In depth: Wet Wet Wet: The best ways to listen to music in your bathroom

The ablutions that begin each day are dull and lifeless, while bathing in silence is one of life's little missed opportunities.

What about that album you downloaded and haven't listened to yet? Or that podcast that could change your life?

Since few want to take their precious smartphone anywhere near the moist confines of a bathroom, let alone a bath, we've put together some options for tunes on the toilet and songs in the shower.

While novelties like the iDuck Wireless Waterproof Speaker will suit some, there are some serious waterproof Bluetooth speakers available that offer stunning audio quality as well as versatility.

Perhaps the finest is the splash-proof Braven BRV-1, which can't be dunked under water, but it can take a splash or two. Completely weather-proof, the 890g BRV-1's subwoofers offer the kind of bass you'll never hear from a smartphone's speakers, and it comes with a 3.5mm stereo jack and a built-in mic for hands-free calls, too. The BRV-1's battery charges via microUSB and keeps on going for around 12 hours.

Close competitor the Grace Digital ECOXBT Waterproof Speaker gives 10 hours of music and adds grab handles on each side.

The ECOXBT is a waterproof wireless wonder

Another option is the Sonixx BeachBox Wireless Waterproof Bluetooth Speaker, which comes with a rugged, rubberised shockproof and splash-proof design. Though best left on a shelf rather than taken into the shower cubicle itself, the BeachBox is big on sound quality thanks to its compatibility with APT-X lossless Bluetooth streaming. It includes an aux-in for hooking-up a smartphone and, for owners of flashy Android devices, the BeachBox also includes NFC for one-touch tap pairing.

For only £5.96 (about US$9, AU$11) you can get a the tiny 6 x 6 x 5cm TechCode Mini Ultra Portable Waterproof Bluetooth Wireless Stereo, which sticks to the wall and offers six hours of music when paired to a smartphone left outside of shower.

Savvy smartphone owners with waterproof phones won't need any of these gadgets, though such handsets are still relatively rare. However, phones such as the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z3 and Sony Xperia M2 Aqua can all happily be dunked in the bath/shower and survive.

The Galaxy S5 boasts IP67 rating (dunk it a metre underwater for 30 minutes) while the Xperia Z3 reaches IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes) and the Xperia M2 Aqua also has a rating of IP68 (1.5m for 30 minutes).

Sony's Xperia phones have been waterproof for a few years

Crucially, the speakers on flagship smartphones like the Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z3 are a cut above, too.

There are other smartphones that can be used in the bathroom, too, including a range of handsets from niche manufacturer Kyocera (such as the Kyocera Hydro Elite and the Kyocera Hydro Life) and both the Motorola Moto G and HTC One M8, both of which can happily sit on a shelf in a misty bathroom, they just can't join you in the shower.

There are a plethora of splash-proof AM/FM radios that will give you some aquatic entertainment. A cheap option is Sony's ICF-S79W AM/FM/Weather Band Digital Tuner Shower Radio, which boasts a great reception.

Waterproof radios are usually cheap AM/FM affairs

There's also the Abco Tech Waterproof Wireless Bluetooth Shower Speaker & Handsfree Speakerphone, which has a sucker to fix onto a tiled wall or shower enclosure. The battery last for up to 15 hours, and it pairs automatically to your phone after the initial set-up.

There's a pricier version that adds an FM radio, too and the equally diminutive Aquabourne FM Bath/Beach/Shower radio adds an aux-in for attaching a smartphone.

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In Depth: 25 PS4 tips and tricks for getting the most out of your console

That lovely parallelogram has been snug under your TV for a number of months now and you've probably discovered all kinds of tricks it can do.

But a slew of software updates since release mean you might have missed some vital points.

Despite a few E3 promises still working on being fulfilled, Sony's 8th generation console has been gifted some spectacular features so far and whether it's making the most of sharing or discovering the PlayStation app, we've gathered 25 must know tips to make the most out of your PS4 right now.

Well, wireless when it comes to stretching between the sofa and the screen that is. A 3.5mm jack handily positioned on the DualShock 4 means you can plug your own headphones or headset into the controller. The default setting is for chat audio only but this can be easily tweaked by holding down the PS button in game and selecting 'adjust devices' on the resulting menu. Select the 'output to headphones' option and choose 'all audio'. Voila, the digital crackling of Watch Dogs is in your ears and, if you have an inline mic you can use this for in game chat or even commentary recording for Twitch.

Previously it was a serious slog to enter messages using the analogue sticks on PS3, with only an ugly wireless keypad peripheral available to ease the pain. Thankfully, PS4 delivers a choice of interfaces and, as well as a helpful touchpad input, allows you to use the PlayStation App as a second screen for text entry. With your phone and PS4 on the same Wi-Fi network you can pair them via the PlayStation App connection settings on the PS4. Then, with both logged in to the same PSN ID, select the second screen option, choose the keyboard icon at the top left and, as if by magic, PlayStation messaging becomes fun again.

It's not here just yet but come Destiny time – that'll be September the 9th this year – the ability to pre-load games won't just belong to smug PC gamers. Starting with Bungie's futuristic FPS, PS4 will allow us to pre-load all games that can be pre-ordered on the PlayStation Store several days before the release date. With no more watching a loading bar on launch day this is a much needed addition that'll remove a lot of the desire to venture out on day one when games will be ready to play as soon as the clock passes midnight.

If the last entry wasn't enough of a reason to stay in bed then the remote play features of PS4 should seal the deal. Whether someone else wants the TV or you just fancy playing 8th gen games in the bath, the capability to stream to the PlayStation Vita is a slick process that just requires you to have both devices signed into the same PSN ID. You can connect directly to the PS4 or via your wireless network if you are too far away from the console itself. Make sure that 'enable turning on PS4 from network' is selected in your power save settings and you'll be able to turn on the PS4 remotely from the Vita.

If you've not shelled out for an additional controller yet and fancy some two player action on PS4 then you'll be happy to hear that your trusty Vita doubles up as an additional DualShock. Set up remote play as usual with the Vita. This will automatically turn off any connected controller and allow the handheld to control the on screen action. When you want a friend to join in, have them press the PS button on the DualShock and log in as another user or guest and you'll have co-op Lego Marvel on the go in no time.

PS4, whether you tell it to or not, always diligently records the last 15 minutes of your gameplay just in case you perform some incredible feat and fancy showing it to the world or just want to keep it for yourself as a digital memento. To hoard a period of gaming history all you need to do is hit the share button or opt to save a video to your captures folder. This can then be uploaded directly to Facebook and thus, the world. If you actively want to record something, press the share button twice to start recording and once when you want to end the clip. Again, this can only be up to 15 minutes in length.

The default set up of the share button means that a quick press will bring up the share menu and a longer press is needed to take a screenshot. However, an 'easy screenshots' mode is available that allows you to reverse the settings and means you'll never have to leave the action if you want to take a quick snap of the scenery/carnage. This setting can be found within the options menu of the share screen.

