Testing HONOR X9d and Magic8 Pro at Vivid Sydney       I visited Vivid this week and brought along the HONOR X9d and the HONOR Magic8 Pro to test out their camera capabilities. The standout moment was with the HONOR Magic8 Pro, which features up to 200x AI Super Zoom. I pointed it at the moon over the Opera House just to see how far it could go, and the results were surprisingly detailed for a smartphone. Check out the photos below!  We’re still spending time with both devices, especially testing how they perform in low light and during real-world shooting conditions at a festival like Vivid. Full review and video is coming soon!  And to confirm, these images are straight off the phone, I have not adjusted them in anyway!

FIFA World Cup 2026: What are the best TV settings for sports?

 The FIFA World Cup 2026 kicks off on 12th June, with the tournament spanning 104 matches over 39 days.

Whether you’re following our own Socceroos or settling in to catch each knockout round, it’s important to get your TV settings right to keep up with the action.

Your TV’s default mode is great for most content, but there are almost certainly a few settings you can tweak to get the best picture possible when watching The Beautiful Game.

Best TV settings for sports

Sport Mode

If your TV has a dedicated Sport Mode setting, this is a great starting point to achieve a better image. Most modern TVs from Samsung, LG, Sony, TCL, and Hisense include it, and it’s typically in your picture settings alongside presets like Standard, Movie, and Vivid.

This is an easy win for image quality. It applies a whole set of adjustments suited for live sports broadcast, like higher brightness, more colour saturation, and motion processing tuned for sports.

By default Sports Mode will increase brightness quite a bit, so if you’re viewing a match at night it may be worth adjusting back down a touch to reduce eye strain. Read more here. 

Guests and Topics on the Show

Faster, Smarter Printing: What’s New from Epson Inkjet Printers    Printers have come a long way from simply putting ink on paper. Today’s inkjet printers are faster, smarter, more efficient and designed to meet the needs of both homes and small businesses. Joined us today to talk about the latest innovations in printing technology and what’s new from Epson is Phil Daidone, Senior Product Manager at Epson Australia.  Latest inkjet printers from Epson are the ET-2920 (shown below) and the ET-4900. EOFY Phone Upgrade Spike  With cost-of-living pressures continuing to impact Australian households, many consumers held onto ageing or even broken technology for longer.  New research from Optus suggested End of Financial Year sales had become an increasingly important time for Australians looking to upgrade their devices without stretching the budget. Jane McNamara, VP External Communications and Stakeholder Engagement at Optus, joined us to discuss the findings.

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Which is the best router generation? WiFi 6, WiFi 7 and WiFi 8 explained    Browsing online or in-store for the best router these days, you might see WiFi 6 and 7 and wonder which to pick, while WiFi 8 starts to gain headlines too. Marketing would suggest you should always buy the newest, but there’s more nuance to it than that. What each generation of WiFi does WiFi 6 (802.11ax) shifted focus from prior generations only improving raw speed, instead designed for traffic optimisation in busy homes with a lot of devices. Smart TVs, phones, laptops, security cameras and more can create problems in older WiFi versions, but WiFi 6 addressed the issue. WiFi 6E (802.11ax extended) builds on WiFi 6 with an additional band that reduces congestion further in dense environments. The performance gain is modest for most users, but the additional 6GHz band helps in apartments and congested network conditions. WiFi 7 (802.11be) added a big speed increase and Multi-Link Operation that allows compatible devices to connect on multiple bands to reduce latency and increase stability. With theoretical maximum speeds upwards of 40 Gbps, the focus here was speed. WiFi 8 (802.11bn) is an upcoming standard that targets consistency to deliver reliable performance in interference-heavy environments. It’s intended to reduce latency and packet loss while increasing traffic performance. Instead of faster speeds, it tries to improve performance on busy networks.   Read more here on CyberShack.com 3 alternative search engines that put privacy first Amid Google’s upcoming search changes and a massive AI push, users are losing the familiar blue links page that surfaces related pages when you search the internet. Google is instead pushing its AI mode designed to deliver an answer that may or may not be accurate, meaning you have to do the extra legwork of fact checking its answer. Whether you want to keep the familiar link results page, seek to boost your privacy, or just interested in an independent service, there are many alternative search engines you might be interested in. Read more…

Guests and Topics on the Show

Guests and Topics on the Show    Why Identity Verification Matters More Than Ever      Identity verification is becoming more important than ever as Australians continue to move more services online. Today we’re joined by Rick Iversen, Head of ConnectID, to talk about how digital identity solutions are evolving, the role of secure verification in protecting consumers, and how ConnectID is helping simplify the way people prove who they are online.      Inside Honor’s Latest Smartphone Innovations        Honor continues to expand its smartphone lineup with devices focused on performance, durability and premium features. Matt Segafredo, Sales Director at Honor, joined us today to discuss the new Honor X9D and Magic 8 Pro, including the technology behind the devices, key standout features, and what consumers can expect from Honor’s latest smartphone range. I’m taking these handsets with me to Vivid Festival in Sydney this week. I’ll share how they perform capturing images at the annual light show in the newsletter next week.

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Inkjet vs Laser – A printer buying guide to save you money    When choosing the right printer, a lot of us might reach for the cheapest on the shelf or buy based on pages per minute and other metrics. The problem is that the wrong choice could end up costing you more in the long run, and buying a printer without considering your usage is an easy way to end up overspending. In this printer buying guide we’ll discuss the benefits and drawbacks of inkjet vs laser, then explain who each category is for and what features to look for.  Read more…   Google Speaker Radio Station Streaming Update      Stations has announced that the playback issue affecting Google smart speakers and Nest devices has now been resolved after causing disruptions for around a week.  Google confirmed the fault has been fixed, although users still experiencing issues are advised to restart their device by unplugging it for 30 seconds before reconnecting it.  The station also reminded listeners that the 2GB app remains the easiest and most reliable way to listen from anywhere.

Guests and Topics on the Show

Can AI Help Prevent Storm Water Flooding Before It Starts?   On the show today, we spoke with Len Luxford about how agentic AI could transform stormwater management and help reduce flooding risks in the future.   Len explained how new AI-integrated sensor systems can detect blockages, debris and pipe issues before water even starts flowing, allowing maintenance teams to move from reactive fixes to proactive management.   We also discussed how the Australian-designed technology is already being used overseas, including in Ho Chi Minh City, to support early flood warning systems and improve city preparedness.      Inside Google IO – Search Changes and What Comes Next         We also spoke with Alex Zaharov-Reutt about Google’s latest Search update and what it means for users and publishers.   Alex explained the reported changes, why Google continues to refine its search systems, and how updates like this can impact the way information is surfaced and accessed online. You can read more about it here: Google is burying your search results and calling it progress

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