Apple News adds new audio features, including a daily briefing, alongside expanded local coverage

Apple News is getting a significant upgrade. The news aggregation app, which ships preinstalled on Apple devices, is introducing several new features for readers and premium subscribers, including audio stories, a daily audio briefing called “Apple News Today,” and expanded local coverage.

The audio briefing is somewhat of a competitor to Alexa’s Flash Briefing, which has become a popular way to catch up on the top news headlines. But in Apple’s case, the briefing is hosted by people, not a virtual assistant. Apple News editors and co-hosts, Shumita Basu and Duarte Geraldino, will guide listeners through the day’s headlines. They will then spend the remainder of the briefing discussing around three or four articles in a more in-depth fashion.

In total, the briefing will run for roughly seven to eight minutes in length and will be accessible to all Apple News readers in the U.S.

A new briefing will arrive every Monday through Friday, and can be played in the Apple News app in the U.S., in Apple Podcasts, or it can be launched using Siri voice commands across Apple devices, including Mac and HomePod.

Another new audio feature, audio stories, is only being made available to Apple News+ subscribers, however.

Starting today, Apple News will produce around 20 new audio stories per week across a range of topics, which are narrated by voice actors. These stories aren’t original content, but will instead be professionally-narrated versions of feature reporting and other long-form pieces published by Essence, Esquire, Fast Company, GQ, New York Magazine, Sports Illustrated, TIME, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, and others, as well as newspapers like  The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

Apple several years ago had partnered with SpokenLayer to bring audio narration to the news, but that effort was focused on enhancing the Apple Podcasts experience. The company says it’s not partnered with SpokenLayer on the new feature for Apple News, but is instead working with voice talent itself and recording these audio stories in its own studios. Apple declined to say how many have been hired to work on audio programming for Apple News, but did confirm it expanded headcount specifically for audio.

The audio stories will be made available to subscribers in the U.S. only. Apple didn’t say if it’s planning to expand the offering to international markets.

To make room for the new audio features, the Apple News app navigation experience has been redesigned. There’s now an “Audio” tab directing users to the new content at the bottom of the news application, in between the “News+” and “Following” tabs at the bottom of the screen. When tapped, users will first see the latest episode of Apple News Today at the top of the screen, following by the new Audio Stories that you’ve added to your Up Next queue. Below that will be a set of personalized recommendations of what to listen to next.

While the tab organizes the new audio programming, users will also be introduced to audio as they’re browsing elsewhere in the app. For example, as you’re scrolling through news stories in the Today tab or reading News+ feeds, a new audio News+ badge will appear next to stories that have narration. You can then click that story to begin the narration without having to change screens. The feature will also allow you to transition back and forth between reading and listening as it will remember where you left off in a longer piece, and begin there when you return.

Related to these efforts, CarPlay will support the News app so users can listen to these audio stories and the Apple News Today briefing while driving. Listening progress will also sync between devices, as you move from iPhone to car and back again.

While the big news today is the audio programming coming to Apple News, the app is also today introducing expanded local coverage.

In select markets — San Francisco and the wider Bay Area, New York, L.A., and Houston — Apple News will feature a curated local news experience headed by a local editor. These sections will include a wider range of stories across areas like local weather, politics, sports, dining and restaurants, and other news and will be personalized to each reader. Apple News rival Flipboard recently launched a similar feature to capitalize on the growing demand for local news, particularly amid the coronavirus pandemic where readers need access to their city and state’s reports of the impact of COVID-19 on their daily lives.

Apple News+ also today expanded its selection of local and regional newspapers to now offer access to The Charlotte Observer, The Idaho Statesman, The Kansas City Star, the Miami Herald, The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC), and The State (Columbia, SC), in the U.S. In Canada it added French-language newspaper Le Devoir and will bring on The Globe and Mail later this summer.

While the Apple News platform currently reaches over 125 million monthly active users in the U.S., U.K. Australia, and Canada, the uptake on the News+ subscription has reportedly seen struggles in terms of growing its paid subscriber base. Earlier this year, Apple’s News service business chief, Liz Schimel, who managed relationship with publishers and advertisers, stepped down after the subscription service’s slow start, Bloomberg reported.

Publishers participating in Apple News+ keep 100% of the revenue from ads they sell and can participate in backfill ads that Apple sells, keeping 70% of the revenue. They can also sell their own subscription and receive a cut of Apple News+ revenue, based on engagement.

But not all publishers believe Apple News+ is the best way to grow their business. The New York Times, for example, announced in June it will no longer distribute articles in the Apple News app.

Despite the reports, Apple says it’s pleased with Apple News+ traction. But today’s new features are clearly designed to spark growth for the $9.99 per month paid subscription.

The new Apple News features will come by way of software updates ( iOS 13.6, iPadOS 13.6, or macOS 10.15.6), arriving today.

[gallery ids="2017175,2017171,2017166,2017168,2017167,2017164,2017165,2017160,2017157,2017156,2017152,2017173"]

(Image credits: Apple)

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Google invests $4.5 billion in India’s Reliance Jio Platforms

Google has become the latest high-profile firm to back India’s Reliance Jio Platforms. The search giant is investing $4.5 billion for a 7.73% stake in the top Indian telecom network, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Wednesday.

The investment today from Google is one of the rare instances when the Android-maker has joined its global rival Facebook in backing a firm. Facebook invested $5.7 billion in Reliance Jio Platforms, which has amassed more than 400 million subscribers in less than four years of its existence, in April this year for a 9.99% stake in it. Facebook is the largest minority stakeholder in Jio Platforms.

Jio Platforms, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries (India’s most valued firm) has raised about $20.2 billion in the past four months from 13 investors by selling about 33% stake in the firm. (For some context, the entire Indian startup ecosystem raised $14.5 billion last year.)

Google’s new investment gives Jio Platforms an equity valuation of $58 billion — the same valuation implied by Facebook. Other investors, including General Atlantic, Silver Lake, Qualcomm, Intel and Vista, have paid a 12.5% premium for their stake in Jio Platforms.

As part of Wednesday’s strategic announcement, Google and Reliance Jio Platforms will work on a customized-version of Android operating system to develop low-cost, entry-level smartphones to serve the next hundreds of millions of users, said Ambani. These phones will support Google Play and future wireless standard 5G, he said.

“Getting technology into the hands of more people is a big part of Google’s mission,” said Sundar Pichai, chief executive at Google, via a video chat on Wednesday. “Together we are excited to rethink, from the ground up, how millions of users in India can become owners of smartphones. This effort will unlock new opportunities, further power the vibrant ecosystem of applications and push innovation to drive growth for the new Indian economy,” he said.

