PC Pro November 2024

Ever since I turned 18 I’ve had the sense that some God-like figure has been slowly pressing their foot upon the accelerator of my life to make time spin faster. In my head, I figure I’m 31, maybe 32 at a push, and even if I’m willing to concede that there’s a “5” at the beginning of my age I absolutely refuse to agree to it being autumn 2024 already. I’m pretty sure it should be April. When an Italian reporter told me “it’s going too fast” during an event at IFA 2024 (see p42) I naturally assumed he was thinking the same thing. But then he added: “No-one is in control and it needs to slow down.” Turns out he wasn’t talking about our lives flashing past, but the…

Stuart Andrews If you want a smart speaker then Stuart’s your man. He puts 14 to the test for cleverness, audio quality and features, including five smart screens, in our Labs test starting on p78. Steve Cassidy If your business’ Wi-Fi is annoying your team it may be time to upgrade to a newer standard. Find out if that’s the right decision by taking every key factor into account, as Steve explains from p104. Nik Rawlinson Fancy a break from AI? Nik explains how to master Clipchamp, Microsoft’s surprisingly capable video editor that’s built into Windows 11 and free to download for Windows 10 users. See p38. Rois Ni Thuama And if you haven’t had enough of AI, Rois explains why she’s so in love with the EU’s AI act,…

The CEO of Openreach has urged Ofcom to give rivals open access to Virgin Media O2’s network, ahead of a major telecoms review. The regulator is currently in the process of conducting a Telecoms Access Review that will lay down the rules for telecoms and broadband firms for the five years after April 2026. Openreach is using that opportunity to pressurise the regulator into forcing Virgin Media O2 to give rivals access to its ducts, potentially increasing competition in many areas of the country and avoiding the need to install ugly telegraph poles in some communities. Under the current rules, Openreach is forced to offer access to its nationwide network of poles and ducts under a scheme called Physical Infrastructure Access (PIA), which is regulated by Ofcom. This means prices…

A new wireless product called WaveCore is promising to make networking easier in premises with thick concrete walls. WaveCore is designed to be rolled out in buildings where solid walls make Wi-Fi unreliable, forcing the building’s owner to either drill through the wall or send cabling on circuitous routes around the building. In older premises, drilling through walls to insert cables can sometimes require expensive survey work or permits. US company Airvine claims WaveCore eliminates this problem by passing a multigigabit wireless signal through walls up to 12in thick. It does this using a pair of devices fitted either side of the wall, which effectively act as a bridge. The WaveCore units operate in the same 6GHz band as Wi-Fi 7, but the firm claims it has enough spectrum to…

If you come back to a parking spot to find your car’s been towed away, you’ve had a bad day. If you come back to find your car’s been towed because it potentially witnessed a murder, you’ve had a really bad day. This is reportedly what’s happening in the US, where according to the San Francisco Chronicle, police are obtaining warrants to tow away Teslas that have been parked near crime scenes, in case their cameras have captured evidence of the crime. It’s an extreme example of a growing trend, where footage captured on consumer devices is being used to assist police investigations. Whether it’s a video doorbell capturing a neighbour’s car being stolen, dashcam footage showing a traffic accident or passers-by recording an incident on their phone, police are…

Facial recognition – whether running in real-time via CCTV at big events or on pre-recorded footage – is now commonly used by UK police forces. But the legal grounds for its use are much disputed. The Home Office website unequivocally states that “there is a comprehensive legal framework in the UK, which means that the police can only use it [facial recognition] for a policing purpose, where necessary, proportionate, and fair”. However, a Justice and Home Affairs Committee hearing held last December exposed that there are no specific laws detailing the use of facial recognition. When challenged by the former director of Liberty, Baroness Chakrabarti, on the legality of using facial recognition to identify criminal suspects, Lindsey Chiswick, director of intelligence at the Metropolitan Police, admitted that there was no…