With both Twitch and Ustream support built into the PS4, it's easy to get your gaming online for all to see. A press of the share button in-game will give you the option to stream on either platform and a helpful settings screen allows you to add footage and audio from the PlayStation Camera, display comments from viewers and change the quality of the upload depending on your network speeds. Some games even allow Twitch viewers to have a say in the action with commenters adding more horror to the procedurally generated scare-fest Daylight and deciding Lara's fate when she is wounded in Tomb Raider.

It's not here yet but the Oculus Rift-rivalling virtual reality headset is on its way to PS4. A little Daft Punk in its stylings, Project Morpheus impressed at its initial showing and already has games confirmed for the platform, as well as the usual tech demos. It was also recently revealed to be the reason behind the DualShock 4's distinctive colour changing light bar so expect plenty of motion input as well as traditional Dual Shock controls.

A big part of the recent 1.70 update was the Share Factory. A free editing app, it delivers more personalisation options for your videos with the ability to add commentary, soundtracks and effects to your footage. You can add a unique PS4 intro and outro to each video you post and it delivers a user friendly interface for editing and splicing clips together. Videos can be uploaded directly to Facebook from the PS4 or alternatively you can save them to a USB stick in order to upload to YouTube via your computer.

Hooking up your PS4 to Facebook is a great way of importing a profile photo and ensuring easy sharing with friends without having to make much of an effort. It also means your real name can now be revealed to the world if you accept specific requests from your PSN friends. A Facebook settings page allows you to make sure that you aren't spamming friends with every single trophy pop and you can easily personalise who sees what activity. A new update also means you can post multiple images to both your Facebook and Twitter profiles. So much for not spamming your non-gamer friends…

While in standby mode – indicated by sleepy orange lighting – the PS4 is happy to download updates, games and, usefully, charge those ailing DualShocks. Make sure that supply power from USB ports is selected within your power savings settings and you shouldn't find yourself running out of juice after an hour's game time. Also worth keeping in mind is the new micro USB socket which means compatible phone chargers will let you charge a controller on the fly without having to stretch a cable from the console.

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In depth: 12 Android battery life tips and tricks

Page 1 of 2Introduction: tips 1-6 Getting the most out of your phone's power pack

Batteries are growing bigger with every passing year, but we're not seeing a huge benefit because our Android devices are demanding more and more out of them. Battery life still tops the complaint charts for smartphone owners tired of the daily charging routine.

The first Android smartphone, the HTC Dream, had a 1,150mAh battery, but it also had a 3.2-inch display. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has a 2,800mAh battery and a 5.1-inch display. Average battery capacities have been climbing steadily since 2008, but screen sizes have been keeping pace.

No one really wants to be told that the most obvious route to increased battery life is to use your phone less or worse: turn off some of the features that enticed you to buy it in the first place. So we've pulled together a list of relatively painless tips to keep your Android going that little bit longer.

Most Android device manufacturers have added some form of power-saving mode. You can automatically hobble your phone's features or shut down specific apps when your battery dwindles below a predetermined level.

Stock Android only offers battery stats for now, but Android Lollipop has a battery saver option built in (which means most phones running Android 5 will too in the future). If you can't find a power saving option, check out an app like Juice Defender.

You don't need your phone syncing away through the night, so why not introduce a bedtime routine that automatically silences it and kills your data and Wi-Fi connections? With apps like AutomateIt and Tasker you can also automatically turn things on and off based on triggers and rules you define.

Delve into Settings > Apps and flick over to the 'All' tab to find a complete list of your apps. Anything there that you don't use is a candidate for the uninstall pile. In their infinite wisdom, carriers and manufacturers sometimes block you from uninstalling their apps, but you usually have the option to disable them instead and it's worth doing.

Use power saving mode, stop syncing through the night and disable some apps

You may also consider installing Greenify to get a good look at what is running and automatically hibernate apps that you aren't using, so they aren't eating system resources unless you start them up.

You'll need to root your device to really take full advantage, which is simple enough but will take a little time to manage if you're new to the process. If you do decide to root then you may also consider Titanium Backup Pro for freezing unwanted apps.

The busier your home screen, the more battery life it's going to suck. Get rid of widgets that you don't need, and consider reducing refresh rates. Animation costs power, so ditch the live wallpapers.

If you have a phone with an AMOLED display (such as nearly all of the high end Samsungs or the new Moto X), then use a dark background for the home screen and a dark theme in general. The technology achieves deep blacks by not lighting up those pixels and so dark backgrounds can save you some power.

Hibernate some apps, clean up your home screen and check your display settings

Your screen brightness is going to have a big impact on your battery. Don't rely on auto-brightness because it will generally be set higher than you really need. Reduce brightness manually and keep it as low as is comfortable. You can always pull down the notification shade and tweak it quickly via the quick settings when you have to.

You should also reduce the screen time out in display settings under sleep. The faster your Android device fades to black when not in use, the more power you'll save.

Page 1 of 2Introduction: tips 1-6

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In depth: 12 iPhone battery life tips and tricks

The frustration of a dead battery will be familiar to every iPhone owner. But what can you do to avoid it, other than use your phone less?

Apple is good at squeezing maximum performance out of the hardware in the iPhone and that's one of the reasons that the iPhone's battery is comparatively small. The first iPhone had a 1400mAh battery, and seven years later the iPhone 6 has a 1810mAh battery, although the iPhone 6 Plus has a whopping 2910mAh offering.

Many of the current Android flagships have batteries rated over 3000mAh, but then they have much bigger displays - the 6 Plus aside, of course. But that doesn't mean we still don't struggle to keep our iPhones going for longer, no matter how big the battery pack.

Until the next big leap in battery or charging technology comes along, we'll have to rely on smarts to get the most out of our iPhones. Here are a few simple tips you can follow to get a whole lot more juice from your Apple smartphone.

The biggest culprit for rapid battery drain is often a weak signal, but there isn't a great deal you can do about that. If you're in an area with a poor signal then you might consider switching Airplane mode on, which stops the constant searching that sucks the life from your phone.

You should also always use Wi-Fi instead of cellular data whenever possible too, as that offers a more stable connection and will stop all that battery-abusing searching for a signal.

Some apps will spam you with pointless news. How many of the notifications you get do you actually want to see? In most cases, very few.

Every one of them is sucking down some battery life, so cut them off at the source. Go to settings > notification centre and tap on any apps you don't want notifications from. Then choose 'none' under the alert style, and turn 'badge icon' and 'sounds' off.

Use WiFi wherever possible, turn off notifications and check your settings

Your display is costly to power, so you want it to shut down quickly when you aren't using it.

Go to Settings > General > Auto-lock and see if you can live with a shorter time before the screen auto-locks.