The new deal further illustrates the opportunities foreign investors see in Jio Platforms that has upended the telecommunications market in India with cut-rate voice calls and mobile data tariffs. This is not the first time Jio Platforms has expressed interest in mobile operating system or handsets. The company has shipped at least 40 million JioPhone powered by KaiOS. These “smart feature” phones support a handful of apps, including Facebook’s WhatsApp. Google is an investor in KaiOS’ eponymous developer.

Have been hearing the "Can India produce a Google?" question for the last ten years.

Looking forward to the "Can the US produce a Jio?" question for the next ten years.

— Sumanth Raghavendra (@sumanthr) July 15, 2020

Analysts at Bernstein said last month that they expect Jio Platforms — which competes with Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, a joint venture between British giant Vodafone and Indian tycoon Kumar Mangalam Birla’s Aditya Birla Group, in India — to reach 500 million customers by 2023, and control half of the market by 2025.

Google, which like Facebook reaches nearly every online user in India, announced a new fund on Monday through which it said it plans to invest $10 billion in Asia’s third largest economy over the next five to seven years. Its investment in Jio Platforms today is the first investment from the Google For India Digitization Fund.

Jio Platforms also operates a range of digital services, including a music streaming player and a video conferencing app. On Wednesday, Jio Platforms unveiled its newest offering: the Jio Glass.

Jio Platforms executives said Jio Glass wearers will be able to perform video calls and access more than two dozen apps. They did not disclose when Jio Platforms plans to make this new gadget available to consumers and what it would cost. Jio Platforms has unveiled devices in the past that sometimes take years to reach consumers — and sometimes they are quietly abandoned. Jio unveiled a similar pair of spectacles last year.

Image Credits: Jio Platforms via YouTube

Some investors have told TechCrunch in recent months that Reliance Jio Platforms’ owner — India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani — and his closeness to the ruling political party in India are also crucial to why the digital unit of Reliance Industries is so attractive to many.

They believe that buying a stake in Jio Platforms would lower the regulatory burden they — and their portfolio firms — currently face in India. The investors requested anonymity as they did not wish to talk about the political tie-ups publicly.

A person familiar with the matter at one of the 13 firms that has backed Reliance Jio Platforms said that the Indian firm is also enticing as globally companies are trying to cut down their reliance and exposure on China.

India, and the U.S., in recent months have taken actions to limit their reliance on Chinese firms. New Delhi last month banned 59 apps and services including TikTok that are developed by Chinese firms. Reliance Jio Platforms has interestingly yet to raise capital from any Chinese investor.

“Jio, for its part, has made an extraordinary contribution to India’s technological progress over the past decade. Its investments to expand telecommunications infrastructure, low-cost phones and affordable internet have changed the way its hundreds of millions of subscribers find news and information, communicate with one another, use services and run businesses. Today, Jio is increasing its focus on the development of areas like digital services, education, healthcare and entertainment that can support economic growth and social inclusion at a critical time in the country’s history,” said Pichai.

Reliance Industries, whose core businesses are in petrochemicals, has said in recent months that it plans to list Jio Platforms and Reliance Retail, another subsidiary of the firm, within five years. It’s a big week for firms in India. On Tuesday, Walmart led a $1.2 billion financing round in Flipkart to increase its majority stake in the 13-year-old Indian e-commerce firm.

India’s richest man built a telecom operator everyone wants a piece of

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Over 2,500 games removed from Apple’s China App Store in early July, as crackdown begins

Over 2,500 mobile games have been removed from China’s App Store during the first week of July, according to a new report from app store intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The removals were expected due to a planned crackdown on unlicensed games, but this data is the first to demonstrate the impact on the app economy.

For comparison, the July figure is four times the number of games that were delisted during the first week of April, five times higher than the first week of May, and over four times higher than the first week of June.

The removals have to do with Apple’s new compliance with Chinese gaming regulations.

Apple earlier this year set a deadline of June 30 for app developers to comply with a Chinese law for mobile games, first introduced in 2016. The law requires game developers offering paid downloads or in-app purchases to get a license from one of the country’s censorship bodies, the General Administration of Press and Publication of China.

For years, iPhone game developers had skirted the law by publishing their games then waiting for their license approval. This can be a long and tedious process that could take many months, or longer if there’s a freeze underway — as in 2018. Then, the gaming industry saw a 9-month halt on the issuing of licenses as Chinese regulators reshuffled their duties to clamp down further on games containing pornography, gambling, violence and and any other content deemed inappropriate by Beijing.

Major Android app stores had already enforced the 2016 rule, but Apple’s loophole allowed a mobile gaming industry to thrive on the iPhone platform in China for years.

Apple’s decision was expected to see the removal of thousands of games from the App Store, starting July. Sensor Tower data indicates that came to pass.

However, its data is only able to capture those games that saw enough downloads to rank in the App Store’s charts, including the game subcategory charts.

Out of the 2,500+ games that were pulled, nearly 2,000 (80%) had less than 10,000 downloads since the start of 2012, the firm estimates. Together, the titles had seen a total of 133.4 million lifetime downloads.

Combined, the removed games generated $34.7 million in lifetime gross revenue, with one game accounting for more than $10 million and 6 that earned over $1 million.

Notable removals included Contract Killer Zombies 2 from Glu, Solitaire from Zynga, ASMR Slicing from Crazy Labs, Nonstop Chuck Norris from Flaregames. More recently, Hay Day from Supercell was also taken down.

The changes to the gaming market as well as the coronavirus impact on the app economy have already allowed the U.S. to reclaim the top spot in terms of iOS consumer spend in Q2. According to App Annie, the U.S. saw 30% quarter-over-quarter growth in iOS consumer spend in Q2, besting China.

The longer-term fallout from the removals may show up in Apple’s bottom line, as China has been the most lucrative mobile games market in the world, noted Sensor Tower, including on iOS. In 2019, games on China’s App Store generated an estimated $12.6 billion, or 33.2% of all global games spending on Apple’s marketplace last year, the firm said.

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How city mayors are taking action on climate change | Eric Garcetti

How city mayors are taking action on climate change | Eric Garcetti

"If you change your city, you're changing the world," says Eric Garcetti, mayor of Los Angeles and chair of C40 Cities, a network of the world's megacities committed to tackling the climate crisis. He shares tangible ways Los Angeles and other cities across the globe are promoting economic and social justice while taking concrete action on climate change -- and talks about how to create a more inclusive, green and sustainable society as we rebuild from COVID-19. (This virtual conversation, hosted by TED's current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, was recorded July 7, 2020.)

https://ift.tt/3fIbDqQ

Click this link to view the TED Talk

How to Turn Off Find My iPhone When You Sell Your Device

iPhone theft or a misplaced phone will send alarm bells ringing. That’s why the Find My app on your iPhone and iPad is such an important security feature. From iOS 13 onward, Apple merged Find My iPhone and Find My Friends into this single app.

