4 deals on top VPN subscriptions this week

Wherever you go online, someone is tracking your clicks. If you would prefer to keep your browsing private, or you simply want to bypass restrictions, using a good VPN is essential. Here are four deals on top providers, now with up to 79% off at the XDA Developers Depot.

NordVPN: 2-Yr Subscription

NordVPN earned the extremely rare “Outstanding” rating from PC Mag, and for good reason. This service offers bulletproof double encryption, impressive speed, and 3,521 worldwide server locations in 61 different countries.

Get two years of NordVPN for $139 (reg. $286), a saving of 51%.

KeepSolid VPN Unlimited: Infinity Plan

Winner of the Software Informer Editor’s Pick Award, this torrent-friendly service provides users with military-grade encryption and zero logging. Perfect for protecting your whole family, the Infinity Plan includes lifetime protection on up to 10 devices.

Get the KeepSolid VPN Unlimited Infinity Plan for $59.99 (reg. $299), a saving of 79%. 

The Premium Privacy Bundle Ft. ZenMate VPN & StartMail

This bundle includes one year of ZenMate VPN, winner of the Europas Award for Best Security/Privacy Startup. It provides fast connection and strong privacy features, while StartMail provides a highly secure email inbox.

Get the Premium Privacy Bundle for $44.99 (reg. $113), a saving of 60%.

IPVanish VPN: 1-Yr Subscription

In the words of CNET, this VPN is “fun, fast, and flexible.” Perfect for newbies and experts alike, IPVanish has a strict zero-log policy across 1,600 VPN servers in more than 75 locations around the world.

Get one year of IPVanish VPN for $29 (reg. $143), a saving of 79%. 

Prices subject to change 

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This may be our first leaky look at the Samsung Galaxy S21 range in the wild

Samsung is planning the first mega handset release of 2021, with the Samsung Galaxy S21 range – and we may have finally got an IRL look at the camera array for two variants, following on from the renders that leaked last month. The video obtained by leaker Sakitech and posted to Twitter represents the first “real world” images of the hotly anticipated handsets, which appear to be the S21 Plus and S21 Ultra.

According to Sakitech, there will be three models – the Samsung Galaxy S21, Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, and Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. All three will receive a significant price drop, reflecting both the financial climate and the growing number of quality flagship devices that clock in at up to half the price of a Samsung. All models are due to be announced on or around January 14th, 2021.

We can see from the photo that the S21 Ultra is boasting a Quad camera array, featuring a whopping 108MP main shooter, flanked by a 12MP Ultra Wide lens and not one, but two telephoto lens, one of which offers up to 10x optical zoom, the other a more modest 3x zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus has a more modest 3 camera set up, featuring a 12MP main camera, with a second 12MP Ultra Wide lens and a 64MP telephoto lens. If this turns out to be accurate, that’s a massive gulf between the two models. The base Galaxy S21 is said to have the same camera array as the Plus.

Although all the information here is extremely unofficial, it certainly gives us an idea of what to expect. Just remember, all these details are subject to official confirmation. The phones in the camera look like they may be engineering models, hence the rather utilitarian finish. The final version is bound to be a lot prettier.

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Best Xbox Series S accessories: Seagate Storage Expansion Card, Razer Wolverine V2 and more

As promised, Microsoft’s new gaming consoles, the Xbox Series X and the Series S have started selling worldwide, even though your ability to actually purchase one may remain questionable. Both the new consoles mark a solid leap for the Xbox brand as they bring well-needed upgrades in the hardware as well as software capabilities. While the Xbox Series X is the larger, more powerful console, the Xbox Series S primarily targets the ones who don’t want to spend a lot but still want to play the latest Xbox titles with enhanced visuals. Considering its low price tag of $299, and the fact that we have been testing the smaller console, we are confident that you should invest some extra money in accessories. We aren’t saying that you have to, but if you want a heightened experience, then you definitely need to go through our list below:

Xbox Rechargeable Battery + USB-C Cable kit

The new Xbox Series S comes with the same new Xbox wireless controller as the Xbox Series X. It is pretty similar to the last-gen but only with an extra sharing button and enhanced vibration feedback. Sadly, the company bundles the controller with standard AA batteries, which are going to die-out soon. So unless you want to buy a bunch of batteries, you can rely on the Xbox rechargeable battery kit. It comes with its own USB-C cable for charging, in case you don’t have one at home and you can even charge it using the front USB port on the console itself.