You should also head to Settings > Wallpaper & brightness and turn 'Auto-brightness' off to save some battery. Set the brightness as low as you can and only adjust it up when needed and you'll save a decent chunk of power – although this might mean you can't always see your phone screen in direct sunlight.

You don't need dynamic backgrounds and parallax, '3D' effects. They're fun but they're munching your power. Pick a static image or a favourite photo in Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness, then choose 'Wallpaper' and turn 'Reduce Motion' on in Settings > General > Accessibility.

People imagine that swiping apps closed in the multitasking menu is saving power, but you really need to be taking a look in Settings > General > Background App refresh to really make a difference.

Allowing apps to refresh themselves like this is a big drain on your battery. Go down the list and turn off everything you don't need - Facebook in particular can drain your battery really quickly. These apps still refresh when you actually load them up, which is a lot more efficient for your battery.

Stop background refreshing, get your email manually and check your location settings

There's some argument about the benefits of push email (arriving when sent) versus fetch (the phone checks at pre-agreed intervals), and it really depends on how much email you get and how often you have it syncing.

Push should only send from the server when a mail comes in, and it will be more power efficient than checking every five minutes with fetch, but if you get a lot of email then push could drain the battery faster than fetch with a slower refresh time of an hour.

Assuming you're only going to check your email once every couple of hours, getting it manually is going to save you power over both options… but you'll have to actually remember to do it!

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In depth: GDC 2015: What we want to see

Can't wait for GDC 2015!

GDC 2014 was full of surprises and we're hoping GDC 2015 will be too. It's still early but the panel schedule is filling up fast and it'll be March before you know it.

To recap, the Game Developer's Conference features over 400 lectures, panels, tutorials and round-table discussions with speakers from all over the gaming space.

The GDC Expo is part of the conference and simultaneously highlights tools, platforms and services used by game devs. The conference also is filled with indie hopefuls and occasionally, major breaking news.

Read on for what we want to see at the next GDC.

Speaking of surprises and breaking news, Sony unveiled Project Morpheus, last year. Its virtual reality headset has stayed under the radar lately despite making demo appearances here and there.

We haven't heard a lot from the Morpheus development front though there's still a couple of months before GDC. It's possible Sony will bring something to the VR table at CES 2015, but if not, expect to see something new in March. Perhaps the next build or enhanced latency experience.

Check out the video below to see our last Morpheus demo.

Last we heard, there were quite a few Steam Machines in the running, plus more recently announced Asus machines … but so far Alienware has been the most vocal about its Alpha - which will start shipping pretty soon in November.

Valve also promised the Steam Controller and SteamOS in 2015 after announcing a delay.

Again, we're hoping more machines (and Steam parts) will be ready come CES time, but if not, GDC should be a guarantee for a spotting.

We didn't see new hardware from Microsoft at last year's GDC, but it didn't leave without presenting something exciting. DirectX 12 - a new API that will allow full use of most modern graphics cards - was announced prior to the conference and then discussed in detail during Microsoft's panel. The program still isn't out yet and is expected for a 2015 holiday release, but we'll probably hear more about it during GDC 2015.

Aside from the API, maybe we'll see Microsoft throw in a VR device of its own? The company definitely has the capabilities but has yet to reveal anything. It's also not like the Xbox One parent is shy of hardware outside of consoles - the Microsoft Band is evidence of this. Then again, the surprise wearable announcement was definitely later to the smartband game but is slowly gaining traction as an intriguing, powerful piece of tech. Perhaps that's what we can expect if (when) Microsoft finally unleashes its virtual reality contender.

It seems pretty obvious that VR will yet again dominate the gaming hardware scene. This means we're expecting something big from the biggest face of virtual reality: the Oculus Rift.

Mountains of rumors have been circulating that the Rift will finally hit consumer stands in 2015. This makes GDC the perfect stage to show off the latest iteration of the VR headset. We saw the Crystal Cove version, or SDK2, debut last year and we're hoping Oculus pulls out another version next year.

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In Depth: The animals of Far Cry 4 that are going to kill you, and the ones that'll save your life

Page 1 of 2Building the jungle It's the circle of life

The animals in Far Cry 3 could be real jerks. Just as much as you enjoyed hunting them, they enjoyed hunting you too - with a habit of picking the most inconvenient moments. But Far Cry 3 was a petting zoo compared to the jungle that is Far Cry 4. Some are weird, some are wonderful, some are majestic - but every creature in this Himalayan wilderness is going to try to kill you. Alright, maybe not the turtles.

The AI has come a long way since we last immersed ourselves in the world of Far Cry. That's both a good and a bad thing; with the animals more lifelike than ever, they're also smarter than ever.

"Animals are really interesting because they're part of the open world," Far Cry 4 creative director Alex Hutchinson tells TechRadar. "We think 'What's appropriate? Can we get a lot of different animals in there?' We look at behaviour… animals will be free, but even within that, some will charge at you, some will weave, some will circle"

With Far Cry 3 the developers spent a lot of time at zoos studying animal behaviour, but much of the research this time was done from a desk. Perhaps that's not as interesting, but it made for some unique discoveries. "We found an amazing video of an eagle picking up a goat and dropping it off a cliff," says Alex. "We had to show people the reference video because they were accusing us of making stuff up."

The Himalayas are home to a plethora of wildlife, but human conflict is still at the heart of the game's narrative. So it was essential that the tigers, elephants, rhinos and bears remained secondary to everything else.

"It's a really tricky thing to deal with because if you dial it down too much, you find a lot of players don't engage with the animals," says Alex "Your goal is to allow the players to be annoyed sometimes, but for it not to become oppressive. You dont want to stop them achieving their goals. It's a very challenging and subjective thing to deal with because every player is different and their skills levels are different."

It was also important that the team didn't get too lost in the jungle. "You could disappear into those systems. That might not always be the best spend of resources and time. So we've tried to add as much believability as we can. It's a big step up from Far Cry 3. Predators will hunt prey, elephants will wash itself in the stream. I think in terms of animals it's the best job we've done so far."

The developers have placed different species in different areas of the map, with crossovers at various points, so you won't be swarmed by every single species from the start. "We try to find some level of predictability, but...the chances of them spawning are semi random."

"One of our goals was to spread it out. So we don't want them to find everything in the first hour. Definitely, the animals are spread everywhere. You'll be finding animals throughout the whole game."

We've already had a good taste of the majestic beasts we'll be encountering in Far Cry 4, which we believe qualifies us as professional naturalists on a level that David Attenborough might feel intimidated by. So as David was unavailable to offer his own commentary on the animals of Far Cry 4, we've done it ourselves. These are the creatures that you'll be shooting in the face, and this is how much of a nuisance they're going to be.

Page 1 of 2Building the jungle

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In Depth: Netflix vs Amazon Prime Instant Video: which is best for you?