Find My is a vital radar to reduce your “lost and found” accidents. It’s also a critical hub to share your location with friends and family. But it’s also a feature you should turn off when you sell or give away your iPhone.

First, let’s answer why; we’ll then look at how to turn off Find My on your iPhone or iPad.

Why You Should Turn Off “Find My” When You Sell an iPhone?

There are three reasons to turn off Find My when you sell your iPhone, give it up for recycling, or hand it down to a friend or family member:

• You cannot restore the iPhone or iPad to its original factory settings without disabling Find My.
• Anyone with your Apple ID and password can track you through the Find My app on iCloud.
• Activation Lock switches on to lock your device when you enable Find My, meaning the buyer cannot use it.

That’s why you must make sure to disable the feature before you pass on your device or send it in for service. You can turn off Find My from the app, as well as remotely from iCloud, by unlinking your device from your Apple account.

How to Turn Off Find My iPhone

The Find My app exists as a dedicated utility on your iOS device. In iOS 13, Find My Phone and Find My Friends were combined into one single app. Now, you can use it to share your location, mark a device as lost, and erase your data remotely.

But to turn it off, you have to head to a different place: the Settings menu on your iPhone:

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap on the Apple ID banner with your name (the first item on the Settings screen).
3. Scroll down to Find My on the next screen.
4. Now, tap on Find My iPhone/iPad. Toggle the Find My iPhone/iPad slider to the off position.
5. You will need to enter your Apple ID and password to turn off Find My iPhone.
6. Find My iPhone will now be disabled for this iOS device.

If you are planning to sell the device, you can now restore your iPhone to factory defaults. Do this using Settings > General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. However, it’s a good idea to first sign out of iCloud completely by tapping Sign Out at the bottom of the Apple ID page, which you can access by tapping your name at the top of Settings.

How to Disable Find My From iCloud

You cannot disable just the Find My service from iCloud. Before you give your device to someone, you’ll need to sign into iCloud and erase all content and settings. This completely erases everything on your iPhone, removes it from the linked Apple ID, and turns off Find My.

If you use two-factor authentication on your Apple ID, you’ll get a verification code on your Apple devices as an extra layer of security when signing into iCloud from a browser. You can also sign into Find My iPhone directly on the web.

Use the same Apple ID and password linked to the phone you’re selling and follow the steps below. iCloud displays the map with the location of your iPhone:

1. Click the dropdown arrow next to All Devices at the top of the map and select the specific device from the list.
2. Click Erase iPhone in the dropdown that appears for the specific device you selected. Since you are the owner of the Apple device and wish to give it away, don’t enter a message or number here.
3. If your phone is off, a reset prompt will appear on the next boot. The phone will be remotely erased and you will get an email after it completes.
4. After your device is erased, click the green link that says Remove from Account.

The device will now be erased and reset. Another user can now activate it after completing the steps on the Set up your iPhone screen.

Note: The full set of iCloud features includes Find My iPhone. If you do not see Find My iPhone when visiting iCloud.com on your computer, your account only has access to iCloud’s web-only features. To use Find My iPhone, sign into iCloud on your Apple device from Settings.

Turn Off Find My iPhone Without the Apple ID

You cannot do this.

Find My on your Apple devices isn’t only a recovery feature, but also a security layer. Your Apple ID is at the core of it, which protects your device in case of theft or loss. Apple Support gives you a few ways to recover or reset your Apple ID in case of a memory lapse.

Don’t Sell Your iPhone Until It’s Unlocked

If you still have Find My Turned on or haven’t reset your iOS device, it’s not ready to sell. Keep an eye out for these two signs:

1. When the device hasn’t been unlinked from your iCloud account, the Activation Lock screen will appear during the setup process.
2. If you haven’t erased all the data on the phone, you will see the passcode lock or home screen upon startup. Make sure you see the Set up your iPhone screen when you turn the device on.

Always erase all content and remove the device from your iCloud account before you give it to someone. Otherwise, the person you give it to will have to contact you and ask you to do it remotely from your iCloud account.

Of course, you can be on the other side of the equation and come across a lost phone. Here are a few steps you can take to return a lost iPhone to its rightful owner.

Read the full article: How to Turn Off Find My iPhone When You Sell Your Device

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Ways In Which You Can Improve Your Sports Betting Career

Have you seen people earning some extra amount of money and fun, and it is all due to mere sports gazing and guessing game scores? And was that sight enough for you to drive yourself into instituting in much tainted, and yet excitingly dangerous realm of sports betting? Widely staring at sports matches, wildly guessing […]

The post Ways In Which You Can Improve Your Sports Betting Career appeared first on ALL TECH BUZZ.

Layer gets $5.6M to make joint working on spreadsheets less hassle

Layer is not trying to replace Excel or Google Sheets. Instead the Berlin-based productivity startup wants to make life easier for those whose job entails wrangling massive spreadsheets and managing data inputs from across an organization — such as for budgeting, financial reporting or HR functions — by adding a granular control access layer on top.

The idea for a ‘SaaS to supercharge spreadsheets’ came to the co-founders as a result of their own experience of workflow process pain-points at the place they used to work, as is often the case with productivity startups.

“Constantin [Schünemann] and I met at Helpling, the marketplace for cleaning services, where I was the company’s CFO and I had to deal with spreadsheets on a daily level,” explains co-founder Moritz ten Eikelder. “There was one particular reference case for what we’re building here — the update of the company’s financial model and business case which was a 20MB Excel file with 30 different tabs, hundreds of roles of assumptions. It was a key steering tool for management and founders. It was also the basis for the financial reporting.

“On average it needed to be updated twice per month. And that required input by around about 20-25 people across the organization. So right then about 40 different country managers and various department heads. The problem was we could not share the entire file with [all the] people involved because it contained a lot of very sensitive information like salary data, cash burn, cash management etc.”

While sharing a Dropbox link to the file with the necessary individuals so they could update the sheet with their respective contributions would have risked breaking the master file. So instead he says they created individual templates and “carve outs” for different contributors. But this was still far from optimal from a productivity point of view. Hence feeling the workflow burn — and their own entrepreneurial itch.

“Once all the input was collected from the stakeholders you would start a very extensive and tedious copy paste exercise — where you would copy from these 25 difference sources and insert them data into your master file in order to create an up to date version,” says ten Eikelder, adding: “The pain points are pretty clear. It’s an extremely time consuming and tedious process… And it’s extremely prone to error.”

Enter Layer: A web app that’s billed as a productivity platform for spreadsheets which augments rather than replaces them — sitting atop Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets files and bringing in a range of granular controls.

The idea is to offer a one-stop shop for managing access and data flows around multi-stakeholder spreadsheets, enabling access down to individual cell level and aiding collaboration and overall productivity around these key documents by streamlining the process of making and receiving data input requests.