Xbox Rechargeable Battery + USB-C Cable

If you don't want to spend money on new AA batteries for your Xbox controller, then you need to get a rechargeable battery pack.

$25 on Amazon

Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S

One of the biggest complaints we have about the Xbox Series S is that it currently only comes in a 512GB storage model. A total of 364GB is available for you to download games. This essentially means that you won’t be able to download and store more than 6-8 games at a time. Microsoft did announce a special storage expansion card for the new Xbox consoles. It does cost you more than a fast external SSD, but it is notable that the proprietary card (also being made by Seagate) comes with the same performance and speed as the internal SSD. This means that it will support the console’s new Quick Resume feature along with faster load times. Currently, the Xbox storage expansion card is available with only a single 1TB option, but we hope more options will arrive in the future.

Seagate Storage Expansion Card

The base storage on the Xbox Series S, and this card will not only expand that, but will also offer the best performance and speeds.

$220 on Amazon

Razer Wolverine V2

Are you into competitive gaming? Then you need to get the Razer Wolverine V2 gaming controller. According to Razer, this controller gives you an edge over the standard controller by offering enhanced features. For instance, the ergonomic L-shaped handgrips offer a better grip. It has a contoured design with non-slip rubber grips for swift and accurate button interaction. It also features the company’s Mecha-Tactile Action Buttons and Mecha-Tactile D-Pad for improved performance and feedback. They are also rated to offer a 3-million tap life cycle and a reduced actuation distance of 0.65mm. Also, this controller has an extra pair of shoulder buttons that can be remapped via an app on the Xbox console.

Razer Wolverine V2 Wired Gaming Controller

One of the best third-party controllers for the new Xbox Series S, this controller comes with state of the are tech to enhance your gaming experience.

$100 on Amazon

Insignia Media Remote for Xbox Series X|S

Now apart from being a great gaming console, the Xbox Series S is an excellent media entertainment device. It supports a bunch of streaming apps including YouTube, Netflix, Apple TV, Spotify, Disney+, and many more. So when you are not cracking shields in Apex Legends, you can sit back and enjoy some quality TV directly streamed from your console. To make this simpler, we have the Insignia Media Remote. This lets you control almost any sort of media playback on the new Xbox as well as change the volume on the TV via HDMI CEC.

Insignia Media Remote for Xbox

If you want to use your Xbox Series S as a media entertainment device, then this remote can help make things easier.

$15 on Best Buy

Razer Kaira Pro for Xbox

We have another slick accessory from Razer, and this one is the newly launched Kaira Pro wireless headset. Built for the Xbox, this headset also features Bluetooth 5.0 when you want to play Xbox games on your smartphone via Game Pass. It features Razer’s ‘TriForce Titanium’ 50mm drivers which includes a custom patented design allowing the engineers to custom tune each driver as though there are three, which apparently allows individual replications of high, mid, and low audio frequencies. There is also the ‘Razer Hyperclear Supercardioid’ microphone that includes more noise rejection from the sides as compared to a cardioid mic, along with a sensitive low-frequency response and an open microphone housing designed for minimal obstruction.

Razer Kaira Pro

Having quality audio is a must while gaming, and it can't get any better than Razer's new Kaira Pro wireless gaming headset made for Xbox users.

$150 on Amazon

Stay tuned for our full review of the Xbox Series S and let us know if there is anything specific you would want to know about the new consoles. Also, if you are still confused as to which Xbox to buy, check out our comparison over here.

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Google Fi will soon stop activating phones that don’t support VoLTE on T-Mobile

Google Fi, launched back in 2015, is an MVNO telecom service by Google, providing calls, SMS, and data services through networks operated by T-Mobile and US Cellular in the USA. If you’re a Google Fi customer with a phone that doesn’t support Voice over LTE (VoLTE) feature, your phone might lose access to cell service in the near future.