Owning stuff is so 20th Century: these days, the smart money gets spent on streaming.

Why pay for shiny and expensive discs when you can stream almost everything ever made to every device you and your family own for a small monthly fee?

That's what Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video offer, but there are big differences in the way they do things and in the stuff you can see. Let's discover which streaming service is best for you.

The standard Netflix UK service is £5.99 per month or £6.99 if you want high definition streaming (where available); if you've already signed up as a customer that £1 price increase has been delayed until 2016.

If you want Ultra HD/4K streaming you'll need to pay a bit more: that's £8.99 per month.

If you're a member of Amazon's Prime free-delivery club the Instant Video service is free - although the annual price of Prime has been hiked from £39 to £79 and gives you video whether you want it or not.

If you want Amazon Prime Instant Video but don't want the other benefits of a Prime membership, the price is a flat £5.99 per month.

Just want free next day delivery? Well you're stuck with the streaming service too

On the Xbox, users of Netflix or Amazon had to pay extra to use the apps as they were only available to paid-up Xbox Live Gold members. Microsoft has now dropped that requirement.

Both services are available for PC and Mac, Xbox 360 and Xbox One, PS3 and PS4, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo Wii U, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad and the Kindle Fire family.

Netflix apps are available on almost any device you can think of

In addition, Amazon Prime Instant Video is available on LG, Sony and Samsung Smart TVs, Sony's Network Media Player and Home Cinema System, and Blu-Ray players from LG, Samsung and Sony.

The previous lack of an Android phone app has been addressed, although it doesn't support Chromecast, and there's no Windows Phone app. As you'd expect, it works with Amazon's own Fire TV.

Netflix is available on Android (including Chromecast) and Windows Phone, compatible LG, Panasonic, Philips, Samsung and Sony Blu-Ray players and Smart TVs, Apple TV and set-top boxes from Philips, Roku, WD and Virgin Media, as well as LG home theatre equipment. It's also coming to YouView boxes.

Amazon's apps are much nicer than the web interface, possibly because they look like Netflix

You'll find a full list of Netflix-capable devices here; the list for Amazon Instant Video is here.

Both services have extensive libraries of kids' TV shows and movies including Disney and Pixar hits. Amazon also has an impressive collection of cartoons.

Both services have parental controls that can prevent the little 'uns from streaming horror movies, and Netflix also enables you to create separate profiles for each user and make the kids' ones child-friendly.

Netflix's user accounts are handy, especially for kids, but they aren't password protected

Those profiles aren't password-protected, however, so there's nothing to stop the little ones logging in as you and watching The Human Centipede 2.

Netflix has long had the edge over Amazon when it comes to TV: it snapped up the rights to stream Breaking Bad and it's commissioned critically acclaimed shows such as Orange Is The New Black and House of Cards.

Amazon is getting into the commissioning game too - its drama Transparent has attracted rave reviews - but its TV catalogue isn't as impressive as Netflix's. Netflix often has more recent series than Amazon, so for example Netflix has 8 seasons of the US Office while Amazon's streaming ends with season 5.

We often found Amazon's TV shows to be older than Netflix's unless you go pay-per-view

That brings us to one of the things we really hate about Amazon's offering: Prime Instant Video sits alongside the non-Prime Instant Video service, which is video on demand and isn't included in your membership. It's very frustrating to see programmes in the listings without the blue Prime logo.

The aforementioned US Office is a good example: if you want to see series after season 5, you'll need to pay £1.89 an episode for SD or £2.49 for HD.

On balance, we think Netflix has the better selection of TV programmes - but that might be because we're more Breaking Bad than Vikings. We'd recommend searching both services for your favourites.

It's important to know that both services regularly prune their catalogues, usually because the deals with the content owners have expired. Don't assume that a title that's there today will still be there in a few months' time.

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In depth: WireLurker: what you need to know about Apple's biggest ever threat

Nobody bats an eyelid when malware shows up in the Windows world, but when it manoeuvres itself Mission Impossible-style into Apple's traditionally locked-down ecosystem, everything tends to descend into a frenzy.

It's par for the course, then, that WireLurker, a strain of malware that's transferred from infected Macs to USB-connected iOS devices, has caused quite a stir in the past 24 hours.

According to Unit 42 - the threat intelligence team at Palo Alto Networks that discovered the vulnerability - WireLurker has made its way onto potentially hundreds of thousands of China-based people's Apple devices. What's more, the company reckons it has the potential to spread its tentacles much further afield.

We don't want to leave you hanging, so here's a run down of the vital information that you need to know about what has been called "a new breed of threat to all iOS devices". It has been provided by Ryan Olson, Head of Intelligence at Unit 42.

WireLurker is a strain of malware that has been discovered in a third-party Chinese OS X app store called Maiyadi. According to Unit 42, it marks a "new era in malware across Apple's desktop and mobile platforms" and poses a threat to businesses, governments and Apple device customers worldwide.

Rather than attacking OS X and iOS separately, WireLurker targets both platforms at the same time. It does so by monitoring any iOS device connected via USB with an infected OS X computer and installs downloaded third-party applications or automatically generated malicious applications onto the device, depending on whether or not it's jailbroken (hence the name "wire lurker"). Researchers have succesfully pulled off similar methods fo attack non-jailbroken devices before, but WireLurker is sophisticated enough to combine several techniques to make it even more dangeous than what has gone before.

WireLurker can boast a number of firsts - all of which make it a particularly nasty piece of work. It's the first known strain of malware that can infect installed iOS apps in a similar way to how a traditional virus on a desktop computer would.

It's also the first-in-the-wild malware family that can install third-party apps on iOS devices that haven't been jailbroken using enterprise provisioning (a way of companies installing their own apps without going through Apple's app approval process).

Additionally, until WireLurker came along, only one other malware family was known to have attacked iOS devices through OS X via USB.

WireLurker is believed to have been built by cyber criminals in China, who have trojanised (infected) 467 OS X applications in Maiyadi. Maiyadi is also a website that provides Apple-related news and resources, whereas the app store of the same name is a sub-site known to host pirated premium Mac, iPad and iPhone apps.

Think before you connect

Some criminals act first and think later, which appears to be what the perpetrators of WireLurker are doing. Unit 42 reckons they're still considering their motives while developing attack plans and fine-tuning the malware to be more stealthy and harder to remove.

WireLurker is capable of stealing data - from address book contacts to Apple device information and iMessage contact details - and could be capable of much more due to its ability to communicate with a "command control server" for updates. In other words, it's constantly becoming more powerful and sophisticated.

More than you might think. It's thought that 467 infected applications have been downloaded over 356,104 times, mainly by Mac and iOS users in China.

Because WireLurker is only found in third-party Mac apps, you can stay safe from harm by only downloading apps from Apple's own Mac App Store. In other words: keep away from third-party app stores that aren't only infested with malware, they're of dubious legality due to reasons related to copyright and IP.