“You start off by uploading an Excel file to our web application. In that web app you can start to build workflows across a feature spectrum,” says Schünemann — noting, for example, that the web viewer allows users to drag the curser to highlight a range of cells they wish to share.

“You can do granular user provisioning on top of that where in the offline world you’d have to create manual carve outs or manual copies of that file to be able to shield away data for example,” he goes on. “On top of that you can then request input [via an email asking for a data submission].

“Your colleagues keep on working in their known environments and then once he has submitted input we’ve built something that is very similar to a track changes functionality in Word. So you as a master user could review all changes in the Layer app — regardless of whether they’re coming through Excel or Google Sheets… And then we’ve built a consolidation feature so that you don’t need to manually copy-paste from different spreadsheets into one. So with just a couple of clicks you can accept changes and they will be taken over into your master file.”

Layer’s initial sales focus is on the financial reporting function but the co-founders say they see this as a way of getting a toe in the door of their target mid-sized companies.

The team believes there are wider use-cases for the tool, given the ubiquity of spreadsheets as a business tool. Although, for now, their target users are organizations with between 150-250 employees so they’re not (yet) going after the enterprise market.

“We believe this is a pretty big [opportunity],” Schünemann tells TechCrunch. “Why because back in 2018 when we did our first research we initially started out with this one spreadsheet at Helpling but after talking to 50 executives, most of them from the finance world or from the financial function of different sized companies, it’s pretty clear that the spreadsheet dependency is still to this day extremely high. And that holds true for financial use cases — 87% of all budgeting globally is still done via spreadsheets and not big ERP systems… but it also goes beyond that. If you think about it spreadsheets are really the number one workflow platform still used to this day. It’s probably the most used user interface in any given company of a certain size.”

“Our current users we have, for example, a real estate company whereby the finance function is using Layer but also the project controller and also some parts of the HR team,” he adds. “And this is a similar pattern. You have similarly structured workflows on top of spreadsheets in almost all functions of a company. And the bigger you get, the more of them you have.

“We use the finance function as our wedge into a company — just because it’s where our domain experience lies. You also usually have a couple of selective use cases which tend to have these problems more because of the intersections between other departments… However sharing or collecting data in spreadsheets is used not only in finance functions.”

The 2019 founded startup’s productivity platform remains in private beta for now — and likely the rest of this year — but they’ve just nabbed €5 million (~$5.6M) in seed funding to get the product to market, with a launch pegged for Q1 2021.

The seed round is led by Index Ventures (Max Rimpel is lead there), and with participation from earlier backers btov Partners. Angel investors also joining the seed include Ajay Vashee (CFO at Dropbox); Carlos Gonzales-Cadenaz (COO of GoCardless), Felix Jahn (founder and CEO of McMakler), Matt Robinson (founder of GoCardless and Nested) and Max Tayenthal (co-founder and CFO of N26).

Commenting in a statement, Index’s Rimpel emphasized the utility the tool offers for “large distributed organizations”, saying: “Spreadsheets are one of the most successful UI’s ever created, but they’ve been built primarily for a single user, not for large distributed organisations with many teams and departments inputting data to a single document. Just as GitHub has helped developers contribute seamlessly to a single code base, Layer is now bringing sophisticated collaboration tools to the one billion spreadsheet users across the globe.”

On the competition front, Layer said it sees its product as complementary to tech giants Google and Microsoft, given the platform plugs directly into those spreadsheet standards. Whereas other productivity startups, such as the likes of Airtable (a database tool for non-coders) and Smartsheets (which bills itself as a “collaboration platform”) are taking a more direct swing at the giants by gunning to assimilate the spreadsheet function itself, at least for certain use cases.

“We never want to be a new Excel and we’re also not aiming to be a new Google Sheets,” says Schünemann, discussing the differences between Layer and Airtable et al. “What Github is to code we want to be to spreadsheets.”

Given it’s working with the prevailing spreadsheet standard it’s a productivity play which, should it prove successful, could see tech giants copying or cloning some of its features. Given enough scale, the startup could even end up as an acquisition target for a larger productivity focused giant wanting to enhance its own product offering. Though the team claims not to have entertained anything but the most passing thoughts of such an exit at this early stage of their business building journey.

“Right now we are really complementary to both big platforms [Google and Microsoft],” says Schünemann. “However it would be naive for us to think that one or the other feature that we build won’t make it onto the product roadmap of either Microsoft or Google. However our value proposition goes beyond just a single feature. So we really view ourselves as being complementary now and also in the future. Because we don’t push out Excel or Google Sheets from an organization. We augment both.”

“Our biggest competitor right now is probably the ‘we’ve always done it like that’ attitude in companies,” he adds, rolling out the standard early stage startup response when asked to name major obstacles. “Because any company has hacked their processes and tools to make it work for them. Some have built little macros. Some are using Jira or Atlassian tools for their project management. Some have hired people to manage their spreadsheet ensembles for them.”

On the acquisition point, Schünemann also has this to say: “A pre-requisite for any successful exit is building a successful company beforehand and I think we believe we are in a space where there are a couple of interesting exit routes to be taken. And Microsoft and Google are obviously candidates where there would be a very obvious fit but the list goes beyond that — all the file hosting tools like Dropbox or the big CRM tools, Salesforce, could also be interesting for them because it very much integrates into the heart of any organization… But we haven’t gone beyond that simple high level thought of who could acquire us at some point.” 

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4 Reasons Why You Need Help From an SEO Professional

Running a successful business is not just about what you know and can do. It’s also about recognizing when you need support from a professional in order to achieve the desired end. Take search engine optimization for example. Many business owners turn to experts like Seologist – Toronto SEO company in order to strengthen their SEO […]

The post 4 Reasons Why You Need Help From an SEO Professional appeared first on ALL TECH BUZZ.

How to Choose Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows Operating Systems

When you create a bootable Windows installer or install the OS from a disc, you’ll have to decide whether you want a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. If you’re not sure what these mean, this question might confuse you. And worse, choosing the wrong option could hamper your system performance down the road.

Let’s discuss the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, and which one you should choose next time you install Windows.

32-Bit and 64-Bit: What’s the Difference?

We’ve discussed the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows before, which we’ll summarize briefly here. Whether you can install a copy of 32-bit or 64-bit Windows depends on the processor inside your computer.

Like Windows, modern processors are either 32-bit or 64-bit. 64-bit machines can process much more information at once, making them more powerful.

If you have a 32-bit processor, your only option is to also install 32-bit Windows. Conversely, while it’s possible to install 32-bit Windows on a 64-bit processor, you must run 64-bit Windows to take full advantage of a 64-bit CPU’s benefits.

To see if you have 64-bit Windows installed on Windows 10, head to Settings > System > About. Under the Device specifications header, next to System type, you’ll see if Windows and your processor are 32-bit or 64-bit.