Google Fi has begun notifying users (via 9to5Google) that it will no longer activate phones without VoLTE support starting January 2021. The existing phones will continue to receive service in the “near term,” but the company hasn’t yet given a concrete date for the total shutdown of its legacy network. If an existing user factory resets their phone, they will not be able to reactivate their cell service and will have to switch to a new VoLTE supported device.

Google is also offering a $100 bill credit if you buy a new phone directly from Google Fi and activate it before December 31. The offer is applicable only for users with non-VoLTE phones active on Google Fi before December 3 and must have received the offer email.

The change comes as T-Mobile aims to phase out its legacy 3G networks and repurpose the freed spectrum to strengthen its 5G network. We first learned about T-Mobile’s plans to entirely drop 3G back in July through a leaked internal document, which revealed that the “Un-carrier” was planning to mandate all devices to support VoLTE by January 2021. Google Fi, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has no option but to follow along with this change as it operates on T-Mobile infrastructure.

Phones without VoLTE fallback to 3G or 2G networks when placing a call, and you can notice this in real-time as network indicator change from LTE to HSDPA/UMTS and return to LTE after the call ends. An easy way to check whether your phone can make calls over LTE is to use an app called Network Mode Universal.

Network Mode Universal (Free, Google Play) →

Apart from T-Mobile, AT&T is also preparing to shut down its nationwide 3G network, but it plans to do that at a much later date: February 2022.

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Google Chrome 88 Beta adds payment API for web apps, plus tab searches

Google has promoted Chrome 88 to the Beta Channel ahead of a stable release in the early days of 2021. Now, we should just warn you upfront that this is not going to be a release of mind-crunching innovation, but there are a number of cool things going on in the Flags menu that are worthy of a quick look, so away we go.

First up, the groundwork has begun to offer “How To” videos for some of Chrome’s features. As spotted by Android Police, a new flag called #video-tutorials has appeared in the Android version of Chrome. Enabling it brings up a card with a carousel of short help videos. The content currently available has been lifted from the Google Go app, so it’s not actually that useful right now, but you can see where this is all going. All the videos carry a share button, and once you’ve watched them all, you’ll be taken to a menu where you can pick and choose the ones you want. There’s currently no evidence of this functionality coming to the desktop.

The long-awaited Digital Goods API is also introduced in Chrome 88. This allows developers of progressive web apps (PWA) and website containers to accept payments through Google’s billing systems (ie Google Pay) . Up to now, only fully-fledged apps could use this feature, but with Google’s enthusiasm for web-apps, it was only a matter of time before this anachronism was corrected.

New to desktop versions of Chrome is a search bar for your tabs. Now that Google is beginning to get on top of the RAM-hogging tendencies of the browser, it’s introducing an easier way to rifle through the 40 you probably have open right now – yeah, you – we can see you. When you’re up and running with Chrome 88 Beta, you’ll notice a new dropdown button on the right-hand side of the screen. Clicking this will bring a dropdown (duh) of all your currently open tabs, making it easier to find the one you were looking for. If the tab names aren’t ringing any bells, no worries, there’s a search box too. Alternatively, the menu can be accessed with the Ctrl+Shift+A keyboard shortcut. Tab search should be enabled by default, but if it isn’t for any reason, the flag #enable-tab-search just needs a nudge to the ‘on’ position.

For anyone that uses Incognito Mode, the fact that screenshotting has been suppressed up to now might be a relief, but if you have a burning desire to take a dump of something you’re looking at undercover, you’ll be pleased to hear that you can now enable #incognito-screenshot, and PrtScrn to your heart’s content.

There are the usual plethora of smaller updates too, you can check them all out in the Chromium Blog, but a few highlights for you:

– Chrome for Mac now requires macOS 10.11 or above, (sorry Yosemite users)

– The legacy browser support extension has now been removed in favor of native compatibility within the main Chrome codebase.