The security vulnerability was discovered by Claud Xiao of Unit 42 after he came across a Chinese forum documenting highly suspicious files and processes on Macs and iPhones.

Xiao found that all of the apps trojanized by WireLurker included an installation interface that used a "Pirates of the Caribbean" themed wallpaper. The infected apps also use a QQ (an IM software service) account number that corresponds to the owner of the Maiyadi website. The packages also contained an application named "User Manual', which was displayed in Chinese.

Let's be clear: although WireLurker is affecting Apple devices, it's not an Apple vulnerability. That's because the techniques that it uses are deployed using legitimate APIs either from Apple on in Cydia (a third-party app store on iOS), which is used by jail-broken devices.

However, in a statement Apple confirmed to TechRadar that it has blocked infected apps that it has identified to prevent them from launching.

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In Depth: Bin your PS4 - Frostbite team gets Battlefield 4 working on an iPad

It's... beautiful

In the next move towards getting even better console-style games on our phones and tablets, DICE's Frostbite egine team has got parts of Battlefield 4 to work on iOS.

On its blog, EA announced it had performed a minor miracle, getting the fairly recent Battlefield 4 to work on iOS devices.

While there sadly isn't video to demonstrate it, there are screenshots suggesting iPads are the devices being tinkered with.

Mobile manager at Frostbite Stockholm, Kristoffer Benjaminsson, stresses that this is at present just a tech demo, a proof of concept, and that they have only managed to get parts of the game working. But we think you'll agree: it's impressive stuff regardless.

Benjaminsson says that the Metal API is at the root of this new processing potential.

"Hardware and software limitations forced us to either scale down the number of objects and their complexity to retain visual fidelity... This all changed when Apple introduced Metal, their new low-level graphics API, which allowed us to make full use of the hardware.

"Together with the latest range of hardware, Metal has created possibilities previously out of reach and for the first time we can include both high visual fidelity and a large number of objects."

The screenshots suggest the game is certainly not being rendered at an iPad Air 2's native resolution — check out those jaggies — but Battlefield 4 doesn't look desperately scaled-back in terms of draw distance and texture detail.

Benjaminsson says we'll hear more about this project in coming blog posts, an almost annoyingly exciting teaser of what might come in future months.

What's more crucial than the attention-grabbing Battlefield 4 demo is that the Frostbite engine works properly on iOS — it's the engine behind Need for Speed: Rivals and Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare too, among others.

The iPad Air 2's APU is likely to be key in unlocking this future potential. Its A8X processor offers 2.5 times the graphics performance of the iPad Air's A7 chipset according to Apple.

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In depth: The Fire Phone isn't working, so where does Amazon go next?

Drones probably aren't the answer

Amazon is a company that is hard to define. Originally built as a book seller, the company has since grown into an immense online warehouse, filled with anything you could ask for.

It now manufactures phones, a tablet, has given birth to a range of e-readers, and much more. And all while making virtually no profit, essentially being bankrolled by investor money in place of profits.

In 2014 alone, the company made a loss of over $400 million and continues to do so, as all available revenues are ploughed back into generating double-digit growth.

Almost every major technology company in America has a single goal, or at least a single product line that generates the bulk of revenue and is therefore focused on by the company.

For Apple it was the iPod – and is now the iPhone. For Google it's search, for Facebook it's advertising based on 'likes', for Microsoft it's Windows, and for Twitter it's promoted tweets or trends.

Contrastingly, Amazon has no such single ambition. The company has its fingers in many pies across a seemingly infinite array of markets – but has it spread itself too thin?

Earlier this year, Amazon attempted to enter the smartphone space with the Fire Phone, a high-end handset to rival Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy range. In Q3 2014, Amazon announced that it was taking a $170 million write down on unsold stock of the Fire Phone.

Before this, many outlets in the US dropped the on-contract price of the Fire Phone to 99 cents in an effort to shift the phone; a plan that obviously hasn't worked as well as anticipated. Of course, Amazon has previously had success with hardware in the form of Kindles, which lead the e-reading space, and the Fire range of tablets – so why should phones be different?

The answer is that Amazon strayed from what it knows, and it's paid for it. Kindles and tablets are content consumption devices and Amazon sells content – books, films, music, and so on – so understands the market and the needs of those who buy the devices.

Phones are content consumption devices, but also communications devices and this is an area of which Amazon has very little knowledge. TechRadar gave the Fire Phone two and a half stars, summarising, "The Fire Phone is a shopping tool for Amazon with some phone features baked in." And this is exactly Amazon's problem: the phone was only "baked in," not an integral part of the experience.

Apple CEO Tim Cook expressed a minimalist sentiment to Charlie Rose in an interview this summer saying that Apple "can lay all the products [it] sells on a table" and yet Apple is inline to make $180 billion in revenue during 2014, a number other companies (especially those outside of the oil business) can only dream of.

Granted, the operational structure and product portfolio of Apple is entirely different to that of Amazon, and so the comparison isn't entirely fair. But there's much to be said for a simplistic set of ideals and projects. Many of the things that Amazon invests in – drones, for instance – have very little future revenue-making potential on a large scale, and investors are starting to get worried.

After Amazon announced its Q3 results, shares dropped 10% as investors balked at another quarter without profits; another quarter where their money subsidised a business running at-cost.

There are companies with a large portfolio of products that still generate vast incomes, such as Microsoft and (to some extent) Amazon. Where they differ, however, is profit. Microsoft has a headcount of over 100,000 and still manages to make billions in profit per quarter due to a profitable core business of selling licences for Windows to PC vendors and consumers.

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In depth: Why CES remains a critical weather vane for our tech lives

From TVs to tablets, CES is all about tech innovation

Formed in 1967, The International Consumer Electronics Show (International CES) is now the most famous show of its type on the planet, and although many of the major manufacturers now choose to host their own events to avoid being overshadowed or lost in the noise, nobody would ever doubt that it remains a tent pole of the technology industry.

We're not, in truth, expecting an announcement on the level of Blu-ray or DVD (or even Laserdisc) at the 2015 incarnation of the show, but CES remains an important touch point for the industry as we look to the big-ticket technologies for the coming year.

At a recent talk with the CEA (the trade body behind the show), president and CEO, Gary Shapiro outlined some of the big trends for the coming show, a great indicator for what is growing fast and becoming mainstream.

"We have CEOs from across the world coming because they want to see trends," he said.

"This year we will see a lot about 3D printing, which is one of the fastest-growing areas, and will be 40% bigger [at the show] than in 2014.

"We will have driverless cars, lots of gaming, high definition audio, sensors – which are getting a lot of attention. Smartwatches' footprint will double and we'll see a big growth in unmanned systems (which I still call drones), and of course there's wireless health.