On earlier versions of Windows, right-click Computer in the Start menu and choose Properties to view the same information. If you weren’t aware, x86 refers to 32-bit architecture, while x64 means 64-bit.

Should I Download 32-Bit or 64-Bit Windows?

Today, 64-bit installations of Windows are much more common than 32-bit versions. However, whether you should install 32-bit or 64-bit Windows depends on your current setup.

If you buy a new PC off the shelf, it most likely includes a 64-bit copy of Windows. Since 64-bit is largely the standard, only low-end machines will ship with a 32-bit processor these days. With a new PC that has a 64-bit version of Windows installed on a 64-bit processor, you’re all set.

When you’re upgrading a current Windows installation, it’s a different story. If you’re upgrading to Windows 10 from an earlier version, first check to see if your processor is 64-bit using the above method.

If it is, you should install the 64-bit version of Windows when you upgrade. This future-proofs your machine and ensures you won’t have to go through another upgrade later. Those with a 32-bit processor can only upgrade to a 32-bit version of Windows, unfortunately.

Installing the Right Version of Windows

While you can still buy a physical copy of Windows 10 at stores like Walmart and Best Buy, the best way to install Windows 10 for most people is through Microsoft’s Windows 10 download page.

Click Download tool now on that page to grab the Media Creation Tool. This will walk you through upgrading your current PC to Windows 10 or creating a bootable USB drive to install Windows on another machine.

When you walk through the steps, the tool will ask you to choose the Architecture for the install, which is where you can pick 64-bit or 32-bit. Windows will recommend an option based on what it detects from your PC. Uncheck the Use the recommended options box if you need to change it based on what you found earlier.

You should know that if you’re running a genuine copy of Windows, you can likely upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Your current product key will activate Windows 10 just fine. If you have to buy a fresh license, don’t worry about 64-bit or 32-bit when getting the product key.

Buying a license just entitles you to activate and use Windows; it’s not tied to either architecture type.

What Are the Advantages of 64-Bit Windows?

Now that you know if you need 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, what does using a 64-bit edition of Windows 10 actually do for you?

The biggest change is that x64 Windows can handle much more RAM than a 32-bit edition. 32-bit operating systems limit you to using 4GB of RAM or less. Thus, any RAM that you have installed over 4GB isn’t usable on 32-bit Windows. 64-bit systems can use more RAM than you’ll ever need (about 17 million TB, theoretically).

On a 64-bit Windows system, you’ll also notice two different Program Files folders in your system drive. Because 32-bit programs are inherently different from 64-bit software, Windows keeps them separate.

Thus, whenever you install software that’s built for x64 systems, it goes to the Program Files folder. 32-bit software goes into Program Files (x86) instead. On a 32-bit system, you’ll only see one Program Files folder, as it can’t use 64-bit software.

Under the hood, 64-bit Windows is also inherently more secure. Most of the enhancements come from low-level tweaks beyond the scope of this overview; one example is that 64-bit Windows forces drivers to be signed. While these changes don’t make the OS immune to attack, it’s a more modern architecture that isn’t held back by old exploits.

Choosing Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Software

Some apps, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Office, are available in a 64-bit flavor. These versions don’t provide massive improvements over the 32-bit versions, but they are a bit more efficient and stable than their 32-bit counterparts.

Heavy programs, like video editors and high-end games, run better in their 64-bit versions. Multi-tasking becomes more efficient, too.

On a 64-bit system, if you have a choice between 32-bit and 64-bit apps, prefer to go with 64-bit for best performance. But there’s nothing wrong with running 32-bit apps on a 64-bit system, as most apps can’t take advantage of the differences anyway.

You can see which apps on your system are 32-bit by opening the Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc and checking the Processes tab. Anything with (32 bit) next to its name isn’t 64-bit yet.

32-Bit vs. 64-Bit: Other Considerations

As long as your computer/processor is fairly recent, you shouldn’t have any issues upgrading to a 64-bit version of Windows.

If your computer’s processor was one of the earliest to feature 64-bit architecture, it might lack support for a few minor features. This can cause issues with 64-bit Windows, but you can run a tool like 64bit Checker to make sure your hardware is ready to go for 64-bit Windows.

If you’re currently on a 32-bit version of Windows and plan to upgrade, you must do a clean install. There’s no easy upgrade path, like when you update Windows 7 to Windows 10. Check out our guide on upgrading Windows 10 from 32 to 64-bit when you’re ready.

Additionally, when running 64-bit Windows, you must make sure that your hardware is compatible. Windows Update should automatically find drivers for your internal components, but outdated printers or other old peripherals might not have a 64-bit driver.

Archaic 16-bit applications, like DOS games, won’t work on 64-bit versions of Windows either. You’ll need to use workarounds to run old software on 64-bit Windows 10.

Do I Need 64-Bit Windows?

For most people, 64-bit Windows is today’s standard and you should use it to take advantage of security features, better performance, and increased RAM capability. The only reasons you’d want to stick with 32-bit Windows are:

• Your computer has a 32-bit processor. Since you’d have to buy a new machine to install 64-bit Windows, stick with what you have for now. Be sure to buy an x64 machine for your next computer.
• You use ancient software or devices. Since 32-bit Windows was widely used for years, older devices only offered 32-bit drivers. If your printer is 20 years old, it probably won’t work on 64-bit Windows.
  • Hopefully, you don’t do daily work with software from decades ago, but if you do, you should probably hold off on upgrading to 64-bit Windows. In either case, consider updating those tools so you can modernize your system.

If you run into issues installing apps after upgrading to 64-bit Windows, find out what to do when Windows software won’t install.

Read the full article: How to Choose Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows Operating Systems

Spotify Launches Charts to Help You Find New Podcasts

Spotify has launched new podcast charts designed to help you find new podcasts to listen to. From today (July 14) you’ll be able to browse charts listing the Top Podcasts and Trending Podcasts for your country. All from within the Spotify app on Android and iOS.

The Top Podcasts and Trending Podcasts charts will be available in 26 markets, including the US, the UK, Mexico, Australia, Brazil, and Germany. They’ll be available within the Spotify app on both Android and iOS, replacing the existing “Top Shows” chart.

How to View Spotify’s New Podcast Charts

To view the two new podcast charts, open the Spotify app on your mobile, and tap the Search icon in the middle. Scroll down to Browse All and tap Podcasts. You should then see a category called Podcast Charts. Tap that to reveal the charts in your region.

The Top Podcasts chart shows the most popular podcasts. The Trending Podcasts chart shows new and emerging podcasts. In some countries you’ll also be able to see the top podcasts in particular categories, such as Comedy, Arts, and Education. All updated daily.