– All code relating to FTP sharing has been removed from Chrome

You can download Chrome 88 Beta from this desktop link, or Android users can download Chrome Beta from the Play Store.  The Beta versions can be installed without affecting your existing stable versions. Alternatively, hang on 45 days or so, and it’ll be stable anyway. The current stable version is Chrome 87, whilst brave Canary users are now bug-squashing Chrome 89.

Chrome Beta (Free, Google Play) →

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Apple Silicon chips with desktop beating performance expected to be on their way

Apple seems to have only scratched the surface with its new M1 chip that it introduced last month. A new report now suggests that the Cupertino giant is already testing more powerful chipsets that can arrive as soon as early next year. In a bid to shift from Intel to its own Apple Silicon platform, the company recently launched three products with its ARM-based processor- the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro 13, and the Mac mini. It is expected that Apple will completely move away from Intel by 2022.

According to Bloomberg, the upcoming chip from Apple is reportedly going to come with 16 power-cores and four high-efficiency cores, which could make its way to the upcoming iMacs and larger sized MacBook Pro models. There is another top of the line variant that will come with 32-performance cores, which is expected to power the next-gen Mac Pro that could arrive by 2022. While these are speculated specifications, the upcoming chipsets are definitely going to give Intel something to watch out for.

As of now, Apple is in the early stages of designing the chip which means, don’t count on the above-mentioned core counts as they could change once the design is finalized. Additionally, the report also says that Apple is working on new graphics processors that include 16-core and 32-core designs for upcoming MacBooks and iMacs, while 64-core and 128-core designs are also said to be in the pipeline for the Mac Pro. While these sound impressive, they should only be able to match discrete GPU offerings from NVIDIA and AMD and not be as powerful as the ones we see on desktops.

Apple’s M1 chipset has already received positive feedback from reviewers for offering excellent performance and power efficiency compared to the equivalent Intel options. The current M1 chip comes with an octa-core configuration with four performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. Graphics are handled by either a seven-core or eight-core chip, depending on the Mac model that you opt for. Along with the promise of faster performance, Apple’s silicon also holds promise for changing the desktop and laptop landscape in the coming years.

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Unofficial LineageOS 17.1 now available for the ASUS ROG Phone 3 and Nubia Red Magic 5G

LineageOS can easily be titled the holy grail of custom ROMs. Throughout the year, we have seen the list of officially supported LineageOS 17.1 devices grow. Moreover, many developers take advantage of the open-source nature of the project and unofficially bring the goodness of vanilla Android with LineageOS specific tweaks to various devices from different manufacturers. The ASUS ROG Phone 3 and the Nubia Red Magic 5G are among the latest devices to get unofficial LineageOS 17.1 on top of Android 10.

ASUS ROG Phone 3

ASUS’ 2020 gaming flagship, the ROG Phone 3, is packed to the brim with features. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865+ chipset, a 144Hz high refresh rate AMOLED display panel, a 6,000mAh battery, two USB-C ports, up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM as well as 512GB of UFS 3.1 storage. The unofficial LineageOS 17.1 build for the ROG Phone 3 was developed by XDA Senior Member aleasto. The first updates to the release fixed bugs with the vibration motor and time keeping without internet, but there are lingering issues with the fingerprint sensor, VoLTE, and a number of display enhancements that are being investigated. Still, we are surprised by how much already works.

Download unofficial LineageOS 17.1 for the ASUS ROG Phone 3

ASUS ROG Phone 3 XDA Forums

Nubia Red Magic 5G

The Nubia Red Magic 5G packs in some impressive specifications, along with an interesting design and a compelling price. The monstrous gaming device features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoC, coupled with up to 16GB of RAM, up to 256GB of storage, and a 4,500mAh battery with 55W fast charging support. Now, XDA Recognized Developer DD3Boh has released his first unofficial build of LineageOS 17.1 for the phone.

Download unofficial LineageOS 17.1 for the Nubia Red Magic 5G

Nubia Red Magic 5G XDA Forums

It is noteworthy that the two devices are shipped with OEM skins based on Android 10 out of the box, but if you want a near-stock Android experience, smoother animations, and a decluttered UI, unofficial LineageOS 17.1 will be of great use.

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