"We're also launching two new areas this time. The first is a personal privacy, where people can check out developments such as safe payment methods, digital wallets and private messaging, and cyber security which, in the midst of high-profile attacks in the US, is becoming a crucial area."

Of course, Shapiro is mainly talking about the amount of exhibitors or the space that they are taking in Las Vegas, and it's clear that some of the technology on show may not have enough mainstream accessibility to either become huge or maintain its size.

But in the industries he listed, it's very likely that we will see devices and ideas that will shape not only 2015, but the next decade in technology.

Indeed, while drones and smartwatches are already becoming a mass-market favourite, driverless cars remain some years from being commonplace, and the sensor market – and the oft-mentioned internet of things that rely on its data – is only in the very infancy of its likely world-changing life cycle.

CES remains a show at which big manufacturers can unleash their 'next big thing', but perhaps more importantly the gathering of 150,000 people from the technology industry remains an indicator of what's going to be important outside of those big-ticket devices.

Shapiro wouldn't be doing his job if he failed to insist that this year's show would be a 'barn burner' but when he says it's the show that the world comes to see the latest in innovation, it is not merely hyperbole. CES is still a vital weathervane for the industry that created it.

Here's what we're hoping to see at CES 2015

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In Depth: Sony Xperia Z4: what we want to see

The Sony Xperia Z3 has just arrived on shop shelves but with Sony now in a pattern of releasing two flagships a year we're surely only a matter of months away from the Sony Xperia Z4, so it's not too early to make a wish list of what we want to see.

There's not a huge amount of rumors surrounding Sony's next flagship just yet, but one report reckons the Japanese firm will return to an annual launch of its top device, ditching the recent trend of every six months.

What is it? Sony's next flagship smartphoneWhen is it out? Possibly early 2015What will it cost? A lot - this will be a high-end device

The Xperia Z3 hasn't been out for long, but already there's chatter on the web about its successor, the Sony Xperia Z4.

In fact we could be on for something quite special as Android Origin claims its source revealed specs which would make the Xperia Z4 the most powerful smartphone around.

A 5.5-inch QHD 1440 x 2560 display, 64-bit 2.8GHz octa-core Snapdragon 810 processor, 4GB of RAM, Adreno 430 GPU, 32GB of storage and a Exmor RS CMOS sensor have all been touted for the Xperia Z4. This is one to keep an eye on.

We can also take a guess as to when the Xperia Z4 will launch (though whether or not the Z4 and the Z3X are one and the same is unclear). Sony announced the Xperia Z2 at MWC 2014 on February 24, so it's likely that the Xperia Z4 will arrive at MWC 2015, which next year is set to happen on March 2-5.

That will put almost six months between the Xperia Z3 and the Xperia Z4, so it would make sense if Sony is sticking to two flagships a year. As for what we want to see, read on for all our thoughts.

Sony's been trumpeting its phones 4K video capabilities since the Xperia Z2, yet neither that nor the Xperia Z3 can actually record for more than around five minutes without heating up and shutting down the video.

That's obviously a major problem and while it doesn't quite render the 4K feature redundant it does severely limit it. The fact that Sony has left it unfixed in the Xperia Z3 is perplexing, presumably there isn't an easy fix, but if longer videos were possible it could be a genuinely useful feature, whereas right now it's just kind of an embarrassment.

So hopefully it will be fixed for the Sony Xperia Z4. You never know, some people might even have 4K televisions by then too.

The Sony Xperia Z, Z1 and Z2 all had 1080p displays and that was fine as that was the best any smartphone had at the time and the screen size was at least being increased.

But then the Xperia Z3 also launched with a 1080p screen and that was slightly more disappointing, since the size remained the same and other than increased brightness there wasn't much of an upgrade, plus some other phones, such as the LG G3, have started including QHD displays.

We want the Xperia Z4 to wow us and a 1080p display for the fifth time in a row won't do that, so we're hoping its QHD.

The Sony Xperia Z3 looks great, but the bezels above and below the screen are off-puttingly large. Presumably there's a reason for their size, they're likely housing vital components required to make the phone actually work, but they're unsightly and we hope they're smaller next time around.

For the most part the Xperia Z3 has a perfectly capable and even impressive camera, but its low-light performance could still use some work.

Sony made some strides with the Xperia Z3, improving it over the Z2, but seemingly more with software than hardware as its low-light photos tend to come out over-processed, leaving it trailing behind the likes of the iPhone 6 and the HTC One M8 in darker scenes.

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In depth: eSports: the latest 21st century phenomenon or passing fad?

Page 1 of 3eSports hits the main stage in New York Dota 2 has become one of the world most popular sporting events

Jakiro the two-headed dragon catches the Crystal Maiden in an ice stream before the wyvern spits out a burst of liquid fire. The burning phlegm connects, melting the maiden instantly as her allies come to avenge her slaying the dragon. But it's too late; the Evil Geniuses have already breached the Alliance's defenses.

EG's Death Prophet storms the enemy keep with a platoon of minions and a swarm of spirits. Together they whittle down the Dire's Ancient remaining health to a tiny sliver, bringing them one attack away from victory. In the ensuing madness, the ghostly keeper dies in a four versus one fight with Alliance, but Visage's familiars manage to slip through and deliver the final blow.

The match ends as the crowd chants USA. A roar of excitement from 5,000 seats fills the theater at Madison Square Garden. This is pure unadulterated madness.

This is eSports.

Madison Square Garden is famous for being the home of the New York Knicks basketball team, boxing matches and circus performances. Recently the Electronics Sports League, or ESL, has decided to host its very first Dota 2 tournament at this iconic New York venue. While the theater might have only held 5,000 audience members, there were also (as of this writing) 10,750,707 viewers watching the event live over Twitch.

A massive crowd of gamers cheer on at the Garden

In the grand scheme of eSports events, these are actually paltry numbers. The International 4 Dota competition held at Seattle's Key Arena in July brought an audience of 10,000 people from locales around the world including Sweden, Berlin and Beijing. And that's not counting the 20 million people who tuned in through Twitch.

eSports is a phenomenon quickly becoming the most popular pastime of the 21st century. Once shunned by venues because no one thought people would pay to see nerds play around with keyboard and mice, eSports has started bringing in bigger audiences than more well funded events like football and baseball.

Team Evil Geniuses

Winning the Dota 2 competition in New York isn't just a matter of earning a title and a big, shiny metal cup. There's also a $100,000 (about £62,293, AU$114,794) grand prize pot on the line where $52,000 (about £32,392, AU$59,693) goes to the winning team.

Similarly there's more to being a professional gamer than lightening reflexes. It also requires good communication, teamwork and strategy. For this reason Evil Geniuses manager Charlie Yang shared that every team member spends three to six hours a day training in team practice during the regular season. On top of this, players will spend another three to six hours honing their own skills in individual training. Being a professional gamer already sounds like a full time job but EG's team members also host their own gaming streaming to further supplement their income.