See what everyone's listening to. New and improved podcast charts, now on Spotify ? pic.twitter.com/ySw1xw9YvK

— Spotify Podcasts ? (@spotifypodcasts) July 14, 2020

If you scroll down even further you should see “Top Podcasts by Category” and “Podcast Charts by Country”. Tap one of these to discover new categories of podcast you didn’t even know existed, or see what podcasts are popular in countries other than your own.

Whichever way you choose to explore Spotify’s new podcast charts, the result should be that you’ll find something new to listen to. And with Spotify now boasting that there are more than 1 million podcasts on its platform, you’ll never have to sit in silence again.

Get More People to Listen to Your Podcast

Not so long ago, there was a very limited range of podcasts worth listening to. If you wanted to listen to a podcast about your favorite sports team, you would only have a few to choose from. Now, there are likely to be dozens of podcasts for every sports team.

Charts are therefore becoming a crucial tool for podcast listeners who need as much help as they can sorting the good from the bad. The only problem for podcasters is getting enough listeners in the first place. Luckily, Spotify wants to help with that.

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How to Choose Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows Operating Systems

When you create a bootable Windows installer or install the OS from a disc, you’ll have to decide whether you want a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. If you’re not sure what these mean, this question might confuse you. And worse, choosing the wrong option could hamper your system performance down the road.

Let’s discuss the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, and which one you should choose next time you install Windows.

32-Bit and 64-Bit: What’s the Difference?

We’ve discussed the differences between 32-bit and 64-bit Windows before, which we’ll summarize briefly here. Whether you can install a copy of 32-bit or 64-bit Windows depends on the processor inside your computer.

Like Windows, modern processors are either 32-bit or 64-bit. 64-bit machines can process much more information at once, making them more powerful.

If you have a 32-bit processor, your only option is to also install 32-bit Windows. Conversely, while it’s possible to install 32-bit Windows on a 64-bit processor, you must run 64-bit Windows to take full advantage of a 64-bit CPU’s benefits.

To see if you have 64-bit Windows installed on Windows 10, head to Settings > System > About. Under the Device specifications header, next to System type, you’ll see if Windows and your processor are 32-bit or 64-bit.

On earlier versions of Windows, right-click Computer in the Start menu and choose Properties to view the same information. If you weren’t aware, x86 refers to 32-bit architecture, while x64 means 64-bit.

Should I Download 32-Bit or 64-Bit Windows?

Today, 64-bit installations of Windows are much more common than 32-bit versions. However, whether you should install 32-bit or 64-bit Windows depends on your current setup.

If you buy a new PC off the shelf, it most likely includes a 64-bit copy of Windows. Since 64-bit is largely the standard, only low-end machines will ship with a 32-bit processor these days. With a new PC that has a 64-bit version of Windows installed on a 64-bit processor, you’re all set.

When you’re upgrading a current Windows installation, it’s a different story. If you’re upgrading to Windows 10 from an earlier version, first check to see if your processor is 64-bit using the above method.

If it is, you should install the 64-bit version of Windows when you upgrade. This future-proofs your machine and ensures you won’t have to go through another upgrade later. Those with a 32-bit processor can only upgrade to a 32-bit version of Windows, unfortunately.

Installing the Right Version of Windows

While you can still buy a physical copy of Windows 10 at stores like Walmart and Best Buy, the best way to install Windows 10 for most people is through Microsoft’s Windows 10 download page.

Click Download tool now on that page to grab the Media Creation Tool. This will walk you through upgrading your current PC to Windows 10 or creating a bootable USB drive to install Windows on another machine.

When you walk through the steps, the tool will ask you to choose the Architecture for the install, which is where you can pick 64-bit or 32-bit. Windows will recommend an option based on what it detects from your PC. Uncheck the Use the recommended options box if you need to change it based on what you found earlier.

You should know that if you’re running a genuine copy of Windows, you can likely upgrade to Windows 10 for free. Your current product key will activate Windows 10 just fine. If you have to buy a fresh license, don’t worry about 64-bit or 32-bit when getting the product key.

Buying a license just entitles you to activate and use Windows; it’s not tied to either architecture type.

What Are the Advantages of 64-Bit Windows?

Now that you know if you need 32-bit or 64-bit Windows, what does using a 64-bit edition of Windows 10 actually do for you?

The biggest change is that x64 Windows can handle much more RAM than a 32-bit edition. 32-bit operating systems limit you to using 4GB of RAM or less. Thus, any RAM that you have installed over 4GB isn’t usable on 32-bit Windows. 64-bit systems can use more RAM than you’ll ever need (about 17 million TB, theoretically).

On a 64-bit Windows system, you’ll also notice two different Program Files folders in your system drive. Because 32-bit programs are inherently different from 64-bit software, Windows keeps them separate.

Thus, whenever you install software that’s built for x64 systems, it goes to the Program Files folder. 32-bit software goes into Program Files (x86) instead. On a 32-bit system, you’ll only see one Program Files folder, as it can’t use 64-bit software.

Under the hood, 64-bit Windows is also inherently more secure. Most of the enhancements come from low-level tweaks beyond the scope of this overview; one example is that 64-bit Windows forces drivers to be signed. While these changes don’t make the OS immune to attack, it’s a more modern architecture that isn’t held back by old exploits.

Choosing Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Software

Some apps, such as Google Chrome and Microsoft Office, are available in a 64-bit flavor. These versions don’t provide massive improvements over the 32-bit versions, but they are a bit more efficient and stable than their 32-bit counterparts.

Heavy programs, like video editors and high-end games, run better in their 64-bit versions. Multi-tasking becomes more efficient, too.

On a 64-bit system, if you have a choice between 32-bit and 64-bit apps, prefer to go with 64-bit for best performance. But there’s nothing wrong with running 32-bit apps on a 64-bit system, as most apps can’t take advantage of the differences anyway.

You can see which apps on your system are 32-bit by opening the Task Manager with Ctrl + Shift + Esc and checking the Processes tab. Anything with (32 bit) next to its name isn’t 64-bit yet.

32-Bit vs. 64-Bit: Other Considerations

As long as your computer/processor is fairly recent, you shouldn’t have any issues upgrading to a 64-bit version of Windows.

If your computer’s processor was one of the earliest to feature 64-bit architecture, it might lack support for a few minor features. This can cause issues with 64-bit Windows, but you can run a tool like 64bit Checker to make sure your hardware is ready to go for 64-bit Windows.

If you’re currently on a 32-bit version of Windows and plan to upgrade, you must do a clean install. There’s no easy upgrade path, like when you update Windows 7 to Windows 10. Check out our guide on upgrading Windows 10 from 32 to 64-bit when you’re ready.

Additionally, when running 64-bit Windows, you must make sure that your hardware is compatible. Windows Update should automatically find drivers for your internal components, but outdated printers or other old peripherals might not have a 64-bit driver.

Archaic 16-bit applications, like DOS games, won’t work on 64-bit versions of Windows either. You’ll need to use workarounds to run old software on 64-bit Windows 10.

