in late July, when an alleged hacker attempted to steal personal information from the company's database. While the data was encrypted and "cannot be accessed," Apple said, there was some concern that developers' names, mailing addresses, and/or email addresses may have been accessed." An overhauled version of the site came back online in mid-August.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : Mark Zuckerberg's Wall

Mark Zuckerberg's Wall

A Palestinian security researcher Khalil Shreateh uncovered a glitch in the Facebook matrix that would allegedly allow anyone to post to the Facebook walls of any other user. After Facebook ignored his warnings, he decided to take advantage of the exploit and post details of the bug on the CEO's wall. Facebook later fixed the bug, but declined to give Shreateh a $500 bug bounty.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : US Government Hacks

US Government Hacks

The feds were not immune to hackers this year, with several government agencies falling prey to Internet scammers, including the Federal Reserve, the Energy Department,NASA, and even the social media accounts of former Secretary of State Colin Powell.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : ZOMBIES

ZOMBIES

This hack was more amusing than financially devastating for consumers, but it did highlight a weakness in our emergency alert system. In February, someone hacked into the Emergency Alert System and announced on KRTV and the CW in Montana that the zombie apocalypse was upon us. The message kicked off like any other emergency alert - with the dialup-esque bleeps and tones and an alert crawl atop the screen. But rather than warning about a weather emergency or some other plausible situation, a menacing voice came on to warn people about zombies

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : JPMorgan

JPMorgan

JPMorgan announced that 465,000 individuals using prepaid cash cards issued by the bank may have had their personal data exposed in a breach. JPMorgan notified affected cardholders, about 2 percent of the total 25 million people who have UCards and used the UCard Center website between July and September. 

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : Chinese Hackers

Chinese Hackers

In January, The New York Times revealed that it had been the target of Chinese hackers for at least four months. The attackers were reportedly in search of details about sources to whom Times' reporters spoke to for an October story about the wealth of China's prime minister, Wen Jiabao. 

The following month, security researchers from Mandiant traced a prolific group of computer hackers to a government-backed, military building in Shanghai, China. The firm said the People's Liberation Army Unit 61398 is located "in precisely the same area" as a section of APT1, an advanced persistent threat (APT) group that has stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations worldwide.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : SEA ,Syrian Electronic Army

Syrian Electronic Army

The Syrian Electronic Army emerged in September 2012, but it was quite busy this year targeting the social media accounts of various media outlets that the SEA believed was publishing articles sympathetic to Syrian rebels, including the New York Times, the Financial Times, The Guardian, the BBC, and even The Onion. It also managed to take the New York Times website offline in August.

10 Biggest hacks of 2013 : Adobe

Adobe

In early October, Adobe revealed that it was the victim of a hack that affected approximately 3 million users. The scammers made off customer names, encrypted credit or debit card numbers, expiration dates, and other information relating to customer orders. The software firm also said "source code for numerous Adobe products" was stolen in a separate intrusion that could be related to the theft of customer information. Later, however, Adobe admitted that the breach actually impacted 38 million users.