A Vici Gaming player practices before the big game

Similarly there's more than meets the eye when watching the best gamers duke it out online. Turning eSports into into an event that engrosses the audience is an art. While it's easy to see the play or field in video games, Twitch COO Kevin Lin highlighted that "it also requires good spectator tools that allow you to move the camera independently and pull up stats to understand what's going on in the game."

"There's [also] professional commentators which helps the hardcore enthusiasts appreciate the deep level of strategy that's happening in these games," Lin said. "It also helps newcomers get a grasp of what's going on."

Page 1 of 3eSports hits the main stage in New York

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in depth: What to consider when purchasing a business printer

Page 1 of 2Color quality, capabilities and speed

Printing a quick recipe for Wednesday night's taco night is a bit different than printing quality documents for an upcoming pitch meeting. There are several important differences between printers meant for everyday home use and those meant for the office.

TechRadar Pro compiled these essential buying tips in order help enterprise customers make well-informed decisions.

All printers are not alike. If you are solely printing letters and other monochromatic documents, there is probably little reason to consider a color printer. However, if you are printing high-quality business pitches, advertising flyers or other documents that require a strong visual display, then a color printer can save your business time and money. Invest in a printer that features solid output quality, and above-par graphics.

In addition to a printer, is your business also looking to purchase new office input or output devices, such as copiers, scanners, or fax machines? If so, consider a multi-function device to consolidate space and expense. Multi-function devices save desk space and benefit from having a single technical-support source for handling multiple functions. Most multi-function devices cost less than $1000, which proves to be a budget saver opposed to shopping for several individual machines.

Are you printing hundreds of pages at a time? If so, speed should be a top priority when purchasing your business printer. Judge speed carefully. It is inaccurate to compare claimed speeds for inkjets with claimed speeds for lasers. Laser printers will be close to their claimed speeds for text documents, which don't need much processing time. Inkjets may claim faster speeds than more expensive lasers, but sometimes fail to live up to expectations.

Print speeds depend on how complex documents are and how many pages are to be printed. A 50 page text-only word document will probably print faster than a 100-megapixel photo printed on an A4 sheet. Printers used to rely a lot on the host computer for compute and memory resources but this has dramatically changed over the past few years. Some now integrate the same base hardware as a smartphone and can rapidly process even large image files.

Page 1 of 2Color quality, capabilities and speed

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In Depth: What ever happened to...? 10 cool bits of tech that disappeared

Remember Illumiroom? It was a Microsoft research project that was all about turning your bedroom or lounge into a gaming space, in the most literal sense. We saw it at CES 2013, but dismissed it as one of those quirky ideas that would never appear. Too expensive, too involved, too "out there".

As it turns out, Illumiroom isn't dead. It has been reborn as RoomAlive. It uses projectors and Kinect-style sensors to turn your living room into a game environment. Heck, it might even get released in some form one day.

But it got us thinking about all those great bits of tech we've seen demoed over the years, the ones that never made it out of the labs and onto the shelves. Join us in having a look through the archives at the tech that never made it.

Or, at least, hasn't yet...

Just about every time one of the top phones comes out, a new iPhone or a Galaxy S-whatever, rumours start circulating that it'll offer super-advanced haptic feedback. It's much more exciting than the vibrate you get with just about every phone.

It can make a surface feel as if it has a completely different texture, despite being completely flat. One of the most memorable demos we saw was the Senseg system from 2012. It sends small electrical impulses through your fingers to make like you're feeling various textures on normal glass.

Senseg even hinted that its tech might end up in the iPad three years ago, which of course turned out to be total nonsense.

While it would almost certainly come across as a total gimmick for the first year or so, this sort of touch could, in theory, enrich our mobile phone (and tablet) lives. Though we still reserve the right to rip it a new one when the Amazon Fire Phone 2 decides to use it as the cornerstone of its sell-in. But it's a pity we're yet to see it in a remotely mainstream device.

Will it be back? We haven't heard anything from Senseg in the last couple of years, and its Twitter account has been dormant since 2012. Someone else is going to have to take the baton, and at the moment it's in Fujitsu's hands, after showing off a haptic feedback tablet at MWC 2014.

If you think you're excited about virtual reality gaming with Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus you should have seen what it was like back in the 90s. VR was in and it seemed like the future. You could even see representations of it on TV, in the 90s programmes like Gamesmaster and Knightmare when they were still on TV (granted, the latter is actually more green screen than VR).

At one point it looked like we were going to get a real VR gaming experience too, with the Sega VR headset for/alongside the Sega Genesis (that's the Megadrive for UK readers). The plan was for it to have its own games, including some that were shown off at CES 1993.

In concept, it was very similar to the headsets we see in development today. It'd put screens in front of your eyes, and used sensors to track you head movements. So what went wrong?

The official line at the time was some guff about being worried about gamers' safety, about Sega VR being too realistic. Look back to the kind of graphics games had back in 1991-1994 though, when the being worked on, and you can only conclude they're telling porkies.

It seems likely that the Sega VR's LCD displays would be massively headache-and-nausea-inducing. Oculus Rift's LCD prototype caused such issues, and that's with 20 years of extra LCD screen development in the can too.

Binning the Sega VR was a sensible move, as Nintendo's Virtual Boy would demonstrate a few years later. Of course, it kind of marked a beginning of the end for Sega. A string of bad decisions meant it would never reach Sega Megadrive heights again. And before anyone says it, yes we know the Dreamcast was quite good.

Will it be back? Sega no longer has the corporate ego it had back in the early 90s. Its days of making console hardware are long gone. The closest you'll get is one of those licensed retro Megadrive handhelds. Still, Sega might end up making a VR game whe the Morpheus/Oculus are actually released.

No-one cares about 3D anymore, but what if your TV could produce convincing 3D without the need for brightness-killing, crosstalk-causing glasses?

Glasses-free 3D has lost some of its lustre since everyone stopped wanting the third dimension in their TV screens, but it's still something we miss hearing about. A bit. We remember many demos from old CES shows, where you had to sit in an exact spot or the image would fracture into a headache hell. Those were most definitely not the days, but we do remember them.

The truth is that there are still glasses-free 3D TVs floating about, just not a lot of them. In early 2014, Philips showed-off a Lenticular-based 3D TV, comparable with the Parallax barrier tech used in the Nintendo 3DS.

Samsung also showed off a TV at CES 2014, in a 4K glasses-free concept that offers 30-plus positions where you can sit and see the 3D.

The one we'd really like to come back to, though, is an MIT project that popped up in 2012 – that of a Holograph projector. It popped up again in 2014 through MIT News, but we're sadly no closer to anything that Samsung or LG is going to snap up.

It uses existing LCD technology to produce a holograph-like effect that's quite different from the normal glasses-free 3D we've seen. Its projection-like form of display would, if we've understood it, get rid of the sweet spot issue of other forms of 3D.