Do I Need 64-Bit Windows?

For most people, 64-bit Windows is today’s standard and you should use it to take advantage of security features, better performance, and increased RAM capability. The only reasons you’d want to stick with 32-bit Windows are:

• Your computer has a 32-bit processor. Since you’d have to buy a new machine to install 64-bit Windows, stick with what you have for now. Be sure to buy an x64 machine for your next computer.
• You use ancient software or devices. Since 32-bit Windows was widely used for years, older devices only offered 32-bit drivers. If your printer is 20 years old, it probably won’t work on 64-bit Windows.
  • Hopefully, you don’t do daily work with software from decades ago, but if you do, you should probably hold off on upgrading to 64-bit Windows. In either case, consider updating those tools so you can modernize your system.

If you run into issues installing apps after upgrading to 64-bit Windows, find out what to do when Windows software won’t install.

Read the full article: How to Choose Between 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows Operating Systems

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Where to Download Subtitles for Movies and TV Shows: The 6 Best Sites

Knowing a few subtitle download sites can improve the way you enjoy films and TV shows. Subtitles serve many purposes, and not just for foreign language content that isn’t dubbed.

Subtitles are great for clarity of dialogue, especially during action sequences where loud noises can drown out what characters say.

Subtitles are also useful for shows with ensemble casts (seeing names can help with tracking characters), shows with heavy accents, and shows with lots of terminologies like sci-fi, fantasy, and procedurals.

Are you still wondering where you can get subtitles? We’re going to tell you the best places to download subtitles for movies or TV shows, along with how to load them.

Where to Download Subtitles for a Movie or TV Show

1. Subscene

Subscene is fast, comprehensive, and always kept up-to-date with subtitles for the latest films and TV episodes. All subtitles are created and uploaded by users, which means you can often find matches even for obscure titles.

Subscene has a simple and straightforward interface. Subtitles are organized according to shows and movies, so all you have to do is type the show or movie name in the search bar and select the right one from the results.

Nearly all of Subscene’s subtitles are in the SRT format. You can set a search filter to limit results to certain languages (up to three maximum), and you can decide whether you want to include “hearing impaired” subtitles (for sound effects).

You may also find the forums to be a nifty feature. There you can request subtitles for shows and films—perhaps there aren’t any in your native language or none that are correctly synced for your version of the media.

2. OpenSubtitles

OpenSubtitles has a good selection of subtitles. Users upload their own subtitles and others can then rate the quality of the subtitling. This ensures you can check the rating and only download the best.

There’s a key reason why OpenSubtitles is so popular: it’s the largest subtitle database with support for dozens of languages. If you can manage to find your way around the site, you’ll see that there are subtitles here that don’t exist anywhere else.

Other useful features include the dedicated Request Subtitles page, the surprisingly in-depth advanced search filters, the embedded third-party information (like IMDb details), and relevant links that show where you can buy or stream free movies.

3. YIFY Subtitles

YIFY Subtitles has a huge, ever-expanding list of subtitles for movies and films. It’s really easy to browse thanks to its sleek interface that shows the promotional poster, year of release, director, and other handy information.

You can filter by loads of languages so that you only see the entries that have subtitles for your needs. You can also simply just search for the name of the movie or show.

The only downside is that some entries don’t have subtitles, so your search might return a result but you’ll come away empty-handed. Nevertheless, YIFY Subtitles remains a great and easy way to download subtitles.

4. Podnapisi

Despite sounding like a site for podcasts, Podnapisi is an excellent resource for nearly 60000 movies and 7000 TV shows. Chances are, whatever you need subtitles for is available here.

On top of those staggering numbers, there are over 2 million subtitles that have been submitted in various languages and formats, including 100000 that have been adapted for hearing impaired and hard-of-hearing (SDH) viewers.

With a speedy, clean interface, and easy search function (filter by keywords, seasons, language, FPS, and more), Podnapisi is an excellent choice for subtitles.

5. Addic7ed

Although the interface isn’t the fanciest, Addic7ed is still a great place to get subtitles from due to its breadth of content. New subtitles are being uploaded all the time.

The easiest way to find what you need is to use the search bar. Alternatively, you can look at a list of all the TV shows and movies that they have subtitles available for.

If something isn’t available, hop into the forums and someone might be able to help you out. Alternatively, you can browse their tutorials to find out how to make subtitles of your own.

6. TVsubtitles

Despite its name, TVsubtitles isn’t just for TV shows. It also has subtitles for loads of movies old and new.

Of course, TV shows are its bread and butter, and you only need to glance at their list of subtitles to see why. There are so many TV shows listed here, spanning decades and genres.

The movie subtitle selection is slimmer, so you’re better off with a different site for those, but some are available if you need them.

How to Load Subtitles for Movies and TV Shows

Most free media players will automatically detect and load subtitle files as long as you title them properly. What does a “proper title” involve?

For the most part, all you have to do is copy the exact filename of the movie or TV video file and paste it as the subtitle file’s filename. This works for nearly all video file formats (e.g. AVI, MKV, MP4) and the most common subtitle file formats (e.g. SCC, SRT, SUB, VTT). You also have to make sure both the video file and the subtitle file are in the same location.

With that done, launch the video file and your media player should automatically load the subtitle file.

What if it doesn’t? Or what if your video file has a built-in subtitle track and you want to override it with the subtitle file? In that case, you’ll have to manually load the subtitle file and switch the track in your media player.

How to Manually Switch Subtitle Tracks for a Video

We’ll demonstrate using VLC, the most popular media player app in the world.

To manually load a subtitle file, even one that isn’t in the same location as the video file:

1. Launch the video file in VLC.
2. Under the Subtitles menu, click Add Subtitle File.
3. Navigate to the subtitle file, select it, and click Open.

To switch to subtitles that are different from built-in subtitle tracks in some video files:

1. Launch the video file in VLC.
2. Under the Subtitles menu, navigate to Subtitle Track > Track #.

You can load multiple subtitle tracks (as many as you want) and switch between them at will. This is particularly useful for certain movie files, especially in the MKV format, which come with many subtitles in various languages.

An Even Faster Way to Download Subtitles

The above sites are great. However, if you prefer subtitles for everything, then downloading them by hand every time can get cumbersome.

Happily, a handful of free media players support the ability to search and download subtitles right within the app, and some can even automatically find subtitles based on the filename of what you’re watching.

• BS.Player: Built-in support for auto-downloading subtitles, available in both the Free and Pro versions. It’s unclear which sites they’re sourced from.
• Media Player Classic: Built-in support for auto-downloading subtitles. By default, they are sourced from Open Subtitles.
• VLC Player (with VLSub addon): Can search Open Subtitles and download matches to the current video, either by name or by hash (the latter is more accurate). No longer works with VLC 2.1.x, requires VLC 2.2.x series.
• PotPlayer: Can search for subtitles within the player and download the ones of your choosing. You can add your own source sites if you wish.

This works just as well when watching with mobile video player apps. Even if your video player of choice doesn’t support automatic subtitle downloads, it most likely supports automatic subtitle loading for matching filenames.

What to Binge Watch Next?

That’s everything you need to know about where to download subtitles from and how to use them. No longer will you have to strain to hear dialogue over huge explosions. And thankfully, streaming shows save you the bother of downloading subtitles.

If you’re after a new TV show to enjoy, here are the best TV shows to binge-watch next.

Image Credit: TypoArt BS/Shutterstock

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Which Wireless Router Brands Are Best? 5 Top Brands to Consider

Shopping for a new wireless router isn’t fun. A new wireless router isn’t something you shop for every day. But when you do, there are a lot of important wireless router features to consider.

You want a wireless router that will last and is of reasonable build quality. Of course, it should also use the latest Wi-Fi technology to provide blazing fast internet speeds.

So, what are the best router brands? And which router brands should you avoid at all costs?

What Makes a Good Router Brand?

A great router from a brand doesn’t necessarily need to be advanced. We are not talking about individual router models or the features that make one router better than the alternative.

The following article discusses the overall quality across all of their offerings. Here is what we mean by a good brand.

• Price and value: Do you get what you pay for? Do you get more than what you paid for? Are the routers priced competitively, and are the prices in line with the features offered?
• Quality and reliability: Are the products built to last? Does the brand skimp on build quality just to knock a few dollars off the price tag? What’s the average lifespan of one of their routers?
• Customer support: Are people happy with the products they bought from a brand? If not, how does the brand respond? How far will they go to help you solve potential issues? And if a product is defective or doesn’t meet expectations, what will they do to rectify?

At the end of the day, the brand is only one of several factors you should consider before buying a router, but it’s an important one. Few things are worse than spending money on a router that breaks in six months and is backed by horrible customer support.

The Best Router Brands

A quick note upfront; no brand is perfect. That’s the nature of business, but it’s especially true in the realm of gadgets and devices. On the whole, these brands have a track record of producing good stuff, but you may run into a dud now and again. Just know that that’s normal.

1. Google

Google Nest Wifi Router Google Nest Wifi Router Buy Now On Amazon $149.99

Google is one of the more recent additions to the router manufacturing marketplace, but, as you might expect, many of their routers are excellent. Google first entered the market back in 2015 with the OnHub router.

Since then, Google routers have become some of the most popular options on the market. The latest Google router, the Google Nest Wifi, received positive reviews across the board and brings mesh Wi-Fi into residential homes, as well as acting as a smart speaker and the focal point for your smart home.

If you don’t want the full works that the latest Google router brings, there’s always the option of the standard Google Wifi router, which is also an expandable mesh Wi-Fi system. If you’ve been struggling with Wi-Fi coverage in your home, one of these mesh Wi-Fi routers may be the solution.

2. Netgear

Netgear Nighthawk X10 Netgear Nighthawk X10 Buy Now On Amazon $249.99

Netgear is another hardware manufacturer with an extensive history of excellent Wi-Fi routers. In the past, there were some major differences in quality between Netgear’s top-tier routers and their budget models. However, those issues in performance and build-quality appear a thing of the past.

At the top end of the spectrum, you’ll find the Netgear Nighthawk X10, with theoretical maximum speeds up to 7200Mbps, a quad-core processor (yes, in your router!), and Plex Media integration, pushing the boundaries of consumer routers.

If that seems like too much router for your household, check out the Netgear R6400 instead. The R6400 is an excellent choice for small to mid-sized homes, with a decent speed throughput and Wi-Fi range to boot.

Netgear was once hit and miss with consumer routers. More recently, you can rely on a Netgear router to bathe your home in glorious Wi-Fi coverage.

3. TP-Link

TP-Link Archer C5400 TP-Link Archer C5400 Buy Now On Amazon $169.99

TP-Link remains a popular Wi-Fi router choice, with routers covering all budgets and specifications. Despite being a Chinese company, its products don’t have the same issues of quality that other gadgets produced in the region might have.

The TP-Link Archer C5400 is a powerful tri-band MU-MIMO Wi-Fi router with theoretical maximum speeds of up to 5334Mbps, plus eight external antennas for the upside-down dead spider look.

If that seems a little over-powered, or your internet connection will simply not reach those speeds, you could opt for the TP-Link Archer C3200. The C3200 is the younger sibling to the C5400 but still offers blazing fast speeds, good build quality, and six external antennas.

In short, TP-Link is for value buyers. You won’t find anything as flashy as a Netgear Nighthawk, for example, but you will find robust devices that provide bang for your buck.

4. ASUS

ASUS RT-AC5300 ASUS RT-AC5300 Buy Now On Amazon $271.48

Whether you lean towards the high end or the low end, Asus routers are some of the best on the market—but especially so if you have the budget to go for one of the higher-end models. ASUS routers cater specifically to gamers, too, with some options coming from the ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) brand.

Regardless of your status as a gamer or not, some ASUS ROG routers come with extra performance or features that make the brand worth your time.

The eye-catching ASUS RT-AC5300 is one of ASUS’ most popular Wi-Fi routers, with combined theoretical maximum speeds up to 5300Mbps, eight external antennas, MU-MIMO, and a lifetime security guarantee from Trend Micro.

The Asus RT-AC3200 is a solid option toward the lower-end of the router scale. It still packs a punch and will power the Wi-Fi requirements of most households, and comes with the same Trend Micro security guarantee.

5. Linksys

Linksys WRT3200ACM Linksys WRT3200ACM Buy Now On Amazon $248.72

Linksys remains a reputable router manufacturer, even if other hardware manufacturers have surpassed them in recent years. The Linksys WRT3200ACM is well-reviewed, provides solid dual-band Wi-Fi performance, and comes in the classic Linksys blue and black color scheme.

One bonus to the Linksys WRT3200ACM is the open-source router firmware, which allows for extensive customization and control over your Wi-Fi network.

If you prefer a mesh Wi-Fi router, check out the Linksys MR9000, which provides up to 3000 square feet of Wi-Fi coverage, with speeds up to a theoretical maximum of 3000Mbps.

What Is the Best Router Brand?

The best brand of router is tough to call. Google’s recent Wi-Fi router offerings are excellent, providing great coverage and speed while looking pretty smart. That said, you can’t go wrong with industry-standards like ASUS or a TP-Link router.

Of course, you don’t have to choose a router from the router brands on our list. There are several other decent router brands available, and you might already have a favorite manufacturer.

Another router brand you might have considered is D-Link. If that ends up being your final choice, learn how to secure your D-Link wireless router.

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