Will it be back? The Holograph TV is, as far as we know, still being tinkered with. The question is whether it'll ever get out of the pHD lab and make its way into a commercial product. Our guess: not in its current form.

Remember Panasonic's Android phones? No? Don't worry, we have trouble remembering too, and we actually tried them out back in 2012. It looked like Panasonic might finally sidle up to HTC and LG in the great struggle to chip a little off Samsung's market share.

These phones came with the usual grand launch, followed by not so much as a whimper. We reviewed the Eluga (and didn't like it all that much) but it never actually made it to the shelves of the local phone stores.

Panasonic was a bit ahead of its time, in being obsessed with waterproofing.

Little has been written about why the Panasonic Eluga range failed to break into the European market, but we assume it may have been as simple as all the networks responding with a resounding "nah, we're good. Thanks, though."

Without support from the phone networks, it's impossible for a phone to make it big. Or make it at all.

Panasonic Eluga may have been a response to the company's struggles in the TV market. Panasonic was master of plasma TVs from the time Pioneer bowed out the best part of a decade ago, but by 2012 it was clear plasmas were on the way out. Panasonic's share price has actually recovered after a pretty depressing low in late 2012, though, so it must be doing something right. Not making phones (outside Japan) may be part of it.

Will it be back? It seems unlikely that Panasonic will resurrect 'Eluga', but it is actually having another stab at the Android phone market. It announced the Panasonic CM1 just the other month at the Photokina conference. It's not jumping in with both feet this time, though.

Panasonic wants you to think of the CM1 as a camera that just happens to have woken up one day with the Android OS and the ability to take phone calls. Its 1-inch sensor could make the Panasonic CM1 the best phone camera to date, but we wouldn't be surprised if this one disappears straight into Room 101 like the Eluga. It's one of the most expensive phones around at around 700 Euro (about £552, US$888, AU$1014).

Back in the early days of Android, from 2008-2010, everyone was obsessed with putting the operating system into everything. Android in your toaster, Android in your fridge, Android in your… shower curtain? Maybe not that far.

The one that has always stuck in the mind, though, was Android in a microwave. We actually saw a few different prototypes of this in action, although, sadly, we're yet to see one of the things in store. Touch Revolution showed off the Android microwave at CES 2010. It was more-or-less a proof of concept. A "look at what we can do, isn't it neat?" cry for help/attention.

Looking at it now the Touch Revolution seems quaint, albeit still pretty handsome as microwaves go.

So why hasn't the Android dream house become a reality? Well, it was a pretty silly idea, wasn't it? Google has struggled enough with perfecting Android on tablets and phones over the last six years.

However, that could change. Android Wear offers a cut-down kind of interface using basic information and basic gestures that would fit in well around the home. Maybe my dream of an Android kettle could come true. No, wait, that was a nightmare.

Will it be back? Normal Android on a microwave? Nah, we're done with that fad. However, that Android's ecosystem is going to make its way further into our homes is a dead certainty. Google didn't buy Nest because it thinks the company's thermostat looks cool.

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In Depth: Installing Windows 10 Technical Preview? Here's 10 things you should know

Windows Technical Preview is here. Despite Microsoft calling it a 'moving target' it can be used – at your own risk, see below – and many features do work well.

So here's your guide to installing the Technical Preview by way of 10 things you simply must know about Windows 10's first available version – build 9841. You'll certainly see it evolve; Microsoft has promised regular updates.

Don't install it if you don't know what an ISO file is or you don't have a separate PC to install it on. Microsoft is stressing that without knowledge, you won't get on very well. This is extreme pre-release software. It will have bugs in it. It will probably crash. It might change, things might not work. In short, don't depend on it!

As well as that second PC, you need to do a few things in preparation. The main one is to back up your data if you're installing it on a PC you regularly use. If you are installing it on a PC you regularly use, you might like to think again.

If you didn't use Windows 8.1 and might have issues with compatibility, check the Compatibility Center.

Once you know that, you'll need to sign up for the Windows Insider Program, namely you need to agree to the terms and conditions that don't hold Microsoft responsible if you're silly enough to install it on a PC where you've got your unfinished dissertation and not backed it up. Your Windows 10 install will get regular updates.

The ISO files for Windows 10 are around 4GB depending on which version you download – there are 32 and 64-bit versions of several different language versions – US English, UK English, Chinese Simplified and Portuguese. The Windows 10 key is NKJFK-GPHP7-G8C3J-P6JXR-HQRJR.

If it's an enterprise version you want, head here to download Windows 10 Technical Preview for Enterprise.

Then you will need a DVD or USB drive large enough to hold a 4GB ISO file and to download one of the Windows 10 ISO files if you're installing it on a clean PC. We'd recommend a tool like Rufus or ImgBurn to copy the ISO to the drive.

Your Windows 10 installation will stop working on April 15 2015. Windows 10 almost certainly won't be released then, but we may well see a beta of the OS to replace your Technical Preview install. Microosoft will remind users to upgrade after April 1 2015.

If you're installing it from Windows 8.1 you can simply mount the ISO and execute setup.exe. If you're installing it from an older version, you can run setup.exe from the USB drive you created from the ISO. Double-tap or double-click setup.exe and then follow the steps indicated.

When you go through the installation process you can choose to keep all your files or keep nothing, it really is up to you. If you're upgrading from Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 you can keep Windows settings, personal files, and most apps. From Windows 7 you can keep Windows settings, personal files, and most apps. But if you previously ran Windows Vista you must perform a clean install and can keep NOTHING. Sorry, but Microsoft doesn't like Vista anymore. Much like everybody else.

If your PC can run Windows 8.1, you can also run Windows 10 Technical Preview. You need a 1GHz or faster processor with 1GB of memory for 32-bit or 2GB for 64-bit. You'll also need at least 16GB of free hard drive space. The preview won't work on Windows RT 8.1 and Windows N editions.

Technical Preview works with touch, but "some things will be rough and unfinished" says Microsoft. The corporation is working on improvements for the OS to work with touch.

If you're running Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 and have installed a language pack or a they'll be removed when you install Technical Preview. You'll see a message telling you to re-add them.

You won't be able to use your recovery partition to downgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 8.1 or similar. If you have a recovery partition on your system, it will no longer be able to restore your computer to the version of Windows you had before. And, as you'd expect from a system with no recovery partition, you'll need to install a previous version of Windows from a DVD or USB drive when it comes to overwriting or wiping your Windows 10 install.

You can use something like VirtualBox to install Windows 10 as a Virtual Machine. Simply click the New button in the main window to create a new machine, give it a name (you'll need to choose the Windows 8.1 option) and then when finished go to Storage in the left sidebar, and next to Controller: IDE, select the Add CD button, then Choose Disk and select the Windows 10 ISO. And there you have it – Windows 10 in a VM.

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